A Quilt for M
Last summer my sister in law M gave me a bag of her old tshirts and asked me to make a quilt out of them. She had a friend who was going to do it for her a long time ago, but life got in the way and a few years ago she gave the bag back, mostly untouched. M commissioned me to just finish what her friend had started. And so I did. They were here last week visiting for the holidays and I was able to give her her quilt in person.
These are all shirts from marathons she ran, places she visited (Egypt, Jerusalem, Denmark, Poland!) or people she helped working as a physical therapist. It was a fun, though enormous project to work on. The finished quilt is 94″x110″ which is almost King Size. My two brothers are holding it up for me and their average height is 6’6″. We grow them big here. I used a heavy woven cotton/twill for the back because it will probably be used as a picnic quilt more than a bed quit.
All the shirts she gave me were gray or white except this one. And it just didn’t work on the front, no matter which way I tried it. But I couldn’t very well throw it away either. And it’s a good thing I didn’t because even though I bought 10 yards of fabric for the sashings and the back (that plaid is 60″ wide) I only had a tiny piece left. You know, about 4″x10″. I needed that shirt in the back just to take up some space! Also, my brother are kind of dorks, especially that one in black. HA! I hope you love it M!
Quilt Stats: 30 shirts for the front, cut into 14.5″ (unfinished) squares, I used more than 20 yards of lightweight interfacing, ironed onto the backs before I trimmed them down to keep them from stretching. That’s important when you are quilting with knits. Sashing is 2.5″ finished, same as the stop border. The outer border I think is 4.5″. I wish I could have made it an inch or two wider. Oh well. The back has about 30 pieces in it, just what happened when you are sewing all the scraps together. Which is also why the plaids don’t match up perfectly. Bummer. I added a grayish border to the blue shirt to help it stand out, and so the blues wouldn’t butt up next to each other and clash. And because those extra four inches were necessary! My friend Kellie at the quilt shop where I work quilted it for me, and I bound it in a light gray by hand. If I was doing it again I would probably picked a little darker gray. It didn’t look nearly so light before I had it all finished. Isn’t that the way it goes.
An Angel Doll
I’ve never had so much fun making a present. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have to hide it away and only work on it at night while everyone was sleeping. It took hours and hours to make. Happy hours. Creative hours. Hours spent doing something that is bigger than me or my own family.
Every year at church we set up an angel tree to help the families in our neighborhood that need it the most. (You pick a tag off the tree and buy a gift for “Adult Male” or “6 month old girl” or whatever.) In the past Scott and I have always taken a few tags and returned our anonymous gifts. It’s part of what Christmas is all about anyway and we feel strongly about helping people who live right by us. But this year we just couldn’t do it. Instead, I helped make stockings for these angel tree kids. I could at least do that. But one day at church I was sitting there in class, the angel tree set up right in front of me. And I noticed a new little tag. A family had been added at the last minute. And right there in the center was one tag that I couldn’t stop staring at. It said “Girl, age 7. Want: doll”.
I stared at it for the entire 45 minute class. I have absolutely zero idea what the teacher was talking about. But my heart was racing, knowing what I was going to do. Then while I very impatiently waited for class to end (I did have the presence of mind to realize that it would be rude to stand up in the middle of the teachers lesson and walk right up to the front of the room…) I had a minor anxiety attack thinking of the possibility that when class was over someone else might get to it first. I KNEW this little tag was for me. As soon as the closing prayer was over, the “Amen” still hanging in the air, I maybe climbed over the empty row of chairs in front of me and snatched the tag as quick as I could. Maybe. But I made it. And that’s all that matters.
We didn’t have any money for Christmas, but I have enough craft supplies to circle the planet, twice over. And I knew I could make a beautiful doll without spending any money. But one that this little girl’s parents could never hope of buying. There was only a few days until these gifts were supposed to be returned so they could be delivered. But I talked to the woman in charge and told her I would never make it in four days. But I’d have it done and wrapped and at her house by the 22nd of December. Then I got to work.
