Hmmmmm is this a sign? Pretty Girls Rock!

On an innocent click through on a blog I normally read, this appeared before my eyes:

The PRETTY GIRLS ROCK "DRESSES" Challenge will start 
Tuesday, March 1, 2011.
Mission: 
1. We will rock dresses and heels like our mothers & grandmothers at least THREE (3) times a week. 
2. We will reject the impulse to throw on jeans, jogging suits (even the cute kind), & dress slacks.
3. Exchange our revelations and thoughts throughout this challenge.
4. Invite a Friend(s), Take Pics, & HAVE FUN.
5. Everyone is WELCOMED to participate.
6. Exceptions: Flattering Dress Suits with nice accessories are allowed.
7. If you have a blog share it with your followers.

Let's bring back:
*GLAMOUR. *GRACE. *CHARM. *FEMININTY. *PRISSYness (is that a word?) and most of all BEAUTY. 

Pretty Girls Rock Dresses Spring/Summer 20-11 Challenge.




Is it a sign?  Must consider deeply.  March might be a bit early for this part of the world.  Hmmmm much to think about.  

Summer of the House dress?

On February 13th this lovely pattern was sent on its way to find it's home with me:

Thank you sunnydayrainyday!

It's my size too.  I don't think I will make it with such a full skirt but now that I see that statement in writing... probably I will.

I became interested in such a frock when I started first saw the beautiful wrap dress Crepe pattern from Colette Patterns.  Then along came Gertie's Crepe sew-along and Casey's Swing Dress sew along with the Sense & Sensibility 1940's swing dress pattern.  Too much for me to bear, so, I just rolled over and submitted and purchased that above beauty.

I like to wear dresses in warmer weather,  I LOVE 1930's repro quilting fabric.  I am not so fond of the comments wearing a dress draws from the peanut gallery of mom's.  (Why is it that we women are the most critical of each other!?!?!?!?!)  I don't really care about what they say.  I just hate it when I don't have a comeback that is true to myself, nor rude and yet giving them a hint that what they have just said is ... well... petty and little.  

But first, since the weather is still 'cold", I am determined to sew a high waisted pair of wool trousers.  I have decided to start with Simplicity 3688

My fabric is almost identical to the photo.  I have made about 4 pairs of pants that have some stretch with a back crotch curve from a La Mia Boutique pattern and a front crotch curve from a Kwik Sew pattern.  They are very flattering so I will see how the curve compares and go from there.  I'll for sure make a muslin...now if I could only find an affordable used sheet from Value Village.  $9 for a used sheet!  No way!


I really do see many more dresses in my future.  Dresses intended for everyday wear.  I find it very ironic that I, a woman, would have to screw up my courage and justify wearing a dress.  I guess we have "come a long way baby."  A long way in the right direction?


Ta ta for now!

Thrifty Lady.

Here is another outfit that is thrifted or heavily discounted at a retail store.  I wore this to Church three or so Sundays ago.  I didn't go to church THIS Sunday.  No, THIS Sunday I thought my daughter had flesh eating disease...


No kidding.... I really thought that.  It was horrible.  But she didn't.  So, that's all done with.


On with the show.

 Don't look at the junk to the right of me.  DON'T DO IT!


My plaid wool skirt is a thrifted Banana Republic.  I bought it for $5.  It was maxi length.  I hemmed it to a sensible height.  There are those Miz Mooz shoes again.


The charcoal wool/cotton cardigan is from Jacob.  I stalked that cardigan for months.  Finally, after Christmas, they put their stuff on sale.  Of course, they were all gone when I went there. But then the sales person noticed one on the counter that a woman had put on hold and decided she didn't want.  It was meant to be.

See my pretty rose broach.  I bought that from a thrift store for my husband to give to me in my stocking.  He is soooooo thoughtful.


















I am sure you have all noticed my red, red chin.  I have struggled with nodular acne since I became pregnant at the age of 25.  It is horrible and painful and I have been putting antibiotic cream on it for 12 years.  I had become so disheartened.  I know in my heart that antibiotics are NOT for long term use.  However the pain and (I'll admit it) looks of this acne is unbearable.


A few weeks ago Steph from 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World innocently posted about DIY deoderant.  At the bottom of the post she mentioned a basic oatmeal treatment she was using.  I figured that trying out oatmeal (that I already had) and water would not hurt.


I am VERY VERY VERY pleased to say that, while I am not completely cured, the difference in my skin is amazing.  I realized that I am no longer walking around with my chin feeling like it was crawling with bugs.  My skin feels very soothed and fresh.  I am going to post some photos soon and hopefully you can see the difference.  Even if you can't, I feel the difference and that is worth it to me!


I just want to thank Steph from the bottom of my heart for posting this information.  Information that is turning out to be life changing for me.

