When is too early for Christmas?

When is it time to start prepping for Christmas? This is a question that everyone has an opinion on. Some people wait with baited breath for Oct. 31st so they can start listening to Christmas music while others can't stand seeing red and green together until after Thanksgiving.

This year, I've been rather lacking in holiday cheer. Because we're moving right before Christmas, there will be no decorating or tree this year. That's has definitely put a damper on my festiveness.

Since Thanksgiving is almost here, I've been trying to get myself in the mood for Christmas. (I dread Thanksgiving, but mostly because I hate turkey and a lot of other traditional turkey day foods.)

So when we had an unexpected break in the unusually frosty weather, I jumped at the opportunity to wear this oh, so festive dress to church. 

The skirt is a holiday quilting cotton in an awesome mid-century style print. I adore the inclusion of lime green and pink with the more traditional red and green. It makes me feel less like a walking Christmas card than some other dress I can only wear in December.

I love that I was able to make a matching belt from a vintage belt kit I found while thrifting. I used to have a source for modern covered buckle and belt kits but they no longer carry them. :(

It was breezy where we were trying to take photos so my hair looks crazy! Glad I decided to go with a simpler style since anything fancy would have been wrecked anyways.

One thing I love about this dress is that it doesn't look like a dress. Everyone always assumes that it's a blouse and a skirt which adds a fun casual vibe to the whole outfit. (Plus an entire dress out of this crazy Christmas fabric would be sooooo loud!)

My favorite detail, though, has to be the embroidered stitching around the collar and front opening of the dress. It's a simple running stitch that even the most beginner seamstress can do and it really adds a lot of visual interest to what could have been a very boring top half of the dress.

When do you start dressing Christmas-y?

Patterns Galore

I have bought quite a few patterns recently. But I can't help it! I want to wear all the 30s things so I need to sew all the 30s things which means I have to have all of the 30s patterns. Or that's what I tell myself anyways.

McCall 9242 is a darling two piece dress with several cute sleeve options. And it's a very early printed pattern which surprised me when it arrived.

The next four I bought in a lot on ebay and got a pretty good deal.

 Advance 807 is a fab 30s suit pattern. McCall 2802 is a cute dress pattern with options for short or long sleeves. It has an unusual envelope so I think it must have been a mail order or correspondence dress making course pattern.

Simplicity 2760 is missing the skirt pieces but seeing as it's very similar to McCall 2802, I can easily switch out the pieces. I'll just need to draft up a waistband. Simplicity 1936 was the pattern I was most interested in! A darling 30s playsuit! It's missing the shorts waistband and the little button plackets for the shorts but since they look similarly shaped to the button placket on the blouse, they shouldn't be too hard to draft up.

 I also did some shopping at the Vintage Pattern Lending Library! The skirt I've already sewn up and I can't wait to tackle the dress! The bodice has such great details!

And some more exciting news on the sewing front, I have a serger! :) It was given to me quite a while ago but I never got around to getting it work. I finally bit the bullet and bought the supplies I needed to get it working. Yay!

Winter and a Wedding

Well, winter has officially settled in early here in Ohio. I always have to wear loads of layers to stay warm so dressing for a winter wedding can be difficult. Inevitably, some shots are taken outside even on a cold day and venues tend to crank up the ac in an attempt to keep dancing guests from over heating.

So this weekend, I pulled out this great 1950s dress to wear to a wedding. Dressing to shoot a wedding means I need to cut down on the fluff so I can fit in small places to get the perfect shot.

Pockets are great so I don't have to carry around a purse. This dress has the most amazing built in pockets! (It was also very cold outside so pardon the goose bumps!)

I also love classy details for weddings. Pearls are my go to! They aren't fussy and there's no chance of outshining the bride (literally) like there might be with rhinestones.

 I usually wear a hat with this dress but that was not to be. I had an SCA event in the morning and then had to rush home and shower before heading out to the wedding.
 

I didn't even have time to curl the ends of my hair! So a simple retro inspired do was in order. This is actually my favorite style to do! It looks awesome with a pageboy, very curly hair or even a snood in the back.

My hair is getting long again so I can actually do this style now!

I rounded off the look with black accessories! Pink, purple or white would also look great but there is just something sharp about black accessories.

 What colors would you pair with this dress?

HSF #21: Re-do

This Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge was the re-do challenge. You could re-do (or do for the first time) any of the challenges. I decided to pick an easy vintage project to whip up over my sewing weekend. I had this great plaid fabric in my stash and when the paisley and plaid challenge came up earlier this year, I was in Elizabethan mode so both paisley and plaid were out.

The Challenge: #21 Re-do (#14 Paisley and Plaid)
Fabric: mystery plaid suiting (a wool blend I think)
Pattern: Vintage pattern lending library #1047
Year: 1930s
Notions: zipper, thread and some seam binding
How historically accurate is it? A metal zipper would have been more accurate (or snaps) but other than that pretty good
Hours to complete: 4 and a lot of that was spent in the cutting process to get the plaid to match up
First worn: to church
Total cost: less than $10-I got almost 8 yds of the plaid fabric for $7 and the only thing I got full price was the zipper

I took a lot of time making sure the cutting would help me with the plaid matching. I'm pretty impressed if I do say so myself!

I still have quite a bit of this fabric left and I plan on making a matching top at some point in time but I have to find the right pattern first. So I decided to go with the sporty separates look instead.

This fabric is actually grey and black with grey and orange stripes but it always looks brown to me from far away. So I went with a classic white blouse and my blue sweater. It turned rather chilly this weekend so I also brought out my faux fur booties to keep my feet warm!

I also tried some finger waves. I've never been amazing at finger waves so I think I'll need some practice before they become predictable. Plus my hair is a weird length in the front for finger waves.

But I'm really excited about how flattering this skirt shape is on me! Bring on the 1930s!

By the Shore

The big Florida move is coming! Ahh! This past weekend we flew down to Florida to check out our new place and get to know the area a bit.

And, of course, we ended up on the beach! The cold front that hit the rest of the country also hit Florida so it was chilly. Well, Florida chilly which meant 65 and windy.

So you'll have to pardon the crazy mess of my hair. It was extra windy by the shore. Even though it was chilly, I loved being by the beach. I am so going to get used to that! 

Oh but sand on my feet was yummy! (That's my sister-in-law who lives in the town we're moving too!)

 This dress is a new to me vintage dress from the 50s or 60s. It was a bit small when I got it but I was able to let it out enough to wear it.

It's got this amazing doodle print on it which I adore. It also still has the matching belt! You can't really see them well here because of the wind but there are little faux pocket flaps too!

To finish the outfit, I added a maroon cardigan, pearls and my newest pair of Sparkle Lux earrings in green! And cat eye sunglasses, of course!

We also got to see our new place! It's a bit outdated (but not outdated enough for me to like) but it is quite a bit bigger than where we currently live. So I'll get some dedicated sewing space plus there are palm trees in the yard! And the hubby has decided to let me paint!

We just have a few weeks left in Ohio! Can't wait!