I combined two different patterns to make this doll. She is part Poppy Doll (from Fiona Dalton at hop.skip.jump) and part Little Red (from Larissa Holland at mmmcrafts). I’d never made either of them before, but after I looked at the pattern pieces I knew I could combine my favorite parts of both to make this Christmas Doll. I did end up buying about 6″ of brown felt for her hair and braids. I just couldn’t make her hair jet black (I saved that for her shoes), or gray. And those were the only options in my stash. After I made my doll I started pulling out fabric scraps for her wardrobe.
And then I decided that I was going to go all out. Because little girls need dresses, and shoes, and a school bag. And it was Christmas. She just just wouldn’t have been right without them. Her shoes took a few tries to get right. They are black felt with a working button closure. Her school bag is purple felt with a vintage button clasp.
As soon as the bag was finished Creamie declared it “so baby cute” and then informed me that she needed keys and a phone and a chapstick and a notebook to go inside. But I thought I should probably make her some pants before I worked on minature chapstick. I tucked an extra set of hair ribbons and a silver heart necklace (a gift from a highschool boyfriends parents. I never even wore it) into her bag instead. I did have to make her pants twice because the first ones just didn’t come on and off easily enough. And the rest of her wardrobe pattern drafting went surprisingly well. I think I had my own little angel watching me, making sure i didn’t screw anything up too much because there just wasn’t the time. This little blue shirt has buttons up the back, and is fully reversible. The other side is a cute tealish blue gingham. I had plans to make her a pair of jeans and another shirt or two. But it just didn’t work out.
Because it was December, and I couldn’t very well send a little girl out in a little sleeveless shirt, I drafted a pattern for a wool coat too. The Little Red Riding Hood pattern has a beautiful red wool cape, but I didn’t have any red wool. And a Little Green Riding Hood just isn’t the same. I used the hood as a starting point and in much less time than I anticipated I had this cute green coat with wood buttons ready to go. See, that was the sewing angel watching out for me again. I kind of wish she’d stay around all the time.
Of course that wasn’t all, because she also needed some flannel jammies. So I drafted that pattern too. I had the perfect pink polka dot left over from making this blanket and amazingly the perfect color of ribbon trim. A small miracle. And I think adding 1.25 inches of 1/16″ elastic to the bottom of the long sleeves was one of the most frustrating things of the whole doll making procedure. Sheesh! I ended up threading it through with a needle because I didn’t have a saftey pin small enough to do the job. Those 2.5 inches of elastic were enough to drive me to eat up all my chocolate stash. True story.
And last of all, with just a few alterations to the jammies pattern I was able to make her a party dress. Because little girls need dresses as much as they need coats and bags and jammies and cutie little shoes. I finished tacking down the lining by hand while in the car on our anniversary lunch date the afternoon of the 22nd, and when I got home I added button holes and the sash. But I made it. Kind of. (I ended up cutting the drop off kind of close. But I was NOT letting her go out the door without getting a few pictures.) Santa was already loading his sleigh when I arrived, box in hand, smile in my heart. It was something I’ll never forget. I don’t know which little girl opened her on Christmas morning. But I hope she likes her. I hope she wasn’t wishing for a Barbie, or a Bratz doll or something lame like that. All Christmas morning I kept thinking about my little 7 year old girl, hoping she wouldn’t be disappointed.
I will make this doll again. I thankfully made (and kept!) my labeled paper pattern pieces so I won’t have to start over next time. I think next year I’ll make one for Creamie. And a little boy to go with her. (I already have a huge list of clothes I can make. ) While I was working on making this Angel Doll she asked me a few times who it was for. And I told her it was for a little girl who didn’t have any presents for Christmas. She probably didn’t understand, but she accepted the fact that it wasn’t for her. And she was totally OK with that. She gave this Angel Doll a lot of hugs and rockabyes before she was finished, and was happy to help me wrap up all her clothes in tissue paper and put everything in one big box. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
Get Dressed: Vintage Embroidery and Saddle Shoes
It’s time for another Project: Get Dressed post. I have really been trying to stick to my self imposed rule of really getting dressed up more than just on Sunday’s. I hope that this year I can be a little more consistent with that goal. I might completely fail, but at least I started it off right. This is what I wore to church yesterday.
