Felt Baby Booties

Nothing is sweeter than baby booties except perhaps the feet that go in them. 

Recently Peachie and her husband celebrated the first birthday of their little girl, Lucy.  While there is no lack of adorable clothing patterns out there, I decided to try my hand at booties.  After a quick stroll through pinterest, I found a very nice pattern from Heather Bailey.  Not only does her website offer tons of great crafting ideas, but I found her Bitty Bootie tutorial the easiest to follow.  But if you know me, I didn't really follow it...so here's what resulted. 

 

I did use her pattern which couldn't have been simpler. 

Because Lucy is already cruising, I used nubby, gripper fabric for the soles of the booties in addition to a layer of felt.  After cutting out the pieces, I sewed on the pink hearts and joined the back heel of the upper.  Then I added the pink stripe over the back seam.

I sewed, right sides together, the upper to the sole (both felt and gripper fabric together), all the way around and turned it right side out.  Lastly the white heart button was attached.  

Booties can be as simple or elaborate as you wish (just take a gander at pinterest).  The possibilities for embellishments are endless.  Embroidery could be added around the top edge, such as the classic buttonhole stitching, or ribbon lacings with bows on the toes.  A cotton or flannel print could be used for the inside sole.  My daughter suggested attaching jingle bells which is Grandma's tried and true method of keeping tabs on roving toddlers.  The best part is that these booties were quick to sew and new pairs can easily be made as those little piggies grow.  Many happy trails Lucy!

Alterations: Mens WWII Pants

If you tend to wear vintage, you know that anything is fair game.  You've got to keep your options open and suddenly Grandma's old cat-eye glasses start to look do-able.  Your aunt's beret and scarf set, not too shabby.  Or your dad's old military clothes, not just for Halloween anymore!  Personally, I love my WWII military-issue pieces.  And here are a few easy tips to make the pants a bit more flattering for the female figure. 

Converting Clips to Posts

We're so excited to bring you a post from our new HVG candidate, Marilyn Mercury.  Recently she wielded her glue gun to do a bit of updating to a fabulous piece of vintage jewelry.  This is an easy How-To for anyone who hates those biting clip earrings. 



On the 4th of July, Mr. Mercury and I were looking for something to do that, of course, needed to involve driving our 1965 Mercury Comet. After looking through craigslist, I found a flea market in Northfield, MN, about an hour from where we live.  This drive is one of the prettiest routes you can take, traveling through gorgeous farm country.  We try to go there at least once during the summer. It was a beautiful summer day, which was most appreciated because summer took so long to get here this year.  Here in Minnesota, we still had snow in May!! 

Marilyn enjoying the Summer sun on her flea market trip.

When we got there I was a bit disappointed that it was such a small flea market, but I did find a few treasures, one of them being these amazing atomic-looking earrings! Now at first glance, most vintage earrings seem unlikely to be worn because they're usually clip-ons.  I have often passed them by before, but these just intrigued me.  I just had to try and make them work!! 

So off to Joanne Fabrics jewelry-making department I went. This is something I've never attempted before.  I was overwhelmed at the selection of tiny metal pieces for making necklaces, bracelets and earrings!!

I picked out some silver metal posts and backs. I already had at home some Gorilla glue and a hot glue gun. I figured one of those would work for adhering the posts to the backs of the earrings after I pried the clip portion off with a pliers.  


I ended up using a drip of Gorilla Glue to secure the base of the post.  After letting that dry, I then surrounded the base with hot glue. 

clip removed and post glued in place

I'm not sure it will hold for the long haul because these earrings are very heavy!! But I can't wait to wear these babies out! I think they'd look best with the very outfit I found them in, but now I'll have to wait til next summer! 

For now I will model them in my recent thrift store find, a beautifully beaded cardigan.  It only needed new buttons and a few tiny holes stitched up! Can't beat a deal like that! $4.50 for the cardigan and $3.00 for new buttons!

We think Marilyn looks smashing in her new cardigan and earrings!  Finding vintage pieces is not only an adventure, but restyling them to fit your needs can be so rewarding (not to mention economical).  Thank you for sharing your project with us, Marilyn.  Now I'm off to find my hot glue gun...

Pincurls for Medium-length Hair

Or maybe I should title this post, "Remember to set your hair before you mix your drink." 

Last weekend Wild Kat and her family stayed overnight at my house.  You know the scene; adults sitting with feet propped up in front of the campfire.  Kids running blindly with sparklers in hand.  And a few glasses of Sailor Jerry going down smooth. 

"Wait!  You could set my hair!" she cried.  Out came the spritz bottle, comb and pins.

So Wild Kat and I headed into back into the kitchen...

