The Look for Less

I am a huge fan of anthropologie. The catalogs are so beautiful. I keep back issues and use them for inspiration in my own design work. This handbag is from the summer '05 issue. I wanted it but did not want to pay full price for it. As far as I know it never went on sale. As I still want one of these, I decided to make one like it. I know right. I-d-e-n-t-i-c-a-l. I can hardly tell the two apart. Oh, not so much? Hey, I already had this fabric. I did not have any vintage kimono fabric that is just a shade off watermelon. The project really went south when I realized I had a vintage silk tie that matched perfectly, and was crying out to be bag handles. Voila.
You know I'm not really seeing it either. I'm not quite sure how this happened. Back to the
drawing board.

I'm trendy. Who knew?

In Seattle according to this link you can rent a goat for $25 per week. The goats are tether-trained and all you have to do is move said goats around your weedy yard and give them water. Free fertilizer!! Also known as organic weed control.

Meet Smokey.

Smokey is a real force to be reckoned with. Yes, he is as small as he looks. Okay again yes, he still sucks from his mama. You just wait. He's eyeing those bad weeds right now.

strawberry shortcake memories

I am the oldest child in a family of thirteen. As you can imagine we are all fairly close in age. My mother gave birth to me and fourteen months later gave me a baby brother. Growing up we were close and he was one of my best friends. He was protective and treated me more like he was older.

Mom always put in a big garden and we had our own strawberry patch. Sometimes we had enough strawberries to actually have a shortcake.

One summer evening when I was about fourteen we were hanging out in the backyard with our shortcakes. I was going over my day (in detail as I was inclined to do) and Greg was my ever attentive audience. I should have clued in as he was a little more attentive than usual. So I am all blah, blah, blah he doesn't say a word. All of a sudden he falls to the ground laughing so hard. Okay, I thinking I'm funny but maybe not that funny. What? He cannot even tell me he's laughing so hard. When he finally catches his breath he said, "You just ate a fly." Followed by much more doubled over hilarity. You know now that I think about it maybe he wasn't one of my best friends.

New Look 6799

I have a pattern collection by accident. I try not to buy patterns unless I really think I'll make the garment. I have a particular weakness for dress patterns and own quite a few. Okay, more than a few. If I do the math (pattern+amount of hours to complete) I cannot sew all these dresses up in my lifetime. When contemplating my next project, I went through a few of my patterns (alleged pattern collection) and did not feel that little tingle. You know the one. So.. I went to the store and bought this pattern. Okay, I know. I am a very responsible consumer. I do not practice over indulgence as a rule. But seriously isn't this a really great dress? I have named her Ava Rose. Enough said.

Simplicity 2528

So, I made vintage simplicity 2528 which is a wrap around skirt with large patch pockets. Did I happen to mention that the pockets are large? I trimmed them with bias contrast that is the same dotted print from the reverse applique flower detail. After the skirt was finished, I realized that it needed to be shorter. Not wanting to loose the great rick rack action, I had to shorten it with small pleats. The hemline is now weighted and holds its shape much as it would with a petticoat. Happy accident.

Bye Heather

See you later.

Channeling my inner Laura Ingalls Wilder

I come across vintage crochet aprons every now and then. These aprons have no function, but are the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. I do not crochet so can only imagine the amount of hours it takes to make one.

I made the skirt out of both vintage and new fabric. It is wrap style and will fit several sizes. I appliqued dogwood flowers on the front. The edge of the design is raw and will softly fray when washed. The apron is attached to the skirt and becomes a layering element. This skirt is in my etsy shop.