Pink Poodles!

Remember when you were a little kid and there was a certain costume that you were just dying to have? Yes? Well, for me that costume was a poodle skirt with those cute saddle shoes. A vintage "soda shop girl." I was to destined to love vintage :). Anyway all through elementary and up to middle school I wanted to have one so very very badly. But it hadn't happened by freshman year of high school, so I dropped the notion and resigned myself to never having a poodle skirt.

Until.

A few months ago, I found the absolute cutest black felt circle skirt with pink poodle appliques! I had intended to put it in my shop because the waist was 29" and my waist is a larger 33" (maybe a New Year's resolution will change that). Yesterday I got it out to list, but my love of dress up gave way to me trying it on, and color me surprised, it fit! I was absolutely thrilled. I suppose the wooly felt fabric is more forgiving than I thought.

The shirt was actually part of my Halloween costume last year. I was a pink poodle! I made cuffs for my ankles and wrists, a pink fur mini skirt, pink tights, and even made a poodle eared hat. I took a basic fitted pink t shirt and sewed the pink around the collar. It was my "ruff." I will have to post a picture of it sometime.

Sorry for the lower quality photos, but the sun had just gone to bed, so I had to work with incandescent light.

"She did what?!"

 I think this one looks rather pin-up-y.

 Back view of hair. I did "victory roll pin curl" for this set. My hair cut is really unprofessional, so it looks kind of scraggly right now, but I want it to be a little longer before I get a decent trim. I swept the sides up for a little volume and pinned the front hair for added volume as well.

 Here is a closer view of the appliques! Aren't they darling?

Petticoat!

I hope you enjoyed my pink poodles! I enjoy them immensely.They make me so very happy :). It's literally an abandoned dream come true.

Outfit

Poodle skirt- Antique Mall on High Street (Columbus)

Shirt- Thrifted, and upcycled by me

Petticoat- Etsy

Hat- Can't remember

50's Dance Shoes- Goodwill!

A New Dress From An Old Sheet

So, in my last post I talked about body shapes and talked about how great sewing was because it really gives you the chance to make something to truly fit and flatter your body. I got to thinking and thought I may as well make a dress to illustrate my point. I always buys a few patterns when they go on sale, so I have quite a few vintage reproductions and retro looking patterns in my possession. I even have a few true vintage patterns, but I am a scaredy cat when it comes to unprinted patterns. I decided to make Simplicity 1755. It's a Leanne Marshall pattern (she was on Project Runway).

I chose to make View B, but I decided to use the skirt from view A because it was longer, and I needed the length on account of being so tall. As you will see in the pictures of my dress, it really looks nothing like the picture. I will start by telling you that it was a muslin. Which, for those of you who don't know, is basically a rough draft of a pattern so you can figure out how to make it fit right. Luckily for me, the bodice fit and the waist hit in the right spot, so I didn't need to make any changes there. In the pattern, it calls for a zipper, but I just added some width to the back and sewed it up to make it slip over my head. It make the waist a little loose, but that's what belts are for :).

You might also notice that the neck line is completely different. That's because I didn't make the collar, and just tacked the edges down to create a somewhat sweetheart neckline.

So anyway, here is the result. I still need to hem it, but it's just for being around the house, so it doesn't need to be perfect. Also, I made it out of an old sheet, so you may notice some parts are more vibrant than others.


I wore a crinoline underneath it to give it a fuller look.

Snow on the ground.

See how on the sides, the print is really faint? That's the middle of the sheet.

Pockets!

So, there you have it. This really didn't take too long. I think it was a total of 3 days, but I didn't work on too long any one day. And this is just a muslin. If I decide to make it in a good fabric (I am still not sure I want too..) it will take me even less time.

Happy Sewing!