Shirt, belt and skirt are vintage, and thrifted. Mustard cardigan and nude fishnets are from Macy’s, shoes are Rachel Antonoff for Bass, purse from Wilson’s Leather (a gift from my sister ages ago) and my turquoise necklace was handmade in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
It all started with the shoes. My dad gave me these pink patent saddle shoes for Christmas. They are so comfortable, and the inside is made of the softest leather. They came with some pink laces, but I kind of love having satin ribbons. It makes me feel fancy. And they look as cute with skirts as with dark jeans. See, a perfect shoe. On Saturday we had a family New Years Eve waffle party at my house and I told Heidi that more important than remembering the Coconut Cream syrup and Lignonberry jam she needed to help me figure out what to wear with these shoes. We tried a few combos from my closet before we settled on this one. And I love it. And I love these shoes and I love my dad for giving them to me and Heidi for helping me wear them without looking like a little girl. (I sometimes wear them around the house just for fun. Because I’m a dork like that.)
I found this amazing embroidered shirt at a thrift store at the beginning of October, but yesterday was the first time I’ve worn it. It needed a little tailoring to fit me well and Lynette did a wonderful job. I think it was probably someones cast off exotic vacation souvenir. They just don’t make stuff like this in America. It’s all hand embroidered and absolutely perfect. I should have taken a picture without my sweater, because the sleeves on this shirt are just as beautiful as the rest. Next time. And there will be a next time. It is one of my favorite tops I own and because it has a little bit of every color in it it practically goes with everything. Big pink embroidered flowers are a neutral! Who knew? Actually, as far as I am concerned pink is the greatest neutral ever. It goes with everything, is never boring and always makes me smile.
You can’t see the pattern in the skirt too well, but it is an awesome blue and dark gray herringbone. It fit me perfectly when I bought it, but thanks to limiting my cookie consumption the past few months I need to take it to Lynette and have her take it in at the waist. That is the happiest reason in the world to have something altered!
Also, it is ridiculously warm outside. The grass is still greenish. I mean, this pic was in the shade, but still…. that grass is green. And the fact that I am standing on green grass in January is ridiculous. We spent some time at the park today and Creamie was having so much fun that she shed her jacket and her shoes… and it was warm enough to do it. I swear it was 50 degrees. I really need some snow. And some good freezing temperatures. And some cloudy moody days. Dear Winter, if you don’t come this year and we go from late fall right into early spring I am breaking up with you. I mean it.
Previous Project: Get Dressed posts Pink Plaid, Vintage Plaid and Leather, 10 year Reunion.
Happy New Year
Hello, friends. I’ve been absent from this space for far too long and I miss it. Despite a few challenges we had a wonderful Christmas here in our little house. We are so blessed, and even though I wasn’t expecting much, thanks to some wonderful friends, family and complete strangers we had an amazing Christmas. I have never been more thankful for so many good people in my life. I hope 2012 brings with it a little more luck in a few area of our life, but even if it doesn’t, I am so grateful that I get to spend my life with my sweet husband and hilarious little girl. With them, no matter what luck does or does not come our way, I will be happy.
Last New Years Day I photographed my Pyrex collection (post here). It was considerably smaller then. And tonight after Creamie went to bed I decided I needed to do it again. You know, just for fun.
I have a lot of new pieces, thanks to some great thrifty finds and some great friends who find them for me. Looking at them all together I really need to find some more pinks and blue/turquoise. Those are my favorites of them all, and the hardest to find.
I have made a few New Years goals for myself, and for our little family. I didn’t do to well at last year’s goals, so I am hoping that this year goes a little better. Last year Creamie was sick for most of the winter and spring and it really threw me for a loop. She got a flu shot about 6 weeks ago and hasn’t had a sniffle or a cough or a bad night since then. I just keep praying that this streak of good luck lasts.
This little cup is the most unusual piece of Pyrex I’ve ever found. I saw it on a shelf of a teeny small town thrift store and was surprised to find it was Pyrex. I am not sure if it is a handle-less mug or a tall ramequin or what. But I love the barcode/woodgrainish looking pattern. Kind of fun.
Last year I just set my collection up on my desk to take a picture. It took me about five minutes to get it right. This year it took a lot longer. Scott has finished a movie in the time it took for me to get everything set up on my table, take the pictures and then write this post. But it was an evening happily spent. And since Burn Notice is over for another season I have little else to do in the evenings. (HA!)
