sewing saturday no. 4.. i'm making a jumper! the beginning

Well, it's official. The beginnings of my first handmade garment are completed, and I'm a few steps closer to having a completed jumper.

My mom came over earlier this week to help out, and she clarified a lot of things for me.. mainly, that the pattern I was tackling for my first job was not as easy as I thought, as it called for pattern alterations and didn't explain every step as clearly as a pattern for beginners would. Essentially, the Built By Wendy Dress book is not complicated - but if you're starting out on patterns and have no experience like me, it's best to start with something simpler. The BBW book has three basic patterns that you alter and vary from dress to dress. It has no seam allowances because of this and while it's a clever idea, it's a bit too clever for me at the moment.

So, my mom helped me pick out a beginner's pattern from my vintage stash and we ended up with the pattern above.. a playful jumper circa 1968!

Now, this pattern involves all of the steps that I was running from before.. button holes, zippers, darts (which, ok, are inevitable in almost any dress pattern), and the dreaded ruffle. But on the positive side, the instructions are fail proof and detailed. I can do this. I think.

The steps completed thus far have been a bit time consuming, which means I haven't gotten as much done as I would like. I'm also being a naggy perfectionist about it all, which translates to a slow worker.

We cut out the pattern's nine pieces.

I laid out the pattern pieces on the folded lengthwise, right sides faced-together fabric (the pattern tells you how to lay them out so the fabric's print is cohesive when you sew it together), placed certain pieces (part of the bodice and one of the facings) on the fold, and pinned them all.

Then, I cut them out. Some required doubles, like the ruffle and the shoulder straps, so I re-pinned the same pieces and repeated the process.

Ok. So, that's it for now! Next week, I'll tackle these instructions..

Or at least a portion of them.

Other decisions to be made in the meantime.. do I add rick rack, or is this jumper already cutesy enough?

And which buttons do I use for the shoulder straps? I could use any of these or maybe just some plain white ones.

I'm a fan of the brown vintage ones but they're a little big. I think I can find their miniature counterparts at a craft store, though.

In other news, I've acquired some pretty cool stuff recently. A lovely woman that lives a bit outside of Nashville has a friend who works with estate sales, and when he needs a place to drop off big bags of vintage clothing, he heads her way. Lately, she's had too many pieces to deal with, so she's been selling them in bulk. I bought over 60 pieces from her yesterday.. mostly dresses and coats, but also purses, shoes, hats, pretty blouses, and even some lovely fabric - a blue floral broadcloth, a camel colored velvet, and my favorite - a sheer flocked swiss dot cotton in light pink. I keep imagining a springtime, sleeveless drop waist dress when I look at it.

Most of the pieces are from the 1960's, but some are from the 40's, many 50's, a few 70's.. a couple pieces are a bit later, like a grunge bodysuit in black with a scalloped neckline and a pair of patterned harem pants that make me want to watch Do The Right Thing and dance with Rosie Perez in her painful mullet days. Fight the power.

Some plaid, some paisley (recently my sister talked about the colors of a 1970's bathroom in a bad way.. because they're, well, bad. Puke greens and browns and oranges. Well, one paisley dress has all of these colors but still manages to be really super lovely), some floral, a couple peter pan collars, some stripes, plenty of bows and lace and lots, LOTS, of tailored coats (two Vogue Paris Originals!). Wiggle dresses, suit jackets with matching pencil skirts, turtleneck tops, housecoats. Even a few dresses suited for evening wear.

I could go on forever about these clothes. Here are just a couple of the pieces, plus another recent find.

The seafoam green clock radio was found at an estate sale Neil and I hit up last weekend. And it works!

We also found an 8 millimeter Kodak Brownie camera with its original case from the early 50's.. their first movie making model. I have absolutely no idea how to work it or how to transfer the film to my computer, but once I do, I'm filming everything with this guy. I've been watching YouTube films made with 8mm cameras and the look is muted and magical. And this film of Rhiannon from last fall that Drew made.. it left such an impression on me. I don't know what camera they used (although I've probably talked to them about it before and knew at one point, my memory is miserable and I forget everything), but it most definitely has a vintage look.

