Catalog Sunday: Montgomery Wards 1933

Casual work on a dress.

Hello lovely people.

Brian and Brandy after being out in the sun too long.

We're in the car because walking got to be too much.

Garment Restoration: 1920s Halloween Dress

Good morning lovely people. Sorry about the lack of posts this week. I'm scrambling to get money together and I'm sure you all know how that is. 

As such, I'm having a fire sale in my etsy store, primarily on clothing. Lots of dresses marked down over 50%. I will also be listing many more vintage patterns over the week. I need to get $500 together by Monday. If you can help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Upcoming projects.

Hello lovely people.

I spent yesterday cleaning and rearranging my work areas as I prepare for a week of work.

MnM 2013 project: Linen Feedsack Beret

Good morning lovely people!

I have a side note of a personal matter.

This past week Brian sprained his leg (most likely jumping off the bed) and has been a tripod all week. He went to the emergency vet, and he said to give it some time before you take him in. Right now he's on meds. I've scheduled a visit with his regular vet this Monday, so let's hope it's not too serious or too expensive...

Brian with a frozen pea bag compress :)

Let's chat about the sew-along.

Hello lovely people.

Hope your week is going well. I've been busy these past couple of weeks. I have three current dress commissions. Whoa boy! I'm also working on Vintageville, which is getting really good feedback. Working on the comic is really fun, and I've got about 3 weeks planned in advanced.

Vintage Homemaking: How to be well-dressed on a smaller clothing budget

I'm feeling homemakie. 

One reason I'm feeling this way is because of Viva. Some of the weekender is still haunting me. Mainly, the dressing up. I really like dressing in my clothes but being home and freelancing a lot tends to keep me in my PJs.

Bathing Suit pt 5: Adding the details

Good morning and happy Friday lovely people.

I didn't do much this weekend.

My morning greeter.

Ever have that feeling? You make a list a mile long in your head to maximize those precious 48 hours only to discover that not much of what you planned got done.

Photo shoot: My work attire for Thursday.

I felt like wearing a dress yesterday. It's going to be cold and rainy for the rest of the weekend but I wanted to wear a dress, dammit. You know how you get those urges. 

Most of my dresses are a bit large, and my wool ones are too large. 

Time Capsule: Digging up projects from the past.

I've been sewing for a few years now. I think roughly 6. I remember really getting into sewing shortly after my mother's death, and thinking I could do it all. Of course, I knew nothing about grading, fit, fabric choices, etc. All I knew was that I was sewing and that was good enough, right?

A new blouse is finished!

Gooooooood morning one and all. 

Isn't it great to be busy? I love it. It makes me feel kind of important and even thought I have tons to do, in those brakes of chaos, I try to find something that I can do in order to fill the few hours.

Making clothes for myself lately has been the 'fill in' time. Normally, I can dedicate sewing to its own day. I do miss that, but I'm having so much fun lately, and I'm looking like a hobo in my oversized clothes, that I really needed to find, or rather make the time to get my behind some new clothes.

It has not been easy, but actually, eating better helps. I'm not always tired after work, and I can cram in a couple hours of sewing before dance class, or whatever else I need to do.

So the 30's blouse I was starting on a little while ago has been all fitted and ready to go. It just screams two tone, though, I want to do one solid with cool piping.

Du Barry border print dress progress

I am very mad at this dress.

Yay border prints!!

Happy Friday one and all! 

Brasco likes the new cotton rug in the bathroom.

Things are going pretty well for me. At work, the company just hired two more people to assist me with the work I'm doing (I have underlings!). I've been getting tons of deliveries of produce (I have a CSA) and am eating better. I have a juicer coming soon (yay) so I can start juicing my way to happiness.

Spoils of the Fabric District

Good morning everyone.

I have had a super busy weekend, and another busy week. It's been planned since the weekend: Monday, dancing. Tuesday, laundry. Wednesday, dancing. Thursday LACMA (museum of art). Friday, packing. Saturday, packing and dancing. Even Sunday is full. Whew!

Oh, I don't know if I posted this, but here is a photo of my new apartment building.

The Plain Pattern Project recap

Happy New Year everyone!

With the benchmark of a new year I feel a bit ashamed at asking, what happened!?

The Plain Pattern Project kind of teetered off the far end for mostly everyone. I get it, we all get busy, but I tried my darndest to keep it going and finished my three dresses. Did anyone finish?

Perhaps I was not the best hostess for the project. I did try to encourage as much as I could. Even hosted two giveaways? Is there anything else I could have done, or was I just a victim to the tide of people with busy lives? I think the ladder.

Well, it's water under there bridge.
With the positive view of the philosophy of the PPP, I think it can be an ongoing sewing tenant. Take a look at those plain patterns every once and a while. Appreciate them and study the craftsmanship of them. I can't tell you how much I learned from this exercise.

Some Halloween photos...and the winner is...

Still recovering from Halloween weekend.

Good morning, everyone. I'm writing this before I get to work just to let you all know I had a blast over the weekend.

Saturday I caught up on some sleep and decided to finally put together my last PPP dress. I was going to wear it for Halloween where we were having a bake sale for my Dance Team for the Dance-A-Thon later this month (still plenty of time to donate)!!

Sunday I went to see the Tim Burton exhibition at LACMA. It was cool and very crowded. Kinda discouraging, but I saw the sections I wanted to see.

Now onto finishing some stuff.

My weekend of sewing.

This past weekend, I did a few things. I went to the LA fabric district to look for fabric on a few projects. I has been a while since I was able to treat myself to some nice fabric. I haven't found many patterns lately that I've been interested in, but I have been craving some fabric. 

For one project in particular, I have a trade going on with a lovely etsy seller. She has a dress that I have my eye on, and in exchange, she wants a dress made from one of my repro patterns.

Done.

I have the worst luck ever.

Hi everyone. I know I haven't posted much this week. I've been off my game something fierce. I'm not really sure why. I feel pretty good. I had cocktails with friends earlier in the week then went out dancing, which I had so much fun. I just can't seem to get on an even keel.

Perhaps it stress. I'm bugged out on a lot of things. But the plus is I do have a freelance gig lined up. Wish me luck everyone, mama need the cash.

Maybe I'm off because I'm trying to regulate by body clock. I've been trying to go to sleep by taking a mild sleep aid which helped the two days I took it. Then I switched to beer, and well, that didn't help. So I guess I have to get back on the sleep aid. It worked great. I didn't feel groggy or sluggish when I work up, but not too rested either. And I've heard mountains from friends about 'how much sleep' you need. Sheesh, everyone is an expert.

Mainly I think I'm bummed because I don't have the funds from my corset making supplies anymore. My scanner broke, again, and I need it for listing patterns on etsy, which is a good chunk of my income now, so that takes priority. 

Crap.