Me Made May 2014: Week 1

Day 1: Rehearsal Dinner Dress / Day 2: Unblogged Refashioned XXXL T-shirt 

 Day 3: Orange Gingham Sixties Shorts / Day 4: Unblogged Leopard Print Ponte Laurel Dress

How's everyone's first week of Me-Made-May 2014? Mine is off to a good start. Thank goodness spring is officially here, so I have more appropriate outfit options available. If you follow me on instagram, you've already seen these shots, but I like to do a little round-up each week, too. 

This weekend the weather was amazing and we did some antiquing. I wore my gingham shorts out into the wild for the first time. I also took a bunch of photos. Enjoy!

July

I cannot believe it's August already. To me, that means summer is basically OVER, but I'm not even sure what happened to my July. It was my birthday month, as you know, and it was a busier few weeks than I'd expected. The sewing WIPs are still moving slowly (I'm trying not to admit I'm in a little bit of a rut), but I did manage to acquire some new-to-me vintage things, which is always fun.

First up, I found this vintage dress at Goodwill on my birthday. I love the color palette of the fabric and the ILGWU tag indicates it's from the 1950s or '60s.

The fabric is soft and semi-sheer and has begun to pill slightly in some areas. There has been some mending done to it by a previous owner and a little more is needed now, especially along the waistline. It'll take a little work before I can wear this out in public, but I think it'll be great.

During my birthday weekend, Tom took me to my favorite antique store in downtown Leesburg. The vendor there who stocks her room with vintage sewing patterns and notions was having a closing shop sale, which was good and bad because I'll really miss shopping in her section, but there were great deals to be had. I picked up two cute patterns for an awesome price.

In another vendor's room I found this pretty blue cotton 1950s Swirl dress. It is just the right shade of blue and the floral fabric used for the skirt is so cute.

Some surprising construction detials on this dress include an elastic waist, just on the back of the dress, and a full front zipper, rather than a side or center back zip.  The bodice has cute rows of pin-tucks and the skirt is pleated, which always seems a little bit more flattering than a gathered skirt.

I wore this dress out to dinner with Tom to celebrate my birthday at a Thai restaurant in DC. It was delicious and I was so glad to be wearing this comfy cotton dress while sweating my face off as we devoured spicy food in the quaint, un-air-conditioned restaurant. :)

What about you all -- was July a busy month for you too? Did you pick up any exciting vintage or sewing goodies?

On the sewing table

Today I went to my favorite antique store with an old friend and scooped up the far left and far right patterns shown below. The center pattern is a recent purchase from Etsy that was just too cute to pass up. Not sure just when I'll be sewing these up (though they'd all be great for spring & summer!), but thought I'd go ahead and share them anyway. Who here doesn't like to peek at vintage patterns??

The big green bow (a bit lighter/brighter in real life) was also just done today and will soon be part of my Mad Men dress I've been working on. Hopefully I'll be finishing up the dress in the next week, so I can take a few photos and have time to officially submit it to Julia Bobbin before the April 19 deadline. Yikes - back to work!

CA Vacation: Part 2

Alternate post title: LAX, Burbank, Atascadero, Paso Robles, San Simeon, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey, Redwood City, and San Francisco!

We went all over the place in this state! We flew into LA, rented a car, and made our way up to Redwood City (near SF) where my sister lives, stopping all along the way in any place that piqued our interest.

Here are a few shots from what I think was our first full day in LA, where we stayed with Tom's film school friend he hadn't seen in something like 10 years. Crazy, right? He took us on a tour of the area, showing us all the cool things locals like. We spent some time at the Griffith Observatory, where I caught my one and only glimpse of the Hollywood sign.

On our way out of LA, we made a point to stop at Mood. We got there right when they opened, so it was pretty quiet. I was like a kid in a candy shop, smiling and touching everything, but I was also pretty overwhelmed. I managed not to buy a single thing - thank goodness Tom took photos, or else I'd have nothing to remember it by! I'm definitely glad we stopped there, but I really wish I'd taken the time to plan a shopping/project list, so I could have made some smart purchases, instead of just drooling over all of the pretty bolts upon bolts upon bolts of fabric.

I had to include these snaps Tom took out front by the sign. I'm even wearing a me-made top! Speaking of me-mades worn on the trip, I also wore my Polka-Dotted New Look 6000 on the plane, which was great because it's polished yet casual.

Our brief stop in Paso Robles was really great! We hit up a pretty cool antique mall, and I bought the mail-order pattern I shared in my earlier post.  We also stopped at Cass winery, whose wines we've been really liking. We ate a great lunch there and then hopped back in the car. Next time we're in the area, we'll have to spend some more time exploring Paso Robles.

Then we traveled to Hearst Castle in San Simeon. At first, I was a little un-enthused to be there, but once we hopped on the bus that carries you up the windy roads to the top of the hill, I was hooked. The scenery was so pretty and when we got to the house, the architecture and gardens blew us away. Everything was exciting and beautiful to look at. Not a dull spot in the whole place.

