Nature Walk

I love going for walks in conservation areas. A couple weeks ago Britt and I went for a walk at one nearby that has a ton of animals. People feed the birds so everything is very tame. I tend prefer more "wild" areas, but Britt is a sucker for cute chipmunks so we made a trip there just before the weather turned. We didn't see many chipmunks, but there were a ton of blue jays, chubby squirrels, and very bold wild turkeys. 

 I actually didn't use the camera zoom for these turkey photos. Yes, we were that close!

 Britt dressed casually and practically for our walk. I decided to be silly and dress up in a nature inspired outfit. At least my shoes were practical.

Outfit Details:
Dress and belt -Made by me
Boots- Ariat Riding Boots

Hair Ornament- from the Christmas floral section at Michaels

Now that there is suddenly snow on the ground, it is much less conducive to nature walks. However, I'm trying to make an effort to get out more often regardless of the weather. I'm going to need boots with a better tread through. My riding boots are a great practical boot, but they don't have good tread for winter. 

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Home-made Coiffure Decorations (1911)

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Aren't these pretty? I've been extremely busy crafting Christmas gifts for everyone, but if I get a chance I may have to make one of these for myself to wear during the holidays. 

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Work "Uniform"

These photos show one variation of the outfit I wear most days. Bright tights (with matching hair flower of course), comfy skirt, and top. This has become my work "uniform" lately. It looks nice, is relatively practical, and super comfy so it fit my criteria for a tutoring outfit.

As you will notice in these pictures, I put a red streak in my hair. While I liked the hair-chalk, I wanted to try something less messy. I know I'm allergic to most hair dyes, but thought maybe I would be ok with a temporary dye. Nope.  It's a shame because I really liked the red. I did one large streak, then some more subtle streaks throughout the rest of my hair. Anyone have an suggestions for natural yet non-permanent hair dye? I'm starting to think such a thing doesn't exist. 

With winter fast approaching, my work "uniform" is going to need to change. I'm thinking of getting some warmer tights and wearing a sweater on top. While dressing up is always fun, it's great to have an easy "no-thought-required" outfit for when I only have 5 minutes to get ready. 

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Halloween

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! This month has been rather exhausting for me, but it was great to kick up my feet and spend a night with my bestie. We both dressed up to hand out candy, but it was pouring rain so we didn't get many kids. That didn't stand in the way of our fun though! We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas (Britt hadn't seen it before), ate candy and snacks, and took a bunch of photos. There was some video taken as well of an "epic battle" between us, but that is much too embarrassing to show to anyone. Ever.

We both made our costumes. Britt is dressed as "Link" from Legend of Zelda. She made her cape, tunic and matching hat with the help from my sewing machine. 

My costume was mainly an excuse for fun Halloween fabric. I'm a spider web! The top is a beautiful spider-web lace, and the skirt has a printed white web and glittery green spiders. Unfortunately the glittery green spiders got glittery green sparkles EVERYWHERE! But at least it looked good :)

The cute little black spider was handmade by a lady Britt works with.
 We named him Fred Astaire.

I took a short video of my costume so you can see it in motion. The best part of the top/skirt is twirling in it! It's so swishy!

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Knitting Failure

I love knitting, but sometimes working from vintage patterns isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have been working on and off on the lovely sweater pictured above for over a year and a half now, and was really excited to finally finish it this week. Unfortunately, the collar (i.e. the reason I picked this pattern in the first place) looks nothing whatsoever like the illustration. 

What the?! What happened? I re-sized the pattern but kept all the original dimensions of the sweater. Everything fit perfectly together like a puzzle, so I know there wasn't a mistake in my calculations. But somehow the collar illustrated looks nothing like the final result. There are two points on the collar, but even after blocking it twists oddly so the bottom point disappears. Also, there is no way the collar can stand up like in the picture. Just not possible. It also sits much farther back that illustrated. So all and all, nothing like the picture.

It's quite disappointing when so much work goes into something and it turns out sub-par. Other than the odd collar, I quite like the fit of the sweater so I'm trying to come up with a way to alter it. I don't have enough yarn to knit a new collar though. Anyone have any suggestions?

I'm going to have to do a more fail-proof project next to lift my spirits. Maybe a hat?

To make up for this rather grumpy post, here is a pretty illustration from 1914

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

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Games Night Outfit

Last weekend, I got together with Britt and some others for a games night. We all sit around playing old board games and eating snacks. It's a lot of fun and great for a (cheap!) Saturday night activity. Of course, I just had to dress up. I made this dress a few weeks ago for a birthday party, but the weather was too cold to wear it. Luckily, we seem to be having one last heat spell before the cold weather hits. 

The dress was inspired by a 1920's design. I was experimenting with some different construction techniques, although I'm not entirely happy with the final result. I think this dress will remain a prototype and I won't make any for the shop. That being said, it's super comfy and will be great for the hot days next summer.

I paired the dress with my favourite 1920's inspired heels, some thrifted beads, and a pair of colourful tights. I've been experimenting with bright coloured tights lately. I bought a couple pairs on sale and they add a lovely pop of colour to an outfit. This pink pair matched the roses in the dress fabric perfectly. 

Everything else has been same as usual around here. I've been trying to get back into a few of my old habits though. One of those things has been exercising. Britt and I started a Pilates class a couple weeks ago, although personally I'm more of a yoga fan. I've also been going for more walks. I used to walk quite a lot, but life got in the way and my long walks fell by the wayside. I'm making a point of waking up earlier so I can fit in an hour walk before I start my day. I snapped this picture the other day on a walk around my neighborhood. I've always loved the old "County Registry" building. It's been empty for years but I've always felt it has a romance about it. 

I also bought myself a present. Isn't she cute?

She's a modern turntable, but she works quite well and is portable. Now I can finally listen to my record collection in my room! My room doesn't actually have space for the player (too many books on every single surface...), but now I can have a listen then tuck her back in the closet. 

I hope everyone is having a great week!

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September Fashion (1923)

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An "Almost Circle" Skirt

Autumn is in the air. These last few days have seen a drop in temperature that is making it really start to feel like fall. While I'm no longer in school, being a tutor I still feel very much part of  "back-to-school". Which I suppose explains my "collegiate" inspired look the other day. The top was made from a 1940's pattern, and the skirt is an "almost circle" skirt I made on the weekend. I say "almost circle" since I was tired and accidentally cut an oval instead. At least it gives it an interesting looking hemline, 

I hope everyone is having a great week!

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