• Very Overdue, Very Random Post •

Well now, it's only been about half a year since I last blogged.  That's not very long, is it?

It's been a whirlwind of a fall and winter, with plenty of drama, plenty of fun, and plenty of blessings.  I'm thankful for where the Lord has brought us in past months, and wouldn't change a thing.  This year is going to be a good one!

I apologize in advance for the extremely varying sizes and shapes of these photos you're about to see - they are all gathered from my phone from varying sources.  Enjoy!  :)

Back in August, we were able to attend and participate in D-Day Ohio, and that was just an amazing experience.  We sewed up day dresses for day one, and went in uniform the other two days.

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Mom was an American Red Cross Gray Lady, and I was a Pharmacist's Mate in the USN WAVES.  Emily Stringham of Emily's Vintage Visions has done an amazing job gathering a (growing) group of ladies to represent WAVES at D-Day, and her WAVES display as well as her leadership of the group is amazing.  I am so excited for this year's reenactment!

Can't forget to add this -- we welcomed two little kittens into our family in October.  They are mischievous little rascals but we love them so <3 

A dear friend had a western-themed graduation party, so I planned to make a western shirt to wear to that.  I decided to procrastinate until the night before to finish it, so I sewed the last button on at 2:30 in the morning.  Sure was fun to wear though!  :)

We attended Mississinewa 1812 once again this year, and per usual I was dying of the worst cold ever.  I felt just exactly like death, and literally that entire basket you see in the picture was filled with Kleenexes.  But we went, and we conquered.

There is a really amazing antique market that has sales once each month, and one of the amazing things we found there was this box full of vintage fabric pieces and quilt blocks.  I could sit and look at them for hours!!!

In December, we were blessed to be able to participate in a choir society's production of Handel's Messiah.  The practice sessions each week beforehand and the nights of singing were some of my favorite moments of the year.  Such wonderful fellowship and the words - the beautiful, Biblical, Christ-honoring words were and are so moving.  Lord willing, we'll be participating again later this year!  

We needed black and white outfits to wear for the concerts, so......

....I made a 1930s and a 1950s ensemble, one for each night.  Once again, I had planned to make these outfits far in advance, but ended up waiting until less than 2 weeks before the concert.  Lots of evening sewing after work, and I got them both done!  And I sewed a blouse from rayon....everyone congratulate me.  That experience once again confirmed what I already knew, which is that I really, deeply detest sewing with rayon.

1930s for me, 1940s for Mom.

1950s ensembles.

At the concert!

Here you can see both of the adorable fluffballs :)

We took a trip to Minnesota also in early winter, seeing dear loved ones along the way.  This picture was taken in my grandma's very wallpapered bathroom, wearing a blouse with a very complicated history......

It was a UFO for quite some time, and I finally decided to finish it for our MN trip.  I had just finished sewing the last button on and went downstairs to iron it so it was ready to go.  We had purchased some cheapy iron in the summer, and we knew it always ran a little on the hot side.  I turned it on to an extremely low setting, lower even than normal, and proceeded to iron the blouse.  Right as I am ironing the front of the blouse, I notice that the fabric is strangely scorched-looking.  To my horror, I realize that the iron has literally scorched two large spots on the center front of my brand-new blouse, and not just minor scorch marks, but orange-y, horrible, awful scorching.

In my great distress and anguish, I took the little old iron upstairs, informed my mother of what I was about to do, at which time she proclaimed that the garbage man was coming the next morning, but I insisted that that was not good enough.  I marched outside in my jammies in the moonlight and chucked that iron over a 15' cliff at the back of our property.

That is what happens to naughty irons at our house.

End of story.

Mom got this beautiful coat from Stephanie <3, and it looks amazing on her.  Soft, fuzzy green 1950s loveliness!  We had just arrived in our favorite place (Duluth), and were marching out to watch a ship come in the harbor.

I scored this Dale of Norway sweater on Ebay in the late fall, and it has definitely gotten plenty of wear.  It's very heavy and warm, so it was perfect for traipsing through Duluth in the chilly gales!

