On Being Nominated for the Liebster Award

Monday morning I had the nice surprise of having been nominated for the Liebster Award by the wonderfully sweet Sean of The Fictionista (Thanks, again!).

Here are the rules when receiving the Liebster Award:
-You must answer the 11 questions set by the blogger who nominated you.
-You yourself then pick 11 blogs who in turn have under 200 followers. You must then think of 11 questions for the blogs you have picked and also tell them.
-Finally link back to the blog that nominated you.

Almost all the blogs I follow have over 200 followers (Not surprising as the writers of those blogs are all so wonderful!), so I can’t fulfill that part of the requirements, but perhaps I qualify for this “no strings attached” version?

(Not my image, found mentioned here)

Anyway, here are my answers to Sean’s 11 questions:

1. Besides what you blog is dedicated to, what are some of your other interests?Arts and crafts (things aside from sewing, of course)! And I also really enjoy looking into my family history.

2. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
I’d want to take a trip to England and visit a ton of literary and historic places!

3. What made you want to start a blog?
Originally, I wanted to improve my creative non-fiction writing, since it’s always been a weak area for me in my writing. Since then though, I’ve expanded to sharing some of my sewing adventures, my love of vintage, and doing book reviews.
 
4. What took you on the journey to embrace vintage?
I don’t really remember what started it off, although I do have a distinct memory of telling a friend during high school that I wanted to dress vintage. Right around that time I had started watching a considerable amount of movies from the 40’s and 50’s, so I’d say it was probably a big influence. Other influences include having been using 50’s and 60’s Christmas decorations from a very early age, a polk-a-dot dress I found at my grandma’s, time spent looking at family photos and my love for old books.

5. Have you met any kindred spirits through the world of blogging?
Without a doubt, yes!

6. What does your SO/family think of your vintage lifestyle/blogging?
All sorts of positive things.

7. Do you have a favorite decade in fashion and/or history {or both}?
The 1940’s and 1950’s would have to be my favorites. I also love the Victorian Era and Europe’s medieval period.

8. Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
I don’t really have one single inspiration; it’s more like a combination of inspirations in different areas.

9. Dresses or separates?
Both. I like wearing dresses, but wear separates much more frequently for practicality’s sake.

10. Your favorite item currently {does not have to be vintage}?
Not sure if this was meant to refer to a clothing item or not. If so, a sundress I made a few months ago with a delightfully large collar. If not, the vintage train case I bought a few weeks ago to store my vintage patterns in. :)

11. What is your favorite quote?
Just one?! I have quite a few, but some of the tops (excluding book and poetry quotes, in which case we’d be here all day) would have to be…

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted”—Albert Einstein
 
“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased”–Katharine Hepburn

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar”—Helen Keller

♥♥♥

On “A Book Of Nonsense”: A Book Review

 

About the book…
A Book of Nonsense is a collection of poems and sketches by Mervyn Peake, who is best known for his Gormenghast novels.

What I think…
I absolutely adore Mervyn Peake and am perfectly delighted with this book! With Peake one can always expect a touch of whimsy, regardless the subject matter, and this book does not leave one disappointed in fulfilling that. Furthermore, one of the things I truly enjoy about his poems, as with his novels, is his beautiful use of the English language. In everything he paints such a clear picture with words that in the reader’s mind it leaves a firm and lasting impression.

Multiple poems stand out as favorites for me, foremost among them “I Cannot Give the Reasons” (have no reason as to why), the ridiculously silly “Aunts and Uncles” (Uncle Jake graces the cover), and the charming “O Here It Is! Oh There It Is!..” (cute flying pear with chilblains, anyone?). All are a bit quirky, but it is the type of quirky that makes one want to read them over and over.

This book also contains a nice selection of his uniquely bizarre sketches, which range from being very simple to having greater detail demonstrating the range of his artistry.

To sum it all up…
Being such a fan of Mervyn Peake to begin with and having first found out about him through his poetry about six years ago, I can’t do anything more than happily recommend this merry and amusing book! ♥

On Thoughts of the Beach

As summer arrives with its increasingly warm and sunny weather it’s not all that unusual for one’s thoughts to begin wandering to spending more time outdoors. And, common among these are thoughts of visiting the beach!

(excuse the reflections, it's ridiculously hard to take a
photo of this display case in the morning) 




Many activities come to mind when the beach is mentioned, including, but not limited to sunbathing, swimming, going for a stroll along the shoreline, and, in the case of the younger age group, collecting shells and building sandcastles (not that age should prevent one from doing either). While for some this could be as simple as grabbing a towel and taking a short drive and for others requires quite a bit more preparation and a long trip, it is certainly undeniable that any of these activities could lead to a delightful day in the sun accompanied by a refreshing ocean (or lake) breeze.




What's not love about this adorable crab?

 

Whether you’ll be heading off to the beach this summer or are just planning to soak up some sun at home, I hope your summer is off to a lovely start. Happy second day of summer! ♥

On the Flamingo Skirt & Pink Blouse

With warmer weather headed our way, it’s finally reaching the point where I’m able to start wearing more of the things I’ve sewn during the colder months. And one of my favorites (which I say about almost everything right after I finish it) would have to be this flamingo skirt I made in January.

I had been thinking about this project for quite some time, but was waiting for the perfect fabric. Needless to say, I jumped on this print the moment I saw it because it was just what I was looking for!

 

Once again I used my Simplicity 3773 pattern (seen previously here and here), which can probably be safely considered my go-to skirt pattern. Having never done an appliqué before I think I learned just about everything not to do when using one. I had sketched out my own flamingo design including distinct tail feathers. Just in case you’re wondering, it’s a bit hard to stitch around such small shapes on a sewing machine. I also decided that the beak should be a different color, bringing about the problem of how to attach it without creating a bulk. So my solution for that was to use fusible interfacing. Yes, interfacing, not fusible webbing which is what you would normally use to make it easier because it can be fused directly to the skirt. Next came sewing it on. This went well until I got to the afore mentioned tail feather section, changed the stitch size, finished the tail, and then continued to sew a few inches before realizing I hadn’t changed it back. By the time I was done I was tickled (flamingo) pink with the result, but decided that my original idea of two flamingos was not going to be carried out.

 

As for the blouse, it was made in February and was my first attempt at one. While I’m not entirely pleased with it, I did learn a lot. Originally it was just supposed to serve as a practice since I had quite a bit of magenta fabric left over from my shirtwaist dress that I had no specific plans for. As with the shirtwaist dress, the seams bunched when I ironed them (for no particular reason it seems, as I tried both a cooler iron setting and longer stitch length). The back also proved to be a little tight in fit, although this was probably due to a slight misinterpretation of the instructions and my having trimmed the seam allowance before noticing it. By the time I was finished I had put so much work into it that I decided I was definitely going to be wearing it even if it was shade of pink a tad bit brighter than I would have preferred to match with my skirt. Now having worn this outfit twice, though, I can say it’s one that will be making an appearance often. ♥