Thank you friends for all your support and virtual love. I have loved the friends I have made in this space. And I miss you when I’m not here. I’m not going to try and catch up with everything from the past few weeks. I’ll just tell you that I did a LOT of Christmas sewing. I’ll share my favorite not exactly Christmasy project this week. I spent hours and hours on it and it is one of my favorite things I’ve ever made. Happy New Year everyone!
A Little More Christmas
Thank you all so much for all the sweet comments you left on my last post. It’s amazing how just writing it down and getting it out in the world makes it seem like it isn’t such an overwhemling obstacle anymore. So thank you for listening and letting me know that I’m not alone as I felt I was. Thank you. Really.
OK, so a few days ago we went to pick up my moms tree because she doesn’t have a car big enough to handle a Christmas tree very well. We stopped by my favorite tree lot after I picked up Creamie from her dance class. It was cold, but I came prepared with boots and gloves and and a hat. I just didn’t come prepared for how adorable she would be flouncing through the rows of trees playing hide and seek.
When we found the right tree she very happily offered to help the tree guy carry it to the car. She is so helpful. And I was so thankful that tree guy humored her and let her help him. See, people really are good at heart.
Today this arrived, an early Christmas present from my Dad. Mickey’s Christmas Carol was one of my favorite Christmas movies growing up. I like it about a million times better than the Muppetts version. It has been a happy afternoon watching this with Creamie. But now I’m off to make dinner. Porkchops with Bean and Butternut Chili and homemade cornbread. Because it’s one of my favorite things ever.
Also, I am really in love with my little reindeer necklace. It was my souvenir from our trip this fall. I found it at a teensy little shop in a teensy little town about 100 miles from the nearest grocery store. But, I did a quick search on etsy for a silver reindeer necklace and there are a few similar ones. It is going to be my new go to holiday item this season I think. That and this silver stripey shirt. I got it free with purchase of a dress last Christmas and yesterday was the first time I’ve worn it. See, I used to be scared of wearing things with stripes… what if no one recognized me? (Which has happened. And it was my sister who didn’t recognize me beacuse I was wearing a striped shirt instead of my standard solid color. Which is a post all by itself. Ha!) Be back soon. And with real photographs. I swear. Also, I did an interview over at MessyLa for her blogiversary, go here to check it out.
Christmas at the Door
Hello friends. I’ve been quiet, I know. I feel like a lot is going on and nothing is going on all at the same time. So here is some of that lot of nothing that I’ve been up to and thinking about for the past little while. Illustrated with phone pics which are grainy and blurry but I haven’t picked up my real camera for weeks. More on that later. Creamie is getting better (for now) and she got a flu shot which I REALLY hope helps her stay healthier this winter. She is so excited for Christmas she can hardly stand it. She saw Santa at the church party. She wants to watch The Grinch and sing Jingle Bells every single day. I am excited about Christmas too. And all it took was one huge (to me) act of genuine goodness, kindness and love. Let me tell you a story, which is hard for me to tell, so if you feel the need/desire to comment, please be kind.
I’ve mentioned over the past few months that Scott got a new job, is now working crazy hours and is gone a lot more than he was. What I haven’t so much mentioned is anything about his old job. He and a few partners owned a civil engineering firm. It was a wonderful opportunity for a while, but after the housing bubble burst here in the USA things changed. (Civil Engineering is designing subdivisions, roadways, pipelines, sewer systems, etc. All things that are in about as much demand as new subdivisions. Which lately has been zero.) Their firm layed off a lot of employees just a few months after Creamie was born in 2009. That allowed them to keep the company open and still give a few people work on a contract basis, but still save a lot of money in taxes and medical insurance premiums. They had some good projects. We were surviving. Barely. But making it more or less.