No visit to Duluth is complete without a picture "next to" Split Rock Lighthouse :D

While we were visiting with my grandpa, I knitted up my first rendition of this "pixie hood," based on this picture from the '40s.

I didn't do a swatch, so it came out a little bigger than intended, so I just cuffed the front edge and went with it.  It made for very good elf-walks-on-waterfall pictures.

Mom looking amazing in her '40s lumberjack-vibes ensemble.

I didn't end up making most of the planned vacation outfits, but I did get this dreamy '50s skirt done.  Back when I first got into vintage sewing, I found this fabric on Etsy and saved it for just the right project.  I pleated it up, put pockets in the side seams (they're invisible!!), and finally got it finished!  I didn't have time to make the blouse I wanted, so my amazing mom made me this beautiful red '50s number.  It is one of my favorite patterns, and you might recognize it as the same style as my "Messiah" blouse.

Since it was practically balmy on Christmas Day, we dressed accordingly......

(minus one cat that didn't want her photo taken, apparently)

We added a whole bunch of Pendleton skirts to our wardrobes this year, and I am not sorry about it!  This Christmassy number is one of my absolute favorites, and it pairs very well with my favorite red 49er.

I also found this to-die-for collegiate sweater on Ebay, and it is just tooooo perfect.

We took our usual weekend down to southern Indiana in early January, touring gorgeous Madison, IN with its beautiful historic homes and doing plenty of antiquing, as you'll see here in a minute.

We had matching sweaters here, but no one will ever know....haha!

Matching Pendleton skirts as we trekked through what I'm quite sure is THE largest antique store anywhere in the world.  It is so enormous that you become quite fatigued only a quarter of the way through it, but it's worth it.  Ohio River Valley Antiques or some such.

The haul.  Or at least, part of it.  There was more than would fit in one picture.  :D

Another Pendleton skirt, paired with my favorite new RVS boots.

We've been enjoying beautiful concerts with the FW Phil this winter, the highlight of which has been Valentina Lisitsa playing her "Love Story" themes.  I never get tired of her playing!

One of my most recent (and favorite) projects is this 1940s housecoat!  I joined the Sew A Dress Each Month challenge for 2020, so this was my January project.  It is a literal dream and I put it on pretty much every evening when I come home from work, and some mornings as well.  It's got the dreamiest ruffles on the pockets, and it is soooo comfortable yet elegant to wear.

We also started working on a feedsack repro quilt in recent weeks.  It has gotten put on the back burner recently with preparations for a reenactment, but we're still so excited to work on it.

Just living the dream in my housecoat and mom-made ruffly apron.

This is version 2 of my Pixie Hood, this one fitting much better than the first!  Now that I completed it, we're not getting any cold weather, but maybe there's still hope before Spring comes marching in....

We did get a few flakes of snow, however, so I grabbed the opportunity to get pictures of my amaaaaazzzzzing new 1940s coat.  I still can't believe I have a piece like this!  It's in absolutely perfect condition - the best blue wool with a quilted lining and fur for days.

I also wanted pictures of my freshly-completed snowflake hood!  I started to knit one by hand, but not only am I not cut out for fairisle knitting (ugh), but I also was using much too large of yarn for the size it needed.  (No swatch again, naughty naughty...)  I decided to give it a whirl on the knitting machine, which I did, and it came out fairly decently! 

I did the body of it on the knitting machine and ribbed it by hand, which went fairly quickly.

I'm hoping to knit up a bunch of these and offer them for sale this coming fall and winter....

Another one of those projects that just makes you feel good....only 8 years after remodelling my bathroom, I finally made curtains to match.  Slightly overdue, but VERY satisfying.  Found a home for this gorgeous antique pitcher, too.

Lastly....just me being "me" with my loopy braids.  Growing my hair out again, and enjoying the benefits of that!

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If you made it to this point, I'll be shocked, but if you did, thanks for reading, and I hope you are all doing well!  I post regularly on my Instagram account, so head over and follow me there if you'd like.  Have a fantastic weekend, friends!

