Rustic Vintage Birthday Tea Party

 

Sometimes in life,

we are given moments that are so beautiful, and perfectly piercing,

it seems almost overwhelming, too much to take in and fully grasp.

 

I recently had one of those moments.

 

 

 

This past weekend was the birthday of a dear friend.

Funny story...

while she is a dear friend,

she is a fairly new one...and I actually didn't know it was her birthday!

We had planned to spend the weekend together in advance,

since her family would be away and we would have the time all to ourselves.

 

She had no special plans to celebrate,

but I have to say, God had some...

 

What started as a simple cup of tea between friends one evening,

turned into grand plans for a beautiful outdoor tea party and supper the following day.

 

We spent most of Saturday planning, preparing, searching for recipes,

and cooking.

 

 

By the time we had gotten dressed, carried the table, chairs, dishes and our goodies

out to the edge of a nearby field...

it was sunset. 

 

 

 

Tea cups and place settings.

 

 

 

 

A birthday banquet.

 



 
  

 

Freshly picked flowers graced out table.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

The lovely ladies...

 

 

 

 

...sitting down to tea.

 



 

 

Beth, the birthday beauty.

 

 

 

 

And me.

 

 

 

Pumpkin Pie Spiced tea...

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn't wait to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Isn't it beautiful?!

 

 

 

 

Yummy quiche, made with farm fresh eggs, garden picked veggies and gluten free crust!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dessert, gluten free Scottish Shortbread with Cinnamon Sugar topping!

 

 

 

 

And a dish of home grown Honey Dew...it was divine!

 

 

 

 



 The sunset was beautiful...

and the perfect opportunity for some vivid shots...

 

 

 

Just gorgeous, inside and out!

 

 



 

 

I love how the purple hues came out in Beth's pictures,

and the deep oranges came out in mine...the colors matched with what we were wearing.

 

 

 

 

We finished our meal in the dark, with the stars and a lone lamp post (the farm version) for light.

Is it just me, or does food taste better out of doors?

 

Probably the high light of the evening was what came after.

Once we had fed our tummies, we nourished each other's souls by praying for each other.

After talking about so many hopes, dreams and desires for the future,

we wanted to bless each other and ask for God's guidance and grace.

 

It was a glorious way to celebrate a birthday...

and a friendship! 

 

 

 

It is Finished! Mash-up Jean Weskit

It is finished!

Remember when I told you about a project I was working on

that involved a mash-up of refashioning and tradition sewing with a pattern?

After several interruptions I have finally have the finished product

and some fun after photos to show you!

 

Using this pattern, on loan to me from Atlanta,

 

 

 

I decided to make the weskit shown on this model

from a couple pairs of old blue jeans!

 

I 'filleted' two pairs of jeans, seem ripping

all the way up both legs so they would lay flat.

 

 

It took a little bit of planning and flipping around to get the pattern

fitted on the blue jeans like I wanted them.
 

 



Here are the two front pieces all cut out and chalked up.
 

 



 

And these are the two back pieces.

The original pattern only used one piece for the back,

but I had to modify it to work with my jean material.

 

You can't really tell from these photos,

but the back pieces are from one pair of jeans,

and the front pieces are from another,

so they have a slight color variation...I don't mind though...

I think it adds a rustic feel.
 



The not-so-lovely button holes.

This was my first time cutting out and stitching around button

holes on a 'raw' project.

I did just a we bit of it with my Medieval refashion, but it wasn't quite the same.

Cutting those holes was a little scary!

There is no going back after that.

 

 



 

 

 Starting to take shape with some darts in place.

 

Annnddd that is all I have for before shots!!

After this point, I just wanted to get it done

and forgot to take any more pictures!

It is ok, I didn't do anything special,

I just followed the directions to finish assembling it.

 

There were definitely some frustrating moments with this project,

and it didn't turn out looking as clean as I was hoping.

My machine was have fits and not stitching right

(an issue my wonderful, mechanically minded little brother fixed for me!).

But all in all, I like the result and I learned a lot!

I would certainly use this pattern again,

although I think I would change how wide the shoulders are...

I don't quite like how broad they make my shoulders look.

 

But, enough talking, here are the after pictures so you can decide for yourselves!

 

 

This is a very contemporary styling, which I have to say I really like!

At first, I was going to use bright, colored buttons,

but upon further consideration decided to use something more subtle and muted

so I could wear this weskit with a variety of colors.

 After searching through out button tin, I found the perfect match...
some lovely smooth, gray buttons.


 



In the cutting process, I purposely lined up the pattern so I would have

seems from the jean legs running down the front...

it gives it that princess-seem look without the work!
 

 

 

I did the same with the back...being very purposeful about where I put the seems

when I cut the pieces out.
 

 





 

 

The darts in this project give the weskit a great fit!

 

Annndd...just for fun, we did another photo shoot,

this time a little more retro feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! When I saw this picture, I had a flashback to an

old photo of my mom...my face looks so much like her in this shot!

Usually I don't look that much like my mother...hmmm.

 

 

 

 

Brother Anthony- "You are too serious, you look like you are falling asleep!"

 

 

 

 

Much better!

 

 

This is my "yay, it is finished" look!

 

 



 

 

Anthony: "How about you sit down...I don't think there are any stickers..."

 

Right about then....

 

 

 

 

Me: "Errr...I think that is a fire ant..."

 

 

 

 

"Yes...yes, it is..."

 

 

 

Me: "Ummm, there is a fire ant crawling on my skirt..."

 

 



 

 

 Yeah, I'm getting up now...