Holiday Plans

I dread being asked the question, "Do you have any plans?"

For the weekend, for holidays, for personal days- whatever it is, I hate, hate hearing that question. Because unless you're someone I know very well, I will not answer you. It's too much effort! Still, working in a medical practice, I have patients, drug reps and co-workers that ask me that often.

I dislike the question because I feel like I have to lie to answer it. I have to give the easy answer. The polite answer. Memorial Day was a pretty good example- on Friday I was asked by several people what I was doing with my three day weekend. Mostly I just replied with "sleep". I don't sleep. It's a struggle I have because I really want to sleep, I just can't. In reality, while other people were out at barbecues or family reunions or the beach, I was locked in my apartment sewing like a madwoman.

It was brilliant. I feel amazing.

But I can't explain that to strangers without a long and involved, "well, I have this store and I sell these weird things, and okay fine here is the URL please don't laugh at me." I mean, I should be able to, that'd be great advertising, but with social anxiety sometimes my words get trapped inside and I literally cannot tell you something. I can't. I can't look you in the face, I can't tell you what I am doing, I can't tell you about my hopes or dreams or whatever.

So I'm just going to post about it.

$18 on Etsy

Friday night I rested. I had started re-reading a Nora Roberts trilogy I love (starts with Jewels of the Sun) because it always reminds me of my mom. Also, I love fairy tales, and Nora Roberts was a huge inspiration to me when I started toying with being an author (that's still in the works! We're making progress!). I made us some wonderful baked chicken taco things inspired by chicken flautas and read.

On Saturday morning I got up pretty early and started sewing. Setting up a folding table in my kitchen for cutting pieces, I started working on more Flying Trapeze dresses for the shop. I love this style so much! A few of the ones I pieced out were for me, so they aren't on the shop right now, but I was able to get four made by the end of the weekend to sell. I also made something new that I'm pretty in love with. They're winged heart applique bib necklaces. They're very soft and light, but super fun to wear. And if they start to curl up just hit them with an iron and they lay flat again. I'd been kicking around this idea for a while and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. There are some things I'll do differently with the next batch but they were great stash busters!

$24.00 on Etsy

I also made this gorgeous key necklace that was supposed to be for me but I ended up listing it instead. I don't know why! I might still keep it! It's an extra large vintage key, my boyfriend says probably for a car since it's so big, with a salvaged heart necklace and turquoise colored crown bead.

It's beautiful. I want it.

I've been kind of burnt out on jewelry making, so it's nice to just be making things in smaller quantities that have more artistic value.

Just so you don't think this post is a huge old ad for Cirque du Frock, let me show you one of the things I kept for myself.

I love polo dresses for some weird reason, and the Trapeze tutorial is great for refashioning men's polo shirts into cool summery dresses. This one is made from a black polo, black tee and lightweight animal print skirt. I've started taking 'styled' pics for the shop as examples of outfits you can make (mostly so I can play dress up with my doll). This is how I'd wear my polo dress on my day off- a rad denim vest, vintage key necklace and some cool moccasins or chucks. I have two more polos waiting to be refashioned for my summer wardrobe. One is green and purple striped, one is white and purple striped.

These are some examples of my 'styled' pictures. As you can tell, I was pretty excited about that denim vest (that's from my personal collection).

Most of these dresses weren't assembled Saturday, they were assembled Sunday while the mister sat outside reading, and photographed Monday for listing. Saturday and Sunday night I stayed up late, sewing and making jewelry until midnight and then reading for an hour or two. It was nice. I hope one day I have a life where I can just let my weird body have the strange sleep schedule that it wants because I would be so much happier if I could be awake until 3 am and then sleep until 10 in the morning. I drank so much coffee and there was a ton of good food, and on top of that I was productive and it feels awesome.

I hope you guys had good weekends, whether they were productive or restful.

Project Post: New York, New York

In a more coherent post, I thought I'd like to show you some recent projects! I realized, unfortunately, that I didn't end up getting any pictures of my outfits over the weekend and I was super excited for them. So, even though I'm not wearing them in these pictures, here are some recent projects of mine that all involve my recent New York trip.

