It's Coming, It's Coming!

Hello, friends!

I'm sorry things have been so quiet around here since the end of RR,

but I just have one thing to say to that.

Christmas is coming!!!

 

Do you know what this means?!

 

This means I have less than 34 days to make all my gifts,

AND fill an order for eight of my crocheted mermaid dolls!

On top of that, I've returned to serving as my dad's carpenter assistant,

so that makes for long days, which means even less time to make everything!

 

But don't worry,

I'm a chronic procrastinator (for evidence there is this post, and this post, AND this post).

but if there is one thing I've learned, it is that I work best with the panic of an impending deadline!

 

That means things will be kind of slow here on the blog for a season,

but I know you all have your own busy holidays to tackle,

so maybe one less post to read will be good for your schedule as well.

 

I would love to share with you my finished products,

but there are several people who read my blog that I will making things for,

so those will just have to wait until after Christmas.

 

Here are a few projects I intend to tackle that I can show you!

Isn't this darling?!

I have a little brother who needs one of these.

Whenever he wants to go out and spend his hard earned chore money,

he brings his entire, jangling money tin.

I think the little man needs a wallet of his own.

This great tutorial can be found here.

Little sister. Pink princess cutouts, framed.

Need I say more?

Here is another project I'm considering recreating for my little sister.

There are no directions with this Pinterest link, but I think with some tinkering I can figure it out.

 

 

Homemade Lemon Salt Scrub.

All natural, easy to throw together, and a great pampering gift!

I plan to make several jars of these.

Along the same lines,

I found this pin on making your own lip gloss.

This would be a great stocking stuffer or part of a spa gift package for the ladies.

 

 

That's all I can share with you for now,

which is sad, because the projects I'm most excited about making I can't show you yet!

 

Isn't it wonderful that Christmas gives you an excuse to actually make

some of those amazing pins you been stockpiling?

 

Are you making your own gifts this season?

Where do get your inspiration and ideas?

I'd love to know!

What Goes Around...Vintage Trends

You would have to be living under a rock
to be oblivious to the fact that vintage and retro has come back into style.

Sites like Modcloth, Eshakti and others are teaming with
lots of lovely vintage inspired copycats, and I love it!

While some modern trends are obviously vintage throwbacks,
I have discovered several trends that I didn't know had their roots in vintage fashion!
Here are a few examples I came across.
 

 

Color blocking

Here we see a 1940's tiered gypsy dress with color blocking.
I was pretty shocked to find out this was a vintage concept!
 

 

Belts 

I'm sure you have all noticed belts that look like these, especially B and C.
This chart dates back to the 40's, I think.

 (Does it bother anyone else that the letters on that chart are all out of order?! Gahhh!)

Big Pockets

Big, exposed pockets are back in, and it hasn't been the first time they were popular, 

as seen in these 1940's patterns.



Peplums

Peplums....all the craze these days!
Perhaps the modern designers thrifted some 1940's patterns just like these and decided to bring them back? 'Cause they look just like the peplums you see all over today.


Here is another version of the peplum.

This looks a lot like the design I ended up with for my refashioned peplum jacket, doesn't it?!



Bubble Hem

This is a 50's pattern as far as I know.

This trend also made a resurgence in the 80's

and now it is back again.

I'm sorry.

I don't get this one.

It looks just as strange back then as it does today!

 

 

 

Lace Top/Sleeves

This is a 1950's evening gown pattern, with the lace top and sleeves.
So classic. So beautiful.
This is style, not just fashion!
There is a reason this look is still around.



Pinafore

Pinafores are coming back in (and have made their way onto my 'need to make' list)
and while you may not see a whole lot like the two above styles, which date back to the 40's,
there are lots more like the style pictured below.

Isn't it cute?


What do you think about the resurgence of all the vintage looks?
Did you know these modern trends had vintage echoes?
Have you come across any other modern trends that you didn't realize
had vintage roots?

Behind the 'Seams' of Refashion Runway, a Look Back

At the beginning of Refashion Runway,

I purposed to at least make it to the Peplum challenge.

But God gave me the continued grace and inspiration to far exceed those expectations!

 

  I was SO ecstatic when I first found out Beth from Renegade Seamstress

had selected me to be a part of the second season of Refashion Runway!
Little did I know I would make it to the final round and place Fourth Overall!

There wasn't a single week in this competition that I didn't do something I hadn't done before.

As a result, I feel my skills have more than doubled since I first started.
 

Here is a little look back at each one of the six challenges,
and a little 'behind the scenes' info you didn't get in the previous blog posts.

 

 

Week 1, Plaid
 

I was running off of pure adrenaline for this project!

On Friday I got word that I had been accepted into the contest, and my project was done by Sunday.

I already had a piece on hand to refashion, which made it that much quicker.
And honestly, it was not cool enough to be wearing these boots...I was baking!
This is Texas after all.
 

 

Week 2, Emerald Green

This one took me the longest out of all six projects to complete.

I just couldn't get a vision for this piece.

I started working on it still in the first week of competition, and I didn't get it finished

until the following Wednesday, so about nine days!

A lot of that time, it just sat there and I wondered what to do with it.

It is the piece I least like of all my RR projects.

This one came together through prayer and encouragement.

I dubbed it The Green Monster.
 

 

Week 3, Peplum
 

This was only the second peplum I've made,

and really, I was NOT impressed with the first one.

But it gave me a clear vision on what I DIDN'T like about peplums,

so I was able to change up the look for this RR project and up with something I did like.

This was a pretty smooth project, I didn't have any bumps or setbacks with this one.

As far as trying new things went, this one probably ranked up at the top.

This was really the first time I had drafted a pattern before.

I also had never sewn a button hole the right way with my machine,

AND I had never used bias tape to finish off inside seams (similar to a Hong Kong seam).

When it was finished, I felt pretty proud, it was one of the most classy pieces I've made so far.
And it was in one of my favorite colors.

 

Week 4, Leather
 

This one scared me.

At the onset of the competition, I knew this one would be a biggy!

I tried to focus on one week at a time, not thinking ahead until I was finished with the present job.

But this one kept sneaking into my thoughts.

Honestly, I wasn't sure that I would make it to this round when I began the competition,

so it required a special thrift store trip to find a leather piece to work with.

If the Emerald challenge was the hardest inspirationally, the leather one was the hardest technically.

It nearly got the better of me, but I told myself that if others could sew on leather, so could I!

It took a lot of research and some special tricks, but in the end I got it.
 

 

Week 5, Halloween
 

Coming off the leather project,
 I was going into the costume challenge with less than a full tank of emotional energy.
I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted to make,

and when I made the first of four thrift store stops, I had three different projects in my head.

I actually broke down into tears at Goodwill after more than an hour with still no clear direction.

I was still buying pieces on Monday, just four days before it was due!
 

Despite the bumpy start, I was able to settle on an idea, find what I needed, and get the project done.

There were more tears involved when I thought I had broken a zipper after three tries to get it sewn in, and there was more than once that I had to ask God for help. But it got done!

Up to this point, this was the latest I had worked into the week to complete my project,

finishing up on Thursday night!

I was still stressed though because we were supposed to get a bunch of rain the next day,

and I was worried about getting the pictures done.

As it turns out, the pictures I was most worried about turned out to be the most fun I had taking pictures! We got up early and had a great time freezing our hands off in the chilly dampness for a great shoot!
God is funny that way, isn't He?

 

 

Week 6, Winter White
 

 

Putting all niceties aside, this was kind of like my week of hell.

I had pushed long and hard with my costume project, and by this point, I was pretty much exhausted.

I got started late in the week (Tuesday, four days before deadline) because I was so worn out.

When I finally set myself to the task, I realized I had picked a very difficult fabric to work with.

What I wanted to do seemed pretty straight forward,
but the fabric made it three times harder and five times longer to get done.

The entire week I took two steps forward, one step back.

There were lots of tears. Lots of chocolate. And LOTS of support from my family.

But this week was honestly fueled by prayer and the shear grace of God.

I probably prayed hourly asking for clarity of mind
(I was making so many uncharacteristic mistakes), strength and support.
There was more than one day I was ready to give up and I seriously doubted

having a completed project to submit by the deadline.

On top of all that, I was getting sick with a cold my last two days of sewing.

But it happened.

I actually finished and God even gave me a wave of strength to cross over the finish line with a smile to show in the 'after' photos.
This top was pretty much my miracle piece!
 

 Finally, finally, I was finished with it.

Completely finished. No more projects to submit.

I had made it through the complete season of Refashion Runway!
 

Honestly, it didn't matter a whit what place I got, the real accomplishment was that

I had given my best, conquered every challenge and held my own amongst the company of

some extraordinarily talented women, all of whom had been doing this a lot longer than me!

 

And on top of that,

I met all of you!

 

Thank you to everyone who left comments, voted, and generally encouraged me each week!
 

Honestly, without my supportive family
and my very talented, patient brother who took all of the amazing photos,

AND without everyone's encouragement and comments

I would not have been able to make it as far as I did.

So here is to a very successful and unforgettable second season of Refashion Runway.
We did it, y'all!