Things went along for better or worse for two years. We always felt like we were still doing what we were supposed to be doing. We still felt like we were on the right path. They were working hard. Constantly trying out new projects and areas. Solar, Hydro-power, all sorts of awesome new things. They always had a few good projects in the works the kept us all afloat. And then this past spring things changed drastically. Work was scarcer, clients had gone bankrupt or disappeared leaving us with piles of open invoices. Lots of interest in the new kinds of projects, but no money to fund them. And everything was hanging (and still is) on one last big project that has been pushed back and postponed for one reason or another for the past 3 years. (On December 19th cross your fingers for us, we are getting closer to seeing this one become a reality, just a few more hoops to jump… I hope.) By the beginning of summer we knew we had to look for something else. Now. Things quickly got worse at work. Then worse again. Who knows how many paychecks we have skipped over the past few years, but this spring and summer were particularly bad. For the first time ever we knew we had to find something else immediately. Scott applied for jobs. Lots of jobs. Applied for jobs for 8 hours a day. And we heard nothing. I cried a lot. I ate a lot of Oreos. Standard coping mechanisms.
And then the first of August he finally got an interview. One interview. He aced it. He was hired out of 140 applicants and 11 interviewees in a unanimous board decision. It was not a moment too soon. (And perhaps a few moments later than I would have preferred.) But the Lord works in mysterious ways and looking back we can see that He prepared us for this opportunity for a long time. Anyway, his new job is awesome. His coworkers are awesome. He loves his work. We have great benefits. Good insurance, with zero out of pocket premium for us. I have dental insurance for the first time in my life. I might get my wisdom teeth out next year! (Yep, all four are hanging out in there hurting and driving me nuts everytime I brush my teeth.) But the best part? He goes to work every week and they pay him for that. Like, hand out paychecks on Fridays and stuff. But wait, get this, the money is magically already in the bank. They just stick it right in your account. It is amazing. And then two weeks later They. Do. It. Again. And then again. It’s a beautiful system. Really, an amazingly beautiful system.
Anyway, that was four months ago. And things are better. So so much better. But there are still those three-ish years of missed paychecks and bankrupt/dirty-rotten-no-good-corrupt clients to deal with. And it will take time to be out from under all of that. This Christmas was looking to be really lean. Leaner than any other we’ve had in our almost 8 years. I have enough craft supplies and fabric that Creamie would never know the difference. She is all set to wake up to a child’s dreamland of handmade toys on Christmas morning. And Scott and I were OK deciding to forgo gifts this year. We have each other, we have a warm home, food to eat and clothes to wear. We have a good job and a lot of faith that all things will eventually work out for our good in the end. But I knew that there wasn’t any extra money this Christmas. None, not even for little things. We got slapped with a $300 HOA fee from our less than awesome condo board a few weeks ago and it had to be paid. (Everyone under our HOA board jurisdiction had to pay it. It’s not because we didn’t clean up our patio or had weird crap hung in the windows or anything.) And there went Christmas. To the HOA board. Lame.
I don’t care about the presents, neither does Scott. What I really want for Christmas is a whole weekend to work in my craft room and sew and make pie. And like I said, there is enough fabric stacked up in my house that Creamie will have the best handmade Christmas a girl could hope to have. But what it really meant was that there was no money for a tree this year. Not even a little one. I arrived at this conclusion the day before Thanksgiving. It was horrible. I cried. And cried. And then I opened the pantry and made seventeen pies. I am not joking. I tried to pretend it didn’t matter, but by that weekend I was sobbing. A lot. At the smallest thing I’d tear up again.
Creamie has been asking for a Christmas tree since we took it down last Christmas. That girl has a memory like a steel trap, nothing slips through that little mind of hers. We looked into a few cut your own tree lots, because they are usually a little less expensive. And we looked into a few programs to cut a tree from government land, but all the permits were all sold out already. I even looked at fake trees at thrift stores, but they are almost as much as a cut your own lot. And I had pretty much come to the conclusion that there would be no Christmas tree with popcorn garland and gingerbread boys in my living room this year. I thought maybe on Christmas Eve I could convince my favorite tree lot guy (we get our trees from him every year, and have since I was a girl) to let me have whatever he had left and we could decorate it then. And it would be fine. And Creamie would love it. But I would have felt like Christmas was missing at my house for the whole of December. And that made my heart sick and it made me cry.
