Friday, March 25, 2011

vintage spring lookbook

blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook

Here it is.. Blooming Leopold's vintage spring 2011 lookbook! All of my favorite finds of the season, stored away until today. These pieces are all headed to the shop tonight, handpicked vintage from the late 1930s all the way to the early 90s. Eyelet lace, seersucker, madras plaid, chambray, liberty print cotton, creamy silk.

blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook
blooming leopold vintage spring lookbook

Photos shot by Neil at beautiful Percy Warner Park. This was a fun afternoon to spend outside, the weather was perfect and everywhere we turned was another pastoral setting, right in the middle of Nashville. The little purple weeds dotted an entire hillside, which made me think of visiting the wind-swept moors of Haworth as a kid (although Nashville is not as pretty and quite a bit warmer). All of this scenery makes me miss living in the country.

More photos here. Lookbook items hitting the shop soon!

Monday, February 28, 2011

sewing saturday.. completed wide legged high waist trousers!

sewing saturday! wide legged chambray trousers

Sewing Saturday! This weekend, I finished the wide legged chambray trousers I started a couple of weeks back.

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To start, I sewed the two back pieces together at the center seam and sewed the darts in as well, much like I did with the front pieces previously. I then pressed the zipper opening by 5/8 inch and 1/2 inch on the front piece, hand basting the zipper in place (long, easy-to-remove red stitches in the first photo). Once the zipper was firm, I turned the pockets inside out, pressed them, and pinned them to their designated spots at the front of the pants. I sewed the two ends at the top and sides then topstitched along the curve, leaving the pocket opening at the top.

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I then sewed the zipper in place using my machine's zipper foot. I attached the front and back pieces together at the sides then eased them to fit in the middle. I sewed the legs together from the crotch down. Once the legs were formed, I pressed then sewed the openings. I allowed a two inch seam, although now I know I'll have to hem them a whole lot more if I want them to fit me. Maybe I'll cuff them at the bottom.

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Now for the waistband! I attached the faced piece of waistband to the waist of the pants, right sides together, matching markings on both pieces. I sewed them together within their seam allowance, trimmed the seams, then pressed the waistband upwards. The other piece of waistband was left. I ironed the 5/8 inch seam allowance on the notched edge of the un-faced waistband piece, then attached it to the faced waistband, right sides together, sewing the top and sides. I trimmed edges and turned them outside in, ironing the waistband flat. The 5/8 inch seam allowance that was ironed inwards is now at the inside of the trousers. I slip stitched the inside piece of waistband to the pants, carefully and discreetly.

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The last step involved sewing some hook and eye closures to the waistband opening.. and then, done!

sewing saturday! wide legged chambray trouserssewing saturday! wide legged chambray trousers
sewing saturday! wide legged chambray trousers

Now, these pants are nearly the entire length of me. So I'll have to do some major hemming. And the waist is a bit big too, but that's a problem easily fixed with a belt. I can't wait to wear them! What do you think I should pair them with? I've just found a pretty nude lace crop top that I might try wearing out with these pants (if I'm feeling brave and not going to church).

Friday marked the death of a friend of mine - my laptop. Red wine was spilled and all was lost. While being without my Macbook is definitely a pain (as well as losing some much-loved photos and files on my hard drive), I'm really looking forward to a new computer! Mine was nearly four years old, so it was about time to retire him anyway. Any laptop suggestions? Is the new 13 inch Macbook a good buy?

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

etsy shop updates.. now daily! cotton stripes and dooney and bourke

vintage two tone DOONEY AND BOURKE surrey bag
vintage cotton STRIPED nautical blouse

Etsy shop update! Dooney and Bourke surrey bag and a cotton striped button up for a nautical adventure.

And I've got great shop news.. not only am I increasing my shop inventory, I'm also updating my shop on a daily basis from now on! Definitely check back and see what else gets added this week!

Here's a sneak peak of things to come.. chambray, fur, and some lovely Marie Antoinette suede heels. Also, expect ric rac dresses, high waisted shorts, and plenty of seafoam green and velvet.

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I'll be posting my favorite fall/winter 2010 collection tomorrow!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

black, blue. chambray trousers and wide brimmed hats

wooden heart
wooden heart
wooden heart

Photos by Neil!

Chambray High Waist Trousers - Thrifted
Black Velvet Bodysuit, Brown Belt - Forever21
Wide Brimmed Hat, Lace Up Heels, Heart Tights, Wooden Heart Necklace - H&M

More chambray! These pants (found at Goodwill last Saturday on half off day) are lightweight and so comfortable.

wooden heart
wooden heart

Light blues are all over the place.. probably because they embody spring, which everyone seems to be lusting after right now. Ahh, to wear navy playsuits and sailor shorts. These bright dresses are recent spring-y finds of mine. The polka dot pink and yellow hand smocked dresses were traded, Etsy style, with super sweet Corky of Cork Spork.. I absolutely love the pastels of the yellow and green dress, and I'm thinking it may become my Easter dress this year.

spring dresses

The other two - the red and white ruffle dress and the pink puff sleeve dress - are both thrifted finds I'll be putting in the shop on Monday. The red and white dress is really perfect for Valentine's Day. Too bad I found it a few days too late.

Neil and I are headed out tomorrow morning for our St. Louis Valentine trip! Since both of us went to college at a school near St. Louis, we made a lot of visits to the city and therefore have a million memories there - we went on our first date in St. Louis and celebrated anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays with friends there. Neil also proposed to me there! It's a fantastic urban city with a wonderful culinary scene and a ton of unique traits (and no, I'm not just talking about the Arch). It'll always be our city standard to compare all other cities by.

Besides reliving some memories and being romantic and couple-y, we're going to eat a lot (dinner at Niche and brunch at Rooster!) and shop a lot (H&M!). And stock up on a whole lot of wine (Trader Joe's!) and local St. Louis brewery beer (Schlafly!). While all of this is wonderful, I just can't wait to have 48 hours alone with Neil Winter.

Happy Valentine's Day! What are your plans?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

etsy shop update! chambray dresses and knee high boots.

vintage CHAMBRAY mini dress


vintage navy and cream LACE coat


vintage 1970's LEATHER knee high boots


vintage high waisted POLKA DOT skirt



Well, I found my Valentine's Day dress this weekend! I'll be posting about it this week.. I've got to wear it for an outfit post before Valentine's because I can't wait. Sunday is just too far away.

Happy Monday, all!