The Plight of the Oddly Shaped

Women are so vastly different. Buying clothing from stores is frustrating sometimes because it is hard to come up with shapes and styles to fit every body. Even with specialized sections like petites and talls it's still hard.

source

Fit issues, for me, have been a problem my whole life. When I was a young child (from about 3-9) I was extremely thin and a little on the tall side. My mom had to buy pants from the "slim" section, and even those would fall off. It seemed I was destined to be naturally willowy. But that all changed in 5th grade. I hit puberty early, and fast. I was the only 5th grader in my entire school who had boobs. I wore a 34 B when I was ten and eleven. Not only did that happen, but I gained quite a bit of weight in my face and tummy as well. And along with puberty came a huge growth spurt and I was towering above all the girls and boys. Good thing for me I was never the type prone to low self esteem or depression because I was quite an odd looking duck. In 5th grade I also experienced one of the worst things ever...I had to start shopping in the women's section. I was in denial at first, but I finally gave in when my pretty shirts from Limited Too started to look more like sausage casings and less like pretty shirts. 

All through middle school not much changed. I was chubby and very tall. Around freshman year of high school my weight re-positioned into more of an hourglass shape than an apple, and I had finally stopped growing at 6'1". I never really regained my thinness, I am a definite full hourglass, even though my wrists and ankles are very thin.

A lot of people say that hourglasses look good in almost everything. Well that isn't true at all. If you aren't wearing something that accentuates your waist, you can very well appear larger than you actually are. For me, not only am I an hourglass, but I am also tall. Not just tall, but unusually tall. Most girls over 5'8" consider themselves tall, and maybe they are, but that just make me extra tall. Most tall items that stores carry are still a little on the short side for me. And a lot of the styles I like (vintage/vintage reproduction) don't even have tall sizes available. *sigh*

So what's a tall, hourglass shape like me to do? Or any other non cookie-cutter size for that matter. I would say the est thing would e to make your own clothes. Now I know a lot of women don't really know how to sew, let alone own a sewing machine. But it is really not all that difficult. If you want to learn how I suggest taking a few classes at Jo-Ann's or finding someone in your area who knows how to sew and ask them to give you a few lessons. Personally, I am kind of self-taught, but having a mother and older sister who sew has helped quite a bit. And if it's an expensive sewing machine stopping you, don't let it. If you want to make a good investment a quality machine is great. But you can find great machines at thrift stores, garage sales, or estate sales. I have 2 machines. One was given to me by mother, a 60's or 70's Singer model. And my other machine is another Singer from the 50's with it's own desk. It also came with all the original attachments and accoutrements. It was $75 at a church garage sale, but since I was volunteering at the sale, they gave it to me for $10, which was so very sweet.

Or maybe you simply won't be swayed, There are plenty of seamstresses out there! Find one to make a garment for you. Some people balk at the prices, but the quality is going to be much better, last longer, and fit better than anything else you own. Definitely worth it. And really the price isn't too bad.

If it's vintage clothing you are longing for and can never find anything to fit,I highly recommend the seller on Etsy, TimeMachineVintage. I have been ogling her stuff for months! I don't have the money right now, but eventually I would like to order something from her. Her work is amazing! She can take any vintage pattern and make it to fit you to a T.

All images from TimeMachineVintage on Etsy.

Anyway, hope I have given you something to think about. I am not advertising for her or anything, I just really like her stuff :).

Happy New Year!

Well, it's officially 2013. The year really did fly by.

Most of the blogs I follow have some sort of "year in review" but being fairly new to the blogging world, I don't have a whole lot.

But here are some things I did do(that have happened) this year. These picture are not from my blog because they are before I started posting very much, but they are my pictures. Either me or my sister, Nikki took them.

Went to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Went to Las Vegas to visit my sister

 

Took a trip to the Hoover Dam

Went to the San Diego Zoo.

Dyed and cut my hair for the first time. First I dyed it blonder,then I dyed it red, then I got a haircut.

 

 Made my first apron.

Worked in an office.

Had a wonderful spring :).

Got my first pet, Roxie the Papillon.

Also.

 Had my first full year selling on Etsy. Had a first date (ultimately unsuccessful). Started dressing and hair styling with more of a vintage influence. Got braces. Got a new nephew.

And so many other things!

I didn't really make a New Year's Resolution this year, but I normally don't. Resolution's hold no motivation for me. I need some sort of incentive. So my incentive would probably be to be able to feel very comfortable in a swimming suit this year. And to give my incentives some tangibility, here are some suits that I love.

Technically it's a girl's size, but I love the style. From Etsy

This red polka-dot one from Modcloth

Well, I guess that will be all because I can't really figure the whole linking picture form other sites thing. Anyway, I hope y'all have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year. Here's to 2013. Cheers!