And then a small miracle happened. One that restores my faith in people, faith in Christmas, faith in love and goodwill toward men. Friday afternoon there was a loud knock on my door. REALLY loud. And the doorbell at the same time. I looked out the peephole (because that is what you do when someone pounds on your door) and there was a miracle on the porch. A big green miracle that brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. Our Christmas was at the door. We have been doorbell ditched with a huge beautiful Christmas tree.
We had to snip off the top to fit it in the house it was so tall. Creamie saw it and freaked out, screaming in pure joy. I just stood there and said a silent prayer of thanks. Even thinking about it now it makes me cry. We pulled out the Christmas things. I opened box after box. I tested lights and mixed up gingerbread boys and made popcorn. We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday stringing popcorn and baking cookies into gingerbread ornaments and hanging candy canes and jinglebells on our big beautiful tree. First thing out of Creamie’s mouth every morning is “Can I do some more Christmas things on the tree?”
It takes up a whole corner of the room, and it looks like it is on fire what with the 1600 lights on it. (I could have used 700 or so more. I didn’t do any lights on the bottom half on the side facing the wall.) And everysingle time I look at it I am reminded of how good some people really are. And how if we pay attention to the feelings and nudges we have we can work miracles in other people’s lives. I am so grateful for this small miracle in mine. I know it is “just a Christmas tree.” But more than that it is a reminder to me of new life. Of hope. Of love. That no matter how hard or crazy or crappy things are right now, that it will change. We will get through it. If pine trees can survive the harsh cold winters year after year and stay beautiful and alive surely I can do this right now. Things really are going to work out. Somehow. Things are going to be “OK”, whatever that means. Christmas is here in our little house. And thanks to the kindness of our Christmas Angel it is in my heart too.
Thrifted Jewelry
I am really lucky to have a good and reasonably priced jewelry section at my favorite thrift store. It’s always fun to see what good and awful things end up there. I was cleaning up my jewelry box a few nights ago and decided to snap this pic of my favorite thrifted jewelry. Some of it is vintage, some of it not, but it’s all awesome.
The round rhinestone brooch in the center is from a local consignment shop. But it was missing a rhinestone and the pinback was broken so the owner gave it to me for free. I wasn’t even buying anything else, just stopped in to see what she had. I ran a silver chain through the loops and it is my new favorite necklace. The necklace above it, the gold fan shaped one is a working opening and closing metal fan hand painted with Asian motifs. Also all sorts of awesome and 25 cents at a yardsale. I need to go buy some thin dark chain and make the swallow and the hot air balloon charms into necklaces. They were each 50 cents, and I LOVE them. But they got lost in the bottom of the jewelry box and I forgot about them for a while.
This is my recent collection of granny beads. Only depending on what you wear them with they are a little less granny and a little more awesome. I think each necklace was around $1. I don’t know if any of these are true vintage pieces or not. I tend to doubt it, but who cares. Heidi has been able to use them in all sorts of outfits and they look less granny and more “hey that necklace looks not awful.” Win win.
And i just had to show you this cute little purse that Heidi gave me a few weeks ago. It’s only about 5″ tall and has the cutest little pears on it. She knows me so well and always gives me the greatest presents ever. We are watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving today, one of my favorite turkey day movies. Thank you Netflix for still having one in stock this week. (But that Mayflower one that is on the same disc is a total dud.) Have a good Tuesday.
Get Dressed: Pink Plaid
I’ve decided to call this whole project of revamping my wardrobe with my sister Project: Get Dressed. I really started working on it the first time at the beginning of August when I was trying to find something acceptable to wear to my 10 year highschool reunion without spending a lot of money. I found a too big broken zipper dress at the thrift store and turned it into this. Well, Heidi helped me turn it into that. And since then we’ve been working on stuff. I pick up things I love at thrift stores or discount stores from the list of basics she says I should keep an eye out for, and then she comes over and helps me get dressed and stuff. I am proud to say that after a few weeks of following directions I was able to put this outfit together all on my own for church yesterday. My first ever PGD that I worked out all by myself. I think that’s kind of a big deal. Go ahead and laugh, but this is coming from a mom who up until a few weeks ago wore jeans and a solid colored tshirt every single day. With Chaco sandals as long as there was no snow falling from the sky. This outfit has over 10 pieces, which is like 8 more than my old standard. I am totally getting better at dressing myself.
