On a Postal Outfit

Finally getting this up!!!

When I came across this airmail fabric, I knew I wanted to make a skirt with it (for those who have been following awhile, get ready to see good old Simplicity 3773 again).
 

This very quickly became a "if you give a mouse a cookie..." sort of outfit after I started working on the skirt. First, I decided I needed some sort of mail themed brooch and so I went looking for a postage stamp one, but managed to find this darling envelop instead! 

Having found a brooch, I clearly needed a bag to go with it, which ended up being my favorite part of my outfit. For me the obvious choice was to make a large envelop, since the Tim Holtz fabric set that included the print I used for the skirt also had a striped print that could be made into bias tape and used for an airmail envelop.

That established, I still needed an address to put on the bag and after a bit of thinking I turned to one of my favorite non-fiction books, 84, Charing Cross Road, which is a collection of letters exchanged between a woman named Helene Hanff and the people who run Marks Co. Bookstore in London starting in the 1940's. To take it a step further, I did a quick search to see if I could find what Hanff's writing looked like, found a few letters online, and then freehand embroidered the addresses on my bag to look like her handwriting. 

Here I'll admit to getting overly ambitious and it took forever (the return address alone took a little longer the length of the movie 84, Charing Cross Road), but it was more than well worth it! 

 

I think I bought all but one or two of the fabric designs in this set to make this outfit....

And when it all came together, I had the perfect outfit (and the perfect excuse to sing "Mail Myself to You")!

 ♥️ ✉ ♥️

On Seeing Spots and a Pig

I made this skirt in 2013 and I think it’s about time to share it!

While I like this skirt (made from my favorite Simplicity 3773), I have a hard time finding blouses to pair it with that aren’t too jarring a contrast in color or that make me feel like I’m an Easter egg or that I’m wearing something better suited to a child. That being said, I’ve pretty much limited myself to white and black tops with it and haven't worn it all that often.

A few weeks ago, though, it occurred to me while doing laundry that my cream colored Alice and the pig baby t-shirt is a good match for this skirt, giving me a whole new outfit option. One that I'm quite pleased with since the shirt lacks the normal amount of t-shirt stretchiness and pulls upward more often, meaning something with a high waist is always better.

I don't remember too many details about making this. I know I had a smaller amount of fabric since the front middle panel is made up of three separate pieces and I don't have any large fabric scraps left from it.

For the pockets, I used the wonderful Tasha’s, of By Gum, By Golly, interchangeable pocket flap tutorial. I had plans to make more flaps, but never did, I think primarily because of the same color issue I face with finding a matching blouse and not having enough of the right size snaps. Looking at it now, I think it might be time to make some additional flaps in black or navy blue.

I'm pretty happy to find my Alice shirt works so well with this skirt and can't wait to start wearing them together more often. 

♥ ♥ ♥

On a Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!

...and not one, but two outfits and a bag to celebrate!

Last year to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday I had plans to make a skirt with a fabric printed with the goldfish from The Cat in the Hat (first discovered when making a book cart cozy with Oh, the Places You’ll Go! fabric), but it didn’t happen. Fast-forward to the last two months and as I’m preparing to actually make the skirt, I get bitten by a Dr. Seuss fabric bug.

I go to buy fabric for a bag lining and I end up with half yards of two more The Cat in the Hat prints with plans to make a bag. Buying underlining for the hem of my goldfish skirt, they have fabric with the Cat on it. After a night of considering, I decide clearly I was meant to make a blouse and I go back to get some. And guess what? I actually got all three items done in time!

The goldfish skirt is made from my most favorite Simplicity 3773 and I wore it yesterday. First, I must say I will never be doing scallops on a hem of this measurement again! Ever! It took me over an hour to get them cut out, since I accidentally put four per skirt panel instead of my planned three (why it’s bad to sew when you’re tired, but at least it was a mistake that looks good!). Then the underling took me three hours to get positioned and sewn on by hand. With the exception of forgetting to put interfacing in the waistband, everything else went smoothly.

Next is the bag. I drafted the pattern myself and opted to use both of the fabrics. The strap I topped with two ribbons.

The blouse was super quick to make (made last night, in fact), since all it required was stitching up the shoulder and side seams, hemming the bottom and sleeves, and folding over the top to make a casing to slip ribbon into. I cinched it as the waist with the bow belt from my favorite dress (conveniently with only one bow end, much like the Cat’s bow tie). 

Version 3

I also made a button this morning as a finishing touch.

Happy birthday to Dr. Seuss!!!

This cat will absolutely not wear a hat. Not in a house, not with a mouse...

 ♥   ♥   ♥

On My Valentine's Day Oufit

Happy Valentine's Day! Just a quick post to share my outfit for the day. 

Despite the fact that I wasn't going anywhere and have spent the majority of my day fiddling with a hem that just won't cooperate, I decided to dress up this morning. I also decided, after what I realized has been probably about six years, I wanted to style my hair with faux bangs.  

As you can see, I pulled out my Valentine skirt from two years ago (seen previously here and here, if you missed it the first two times). 

Feeling a bit Edith Head here.

I paired it with a shirt I've had for about eleven years and have never worn since it's always been too short for most of my pants and it's so snugly fitted that layering wasn't an option. When I started sewing 50's skirts I figured I'd finally be able to wear it with something and clearly it was meant to go with this skirt! For the photos, I also donned the vintage hat I found in December. I'm absolutely smitten with it!

The strong breeze is not going to blow my hat away!

Hope everyone is having a delightful end to their Valentine's Day!♥

On a 1950's take on...Shakespeare?

This spring I choose to take a Shakespeare course and as our final we had to choose a passage from one of his plays to recite complete with costume. For my presentation, I ended up choosing part of Helena's closing passage of act 1, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

We were given the option to interpret what we chose to recite in any way we wanted and while originally I was going to wear a dress with a much more traditional Grecian look to it, I decided I would go for a 1950's interpretation.

Because my passage was about love and Cupid was mentioned, I thought my Valentine's heart skirt and blouse from last year would be the perfect choice of costume. It was quite nippy and knowing it'd be even more so by the time I left, I dug out some red tights I'd had for ages. I'd had them so long that it turned out they didn't fit any more (how a pair of bright red tights stayed in the back of the drawer for so long without me noticing, I don't know), so I ended up cutting the top part off and wearing them as stockings. This was a really good reminder that I should buy some colored tights because I love the way they look!  

To add to this, and as a way to incorporate the original Athenian aspect of the play, I also made myself a flower garland wreath for my hair.

I didn't remember to grab it for these photos, but in order to hide the paper with my lines on it (which was allowed) I ended up bringing a flat silver clutch and it worked just perfectly! 

By the time I presented I was quite nervous and while I can't say I recited without a hitch, when I had to explain my choice of costume afterward I felt like I had made the perfect choice!

♥ ♥ ♥