That's all for today. We're headed to see Alice in Wonderland in IMAX tonight! If it's half as cool as Batman Returns or Edward Scissorhands or The Nightmare Before Christmas or any of Tim Burton's earlier films, I'll be satisfied.

etsy shop updates.. back to mondays! springtime lace, pink roses, and soft pastels

1950's L'AIGLON Spring Roses Day Dress

Vintage LACE Cotton Crop Top

Vintage Orange FLORAL Ruffle Blouse

1970's Spring PLAID in PASTELS Dress

Vintage RIC RAC Mint Green Dress

Etsy shop update! All for the springtime.

I've decided to go back to my old ways of updating the shop on Mondays.. it's much simpler this way, there's no chance of procrastinating or forgetting to list an item, and it allows me to dedicate one post to every week's update. Not that I won't go back to listing daily.. eventually, I will.

So.. here's this week!

Now, here is the seafoam green I was talking about last week.. the Ric Rac dress, above, as well as a 70's shirt dress in seafoam green. And don't forget about these double breasted, high waisted navy trousers. No green to them, but still super cool.

I'll also be adding new items to the SALE section and maybe doing some additional markdowns, as well.. so keep an eye on it over the next couple of days.

Happy beginning of the week!

sewing saturday no. 3.. an organized sewing space

It's Sewing Saturday!

As you may know, I've been talking up my first handmade dress project for about a month. Well, this week I've taken steps towards starting it. Actual, you know, sewing, has yet to happen. Maybe it's my fear of messing it up that's putting it off, maybe it's a bit of overzealous caution. At any rate, I'm covering all my bases before diving in and making the first cut.. I've chosen the pattern and its variation, and - I have a clean workspace.

Here is what my sewing space looked like before..

And here is what it looks like now!

I retired my old desktop computer to our attic (sad day for me, but it's for the best.. that's my old school computer game PC) and moved my sewing machine from its small table in the corner to the much larger desk. It'll be nice to actually have room for the garments I'm sewing, now!

The green box filled with folded clothes next to the tall shelf on the left is designated for projects I'm currently working on.

I organized all of my shop items as well as my fabric and consolidated them into the shelving unit on the left. I also stowed away my sewing knick knacks into a couple of baskets (sewing pieces in one, packaging supplies in the other), and I used two shoeboxes I love (the great UO ones that slide open) for other assorted items - one for hair pin supplies, another for random items like glue gun sticks. Wow, it feels good to actually know where things are. I can't tell you how often I've bought supplies I ended up not needing just because things were hidden in a messy pile.

My favorite project was super simple and easy. I love all of the lace I've accumulated, so I wanted to display it somehow.. solution? I stuck four nails in the wall and used them to hang my lace up! I also used a pretty (and clean!) beer bottle and some old thrift store mugs to store flowers and craft supplies on the desk. And the lamp is a 1970's find from an Illinois thrift store a few years back, for five dollars.

Actually.. nearly everything in my sewing room is secondhand. The desk belonged to my friend's little sister, who gussied it up in that great mint green hue and some colorful stickers (there are yellow stenciled stars on the back side that I'm sure you're dying to see). The majority of my fabrics are vintage. The floral bulletin board was found at a thrift store back in my college town. The green baskets were stolen from my sisters at one point during childhood.. does that count as secondhand?

Thanks for all of your pattern suggestions from a couple of weeks ago! Here is the pattern I've decided to try. Ultimately, I went with the overall jumper because of its versatility. Since I'm using a brown liberty print broadcloth, I can ideally wear this garment in the fall as easily as I can wear it in the summer or springtime. Because of this, I chose the pattern without long sleeves (like American Pastoral, which was probably my favorite) and without the summery breeziness of the Capri Sundress. And since it's a jumper.. well, it's built for layering, which means a tank top in the summer, a long sleeved Victorian-style blouse in the fall.

I'm also using the pattern's variation - skipping the pocket and adding a peter pan collar. Let's face it, what dress couldn't use a peter pan collar?

Expect some progress (and some actual sewing) next Sewing Saturday!