The Cowl Infinity Scarf

This Christmas I had the really great idea to make some fast and easy Christmas presents for some of the female relatives in my life.  I searched and found many tutorials for infinity scarves.  I figured that this would be the perfect gift; as we are spread across Canada and there is no opportunity to see size etc.  So I sewed up a test scarf and found that I didn't really like the way they looked when looped twice.  It took a lot of fussing to get it to look like more than 2 ropes dangling around my neck.

So... I started to do a bit (A LOT!) of research about length and width and after maybe 5 or more drafts I decided that rather than do an infinity scarf that would loop twice, I would make it loop only once.  After some testing this is what I came up with.  (Modeled by my 8 year old daughter, so remember, it won't be as long on the adult women who will wear it).

Why the sour face you ask?  Well, because I did not like the way it just hung limply to the side.  So after a little bit more thought (no exaggeration, start to finish, this project took me weeks!) I decided to do more of a cowl.

Here is what it looked like...

Better, I think.  With the exception of one relative, the other four are well endowed and I figured this would be most flattering laying across their lovely, ample chests.

Once I figured out the dimensions, this cowl alteration is easy peasy and I figured that I would give a quick tutorial on how I did mine.  Descriptions are below the photo:

Cut a piece of fabric  40"long (Med) or 48" (L/XL) by  56"wide (or whatever width your fabric is, mine was 60"

Fold in half, right sides together so that the fabric is long and narrow.

Serge seam down the long end.

The short open ends will become your back neck seam. 

Press that long seam to one side.

Now, slide your arm down the inside of the tube and grab onto the end.

Pull that end through, inside the tube.  See I am holding the end, that used to be in my left hand, with my right hand.

Here is a close up of that.

Now, smooth that the folded tube and lay that down on your cutting board.  The seams are on the lower vertical edge.

The open end (on the right)  becomes your back neck seam.

There will be four layers of fabric here (a tube in a tube).

The vertical edge on the left are folds.

Here is a close up of the lower right corner.

Now take your ruler and place the lower edge at the seam and the upper edge 4" over.

Now slice right through those 4 layers with your rotary cutter.

Take this to your serger and start sewing this end of the tube. 

Remember you are sewing in a circle (like when you attach a sleeve to an arm hole.  

Don't sew this seam shut, leave about 2 inches open.

This is what the seam that you just made looks like.

I have offset the seam so you can see the effect of the diagonal rotary cut.

Now pull the scarf through the hole that you have left open.

I have now laid this, right side out,with the head opening at the top and bottom.

When you put this on, the lower point will be down by the base of your neck and the top narrow part will be higher up your head.

Now take a needle and thread and HANDSEW! (slipslitch) the open part of your seam shut as invisible as possible.  

That's it!  It's all good! 

Any questions or clarification needed, just let me know.

The military blanket cape.

This is the cape that I can not wear out of the house without getting a complement.  The cape that, when I showed my husband the pattern (McCalls 5913 view C) and the fabric (wool/rayon military blanket), he looked at me uncomfortably and tried to change the subject.  Well... in your face husband.  Ok, I don't really mean that.  Once he saw it on, he very quickly told me how nice he thought it looked and then admitted he lacked vision when it came to capes.


I had decided to do overlapping seams and within a few days Threads (Feb/March 2010) came out with that very tip/technique.  It was destiny.  The finishing was so easy because of this.  I really enjoyed the project and I really enjoy my cape.

I have paired it with a thrifted Elie Tahari wool/silk skirt ($6 bucks woohoo!) and my favorite retro burgundy (or claret as a fancy lady would say!) shoes, Miz Mooz (Trinity).  The wool skirt was a bit tight right at the waist but I saw it had four darts along the back so I knew I could let two out at home.  When I sat down to do just that, I noticed that the previous owner had added those second darts to improve her fit.  All I was doing was restoring the skirt to it's original state.  Easy peasy as picking out stitches.  Gotta love that.


I just love grey.  Brown is my favorite color but I often wear black.  Grey is one of those colours that will swing both ways.  And don't even get me started about grey and burgundy together.


Mostly I wear this cape with my boot cut jeans and cowboy boots.  Retro or contemporary, it looks amazing.  I'll be sure to post the cape with a contemporary look too.  


Regarding dressing this way.  This is the outfit I wore to church a little while ago. As a 37yo mom of 3 I find that dressing in a skirt or dress garners me MUCH attention, but mostly from other mommies. Often..."What's the occassion?" or "Nothing clean to wear?" Older generation loves it though and I tell ya, I got a wolf whistle from a 6 year old (at Church!). I think I was the only one in a skirt (besides little girls) in a church of 200 plus people.


PS  I can not believe there are no dogs in either photograph.  That will most likely NEVER happen again!


Aw nuts, I just can't do it!  Here's two of them: