Less is More

I've been thinking about what my motto for 2015 should be. A few years back, I decided that I was going to embrace the idea "When in doubt, be bold." It really helped me to gain confidence and try loads of new things that I didn't think I could. But now, I feel like my life needs a new focus.

Moving makes you really evaluate your life. Especially if you are doing a huge move like I did! I realized that I have a lot of stuff. The hubby and I made a real effort to get rid of a lot of stuff before we moved but we still have so much. And I don't really think that I need that much stuff.

As a fashion blogger, especially one who sews, there is this sort of unwritten expectation that you have to provide newer, bigger, more fabulous outfits all the time. So most of us end up with closets and dressers and vanities overflowing with stuff! It can be quite paralyzing to look at these piles of things and try to decide what to wear.

As I was packing (and, later, unpacking), I kept catching myself asking when the last time I wore a garment was-six months, a year, or more?? Obviously, I do have fancy frocks and things like my vow renewal dress that won't get worn very often but much of it was everyday type clothing or hats or gloves or whatever.

I've come to realize that I really enjoy wearing a simple but well put together comfortable outfit. Things that are fussy, require special undergarments or have bold and crazy prints tend not to get worn very often. I wear a very basic makeup look almost everyday and while I like to play with makeup for a night out, I prefer a very natural look. And I don't really like wearing red lipstick.

So where does this leave me? I looked at myself in the mirror and said "Stephanie, you have enough clothes. You even have enough clothes to have a fashion blog and keep your readers from getting bored."

I still love sewing and I will be adding to my wardrobe but I want to do it more strategically. I will not get distracted by quilting cottons and I will make comfortable basics to fill in the gaps in my wardrobe. I want to also do more costuming this year and learn to do blackwork embroidery as a new creative outlet.

I'm going to be evaluating my wardrobe this year and weeding out things that I don't love and things that aren't really practical for Florida weather. I will focus on using things I already have-hats, jewelry, patterns, fabric-instead of buying new. If I do decide to buy new, I want to invest in quality things that will really be used in my wardrobe. And I want to spend more of my free time doing other things I love like reading, biking and going to the beach rather than feeling like I *have* to be sewing all of the time.

So this year my motto is going to be "Less is More". 

Another Easy Style for Bobbed Hair

First youtube tutorial in my new bathroom! Enjoy another simple style I've been sporting a lot lately.

Rustic Romantic

Life continues to be eventful in Florida! I got a teaching job a few weeks ago at the very last minute so I've been quite busy trying to stay ahead of the game with lesson planning and such!

And my husband also got a job but he won't start until February. So yay jobs! But that means we still don't have a regular schedule.

And last week, the wallpaper came off of the kitchen wall. It's not painted yet but there is no more wallpaper in my house! But that is a story for another day.

This outfit, however, is a bridal show ensemble. The show was aimed at rustic romantic style weddings. Rustic isn't really a word I would use to describe anything in my closet so I had a hard time deciding what to wear. Plus it was our first show with a theme!

I finally decided on great floral dress. The print is soft and romantic plus it's super comfortable! Wearing a memorable outfit is a great way to get brides to come over and talk to me in the booth.

And I was having a great hair day! Florida still hasn't decided if it agrees with my hair or not. Plus, all of the wallpaper pulling had me being frumpy around the house a lot this week so no playing with hair.

I wore my Miss L Fire shoes too! They are usually quite comfortable but standing for 5 hours on a hard concrete floor are rough on your feet no matter what shoes you wear. 

Thankfully, we popped over to the park next door to the expo before the show so me feet and hair were still all peppy.

What would you wear to a rustic romantic themed wedding?

Planning for Camping

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to focus on for Historical Sew (Fortnightly) Monthly this year. It doesn't look like I'll be making it to Costume College this year but I am hoping to be more involved in SCA so pre-1600 is where I'll be doing most often. My big project for the year is going to be the Borgia dress. I've got the fabric for it already but I still need to buy trim. That plus feeling a bit nervous about cutting into my silk means I'll probably be pushing that off to later in the year and working on it on and off.

I do really want to try and do all of the challenges this year since there are half as many and I've made at least half in the previous years. So I had to do some brain storming to plan out the year. One thing I think that I want to do is attend an SCA camping event. I'm not huge on camping but I love the idea of an extended SCA event. Plus I love the fact that many of my lower class costumes feel more like clothes than costumes. I'd love to get away with wearing them on a regular basis in real life.