This adorable little black and red number is my new favorite. It's an XL black gathered shirt top with a tee shirt and vintage red tourist shirt for the bottom. For the first time ever, I had a person compliment me on my dress! I wore this up to NYC because it was very comfy and I knew would still look good by dinner time, and while Ally and I were being super chic shopping ladies one of the boutique people said they loved my dress! I was stunned! But I have a witness, y'all, it really happened!

I wish it weren't dirty, I want to wear it to work tomorrow.

The above dress is a new favorite of mine, too. It's got a vintage table cloth and concert tee bottom with a soft gap tee on top. This was me trying to make a bad memory better- I got the tee shirt at a Lindsay Stirling concert. I was very excited to see the show, but it was horrible. Miss Stirling herself sounded amazing and played very well, but the venue was waaaaay oversold and they turned off the big screen, so if you were under 6 foot and didn't arrive SUPER early to fight towards the front, you didn't see any of the performance. I spent the evening in tears that I paid that much money and still haven't actually 'seen' her in concert.

Still, I bought the shirt, and I do still love her music. Even though the concert was heartbreakingly disappointing. So I tried to make the memory a little better and make a dress! I wore this on the way home because it's very comfy and loose, so I was cozy for the train ride from New York to Philly. I love the floaty colors and blue/purple scheme.

Finally, because it's been getting cooler here, I've been WAY into sweater recons. This sweater was a men's purple crewneck from Philly Aids. I took the bottom and used it to re-trim the neck and make a band for a hem. I also sewed on some snaps for closure. It's supposed to be a loose, cropped, lagenlook-inspired sweater and it's also super warm. I loved the contrast of it with the red in the first dress, and then how it complimented the purple in the second dress, so I wore it all weekend.

I know I've been quiet on the blog. It's because sometimes the things I do IRL don't translate well to the internet so I've not had much to write about. I'm working on it, though. I've been sewing up a storm but most of the things I've been making were for myself or for friends lately. I've been concentrating hard on my writing and I really hope that I can reveal some of that to you soon. ;-) Until next time!

Project Pictures: DIY Denim Hoodie Jacket

When I went to visit my grandparents a while back, I went thrifting with my mom and found this amazing mint green denim jacket for just a few dollars. It was new, XL and I didn't try it on before leaving the store.

Well, the body fits but the sleeves are too small.

I wanted to salvage it but I couldn't think of what to do. Then, in a rare moment of creativeness, I thought, why not sew on hoodie sleeves!! And a hood!! And I had JUST the perfect black hoodie!

But first, instead of messing up my gorgeous new jacket, I needed to try it on something I didn't mind losing. Backtrack to this other denim jacket I had waiting to be transformed from the last thrifting trip I had with my mom. Also, a tie-dye Ocean City hoodie from the first time we ever went to the New Jersey shore. (I bet you thought I donated that long ago, didn't you, Mom?)

It's not very well put together, I'm not entirely happy with the stitching and I did seam rip my finger in the making of this jacket, but I have to say I kind of love it. I would definitely wear it now, whereas before I wouldn't have (it was that weird light stretchy itchy plastic cheap denim).

I know I'm not done embellishing this jacket. I'm even toying with putting a little heart on the shoulder.

But as with all my jackets, it's a slow artistic process to get them looking 'just right'. I definitely like it a lot better now, and I can't wait to try it with my mint one.

OOTD: I Can't Look At The Stars

I'm obsessed with the song Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and there is a line in the chorus of the song where she sings "I can't look at the stars/up on Heaven's boulevard". It's beautiful - if you haven't heard it, go look it up because it's wonderful.

Of course, I CAN look at the stars. I LOVE stars. I used to have moon and stars themed bedroom stuff (of course, who in the late nineties didn't? It was kind of a trend, I think). I even have a space/galaxy dress. Today's dress, however, is a little bit more primitive country inspired. I just saw the fabric and (with my love of stars) knew I had to have it. I feel like a witchy princess in this one and I can't wear it enough. On the unfortunate side, it has started to fade a bit, but that's alright. I'll wear it even when the stars fade.