This is my basic pin curl set.  I did a tutorial a couple years ago and still like this simple set.  I don't set nearly as many curls as you'll find in the vintage hairstyle books.  I use bobby pins and only criss-cross them when necessary.

There are twelve curls (four across, three down) set across the entire back of Wild Kat's head.  The curls down the center row alternate direction, left and right.  All the curls on the left side of her head are rolled forward towards her face.  And the same on the right side. 

I placed three pins on each side of Wild Kat's head, above her ear.

And there are four or five stand up pin curls in her bangs.  I like a little extra height here and these won't get smooshed when she sleeps. 

After Wild Kat was all dolled up, we headed back out to the campfire, visited with Sailor Jerry until 2:30am, discussing children, local politics and religion.  Very therapeutic. 

The following morning, after Wild Kat had done chores for me (I think I like having a clone), she brushed the curls out into a soft wave. 

Wild Kat's hair was 3-4 days old and had some product in it.  We spritzed it with water as we set each curl, and she slept on it. 

Typically I do a full wet set (straight out of the shower) and use gel to help hold.  Followed by hairspray and pins where needed.

Wild Kat pulled her bangs back and pinned up a few rolls.  This is a simple, easy set that takes about 15 minutes to set the night before and 15 to brush out in the morning.  No sleeping on rollers.  No standing in the bathroom feeling your arms go numb from holding up the curling iron.  The soft curls can be left loose or brushed and pinned into many different styles.  Give it a try!

The Butterfly Project

Pinterest can be a blessing, and a curse, but today we will focus on the blessing side. I can type some words in the search box and poof! Millions of ideas coming at me. I try to make my niece's gifts since I can, and it gives it a more personal feel, I think. So for her birthday I recalled a conversation with her mother about how she couldn't reach her favorite book/toy in the vehicle. I did find back-of-the-seat caddy examples, but I wasn't impressed with their style or lack of.  The possibilities were endless, so I posed the question to my niece: crown, heart, owl, or butterfly? She picked the latter so off I went. First thought, perhaps I could use up some more of the pink corduroy in my sewing room? But what to go with the pink? It was hard to stop myself in the batik section of the fabric store (perhaps you are familiar with my obsession?). These fabrics mimicked the spots on monarchs and although this is a smaller project, I needed, okay wanted, to get  all six of them in. Templates are easy to find on the Internet. While the boys did school work one evening, I drew a simplified template of a monarch on newsprint using the template as a guide.

I borrowed their crayons (I still love coloring!) and blocked in the colors by how many fabrics I had chosen.  I then traced out the pieces in tracing paper.

Since I made this up out of my head, I needed to sit down and scratch out pattern directions to save me the time of stopping after each step to decide what to do next.

I decided to section out four quilted pockets on the butterfly with the batik patterns on them, and use the pink corduroy as backing.

In this project I fell in love with Heat n Bond Lite, as it made the pieces so nice and neat and easy to applique, which was especially helpful with the small pieces.

I couldn't help but lay it all out every two seconds and look at it.  So exciting!

I appliqued with variegated thread.

I quilted between the sections of orange.

I backed the pockets with batik and used some sparkly tulle to make a pocket on the body of the butterfly. To attach the butterfly on the chair, I sewed webbing with an adjustable buckle to the top corners of the wings. I also brought in some pink from the back by adding some spots around the perimeter of the butterfly.

All finished and stuffed with goodies! I must admit it turned out better than I expected, and now I want one. I still think it would be fun to make an owl one, too! Maybe one for my youngest niece in a few years?

This would make a great Christmas gift as well, and does not take too much time to make depending on your shape choice.

Late 50s Short Hair Style

The kids went back to school.  The cotton sundresses moved to the back of the closet.  The hotrod scene celebrated its last car show.  One step at a time, Summer had graciously given way to Fall.  And I felt the need to make a change of my own.  So armed with a photo of Elizabeth Taylor, I visited my beauty salon for a shorter, and hopefully, more sophisticated look.

Previously my hair was 6-7" long.  Now I'm down to 4 1/2" on the top and sides.  The back of the neck is 3 1/2" long, just enough to wrap once around a small roller.

I still follow the same setting pattern as I did when my hair was longer.  All rollers are all rolled down, none on the crown of my head.

Needless to say, I do not look like Elizabeth Taylor, but I am enjoying the shorter length.  The curls hold a little better than before and brush out nicely into soft waves between sets.  I may do away with the blonde highlight and go a couple shades darker for the Winter.  Next Summer...platinum!!  Just kidding.

Help! 911 My crinoline is in need of repair!