After staying in Atascadero, and then spending our short time in Paso Robles, we made our way to Carmel. The scenery just kept getting better, though some of the windy roads along the cost were making me queasy at points - it was totally worth it! Once in Carmel, we ate some amazing food and marveled at all of the pretty houses, landscaping, and just cute little streets there, though most of the stores we could have stopped in were out of our price range.

After Carmel, we stopped in Monterey, where we found some more antique stores along Cannery Row.  Then we made the final stretch of our road trip up to Redwood City, where my sister lives (and where we took very few photos because we were too busy eating great food, petting the dog and cat, and generally having a great time).  One place we did make a point to stop when we went into San Francisco for a day was the Cliff House. They have the best cocktails! I had a super delicious pear martini and Tom had something old-timey that had milk or egg whites or something in it! It was great.

All in all it was an awesome vacation. There were so many great antique and vintage shops to check out, all the food we at was amazing, I officially set foot in Mood, and the scenery all along our journey was spectacular.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to land back in DC at the end of the week, though. :)

June's Finds

This month, I went to a couple of estate sales and yard sales. I thought you all might like to see what I picked up. Get excited!

Yippee! - (source)

It all started when I found an estate sale listed on Craigslist, described as a "mid-century time capsule." How could I resist! It was held on a Friday and a Saturday, so, since my current work schedule is M-F, I was only able to go for the second day of the sale (once I'm done with training at my new job, I'll likely have a Sunday through Thursday work week, though!). I'd had a nagging feeling that all the really great stuff would get snapped up before I could get there on the second day, so my estate sale buddy and I showed up right when the doors opened on Saturday morning. 

 

My suspicions were somewhat correct, as the selection was a bit picked over and the woman in charge let me know that someone had bought all of the sewing supplies on Friday. Understandable, I suppose. The house itself was fun to check out, though, as the kitchen appeared to have been untouched since the 1960s, at the latest (why didn't I get a photo!). As I investigated the bedrooms,  I found these cute napkins that I just had to buy, tucked away in a box of old curtains. They came with this booklet describing all the fancy ways to fold the napkins into animals and other fun shapes, like they do at nice restaurants. I'm not a huge collector of vintage linens, but, at $3 for the set of four, I couldn't pass these up.

Pretty "Vera" floral napkins, with folding instructions

 

While we were out and about that Saturday, we saw a sign for another estate sale nearby and found a yard sale across the street when we pulled up to the house - double whammy!

The house where the estate sale was being held was rather interesting. There were many rooms, including two kitchens, a back, windowless den/room filled to the brim with Christmas decorations, and a lovely little greenhouse/enclosed porch off of a bedroom. While rummaging in the laundry room, I found a bin of sewing supplies and a couple worn and torn, unremarkable 1970s sewing patterns. I managed to dig this bodkin out of the bin and bring it home, complete with original packaging. It seems like a pretty useful tool to have in one's sewing kit and ended up costing something like 50cents.

bodkin!

When we checked out the yard sale across the street, much to my surprise, I found some pretty linens, scarves, and fabric, and my shopping buddy found some cute little lanterns. I ended up bringing home this cheerful floral fabric, with a bright pink, blue, orange, and green print on a white background - four yards for $1! I'd originally thought it was some kind of linen or linen-like blend because of its stiffness, but after laundering it, it feels like soft cotton, and has a little more drape to it. I've really been wanting a bright floral - I'm hoping it'll get used for a sundress sometime soon.

pretty floral cotton

After our yard sale and estate sale success that morning, we were still hungry for more, so we ventured out to downtown Leesburg to hit up some antique stores.  When we stopped by my favorite, Black Shutter Antiques, I snapped up this cute 1960 Simplicity dress pattern for $5 (not the best bargain I've ever seen, but still a good price!). I love the sweet, simple neckline on the dress.

1960 Simplicity 3340

The straight skirt view paired with the coordinating jacket instantly made me think of Emma Stone's character in The Help when she goes to her job interview. Her outfit is a bit different, but there's nothing cuter than a matching dress and jacket like this! I have quite a bit of brown tweed from a past yard sale that I could use to achieve a similar look. We'll see how I feel come autumn.

 

Skeeter Phelan lands a job at the Jackson Journal by carolatthemovies featuring flat leather boots

Finished Project: Gathered Skirt (and a little road trip)

Over the long Memorial Day weekend, Tom and I made a quick trip to Charlottesville, VA. It's such a beautiful area and is a town we've been wanting to explore more. The night before we left, I whipped up this basic gathered skirt using Gertie's tutorial and some brown cottony fabric from the estate sale I went to last month. This make was quick and simple and I didn't do a single stitch of hand sewing - couldn't be bothered. It ended up being the perfect thing to wear in the hot, muggy weather we had.

top: Target; belt: thrifted; skirt: me-made, with Gertie's tutorial; shoes: Target.

Luckily for me, my measurements matched up with those Gertie used in her tutorial, so I didn't even have to do any math to whip this baby up. A quick project like this was just what I needed. I didn't need to be a slave to an instruction booklet and was able to just kind of wing it after glancing at Gertie's tutorial. As I said, I didn't do any hand sewing for this skirt, even though Gertie recommended it for attaching the inside of the waistband and sewing the hem. I didn't have the time or the energy for that, and on such a casual skirt, I don't think it really matters - at least not to me!

