Over the winter holidays, I got bit really hard by the retro bug. Last October I had made my spider web flare skirt. We had a mild winter in northeast Ohio so we've already had several bouts of warm temps (meaning 55-65 degrees F). As a result, I've had warmer weather clothing on my mind for a while already. With no upcoming historical events to attend as of now, I'm deciding to go outside of my comfort zone and work on some - recently - historical clothing. Not to mention I'll be able to wear it on a more day-to-day basis (Crinoline hoop skirts are fun, but they're a b!tch to wear around town regularly and while driving). Plus there's the added fun of doing research about it.
I had bought Vintage Vogue pattern V8788 a loong time ago, but have never had an idea of what fabric I wanted to use for it. Recently I discovered a love of cotton poplin and shirting fabrics because they're super lightweight and still have a nice dressy look even though they're completely natural. Wanting be able to wear it into work (We have a black and white only clothing policy), I found this pretty floral poplin from Denver Fabrics.
Then I went and saw the movie Brooklyn with Saoirse Ronan close to awards season, and that retro bug became a full blown infection. As I sat in the theatre trying to ignore the packed audience around me, I fell in love first with the story of Eilis as she immigrates from Ireland to Brooklyn, New Work, during the early 1950s, then with all of the outfits that she wears (And if you haven't seen the film yet, do!).
So for the last week of February, I had a week off from work. While I had all sorts of plans for sewing projects for my days when I was sitting around the house, that sort of ended up going out the window once I sat down in my sewing area. I had more chore projects stacking up and small projects that I had put together.
I opted for the project pile since it would help to clear up some space for me. To start, a couple throw pillows that went with the curtains in the bedroom. Not my idea of anything exciting, but they were done in a couple hours. In addition, my friend Sarah had a baby recently so I was putting together some fun stuff for her.
In the process of cleaning through the project pile though, I did finish this small wedding sampler (also for Sarah) that was originally promised to her shortly after her wedding. As you can see from the picture, it's been a while.
With one cross stitch project being finished, that means I can have another in progress! Because these can sometimes be very time consuming, I try not to have more than two going at a single time. My next one is Charlotte from Mirabilia patterns.
