sewing saturday! a handmade romper.. choosing, cutting, and marking

Well, we're back in Tennessee! We left late last night in some serious thunderstorms, and now we're at my parent's house south of Nashville. We can't get into the city because of flooding, but thankfully we're safe right outside of it. We'll be driving back home in the morning.

And now for a slightly late Sewing Saturday. I've started another project.. a vintage romper pattern from the 70's! I'm making the short romper to the left with elastic at the leg openings.

Once I chose which floral fabric to use, I cut out the pattern pieces. I chose the blue and purple floral fabric that I found when I bought the large amount of vintage from a woman outside of Nashville earlier this year. The fabric feels similar to the broadcloth I used in my first project, but a little lighter, makes it a good summer outfit with some black tights and the strappy black sandals I just bought.

I folded the fabric, right sides together, and pinned the pieces to the fabric.

I cut the pieces out, then colored in the seam allowances and other markings on the back side of the fabric according to the directions on the pattern pieces.

It feels great to have the most time-consuming and least creative parts (cutting and marking. no fun) finished. I can't wait to actually sew the romper!

Our trip to Illinois was exactly what I wanted it to be. We ate out, stayed up late with friends, and drank good coffee. I even had a chance to hit up a local thrift store and found it filled with so much goodness that I stayed for almost two hours. I bought a bunch of sewing patterns, fabric, buttons, and clothes for the shop. The patterns are all old and lovely (and they cost me a quarter a piece!) - I only bought 8 or 9, which was a feat, considering they had well over 100. Some included iron-on transfers with funny 70's style birds and flowers, others had applique cut-outs with instructions. My favorite find had to be the vintage fabric. I have a bunch of liberty print and summery gingham to work with now, not to mention a sturdy patchwork fabric that my mom says I should make into a tablecloth. I'll be posting photos later this week!

lula snapshots and a dotted swiss sewing project

It's that time again.. Issue 10 of Lula is out! I picked it up earlier in the week when Neil and I were having a Borders date. Here are some snapshots of a few of my favorite things.

Issue 10 is beautiful as always, filled with polka dots, bow ties, and plenty of hair inspiration. A highlight is its birthday spread. Lula just turned 5 this year, and there's a lovely celebration shoot complete with party dresses and vintage inspired swimsuits.

When we hit up Borders, I also read a bit of the latest issue of Nylon as well as Elle Magazine's Spring/Summer 2010 Collections issue. I'm not a big collection or runway person.. they can get overwhelming. Smaller designers and collections, I tend to like more.

But I gave Elle a shot and read through it to see if anything caught my interest. The layout was great. Ralph Lauren S/S 2010 surprisingly had a lot I was into.. mismatched chambray and denim, liberty print, 1920's glamorous flapper meets tailored golfer looks. Overalls and sheer baby blue tops. Mostly, the prairie style look that's hard to avoid right now and even harder to dislike.

There were interviews with interesting people liking interesting things.. specifically for me, pastels and bloomers. I'm still on a furious search for a bloomer sewing pattern that's high waisted and not too long so I can make some out of my tan velvet fabric I bought recently.

Nylon was sort of a bust. Not much I was into, and words like "fierce" (when used to describe something cool, not used to describe a lion) and "Lady Gaga" (self explanatory) make me turn the page pretty fast. But there were some good parts to the issue - such as its homage to white lace, which I still can't get enough of, and some pretty underwire gingham swimsuits (also in Lula) that immediately became my ideal suit to compare all future bathing suits to this summer.

I wanted to share my future sewing project with you guys, due to start soon.. I bought this lovely pattern from Myra Melinda, a fun Etsy shop filled with vintage greats (free shipping on sewing patterns!). It's a 1950's dress pattern with a full skirt and three variations. I'll be making the sleeveless version (can't decide if I want to make the detachable collar or not) in the pink dotted swiss fabric for a spring wedding coming up. The catch? The wedding is a week from Sunday. If I'm going to be making this in time, I'll have to work quickly.

And I have to announce this because I can't wait much longer.. I have finished my handmade jumper! I ironed it out today and it's ready to be worn. I'll be posting plenty of pictures on Saturday.

Mule Days, a country festival in Columbia, Tennessee, is happening tomorrow, so Neil and I are going to meet up with my mom and enjoy some flea market shopping, carnival food, and fun (and of course cheesy) fair events. I've decided to wear the jumper to the festival and take some photos there! There might even be a clogging dance.. although I don't exactly know what that is. We'll find out!