Okay so this may not be a real emergency but it's still a real issue. Perhaps you are able to snag a crinoline for $5, but the elastic has seen better days and the top portion has some snags/holes? This may still be wearable but putting it through the washing machine? Not so sure about that one. On a trip to the not so local fabric store I grabbed some swimsuit lining, elastic, and lace trim.

 My crinoline was previously trimmed with a velour ribbon, but decided trying to marry new white materials and vintage cream calls for some lace. First I carefully cut around the edges to make myself a "pattern piece" and removed the elastic. I kept the velour ribbon intact so as not to undo any gathering aka make more work for myself. Lay out the "pattern piece" and cut one piece on the fold, leaving a seam allowance.

I bought a slightly larger, soft backed elastic to eliminate any discomfort /rolling. There are a number of ways to put this back together.
 I decided upon this order, 1. attach elastic  2. sew french seam on side seam of lining material
 3. attach lining to tulle, right sides together, and

 4. attach lace trim.

Done!

Now to finish that skirt I started for Symco, to wear over my "new" crinoline.
Happy sewing gals!

Aw, rats! For your hair...?!

For the Miss Symco Pin-Up Contest, I decided to donate wool hair rats for the contestants' goodie bags.  Wild Kat was skeptical, and admittedly they look like nasty drain clogs.  But for the girls who take the time to play with them, the pay-off is huge!  I took a few photos on my first try with these and came out with fabulous Victory Rolls.  Prepare for awesome bathroom pics with bad lighting and dorky expressions.

I used clean brown wool (from Derby) and carded it into small handfuls.

Using the rat like a roller, I started at the end of my bangs, wrapped the hair around the rat and rolled it down towards my scalp.

I did the same with the section above my ear.  The wool really gave the curl stability.  I only used two pins per curl, and they felt very secure.  I made sure to tuck the wool far enough into the curl so it wouldn't be seen.  And I fanned out the end of the roll to create a nice shape.  All followed by lots of spray!

This is by far the best luck I've ever had with Victory Rolls!

Because the wool matches my hair color perfectly, it virtually disappears inside the rolls.  It adds volume and a solid foundation in which to anchor the bobby pins.  And so my sheep have done it again!  Now I'm off to the pasture to say thank you!

DIY : Cupcake Pin Cushion

So you know how it goes when you visit a particular shopping website looking to buy one specific thing, and you decide to check the clearance section...just in case...?  I did that a couple weeks ago at Nancy's Notions.  I had to buy outdoor upholstery to recover patio cushions for my brother, but found this adorable cupcake pin cushion kit on sale! 

Now Peachie is a weaver of cakes.  I mean that both figuratively as she can work magic with buttercream and literally as she has arrived at HVG functions with layer cakes covered in basketweave frosting.  So this project immediately made me think of her.  But then I needed an occasion to gift this...I finally decided that both she and Wild Kat *needed* a pin cushion as a thank you gift for helping me out with the Miss Symco Pin-Up Contest next month.

To begin, I should say that I did not follow all of the directions included in the kit (bad habit of mine).  I had my kids save their Greek yogurt containers to use as the base.  The cupcake paper was made from a 3 1/2 inch wide strip that I sewed several pleats into.  The pleats are set approximately one inch apart, 1/8 at the top widening out to a 1/4 at the bottom.  The strip is then wrapped around the cup and sewn together to make a tube.

I glued the bottom edge to the cup, making sure that all the pleats folded in the same direction.  Then I cut out a circle to make a yo-yo for the bottom.  Simply run a basting stitch around the outside edge of the circle, gather it in until it is the size that you need to cover all the raw edges and press.  I stitched this onto the bottom of the cupcake by hand.

I put a large rock into the cup to add weight and filled the rest with poly-fill.  Another yo-yo in chocolate brown, gathered around the outside edge, will form the cupcake top.  All my yo-yos were made by tracing saucers that seemed to be the right size.  Aside from not following directions, I also don't fuss over the details too much!

After the chocolate top is fitted onto the base, I pinned and hand-stitched the two together. 

Finally, I was down to the decorating.  My daughter really wanted me to follow the directions and do ruffled frosting, but I wasn't sold on that.  When I came across an embroidered peach patch in my sewing basket, it was a no-brainer. 

So yesterday when we all got together for a car show, Peachie received the peach chocolate cupcake and Wild Kat, the cherry chocolate one.  We're three weeks out from the pin-up contest, and I have to make sure my girls are happy!  Honestly this was a fun, quick project.  And since I don't need any more pin cushions, I was glad to know that these will be put to good use.  Now I need to decide if I should sew up a new outfit for the contest...or keep working on the seat covers for my '50 Ford...?