Christmas and a Snow day

Hey all!

I had a great Christmas this year! Not too many presents, mostly just gift cards and clothes (that's all I ever want except a horse, but I never get that). Anyway, my sister Heidi came up early and stayed for a few days before Christmas. My brother Micah and his wife and their kids came up too,but they were just here for Christmas. Being from a big family, we always miss anyone who isn't there. This year it was my sisters Nikki and Jaime. Nikki is in Vegas so we don't see her very often, but we usually see Jaime. However she moved to Arizona with her family around Thanksgiving. But it was still good.

The tree

We technically had a white Christmas (it was much more green than white), but of course the day after we got a ton of snow.

In other news, I cleaned my carpet. My dad got one of those rentals from the store for 24 hours, so I thought I would do my room. I have had my room for about 9 years, and the carpet was new when I moved into my room. I have no idea why my mother thought it was good idea to get cream colored carpet. First of all, I was a kid, and secondly, we have always had a lot of pets. Right now we have 2 dogs, 5 cats, 2 rabbits, and a hamster. Anyway, it did help quite a bit, but it still looks dingy. There are a lot of singed spots from when I was vacuuming and the motor overheated. I need new carpet, but that cost's much too much money. Le sigh.

I also tried a new hairstyle yesterday. I was inspired by Barbie, more specifically vintage Barbie. I love her little ponytail with the flip, and the pin-curled front hair, it's too cute! I think I may try to work on a tutorial for it because I don't think there are many out there.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Kwanza/Chanukah!  :)

First Day of Winter

Well, the first day of winter did not disappoint. With all the unseasonably warm weather we have been having in Ohio, the official start of winter showed itself with a vengeance. I ran a few errands today and the roads were terrible. We didn't get all that much snow, but what we did get was blowing all over the place due to heavy winds.

 I have always loved this house. It's about a mile away from me, and on my way home it just looked so perfect I had to take a picture. Luckily there was no one else on the road at that moment. It's a colonial style, and looks like Abigail Adams could have lived here. Minus the electricity of course.

 Since I was running a few errands and was going to be around town, I wore contacts today and "put my face on." I would like to say I do it everyday...but I don't. I also did pin-curls for my hair, they turned out much better this time than last time. I always think my lips look funny when I smile, but that's probably because smiling is very weird and will be for about another year. You see, I have braces. And I am not embarrassed about them, but I hate smiling with my teeth in pictures for now.

 And in black and white

 

 I should have taken an outfit picture because it was pretty cute, but I didn't have time. These are after I put my face on, and before I picked out my outfit.

The red checkered wire headband is from Modcloth.

Today I also made homemade pizza dough for pizza, cleaned my room, re-organized my desk, and watched 2 episodes of Mad Men on Netflix. I'm catching up slowly but surely.

Have a great night!

Gingerbread Cookies!

So I have been in the mood for cookies for a few days now. More specifically, gingerbread cookies. So I made some. They are quite scrumptious, let me tell you.

But it's really hard to make them soft. I find crunchy cookies quite deplorable. I am really fond of gingerbread, but in order to actually eat them, I have to make them myself. So here is my favorite recipe for them to be soft and chewy. I mixed a few different ones I saw on allrecipes.


Soft Gingerbread Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon water
1/3 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and spices together.
3. In a larger separate bowl, cream butter and 1 cup of sugar. Beat in the egg, then add the water and molasses. Gradually stir the dry ingredient mixture into the molasses mixture.

I was worried that I over-beat my mixture, because the consistency was very thick, but it turned out really well. Make sure it is mixed well.

It should look like this:

4. Shape dough into small-ish balls, then roll them in the leftover sugar.

5. After that, place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or brown paper, then flatten them slightly (they don't spread very much, so they will only be a little larger than the amount they are flattened).

6. Bake for 8 minutes for supreme chewiness, or a minute or two longer to be slightly less chewy. Remove the paper from the pan (with cookies on them - be careful not to spill it) and let them cool for a few minutes. Remove them and put on a plate to serve, or when they are almost all the way cool, place in an airtight container, so they will retain their softness.

Enjoy your delicious, soft, chewy molasses gingerbread cookies!