So what do you need to in your kit for camping?

Shifts, shifts, shifts! Preferably one per day but less if there is access to washing facilities. I'm not planning on anything as intense as Pennsic so I think my four shifts are a great start in this direction.

Moving outward, petticoats are next. I only have one but a spare would be nice! I could probably whip one up easily for a challenge.

Kirtles are the main piece of an outfit for 16th century Elizabethan peasant. I have three although one is technically a bodied petticoat so a new kirtle is not a priority althought I really do like them. Depending on the location and time of year, my wool kirtle will not be too useful.

I've got a nice set of accessories-coif, apron, sleeves and pocket. But you can always need extras. For February, I'm planning on a wool apron since wool is great for working near fires. It doesn't burn like linen. Expect loads of these small projects this year. They are easy and budget friendly plus I'll have time to handsew them!

I do have one nice pair of shoes but they are definitely not camping shoes! While I do want to learn how to make shoes one day, I'll probably be buying this year if new shoes are in my future.

Lastly, are layers for warmth. Florida is pretty warm but can get chilly in the evenings and mornings. I do have my English fitted gown, but I think that will be overkill for most of the year. I purchased fabric for a wool jacket to fill in this gap and if that goes well, I may make a linen one too.

And, if camping becomes a reality, I'll have to outfit my husband too!

Have you ever been to a costuming or re-enacting camping event? Any tips?

Channeling Norma Jean

Since Wearing History Clothing's Norma Jean blouse shares a name with 50s screen siren Marylin Monroe I opted to wear it's first day out with a 50s flare.

One of my favorite things to do in Dayton was to go down to the Oregon District- a cobble stone street with cute shops, local eateries and cute old buildings. So I was so happy to know that Melbourne also has a cute Historic district!

So after hitting the local market on Saturday we stopped by for some photos and antique shopping. It was sunny and warm for a change so I could rock the sun glasses.

As soon as I saw the Melody print preview for Wearing History Clothing, I knew I had to have something made from that fabric! So when the Kickstarter came around, I just had to have the Norma Jean blouse!

It's made from Tencel which is a rayon type fabric. It didn't feel quite like I expected but it feels quite comfortable to wear and drapes nicely.

I ordered both the Norma Jean and Ruthie blouses in a Large. The Ruthie blouse fit amazingly! (And I never get ready to wear blouses to fit correctly.) But the Norma Jean blouse was a bit big so I exchanged it for a medium. If you are between sizes, definitely order the smaller size for the Norma Jean. It's meant to be a blousey, comfortable top so there will be plenty of room.

The colors in the print are fabulous! Since I didn't have any skirts that matched the blue perfectly, I wore the top with my black Freddies of Pinewood pedal pushers. Perfect for the sporty 50s look. Plus, the Norma Jean blouse is a great length which stays tucked in! I hate shirts that always come untucked in the back.

We ended up at three different antique places and I got to see lots of pretties. I got quite a few compliments on my blouse too! It's very comfortable for a day of digging for treasures. The blouse is a bit blousey in the back but it gives such a great range of motion. Plus it's fitted enough at the waist so you still look slim and trim.

So far, I'm quite in love with my Norma Jean blouse! It's so cute and I'm going to be on the look out for coordinating pink, blue and green fabric for matching skirts. On the website, it's styled rather 40s but it could really work for a 30s to 50s look depending on how you want to style it.

If you didn't snag a Norma Jean blouse during the Kickstarter, you can still get your own blouse here. Plus, there are a few other pretties made from this fab print on the site!

One Month in Florida

I can't believe we've already been living in Florida for a month! Eeep! With all of the moving craziness, I wasn't very good about capturing events for the blog but I did manage to capture some things on Instagram. So here's life in Florida.

 Good bye Ohio! On the way down, we stopped in Kentucky for a few days to see my family for Christmas.

Once in Florida, we had to buy some new furniture including this lovely dresser! I want to share some more photos of our place but we're still definitely in the tweaking part of setting things up.

It was in the 80s and humid when we arrived in Florida. Unseasonably warm, apparently. I had no qualms about letting my legs get some sun while enjoying my brother- and sister-in-laws pool. They live super close which is awesome!

