Um, hello. It's been nearly 4 years since I've posted over here. I moved most of my posting over to Instagram for personal-stuff, plus of course my YouTube channel (and corresponding Patreon account) for more educational/informational content. However, lately I've been missing blogging.
I never really liked Instagram, as it lacked the depth that I feel blogs used to have. It is, however, easier and that's where many of my old blogging friends "moved" to. But as reels have taken over, I've become even less entranced with the platform and longing for the old blogging days. There seemed more of a community feel and a genuine share of information. It also had a much slower, more relaxed pace which I sorely miss.
I never officially "ended" my blog as I thought one day I might be back. And I am! I can't promise that I will post with any regularity. I suspect I'm the only one who will still be reading it anyways. But I will post when I'm in the mood. I won't worry about numbers. No one else needs to read it. While I do miss the social aspect, I'm fine with posting this as a journal just for myself if no one is interested in reading anymore.
If you do follow my Instagram you will likely see a couple of these photos I took for Valentines day posted there as well. (I haven't totally given up on that platform yet but we will see...)
My little toothless Valentine, Aggie, graciously posed for one photo before trying to claw my face off. She loves being the center of attention but only on her terms!
Haha, I was so tired when I was taking these photos and you can probably tell! The harsh lighting did not help matters! Even if I wasn't at my sparkling best, I did love having a chance to don my newest loungewear piece. This pink nightgown is a new-to-me vintage one. It was "borrowed" from my mother's closet (she's never even worn it in the 40 years she's had it!). Mine now.
The belt and heart necklace are also vintage. I'm not quite sure where they came from, as I know I didn't buy them. They were either inherited or gifted from a family member who didn't want them anymore. Or were left by the elves. I really haven't a clue from whence they came.
Well that's it for now. No promises going forward, but it felt good to chat again.
Between the scorching temperatures and a heat-related flare-up of my cfs/me, I've been dressing up very little over the last few months. Even just existing is difficult in this heat. Did I mention I'm not a summer person?
I was scrolling back through my photos and I realized the last two times I got properly dressed and took outfit photos I was wearing bedsheets. I mean that literally. This fantastic dress and the skirt in the pictures below were both made from old bed sheets. While the Victorian era through to the 1930's are "my eras", I do love a funky 1960s/1970s floral print. Both fabrics are also thin cotton/poly blends that breath well and aren't too heavy in this oppressive heat.
This summery dress was made from a 17th century chemise tutorial. I shortened the sleeves (there wouldn't have been enough material for long sleeves anyways) and added elastic along the bottom to puff them out. This has been one of my go-to pieces this summer. It is so comfy and fun! I've paired the dress with a belt, boots, and some blue floral earrings.
The outfit below is also me-made. The blouse was made by me many years ago from some vintage fabric. The skirt is a true circle skirt with an elastic-belting waistband. I love using thick belt elastic for waistbands on full skirts. It's quick and easy to sew, plus it provides a very sturdy waistband that fits both snugly and comfortably.
It's been a fairly uneventful summer. Mostly just me sitting around wishing it wasn't so hot and feeling awful. In my better moments, I've been working towards simplifying my life a bit more (using stuff up, reorganizing, decluttering, and finishing some long-standing projects). With my health issues I really am limited in terms of how much I can do in a day. I'm hoping by reworking things, everything will flow smoother and more efficiently allowing me to spend more of my limited time on things I love doing (like maybe some more youtube videos and sewing!). It's still a work in progress.
Currently I am nursing a sore hand/wrist (tweaked it while cleaning...) and wistfully thinking about fall.
Anyone else longing for autumn? I am craving knit-wear, hot beverages, sweet apples, crisp air, and colourful leaves. *sigh* Only a few more weeks to go....
Outfits have been ... um.... "interesting" this month. Our washing machine broke about a month and a half ago and the replacement machine arrived damaged. It has taken over a month to get a replacement (argh!), so my outfits have gotten more "creative" as the month has gone by...
However, I just finished knitting myself a new sweater so at least I managed one cute outfit this week! This sweater was from a 1923 pattern and knit in one of the softest yarns I have ever felt. It's glorious. I paired it with a me-made skirt and a pair of 1920's style heels.
At a risk of TMI: I'm not wearing a bra with this sweater and wow does it make a difference! Instead of wearing a modern bra, I just wore a fitted cami underneath the sweater. The change in silhouette is major and the sweater looks a lot more flattering. If you can avoid wearing a bra (or wear something more compressing like a sports-bra), it makes 1920's clothing fit much better! I'm surprised it took me so long to figure this out since I was already aware of how undergarments do have a major impact on how clothing fits. Vintage/antique style undergarments are shaped very differently and very much alter the final silhouette of a look.