Outfit Details: Pink vintage skirt, belt, and yellow Nine West purse: thrifted. Blue cardigan, zebra scarf, gray tights and black boots: Ross over the past yearish. White and gray striped tee, Walmart $3. Leaf necklace: Bass outlet. Turquoise and mother of pearl bracelet: Honolulu Flea Market 3 years ago.
I thrifted this vintage pink plaid skirt a few weeks ago for $5. It’s a wool/silk blend. It was one of the skirts that I took to Lynette so she could alter it for me. Because it would be years before I got around to that stack and I really wanted to wear it this winter. The waist was fine (as long as I wear it on my actual waist, one of Heidi’s rules and something else I’m getting used to) but it was a very awkward and unflattering length on me. Lynette cut off the extra and hemmed it for me and I think I’ve worn it three times in the last two weeks. Which for something that has to be dry cleaned is kind of a big deal.
I’m not really a cowgirl/country kind of girl, but as soon as I saw this belt I loved it for some reason and it came home with me. The little inside tab that sticks into the belt hole is a tiny little metal saddle. It’s like real cowboy stuff here. And it goes with a lot more of my clothes than I would have imagined. Maybe I really am a country girl… who knows. These gray tights are my first big girl pair of tights. Real live comfy cozy and warm tights. I’m sold. It also helps that these are fleece lined. The first time I put them on I texted my sister and told her that I was wearing sweatpants to church. They are that comfy. Fleece lined tights in every color is a new high priority on my shopping list. They are amazing.
Heidi is going to explain the rules for wearing a white tshirt. The first rule is don’t do it. The second rule is you can wear a white tshirt as long as you follow these other rules and whatnot. She’ll explain it better. In my book this doesn’t count as white because it has gray stripes on it. And I wore my zebra scarf the whole day and you couldn’t see it anyway. I just took it off so Scott could take a picture of my necklace and belt, which no one else saw the whole day because of the scarf. So since you couldn’t see the not-exactly-white shirt I don’t think it’s breaking a rule… of course I could be wrong. HA!
I hope that this weekend I can get some more Project: Get Dressed pictures taken. Preferably without this little one’s help. The number of pictures that her or parts of her ended up in is hilarious. I will never turn into a fullblown fashion/weeklywears/daily outfit blogger for 3 reasons. 1-I feel like a dork posing for pictures of myself 2-Because I can’t actually take pictures of myself, and I feel like an even bigger dork posing for pictures of myself when a real person is on the other side of the camera 3- I am way more critical of photos of myself than a picture of something I’ve made. Posting these is not easy for me. Babysteps…
Previous Project:Get Dressed posts Vintage Plaid and Leather, 10 year Reunion.
Last Week in Instagrams
Scott got his new job three months ago. I still feel like we are in transition. And then we got hit with a few more setbacks in this little road called real life and what I thought was the real new plan has changed again. I swear, I do not remember life changes being so hard for me to deal with before. And good changes! We prayed and prayed for this kind of a change! ANYWAY, moving on. Here’s what we’ve been up to this week.
Monday: Field trip to the firestation. And we were all sick. Scott home sick from work, me hopped up on cold medicine and armed with a lot of tissues for her very runny nose. But we couldn’t miss the firestation. She took her own hat and carried it around the whole time.
Tuesday morning: Made one little Indian costume for her babydoll for show and tell, done before 8:30am. A miracle.
Wednesday (a busy day): started by climbing on an icy roof to put up my moms Christmas lights. Six strands of them.
Then Creamie fell off a barstool and got a huge bump on her head and a major bloody lip. Lovely.
So that called for a frozen yogurt date instead of a sandwich for lunch. It has protein in it, right? and fruit? and dairy? As far as I am concerned it was a well curated healthy meal.
And since the icecream made her feel so much better, on the way home we took a detour to my favorite thrift store. The detour was a good idea. I came home with lots of treasures but this was the score of the day. I can’t wait to get this cleaned up and put it in my house. Fiveteen bucks of love right there.
Thursday: It was a rough day around here… I ate a whole pan of brownies. But not the crusts. I am an anti-crusty brownie advocate. If someone would hurry up and invent an edgeless brownie pan that would be stupendous. Sorry edge lovers, these all went in the trash.
Friday: A little better, but still not totally awesome. So we built another fort in the living room out of old sheets and watched movies and played in there all day. Here she is wearing her cape, rainboots, indian feather headband from preschool and nothing else. Ha!
Saturday: Went to a baby shower for my friend who is finally pregnant, and with twins! Then to lunch with my sister, which is always awesome. (I bought the pattern for these from etsy shop winter peach).
Sunday: I just made Pumpkin Spice EggNog Ice Cream. Recipe: Buy eggnog, mix with a little cream and pour into the ice cream freezer. Wow. So so good.
This afternoon we took some more pictures of outfits Heidi has put together for me. I’ll post some tomorrow. We didn’t do very many because, surprisingly, changing clothes in the car at the park in 35 degree weather is not very fun. I’ll have to figure out a new method I suppose… I hope your week was lovely.
Get Dressed: Vintage Plaid and Leather
I mentioned a few posts ago that my sister has been helping me get dressed lately. And through this whole process I have come to realize three things. 1: Just because a white shirt goes with everything doesn’t mean you should wear it. 2: If I stick with Heidi’s plan I am going to need a cardigan in every color and 3: I have a love affair with buying skirts at thrift stores. 3: part 2: I need to find a new system of hanging these skirts up in my closet, because they are currently taking over my bed and the comfy armchair in the corner because I don’t have enough hangers. It’s truly out of control.
I found this vintage plaid skirt a few months ago and when I bought it I didn’t think I had a single thing in my closet that would go with it. I didn’t even try it on, I just put it in the cart and brought it home. That is actually a standard practice for me buying skirts. Weird, I know. After I held onto this skirt for weeks, not knowing what to do with it, I told Heidi I’d make hot fudge sauce if she would come over and go through my closet. And guess what. I actually had a lot of things to go with it! Who knew? But before I wore it I sent it (and like 8 other skirts that needed a little attention) to my new tailor Lynette. She fixed hem lengths and took in waistlines and made everything much more flattering and up to date. More on that later, but I am so SO glad I just took everything to her. It would have taken me years to get around to altering all of these skirts, and in two days she was finished. And just like that I have a whole new winter wardrobe. Amazing.
A few months ago I spotted this purse at the thrift store. It is vintage Etienne Aigner, all leather and so far one of my favorite thrifted items. It also goes with everything, which I didn’t know when I bought it. I just knew that I loved the color and the woven leather and even though I had already made my purchases for the day I stood in line again to buy it.
Boots have been on my wishlist for years, but I never could buy them until I went shopping with Heidi last week. I have tried buying boots on my own and always had to return them. I don’t even think I’m that picky. Tall, leather, classic…. it shouldn’t have been that hard! And it wasn’t, once I had the right partner in boot crime. See, Heidi has a knack for shopping, and is the best shopping partner in the world. And after spending a few afternoons in my closet she knows everything that I own and can recall at anytime what I have that will go with this or that. And she can rattle off a whole outfit to go with that cardigan in about 4 seconds. I think she might be the 8th wonder of the world. Also this is one area where being a freakishly identical twin totally pays off. I suggest everyone have a shopping buddy who has your same features and is exactly your same size/shape. Because looking at something on a real person that is not yourself makes it a lot easier to decide if you like it or not. It was one of the best afternoons I’ve had in a long time. We should do it again soon.
Outfit Details: Skirt, belt and bag: vintage and thrifted, Boots: Bandolino from DSW, (I still think I need to buy some dark cozy tights to wear with them… yes?) Cardigan: Costco like four years ago, Scarf: purchased in Russia 9 years ago, and this was the first time I’ve ever worn it. Pathetic. Weird puffy hair: c/o wind and wrestling children for a few hours.
Heidi is working on a guest post about this whole “revamp the closet” with some helpful tips and rules and blah blah blah. Because I do not claim to be any sort of expert and I can’t do this without her. I’m working on taking the pictures to illustrate this post. Real before and after shots of outfits from my closet that I put together and outfits from that same closet that she puts together. It’s going to be fun! And in the meantime I am swearing off buying anymore skirts at thrift stores.