I also wanted to thank all of you that have showed me your versions of the past two projects I've made.. what a wonderful feeling to know you guys are using my sewing ideas! I've especially loved seeing photos of the shorts you all have made from thrift store finds. Looking at how lovely they turn out, it's a wonder there are still girls out there that pay a fortune for new ones.

Here's a sneak peak of the loveliest liberty print dress I've ever seen. I spotted it in Jessica's beautiful Etsy shop, and we made a vintage trade! I'll be shortening the skirt a bit and wearing it for a fun blogger meet up I have planned for this week, probably with black tights and heels.. more soon!

necessity is the mother of invention.. or at least the older sibling.

photos by Neil!

White and brown clover blouse - thrift (from a 60s/70s Girl Scout jumper)

Seafoam green button up skirt - 80s thrift

1960s gold buttoned heels - gift from Rhi! (thrift)

Green vintage lace collar bow - fabric store in Hohenwald, TN

Thank you for the wonderful Etsy store reception, all... and to let you know, 24 hours left for the free shipping deal!!

Modcloth recently listed a Terrific Transformations Contest on their fantastic blog, asking bloggers to post about a major event or transformation in their life that changed the way they saw things. What an awesome idea - we've all had those moments/days/years. Here is mine. :)

I believe my transformation is happening as we speak.. and it's possibly the biggest one of my short life. Neil and I have almost been married for a year, I've been out of college for longer than that, but for the first time I truly feel like we're doing things on our own. We, together, are standing on our own (four) feet. It's a time that's filled with millions of contradicting emotions - we're pleased, proud, terrified, in awe, excited. Terrified.

We recently moved to Nashville and both had jobs when we made the jump. Unfortunately, one week after starting mine, I was laid off due to lack of business (and me being the last person hired.. well, you get the idea). While this freed up time for things that I absolutely love (this blog, Salvation Army, reading classics, playing computer games, starting the store), it didn't exactly free up any money. As we are right now, relying solely on Neil's income, we don't quite have enough to pay the bills. We might have to go into our savings in order to pay for things like groceries and internet in the next couple of months.. how scary is that?

It truly is a scary beginning, but what baffles Neil and I is the sense of peace that we have. We are happy more than sad, comfortable more than scared. Really, really content.. and for the first time, I feel all of these creative ideas just running rampant. All of a sudden, when more important things are at stake (like eating, for example!), I'm visualizing all of these blog posts to write, interviews to conduct, pieces to sew, podcasts to listen to (Winston Churchill rocks and he was literally built for wartime, a really interesting guy). I feel more and love more (my husband is even cooler than Winston Churchill), and I've probably learned more in the last two weeks than I have in college, too. I've certainly worked harder. My faith is stronger.

Life has been too easy until now, I've had few responsibilities. You don't learn anything from easy life, you don't grow. But now that it's a bit tougher, I appreciate nearly everything.. and for some reason, my brain feels more efficient and my mind is racing with good things. Working at jobs I don't enjoy and are not fulfilled by makes me seek positions that will fulfill and sustain me. The same with Neil - he's always enjoyed cooking, but there is a renewed passion in him now.

Is it true? Is necessity truly the mother of invention? 

This entry is in no way meant to attract pity. Neil and I will be fine, I've been looking for other jobs, I'm very pleased with how my store has turned out so far, and we have fantastic families who will always be there to help us out. What I mean to do by writing this, is, I guess.. to emphasize the importance of attitude and perspective. The happiest man in the world is not the richest or the most beautiful, I'm convinced. It's the man who chooses happiness over resentment or greed or anger. I really believe that we have more power over our circumstances than our circumstances do over us. We decide what makes or breaks us. I didn't say it was easy, but we do have the power.

So here we are, living a semi-bohemian lifestyle with a frugal budget. I don't know the next time I'll be able to shop at Urban Outfitters or go out to eat at a great place, and I really don't mind.

I'd love to hear all of your transformational stories - what you guys are going through right now! I was so blessed by your responses to my first post, your stories about your not-so-relevant degrees. Also, about losing family pets last month. It's a comfort to realize how often we are all going through the same experiences in life.