Here is the original pattern illustration:
Nothing much else new to report. I've spent most of the last month going to doctors appointments, which have all turned out fairly well. I'm starting some new supplements and medications to hopefully further improve my health, but I have already seen slight improvements with some of the changes I've already made. I've also made a lot of soap. Soap making is fun.
Overall, things have been pretty good. I'm finally starting to make some slow but steady progress on a number of life fronts, and am hopeful about this continuing. I may even finally be able to get my Etsy shop whipped back into shape! (Oh my poor little neglected shop...)
Whhaaaattt?! Two blogs posts within a few weeks? Yes, I know it's shocking. Haha, I've been terrible at updating lately but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.
These photos were mainly taken for my Ravelry so I would have better photos of the shawl I finished for Christmas, but I thought they were cute enough to share here too. The skirt I am wearing is me-made and the shawl was knit from the Haruni shawl pattern (it's a free pattern on Ravelry). I always have a hard time pairing this skirt with anything but black, so I was super excited when I realized I could now also pair it with my Haruni shawl.
It's going to be a long couple weeks of medical appointments, so I've been distracting myself with lots of knitting. All the appointments are fairly routine but there is quite a few of them and going to a hospital is always a bit nerve wracking. I started a new lace shawl to keep me occupied and am thinking about also casting on a new 1930's sweater.
Hello everyone! I'm back with another outfit post. I've been making more of an effort to get dressed up on the few occasions I'm outside. I've been dealing with a bit of a cfs/me flare-up, so lately most of my time has been spent inside the house (at least I have some fun new pajamas to wear!). When I do get out for a bit, I'm trying to make the most of it! For Sunday coffee, I decided to go with a late 1910's / early 1920's look. This is the kind of vintage look that I feel doesn't look particularly "vintage" despite the fact that the sweater was knit from a 1918 pattern. The skirt was made-by-me, and I paired it with my faithful ol' boots and beret.
"It's so cold out here! Can I go inside yet?!"
And here is the inspiration for my outfit:
Tehehe. It always amuses me to edit myself into the catalog pages to see how well I would fit. My hat really should have been pulled down over my forehead instead of pushed back, but overall I think I did ok!
In other news, my Etsy shop was featured on the wonderful blog "The Pretty and the Kitsch" a couple months back and I just realized I completely forgot to link to the post here. I did a full interview about my shop, sewing, my sources of inspiration, etc. You can check out the post here but I would recommend also checking out the rest of Emily's wonderful blog while you are there! If you are plus size, she recently did a great roundup of vintage sewing and fashion resources (including my shop!).
Speaking on my shop, expect a big update/overhaul in about a month or two. I was hoping to get a bunch of new listings up last month, but health-wise I haven't been the best. My wonderful friend Britt has offered to come over and help with my inventory/reorganization, which has to be done before I can work on sewing, which is so generous of her. With her help, I should be able to get everything back on track and finally get some new listings up! I have some new evening gown designs I want to try but I'm also planning on focusing more on lounge-wear. I wear a lot of lounge-wear at the moment and would love to be able to offer more vintage-inspired pieces for people like me who can't always dress-to-the-nines!
My YouTube channel was also recently was featured on Karolina Żebrowska's video "30+ Vintage Youtubers You Should Watch". I was so thrilled to be featured and it was great finding a few new channels to add to my subscription list (although I'm already terribly behind on my YouTube viewing!). I was going to embed the video here, but she listed even more in the description so I've just linked it here so you can get the full list.
I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. There's been a number of reasons for that (fatigue, terrible weather for photo-taking, lack of time or motivation, etc) but I didn't really realize how much I missed taking outfit photos until today! I'd forgotten how much I enjoy playing around with my camera, and having my bff snapping the pictures and making me laugh certainly upped the fun level.
But golly, it was cold outside!
I've been rather lax in my dressing lately, so I decided a theme was needed. I flipped through Eaton's Fall and Winter Catalogue 1920-21 for inspiration, and attempted an outfit similar to those that could have been purchased through the catalog.
Here are my inspiration images:
And here is what I came up with:
The faux fur coat is a vintage piece, as is the clutch. My boots were purchased many years ago at Soft-Moc, and my gloves are from a small boutique that sadly is no longer around.
The hat was purchased from a dollar-store, with the intention to refashion it into something a bit more vintage. I cut the brim down (finishing the raw edges with bias tape) and added a scarf + vintage brooch. The earrings are also me-made from some pendants from a craft-store.
For a dress, I went with a brown velvet dress (refashioned from a velvet pant-suit) with a turquoise ribbon worn as a belt. While "1920's dresses" usually make one think of dropped waists, from the catalog images you can see that in the early 1920's a higher, natural waist-line was still quite popular.