Working on getting the sewing room set up! It's been amazing to have my own space to sew but I do miss watching tv. I may have to start bringing my laptop in for Netflix.

Cooking! I adore cooking and having a few weeks with no work means more time for cooking! We're really trying to get back eating healthy so we started a bit before January 1 with our food resolutions.

 First sewing project of 2015! Of course, after I started it got chilly again so I stopped. It's almost done so I really need to pull it out and finish it up.

 My Wearing History Clothing Kickstarter blouses arrived! I'm loving them so far! Expect to see more photos of the Norma Jean blouse later this week.

 Birds playing nice! They did not like moving and the resulting chaos. But now that we've got most of the boxes unpacked and things settled they are really enjoying living here.

Two rooms in our home came with old lady wallpaper. I opted to go ahead and tackle the smaller of the two rooms-the guest bathroom (after binge watching HGTV now that we have cable). Bye Bye wallpaper!

And I painted it blue! Not a perfect paint job but I'm pretty proud of it. The kitchen (also wallpaper bearing) is going to wait a while. 

Leah has discovered that people food can be tastey so you never know when she might fly into your food for a bite. Here she is stealing some popcorn!

Casual Sunday

Life in Florida is still evolving. There's no real "normal" yet but I'm mostly loving it here. So when Sunday rolled around, I went for a classic casual outfit. (Mostly because I didn't have the energy for anything fancy.)

This circle skirt is one of my very first sewing projects and I still love it! Plus it's still holding up pretty well which is always a plus.

It's made from a mystery fabric that I now think may be some type of canvas meant for outdoor furniture that they sell every summer at Jo-Anns.

One thing I like about it is that I can pair it with loads of colors-pinks, greens, creams, browns. So I layered a pink cardigan over a green top.

While it's far from cold here, it does get chilly in the morning and the evening so I was wearing a jean jacket over this outfit when I left the house in the morning.

It's definitely been a bit weird thinking of this as winter but I have been loving getting to wear more spring and summery coral shades of lippy!

And I just had to get a pair of flip flops. I'm pretty sure it's a law or something that Floridians must wear flip flops all the time.

 And, of course, pearls go with everything! What's your favorite accessory that goes with everything?

Santa's Visit

My Santa's brought me some lovely presents this year. And since loads of them were sewing or vintage related, I thought I'd share with you.

My hubby did really good job shopping for me this year. He found this darling historical sewing kit. It's so cute and will be perfect for taking along to SCA events with a small project! 

He also bought me some pretty red silk. I'm not 100% sure what I want to do with it yet but it's so pretty.

 He snagged a huge lot of belt making supplies including these great vintage buckle and button kits! There's loads more that came in the lot and I'm still trying to sort through it.

Then there were the nerd earrings which you've already seen.

And this cute 40s skirt pattern. It's a bit small but with just three pieces, it'll be a breeze to grade up.

And post-Christmas, I got a bonus gift for storage in my sewing room! Yay!

 And my grandma surprised me with some new sewing tools! I desperately needed a new pair of scissors since mine were getting kind of sad. And I lost my embroidery scissors in the move so this was perfect!

Did Santa bring you any sewing or vintage goodies?

Sewing Room Tour

Take a peak into my sewing space! :D

Starting the New Year Right

We couldn't let New Year's Day pass without a visit to the beach! And we had a few minutes to do some snapshots.

So, sooner or late, you all knew you would see this outfit on the beach! I've always loved nautical outfits and now I have a definite excuse to wear them all the time.

 It was a bit chilly for swimming but walking on the beach is fun too! We're on the Atlantic side of Florida which has chilly water than the Gulf side but that's ok because I'm not big on swimming anyways.

 One thing I love doing on the beach is watching the birds. There are quite a few different kinds that live along the shore and they can run really fast! My favorite are some small ones that run in to grab a bite and then out before the next wave hits.

 Some people might be crazy cat ladies but I'm definitely destined to be a crazy bird lady! Any place with birds is good in my book.

 The waves were great on New Year's Day so we had to get some in the shot. Unfortunately, waves cooperate with photography just as well as small children, but we did get one!

 What did you do on New Year's Day?

Photography by Will Thorpe willthorpe.com