Dress: Handmade, Boots: Gift/Target, Cardi: Thrifted, Necklace: Gift

 I might link up to Bella Q's Shoe Shine party because even though you've seen these boots, and they are nothing fancy, these are my favorites. (I just ordered replacements in black and as I write this I'm sitting here waiting for the delivery guy.) These boots have seen a lot in the two years I've had them - I've worn them to college, I've worn them to work, and I've worn them in several thrift stores. We've had adventures, as you can tell by the rugged appearance and scuffs.

It's hard for me to trust people. It's hard for me to get attached to people, and sometimes that means that I treat inanimate objects as my friends. These boots, these boots are definitely my friends. They feel like an extension of me, and they are the most comfortable thing (they weren't at first, it required breaking them in just right).

Some seriously well-loved shoes there. You don't have to own a million pairs of shoes to be a shoe-fiend. (Although, to be fair, I probably own waaaaay too many pairs.)

Speaking of friends, let me show you my necklace:

I know I've worn it a bunch but I can't recall if I've ever shown a good close up of it. My boss Angela, the person who gifted me the brown boots, also gifted me this necklace. It's got a bunch of random stuff on it and I love it. When I first got it I think I wore it every day for like a month. I had to take a few things off - for instance there was a giant A on it and a pick-up truck, and as I don't drive and my name starts with an M I replaced those pieces with new charms. The two antique buttons I got from work, the diamond looking thing my boyfriend's Aunt gave me, and the rest came with it.

Well, I'm off to do things. I've got a lot on my mind and not a good way to word any of it. I will tell you this much, though. The next two days will involve a massive amount of coffee, sewing and writing. Hopefully I'll be able to show you something soon.

Until next time!
-Meghan

OOTD: Buggin' Out

One of the coolest things about my job is learning new things. I get to spend large portions of the day researching vintage items, what they were used for and how we can re-use them into something else. It's a pretty sweet gig.

I always knew what a botanical print was, but I never knew  how common or varied the style was. All of them are beautiful. I love them because they remind me of medical illustrations- I love those kind of clearly labeled art pieces.

So when I found the most amazing insect fabric, with bees and moths and flies, I fell in love! I had to make a dress.

Sorry about the wrinkly front. Hate ironing!

Dress: Handmade/Me, Cardi: Thrifted, Boots: Dr Martens

What is even cooler is instead of insect names (well there are some of those) this fabric has printed quotes from authors and other people about bugs. It's really neat! Anyway, that's all for me on this dress. I love it, and I'm really loving this pattern. I like how I can get away with wearing the same thing, just in different colors.

(And by "get away with" I mean "doing it no matter what".)

Until next time!
-Meghan

OOTD: Sounds Like Salmon

Don't you love how when I say things like, "I'm going to be a better blogger" I inevitably follow that up with a week (or six) of radio silence? I know. To quote my friend, I'm the worst. ;-)

Halloween is my favorite holiday, but this year I was working most of the day. Which was fun, except we got a little slow in the afternoon because... well I guess there was mischief and mayhem (and trick-or-treaters) keeping people from the store.

Because of general laziness (I think I'm fighting off a cold) I didn't get the time to make the Punk Rock Dorothy of Oz costume I'd drawn up, and it didn't matter anyway since I wasn't going anywhere except work. Luckily, I had already made this other dress that was a perfect last minute outfit!

Dress: Handmade/Me, Boots: Dr Martens/Ebay, Cardi: Thrifted

It's a little bit big on the top, but that was a cutting error on my part. I LOVE this Day of the Dead fabric from JoAnn's and I'm sure I'll wear this more than just for Halloween. I've also got my favorite blue skeleton cameo on and a purple hair flower. :-D Lots of people thought I looked super cute! And it was perfect for my Halloween tradition - lighting candles and watching The Great Pumpkin while eating popcorn.

On a side note, I'm really in love with my hair like this. Which is funny because when I was younger I thought I had the biggest forehead ever and never wanted it to be showing, but I LOVE my hair pulled away from my face now.

That's all I've got for this week, but stay tuned. Monday I'm going to show you the most fabulously ugly sweater I own. (It's a giant square union jack. That is all. With sleeves.) Have a good weekend!!