1940s • Winter Tones

These photos were taken almost a year ago, but we never got around to posting them!  Typically when I go back to the archives for outfits to blog about, the background never matches the current season, but in this case, it does!  ;)

My mom made this dress last year from some gorgeous fabric purchased for her birthday by my dad.  :)  She used Simplicity 3847 for the bodice, and added a simple gathered skirt for a perfect '40s shirtwaist look.  This is a similar style to her Rose Chintz Dress.

I love how the dress can look dressy with furs and accessories as shown in these pictures, as well as being a practical housedress at other times!  It's not often you can balance those two looks with one garment, but this dress is very much up to the mark.  ;)

The famous "Dead Monkeys" (read more on that here) fur piece has been featured with quite a few different outfits on the blog: 

-red plaid '40s

-'40s separates

-'40s Pendleton

She used the sleeves from Butterick 5846, for a less fitted look.  She also added ease to the back shoulder seam for added comfort. 

The fabric this dress is made of is a lighter-weight variety, so she made a 3" or so hem, which makes it hang ever so nicely.

Bound buttonholes!!!!  :D

These niftiest of buttons are some that she purchased from Czechoslovakia.  They are made of glass, and feature the prettiest design!  She has as couple of other styles and colors that she's just itching to use.  :)  There's nothing like vintage buttons!!

It is hard to believe that December is here already; we just had one of those a few months ago!!  ;)  I am hard at work on a custom dress for an Etsy customer, but meanwhile am planning my winter wardrobe as well.  I already have a (very) few pieces made, but am excited to add some more!  There's also a new addition coming in the footwear department that makes all of this winter sewing muuuuch more delectable to think about.  ;)  More on that soon!

Thanks for stopping by, ladies!!

• 1950s Egg Dress •

Unusual name?  Well, yes.  But the adorable fabric that this dress is made out of reminded us of eggs from the first time we saw it, so being named as such was inevitable.  ;)

These pictures were actually taken last fall, but with the gorgeously fall-like weather we're having, I just had to post it now!  :)

This fabric was originally mine; I had 1 yard of the blue (egg) fabric, and about 2 yards of the yellow.  When the time came to finally make it, I wanted to use Simplicity 1692 for the top, and just make a simple, pleated skirt on the bottom.  I got it mostly assembled, only to find out that I really, really didn't like it at all.  

Enter: my mom.  :)  She tried it on and loved it, just making a couple of alterations in the neckline and shoulders to make it fit better.  So I traded her this for what is now my 1930s dress fabric.  :)  We were both happy; Mom had a new dress to work with, and I had fabric to start over and make something I liked with!

She ended up buying more of the yellow plaid fabric, and making the Butterick 5920 skirt instead of a pleated dirndl skirt.  She added a bias binding of the "egg" fabric around the hem, which sets it off just right.  :)

It's hard to believe, but I got the whole entire top out of ONE YARD of fabric.  Slightly shocking.  ;)  Especially with having full, puffy sleeves!  The sleeves are cut on the cross-grain, but that didn't bother either of us.

Per usual, Mom did a smashing job on her plaid matching.  :)

Speaking of plaid-matching, she even matched up the bias trim around the hem of her skirt.  She is one amazing seamstress, let me tell you!!!!!!  :D

A bias sash seemed to be just the right accent at the waist.  And my yellow gloves?  They are always the right accessory.  ;)

I don't believe these shoes of hers have been on the blog before; they are Hotter Donna heels.  Absolutely adorable, vintage-styled, comfortable, and they match a surprising amount of outfits!!  They are definitely on my "wanted" list of shoes.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and for putting up with my unannounced absence last week!  Life gets hectic at times, so blogging gets set aside once in a while.  Have a lovely week, and enjoy the arrival of fall!!  :)

P.S.  If you haven't done so already, do check out Stephanie's tea cup exchange!!  I participated in the one that took place this spring, and I can tell you, it is loads of fun!  You can see my post about it here.  The deadline to sign up ends September 21st, so don't delay!  Tell Stephanie I sent you!  :)