I don't know about the weather where you live, but here it felt as if winter would never end. The long cold dreary days dragged well into April and May. You know the saying "April showers bring May flowers"...well, we wondered if that included April snow showers since we had many of those also.
The cold weather lasted long enough that we wished we had made plans for a warm weather getaway - like Mexico. I've only vacationed in Mexico twice. Once in Mazatlan in 1979 and again in the Mayan Riveria in 2004.
Half the fun of planning a getaway is sewing the vacation wardrobe, right? These vacations were no exception.
As I was going through my pattern collection, deciding which to keep and which to put in my Etsy shop, I came across McCall's 7594, a pattern I used in 1979 to quickly whip up some knit tops to bring along. Obviously I couldn't sell it. Not only is it destined for the sewing scrapbook, the pattern is incomplete - all that remains is the inside envelope and pattern pieces for one view.
Did you notice this pattern includes a wrap top version that is just as current today as it was 29 years ago. (Was it really 29 years ago?!?) I sewed every version *except* the wrap version.
My fave, however, was the off the shoulder number. Sewn in horizontal rainbow stripes, modeled here with a pair of white cotton short shorts. See? That tiny little speck right in the center of the rock formation. You can see it right?
I may not have a warm weather vacation planned, but I do have plans to spend the day by the river with hubby. And the weather is predicted to reach almost 70 F! Now if only I could find my sunscreen...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Flashback Friday - Mazatlan 1979
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Dogs on Thursday - inspiring story about author of Rudy's Little World
A year ago I wrote a post about a friend who writes wonderful children's stories from the point of view of her dog, Rudy (aka the cute poodle). Now lots of people write children's stories but these are special (and not just because Stacy's my friend.)
See for yourself - Stacy was interviewed on a local news station a few weeks ago.
The story lead: "Even though Stacy Waibel lost her sight, kidney, and pancreas to diabetes, it hasn't taken her passion for life. "
Click here to view the television interview and here to visit Rudy's Little World.
Rudy's (er, Stacy's) first book is not yet published, but will be soon so be sure to bookmark her website.
More Dogs on Thursday blog posts here.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Just doing my part to stimulate the economy
What are you doing with your stimulus check? We originally planned on tucking ours into our savings account but decided to use most of it to finish the remodel on our second bathroom.
However, I did allocate a bit for my annual trip to SR Harris Fabric Outlet. Going into this warehouse with a set budget was a good idea as I only purchased items I knew I was going to use soon.
This stack of cottons will become aprons.
These following four fabrics were the only ones purchased for clothing and all will work nicely with the basic black items already in my summer wardrobe.
Top to bottom: print - lightweight knit - knit wrap top; white stretch cotton with a hint of metallic - summer jacket; aqua cotton pique - summer jacket and skirt (not to be worn together); stretch metallic denim - for my niece to sew up into a summer jacket or skirt.
I haven't chosen the exact patterns I'll use yet, but I did purchase with a plan in mind. (Oh! Did you catch that Carolyn - I have a P-L-A-N!)
While it wasn't my usual mode of fabric shopping - you know, browse until something catches my eye then purchase 3 to 4 yards with no idea of what it will be used for - shopping with an idea of what I needed to add to my existing wardrobe kept me well within my budget and left me with fabrics that won't find a home in the stash for long.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
RetroRama - a celebration of '50s Suburbia
The ladies relax with a martini in the living room after a hard day of cooking, cleaning and chatting.
Linda, wearing an apron from her mother's estate over her vintage inspired shirt dress, just finished putting the pot roast in for Sunday's dinner. The black velvet square purse sits on the table right where she left it after church. This purse is also from her mother's estate.
Sharon said she donned her vintage black cotton dress - adorned with white dogs and polka dots as well as pink pom-poms - to take the dogs out for walk, but secretly she wanted to show off her new dress to the neighbors. She hoped the poodle wouldn't notice that the dogs on her dress were Scottie dogs and not poodles. (Note: this is the dress I sewed using Simplicity 3509, c. 1951.)
Beth, after trying on multiple dresses from her vast wardrobe, settled on a vintage inspired silk house dress with large brown and black polka dots. She mixed up a batch of martinis to offer to the head of the household when he arrives home after a long day of work. However, she just couldn't resist sampling a few herself, but if you asked her she would say it was only one!
As you can tell, we had a blast. We had our photos taken and were asked if we'd be willing to take part in the audience participation portion of the fashion show (that took about a second to say yes). The stories above are what we came up with to describe our outfits as we walked down the runway.
We played retro bingo, saw a demo of '50s era appetizers and cocktails, looked at vintage furniture, made a souvenir placemat ("a first step toward better home accessorizing!"), and of course enjoyed watching the fashion show as well as the many others wearing vintage attire.
This was number three in a series, and at only $15 it was a bargain. Oh, how I do hope they continue with this series.
More photos are posted on my flickr account - there's too many to upload to the blog, so you'll need to click here to view them.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Fifties dress - done!
The are not showing up too well in this photo, but the pink buttons were definitely the way to go on the dress. Thanks for the input!
Sadly, I didn't have time to sew the matching belt or the petticoat I had planned to wear with the dress. But this still has a 50s feel to it and I must say, I think it will be fun to wear this dress with those pink pom-poms flopping around.
I'm bringing my camera so look for photos of the event soon!
