Sunday, March 22, 2015

Another door opens...




..and here is the key!

This lovely little key will unlock the new door of a soon-to-be brick and mortar shop that I am opening up in May/June of this year in Exeter, NH. Is it exciting? Yes. Am I ready? Getting there. Am I scared? Out of my mind!

I have been tossing this idea around for a few years, and I think the perfect space has become available. It is this location that has pushed me off my paralyzed-fear-of-failure-fetal-position. I have been encouraged by my friends and family to take this leap. I am now ready to leap.

I am hoping to create, in my small neck of the woods, a shop that will be able to outfit you with the tools and materials to sew, knit or quilt anything your heart desires. There will be classes and studio time, there will be sew and knit-a-longs, and there will be treats. And maybe wine! I am working on that angle :)

What does this mean for my little corner space here? It means that I eventually I will be moving the blog and new posts over to the blog on the store's website. You might even see some duplicate postings over there in the next few weeks (ahem...like this post!), but I will let you know when I make the final jump. So hop on over to Pintuck & Purl to take a look :)

Ciao Ciao!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Refashioning Inspiration!

using "non-tradional" supplies to get the pleating right

Remember that wedding dress I helped my friend recreate using her mother's dress? Well, it was used in an article as a cool way to refashion your prom or wedding dress!! Exciting!

I got an email last fall ( I know, I know!!) letting me know it had been used and I am just now getting around to tell you all that I was featured. Good that I let you know, bad that I waited so long. But, to justify my lateness, I think it is a much better time of year to put this up here. If you are planning on redoing your mother's dress, please take your time and start sooner rather than later.

So, if you have a few hours to kill or are looking for some inspiration on what to do with that old prom or wedding dress take at look at this article!

Ciao ciao!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Wardrobe Architect: Worksheet 3

yay to the v-neck, nay to the turtleneck
Exploring Shapes

When I was little I remember having to wear turtlenecks in the winter. I grew up in New Hampshire, so winter spanned from October to March. I hated it. I was always pulling at the stupid polyester top in hopes of freeing my small confined neck. It felt so strangling. I will admit, it is a bit of a dramatic reaction to merely a shirt, but none-the-less I hated turtlenecks. After completing the next step in my road to my new wardrobe, it was clear (even after many, many, many years!) there is still no love lost between us.

The third worksheet in the Wardrobe Architect, if you haven't already guessed, is to figure out what shapes you most lean towards. Colette created a chart where you rank the shapes, or style lines, of particular garments to see what you feel good in and what you don't. The scale was a typical 0-10 comparing aspects like: ease, length, waistline position, sleeve options, and fullness. The categories were: skirts, dresses, pants, tops & blouses, jackets & blazers, cardigans, and outerwear.  Then we rated necklines and sleeves. These worksheets were finished in about twenty minutes. This was the one exercise that was pretty easy to do. So, what did I find out that I loved and hated?

Loved (rated a perfect 10):
Dresses: somewhat fitted, a-line, knee length, natural waist
Skirts: mid thigh, natural waist, a-line
Pants: somewhat fitted
Cardigans: above hip length
Neckline: v-neck and sweetheart

Now, on to the stuff I hated.

Hated (rated an absolute 0):
Dresses: very loose, no waistline
Skirts: midi-calf length
Pants: very loose
Tops: cropped/midriff length
Jackets: very loose
Neckline: strapless, and (surprise!) turtleneck


Left Vogue 8896: Yes! Right Vogue 1372: No. No. No.

The rest was a mish-mash of above and below average. Not too tight, not too long, not too short, blah blah blah. It was interesting what my gut rated as absolute 10. I tried to not over think it. You can imagine how hard that was for me! As soon as I put down a number, I wouldn't change it. Of course, but now that I look at this...

Honestly, I think this was a bit easier for me as I think I do have an idea of what I do and don't like to wear when it concerns shape. It was still fun to see it on paper and look at it in an analytical sort of way. We know for certain now that I won't be headed for a very long loose sack of a dress anytime soon ;)

Do you instinctually know what you like to wear? Or what you don't like to wear? Do you also feel that turtlenecks should be banned forever and ever? I should start an anti-turtleneck movement ;)

Ciao ciao!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Finished: Scout Maternity Hack


We talk a lot about selfish sewing out here in the sewing-blog world. I love to sew for myself, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it is fun to do it for others. Sometimes. Sadly since I sew at a snail's pace, it usually ends up arriving way past the original due date. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Finished: Whiskey River Archer


Hey, my first Archer, from Grainline Patterns! And my first long sleeve button-down for myself, first western shirt and my first Willie Nelson concert. So many firsts with this shirt, just wait!

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Blog Hop + Bop(py)


Blog Hop: One fun blogger nominates two other fun bloggers to participate by answering a bunch of questions and then forwarding it on to two new bloggers. A way cooler version of a chain letter.

Boppy: A U-shaped coaster for holding your baby so that it does leave a water mark on your coffee table. Or something like that.

Let's start with the baby stuff first:

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wardrobe Architect: Worksheet 2

perhaps an unknown start to my style from Rome 2011...

Defining Your Core Style

This week's exercise was about taking all the answers from the last excercise and boiling them down to a few words and images. I thought this would be pretty easy since I thought I had really narrowed it down with the last exercise, but I was (again) wrong.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Finished: Knitted Baby Blanket


How cute is that? I have one sweater, one cardigan and one hat all on different needles, but look: I made a blanket! It is only a baby blanket (read:small), but still it is done and from these pictures, badly blocked. Hah!