(It was so cold taking these photos! Did I mention it was cold?!)
I wish I had some news to report or something interesting to talk about, but basically my life for the last month has just been a marathon of doctors appointments which are sadly quite routine for me now. Hopefully in the next month or two I will have time/energy for something more exciting.
I hope everyone is staying cosy and warm this winter. In that theme, I will leave you with a picture of the egg-cosy I knit a few weeks ago:
Oh boy, it's been a busy few weeks! I finally managed to get a few minutes today to look through and edit the photos from Halloween. I had planned on posting these about a week ago, but better late than never! I had technically had three different costumes this year: one for a Halloween party, one for Halloween day, and then a third for handing out candy.
First Costume: The Night Sky
This was a last minute costume for a party I attended the weekend before Halloween. I made a super quick cape and star crown, and threw it together with "starry" pieces from my wardrobe to complete the look. It was raining that night so a) I didn't get proper photos and b) my hair turned out a bit of a disaster. I quite liked the concept of this costume though, so it may be enhanced and re-worked for a future Halloween.
Second Costume: Forest Princess
I'm calling this one my "forest princess" costume for lack of a better name. There are plans to add some special effects to the photos so I may turn into more of a fairy or something magical, but for now "forest princess" is a more accurate description. I definitely felt like a Disney character, albeit perhaps more of an evil step-sister than a heroine. The dress is a vintage one, which I've paired with a real corset to give it a bit more shape. Instead of a crown, I opted for a glittery headpiece of green leaves and baubles. I was also too lazy to curl my real hair, so I used it as an excuse to wear one of my many costume wigs that I use for photo-shoots. This one looked like 1920's style ringlets on the package photo, but in reality it's huge! Not really appropriate for it's intended purpose but it made a great vaguely 18th century wig when pinned up.
Every princess needs a animal familiar!
Costume #3: Knitting Unicorn
I was planning on wearing my princess costume all night, but after several hours in it I decided perhaps it wasn't the comfiest nor the most practical outfit. I took inspiration from Britt's fox costume and hopped into my Unicorn onesie for the rest of the night. It was definitely the best choice for knitting, movie watching, and handing out candy.
And those were all my costume for this year! Hopefully I will get more time soon for more proper blogging and such.
Whew! It's been an exhausting couple of weeks! Between a quick trip to the cottage to check out the autumn colour, birthdays, weddings, doctors visits, video filming, plus a whole lot of other things, I am utterly shattered. I've luckily managed to schedule myself a couple slower days to rest up. (The sofa and I are going to be spending some quality time together!) However, I still have a bunch of editing to get done on Britt's wedding video so I can be idle but productive at the same time.
Speaking of being productive, I recently finished another "3-hour sweater". This is my 5th time using this pattern and this time I've modified it into a cardigan. I love this sweater so much! The yarn I used has a subtle copper shimmery fiber running throughout it, which I've complemented with a very shimmery copper yarn along the yoke.
For my regular weekly coffee with Britt, I wore my new sweater with a pair of high-waisted trousers (from an Etsy shop that sadly no longer exists), brown brogues, and a brown tank top. The necklace I'm wearing is actually made from petrified wood (i.e. fossilized tree remains). Isn't that cool?!
Yes, I'm wearing camo unicorn socks with my brogues... They were a present from Britt and her new husband Tommy (he was in the military, hence the camo was fitting).
On a completely unrelated note, after receiving a rather large unexpected bill, I feel the need to warn others against using FedEx. I ordered some makeup-making supplies over a month ago, and while I love the supplies, my experience with the shipping was awful. Firstly, FedEx claimed they couldn't find my house and that I had provided them with the wrong address (we literally saw them drive right in front of the house). Then a month after receiving my package, I was sent a bill for $45. I had already paid almost $30 in shipping initially and was not expecting this wallop at all! I understand paying custom fees, but the duty on the parcel was $0.27 plus taxes around $12. The rest of the fees were from FedEx and seem to be standard for them to charge. Having never shipped with them before, I had no idea there were all these extra "standard" fees that were not mentioned initially and would be later charged. The package was a small one and all these extra charges are costing me more than the actual package was worth! I contacted FedEx but they basically shrugged and said if the customs fees were calculated wrong they see what they could do but the other fees were just the way it is. Long story short: when ordering online, check who is shipping the package. I order online all the time and have never had such an awful experience with any other postal service.
Ok, rant over. Let's take a deep breath and look at the pretty leaves... ⇑
To end on a happier note, here is the video I filmed with Britt in case you haven't seen it. We went on a day-trip to visit an antique carousel, plus wandered around a cute small town.
Well, I feel I should write more as I definitely have more news and things to share, but that will have to do for now. As I said before, I'm exhausted!
