Vintage bolero pattern-I

I just looove Casey's blog: Elegant Musings
she is just so talented and her vintage looks always inspire me :)


A while back Casey posted about a two-seam top (which I still intend on making)
Someone commented on this post by adding a link to a website with vintage patterns which also had a very similar two-seam top on it..
I purchased that pattern and still (as I said) want to make it..but then I saw another vintage pattern on that website which intrigued me..the Vintage 1950's Circle Bolero Pattern

So I set out to make it :)

After some research online (I'm a cheapskate, I know) I found a picture of the "pattern"  (most vintage patterns are more descriptions than patterns anyway)

So it says to simply cut out two circles (with two smaller circles inside as armholes) and sew them together and add some buttons so you can close the bolero..

I thought why go through the trouble of cutting two circles and than sewing them together if I can just cut them out together:

So I just let the circles overlap and only cut the black lines.

From my stack of grandma's fabric I had some really nice white fabric with white flowers woven into it..so I used that to make the bolero out of..

Right now I'm still finishing it and adding some personal touches to it..so those pics are still to follow..but I already wanted to share this with y'all..it really shows sewing doesn't have to be complicated..but boy..I wish I would think of things like these :)

Summer dress

My parents are cleaning out their garage and it turns out there was a whole bunch of sewing stuff from my grandma in there..I'm talking appliances, zippers, fabric, yarn..everything...
So my mom was kind enough to go through it all and supply me with a few boxes full of good stuff (thanks mommy!)

From this lovely floral fabric I decided to make myself a summer dress (see below)

Thanks to my sewing mannequin I draped and pinned and than sewed, rather than using a sewing pattern..let me know what you guys think of the results (obviously you'll have to to with these pics for now..because I am way not skinny enough at this time to model anything like this :))

Trashy-Fashion

No, it's not what you think..it's "fashion" made out of trash(bags).

This was a few years back (summer of 2007) at an improv "fashion-show" at the Carmelite Sisters in St. Louis, MO during Life Teen's talent-show.

I think I should remake my outfit in the picture below in real fabric..it might be nice :)

 

Now I see this picture again, I notice the bow reminds me of a project I saw on Abbie's 5 days 5 ways blog --> yet another reason to actually make this outfit, because the tutorial on Abbie's blog looks easy to follow and the finished product super cute!

Summer hat

Both my sister and I aren't particularly tall (5'4" and 5'5") thus this summer's maxi dress rage is a little bit diffucult because in almost all dresses it looks like we're drowning. However, my sis bought two super cute maxi dresses and asked me to shorten them for her. (If I get her to model them for me I'll share with you later.)
To go with the whole theme (might I add, although it is almost August, it feels like fall over here..rain every single day and we should be happy if the temp. gets up to 70F, so it's safe to say I am hoping like crazy warmer days are still to come..luckily for my sister, she gets to go to Portugal on Saturday (and enjoy some sunshine there)) mom bought her a cute little sun hat. Since I thought the hat needed something extra and I had a few inches of fabric left over from shortening my sisters maxi dresses, I added a bow, or well I gave my sister some options (see below; and yes at this time pins are holding everything together and the third option still needs a vertical piece of fabric in the middle). As soon as she decides which option she likes best I'll finish it and show you some pictures (together with the dress).

##Update: my sister has informed me it'll be the first option, so a picture of the finished product will follow tonight!

On a different note, I also made a matching headband and a belt out of the remaining fabric (also to be shown later this week)

Shirt to Cardigan

I bought this shirt a few years back because I thought the ruffled sleeves were cute..however it turned out I didn't like the shirt too much..I thought it was too plain and well I just didn't feel comfortable in it..so I ended up never wearing it.
As part of my re-fashion or donate to GW project, I decided to turn the shirt into a cardigan and added some trim (which I salvaged from a skirt I never wore anymore). I also made a little corsage to either wear on the cardigan or in my hair..and (yeah!) now I like wearing it again :)

Bag for mom

The first bag I ever made :)
This one is a gift for my mom to store her bible and journal in.

Re-fashion

There is no way to put it than to simply say I have way too much clothes..

My loving husband and I got married almost a year ago and although I don't have any stuff in storage anymore, it is by no means all organized and taken care of. Truthfully, it's mainly the clothes I'm having a hard time with.
While cleaning some more boxes out the other day, I actually found a pair of pants from when I was 12 (curdoroy which has stretched over the years and still fits --> which made me feel good ;))..so I decided I now really needed to takr care of business, and I'm proud to say I've already donated a few dozen (yes I know..ridiculous) garbage bags filled with clothes to GW. Since I am a strong believer in re-using (and recycling for that matter) I have given myself the choice to wear my clothes, decide to keep them for another year (and than if I don't wear them, give them to GW), give them to GW or re-fashion them.

Truth be told, I'm having a blast with the re-fashioning. Since I love sewing, this gives me enough new projects for probably the next few months, all without having to spend money on fabric. So I'm loving it.
I think my husband often wonders what made him decide to give up his home office and turn our attic into a shared office so when we work (aka I sew) we can still spend time together..my old sewing machine (a heirloom from my late grandmother) which must be at least 40 years old namely isn't very quiet.

Anyhow, I love reading blogs and getting inspired, but have put off starting my own for a long time, but I though it would be a good time to start anyway and share some of my project (please be gentle with your remarks :)).
So more to come in the next few days!

Love,

Michèlle