few things

Yesterday was not a very productive day. As you can see in the picture, there is not much joy involved in the work you see me referencing in the picture. But I worked on it anyway and got it finished. Still there is much to get done by the middle of the week. I leave Thursday for a little jaunt out of town. I'm hoping I can finish some projects and do some cleaning before I leave so when I return I will be able to start refreshed and rejuvenated. And maaaaybe we will have more snow melting and spring weather on my return?? I keep hoping. I know it will come before long, but I want it now!! Soooo many clothing ideas popping in my head. I'm definitely getting excited about making my own clothes and not buying so much store bought crap. It's not like I have all the time in the world to sew garments for myself, so maybe it's a good thing winter is lingering as long as it is.



Despite a bad sewing day, yesterday was good in the mail department! I got TOAST! It's the house & home magazine, which is fine, though I was hoping to get the clothing issue. However, it still has beautiful photographs and beautiful accessories I would love to have, if the pound wasn't quite so hefty compared to the dollar. I was surprised they sent it to me all the way over here in the US. And the paper is super gorgeous. It's almost as fun to pet it as it is to look through the gorgeous photography on each page. (Okay I realize that sounds really weird, but I can't help but love good paper.)



A few more pictures on my flickr from TOAST.



There is a sewing shop in town that is moving and I'd never been before, so I decided to stop in last Saturday. I could have picked up more fabric, but I was good and resisted the urge. It's a hard thing to do. The middle fabric I'll use for historical sewing and the stuff on the sides I'm not sure yet. I made the mistake of getting the one on the left. It has this large kitchen/fruity border that is kinda yucky. But I'm hoping I can cut that off and make a cute top of some sort for the summer. We'll see. If not maybe I can make something out of it as a gift for someone. The fabric to the right is a 1930s repro print and I have no idea what it's going to be yet. I just couldn't pass it by.



This is the fabric I'm using for my '30s inspired trousers/clamdiggers. I really like it, except it does ravel easily which means it's kind of a pain to sew with. But that's OK. I've worked with a helluv a lot worse fabric than this. Ohhhh lordy.



This picture is just for fun. As you can see, I like to take notes. Otherwise I forget. And notes get piled on top of each other if I don't go through and remove old ones. Woe is me.



Lastly, me in my sewing room. My brother took this with his camera.

this is...

looking out my front door.



So not exactly the prettiest sight to see, but that's what I see when I walk out my front door. At least I am happy the snow seems to be melting. *crosses fingers* I have a feeling we will be getting another large blizzard and ice storm. gahhhh... But one can only hope. After all, I live in Iowa. You Iowans know what I'm talking about.

It's been a lazy weekend. Good and lazy. I am just not too happy about losing that hour of sleep today. As if I don't already have to get up early enough. Well one nice thing is that losing that hour of sleep means spring is coming and summer is not far off. We will soon be driving on clean roads (full of potholes, I might add) or rather, roads filled with puddles and mud splashing our windows. Here's to a new week full good things I hope.

1930s trousers::inspiration::images

More inspiring clothing collages to come for spring/summer.

this is...

my inspiration board.

I realize this is not exactly a board, but I don't have one. This is the closest thing to my inspirations which are compiled together. I also have a sort of scrap book of fashions that I have started, but unfortunately haven't really kept up with it. I'd like to make a new one for my spring/summer ideas. One more thing to do I guess. You might also check my flickr favorites for more images that inspire me.



And to be honest with you, these are just the pictures that inspire me for modern wear/living. I am also totally and completely obsessed with historical fashions, so that would be an entirely separate inspiration board. (Though you will notice a few historical images I have included in this wire.)

this week's "this is" postponed

I woke up early this morning with a terrible headache and a sick stomach. I'm wondering if I got food poisoning while I was helping out with a fundraiser dinner. It could have been something else that didn't agree with me or perhaps it was a mild sickness setting in. I have no idea, but I never got around to taking a picture of this week's theme. soo.... hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and be able to take that picture. Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday afternoon/evening. I've been lazy all day. Sleeping, reading, surfing the net. I hope whatever it is I have will be away from my body by tomorrow. I've got sooooo much work to get done.

::happiness

Do you ever feel just really really happy for no particular reason? Well, duh, I'm sure you have or maybe you're feeling that way right now. For some reason I woke up today kind of happy, then I got happier. And now I'm sort of in a blissful state. I sometimes think it's just the coffee I drink so much of. It's a Saturday morning, it's quiet, I've had about an hour to pour over my daily blog-feed and I'm listening to some soft music. I really like quiet mornings to myself. I'm not really a morning person, so it's hard for me to want to talk and have a conversation with someone. I tend to keep to myself in the first few hours that I wake up. I don't always get that, so it's nice when I can enjoy some quiet solitude in the morning.

Recently I've been in a bit of a funk. It's been hard to keep up with everything and then I feel overwhelmed with work. But in the last few weeks or maybe even few days, I think I am beginning to get back into my regular ole self. It's been awhile since I've really been me. Sounds weird maybe, but I always blame it on my age. You know that awkward time in life where you are just not sure what the heck you are doing. It feels odd for me to post that here in my blog. (I constantly go back and forth about how personal this blog should be.) But I think I can honestly say life is fine right now. It's not the best it could be nor is it the worst. I've realized a few things in my life. A few things I've been dwelling on that could never be and not concentrating enough on the present. Perhaps it's the spring air that I can almost feel. I get a little antsy when it has been snowing like crazy and am definitely ready for warmer weather. I am actually looking forward to rain, though I am the type who usually hates dreary rainy days. (Or maybe it's that plaid umbrella I picked up at a thrift store that I'm just dying to use...)

Oh how life can be so unpredictable.

I've been purchasing leather for those bags. So far I've purchased one hide that will work and three others that will work for other styles. It's still not exactly like the leather I used on my bag, though. I'm continuing to search for the right leather. I don't know much about the stuff, so it's hard for me to pick the right kind. We really don't have any leather shops around here, unless you would count Tandy Leather, which is NOT my favorite place to go. They always seem to jack up their prices and I know I can get the same quality leather other places for a lot more reasonable prices. I can be a bit of a bargain hunter (though most of my bargain hunting is done in the comfort of my own home, sitting behind a computer screen). The leather I got was in a warehouse in Minneapolis that my sister found while we were fabric hunting a few years back. I'm wondering if I might be able to send a scrap of leather to a supplier and see if they can't find something similar.

On the sewing front, I've been scheming up my spring/summer wardrobe. I'm planning to sew most, if not all of my clothes. The other day I altered a pattern (rather drastically, I might add) for a pair of wide-leg trousers. I'm picky when it comes to wide-leg pants, because I'd rather they don't look like they are from the 1970s. I LOVE the wide leg pants from the 1930s, though, so that is what I'm going for. Mine will have a few pleats on the front and they'll button on either side to give a sort of "sailor pants" look. I have some bone buttons that would look marvelous, though I might save those for a linen version of the same trousers. If I don't go with the bone, I'll probably use the mother of pearl buttons in my stash. I saved a picture I found online of some 1930s clam-diggers that I'm basing my trousers off of. Mine will have tabs at the bottom so I can roll them up and wear them long or short, depending on the weather. I'm really really hoping this will work out. I didn't make a mock-up of the pants before I cut them out, so let's hope I don't screw this up.

this is...

me taking a picture of myself in the mirror with my favourite accessory.



At the moment, I wear these boots everywhere. With every outfit, whether it's jeans, skirts, dresses, you name it.

Happy Sunday. Think I'm going to take that 20 min nap and catch up from the late Friday where I stayed up waaaaaaaay too late. It can get annoying when I lose track of time. It's easy to do. Then get more sewing done and maybe even get in some reading. Tomorrow is Monday and guess what we have in the forecast? Snow. Ice. Snow. ugh. Well, it's not over yet! We've still got more snow on the way and I refuse to stop dreaming of summer...

dude, i am so ready for summer

Thanks guys for your comments on my hair-rant post. :) Keep the suggestions coming! In the meantime, I've sorta fixed my hair. It's alright. And it will grow. I think it's good I got it cut now rather than later. This way it will look better in the summer.

Speaking of summer...I couldn't resist uploading these pictures. Believe me, I'm not that into myself. (I don't think...) I am just trying to figure out what clothes I have and how I can wear them so they do not die in my closet. I'm trying to be a good person and resist the urge to purchase stuff I don't need and instead wear the stuff I already have. So I figured it's going to be a lot easier for me to figure that out if I take a picture of everything I have and then find out what actually looks good on me and what doesn't. (I imagine this is gonna be a long process...yikes) Yeah yeah, I'm obsessed with clothing. Call me a clothes whore. I don't mind. Really. :)