If you look closely in either of these pictures you can see that not only did I blatantly machine stitch the hem, but I even used black thread. I don't have any brown! Such a rebel.

machine-stitched hem

My main goals for this project were to:
1) have something cute/comfortable to wear on my trip, and
2) to practice making a full gathered skirt, which I was surprised to realize I'd never done before.
Mission accomplished, I'd say. I'm planning to use this same technique - recommended by Gertie - of using a zig-zag stitch over a strand of cord/thicker thread to make the gathering stitch, rather than the 3 rows of basting I've heard about before, for my spotted pink/black wedding guest dress. I've actually made a little bit of progress on that front, which I'll share soon.

While in C'ville, we got to act like tourists and walked all over the place checking out cute little shops and restaurants. I found one shop called Vintage Vixen (sound familiar? - how many sites/blogs/stores have a combination of those two words in their name!) and rushed inside...only to find expensive, designer clothes, largely from the 70s and 80s, though a few were from the 60s and a couple from the 50s. There were a couple of items to my taste, but not in my price range (I'm pretty cheap).

Much of our little visit in Charlottesville revolved around food. We made a mandatory stop at Cook-Out, Tom's favorite fast food restaurant of all time, and grabbed some cheddar style burgers and a peach cobbler shake. Later in the day we found ourselves at The Whiskey Jar at the outdoor downtown mall, which was a rather unique and delicious experience. I sipped some moonshine punch, munched on some complimentary fresh, homemade pickles(!), and debated ordering some fried chicken and collards (but ultimately passed - it was just too hot out to stuff my face with more food).

Sitting outside at The Whiskey Jar; moonshine punch; Cook-Out feast

For dinner we ended up driving out to the famous Crozet Pizza. The drive was scenic and we got to see lots of pretty farmland and some mountain views. The restaurant was essentially unchanged since being built 30ish years ago, and had a great atmosphere. There were brown-with-age business cards pinned to the walls by past customers and a well-worn patina on every surface in sight. AND the pizza was just as delicious as expected.

It was a quick, one-night trip, and on our drive back up to Northern Virginia the next day, we stopped at an antique mall where Tom sneakily bought this for me and hid it in my bag without me even noticing. 

The New Encyclopedia of Modern Sewing - 1949

I love all of the little illustrations

It's chock full of helpful advice and cute illustrations. There are also some outfit photos...which were difficult to capture via camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Chapter 2. Sew a Straight Seam

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty good weekend. I successfully whipped up a quick sewing project, ate some (meaning a LOT of) tasty food, and even managed to bring home a vintage sewing book. Hooray!

P.S. as you read this, I'll be at my first day of the new job, so send me some good-luck thoughts!

February finds

Earlier this month, I hit up one of my favorite antique stores in the area. This place has got a little bit of everything, including a great clothing selection with a good amount of guys' stuff, too. The prices are fairly reasonable, could be a little lower on some things, but the huge variety and selection makes up for any of that, in my opinion.

This time I was able to pick up a few goodies that I'm pretty excited about. Up first, a cute little sweater/top I found. The high neckline and little collar seemed so sixties to me. It had it's original tags, (proclaiming its 100% nylon content) which is always a plus.

Me, trying to make this outfit look as wrinkly and bunchy as possible, apparently! (Look just to the right, at the corner of the door/window behind me. Duke says "hi!" - you can kind of see his pink collar to help spot him.)

Here's what it looks like when the model is not hunching forward!

And from the back - there's a little zip, too.

The other piece of clothing I was able to snatch up is also a '60s sweater. This one is a soft acrylic cardigan with a cute pattern (...is that the right word for it? I don't know knitting terminology, yet!) that's slightly sheer on the front. I love the look of this one, with the high neckline, shorter long-sleeve length, and yarn covered buttons.

Love this light blue!

Yarn-covered buttons.

Once I finally learn to knit, and am ready for a sweater, I want to make something like this!

But, wait you guys, there's more. I didn't just pick up clothes; I found this adorable 1960 Vogue pattern, too! It's got my favorite collar type (peter pan, y'all!), and at first glance just looks like a regular old blouse. However, this baby includes a waistband, so it's actually kind of like a little jacket. One version even has a little bow at the waistband! I adore the pattern illustration on this one, but for some reason, I keep picturing this little jacket thing in purple, with a matching pencil skirt (maybe Jenny, finally?).

Vogue 9961

In other news, there is an a-mazing giveaway going on over at lady danburry's Thinking in Shapes. This girl sews amazing things available in her store, for example these denim trousers!

lady danburry denim trousers - I WANT!

But, yes, back to the giveaway! This skilled seamstress has created a beautiful Mad Men inspired dress that she's offering as a prize (in two sizes! 2 & 8) you could win by simply commenting on her post. She'll be choosing two winners on Friday, March 2nd. Did I mention this lady is seriously talented? Check out the neckline on this dress, and the shaping darts for an hourglass silhouette. Simply lovely. Now get on over to her blog.

You could win this Mad Men inspired dress by lady danburry!