A Crafty Witch!

During my "Save the Vintage!" Pre-Halloween thrift store crusade, I picked up an adorable ribboned 1950s petticoat slip (w/multiple layers of lace and crinoline) for ~$2. It buttoned up the side with metal snaps, and the frayed tag read "An Original by Cherie." It was perfect in every way, with the exception that it was about 4 inches too wide for my little waist! So, I purchased some elastic at the craft store yesterday, and I made myself an elastic waist on the slip (removing the snaps on the side)! Now it fits perfectly, and looks great under my Halloween costume - a vintage 1940s black velvet "ballerina" dress with A-line skirt and 3/4 sleeves.

To top my outfit off, I'm pairing all of this with my 1930s pointed-crown hat,

sequined ankle boots, along with my Juliana D&E necklace,

Weiss bracelet,

and some fab rhinestone earrings!

Happy Samhain, All!
A Thousand Blessings on You & Yours!

Some Completed Sewing Projects...

I had my grandmother babysit my mischievous little house kittens (yes, I have exchanged human babies for a multitude of furry and feathered ones!) today so that I could really sit down to some serious sewing. Kittens are, of course, hazardous to any projects involving string. The first project was altering an adorable little 1950's house coat that belonged to my grandmother. It was very large on me (I looked like I was wearing a tent!), but I took it in on the sides and put two darts in the back (to give it a bit of an empire-like waist), and now look how well it fits! I love the embroidered bees on either pocket!

Next (and the project that I am REALLY proud of due to the level of difficulty involved - not the least because the fabric is so slippery!), is the 1950s ballgown that I bought at the yard sale a few weekends ago. I think it was originally made for someone my size, and was then altered for the previous (larger) owner with matching fabric inserts in the shoulder straps and sides. A little ironic. Anywho, I didn't want to get too involved with cutting the fabric inserts out, so instead I opened up the back seams and "tucked" the inserts in, then stitched the seams closed again.

Voila!

For the sides, I made matching darts, and even though they ended up being a little uneven from top-to-bottom, the "noise" of the skirt hides my mistakes well.

I really, really love this dress!

I think I may end up wearing it for the "Mad Hatter" tea party we're throwing soon (get it? I love hats - I'm the crazy hat lady! Har de har har har...). Now the only question is: What hat shall I wear with this...?

Happy Post-National Chocolate Cake Day!

(Yesterday's celebration was so good, I think I'm going to do it again! *laughing*)

I've been pulling some long hours on the farm lately, getting gardening areas ready for planting, trying to catch up on my rather loooooooooong list of sewing/mending projects, spring cleaning the house, taxes, and just general insanity. Grammy's been quarantining the kittens for me, which has really upped my indoor productivity levels (it's very hard to accomplish anything with wily kittens underfoot!). The only thing I have not managed to get to as of yet is my weaving project. I LOVE weaving, but it seems that this year I just have not had the time. There is a project that I have been looking forward to doing, and I think I am just going to have to put other things on hold and simply DO it. I am going to weave several large panels of blue fabric with pink hearts interspersed. Once I have enough fabric made, I am going to make myself a pretty circle skirt out of it! Won't that look cute!?! I've been wanting to start this project for ages now...

Yesterday, I managed to get one of the carrot raised beds completely filled with compost. Here on the farm, onions and carrots are the two staples that we just never seem to have enough of! So I am sacrificing one of my sweet potatoes beds for an extra carrot patch.

I spent some time yesterday transplanting lilacs, roses, yarrow, and borage. Some of the roses and lilacs have not been thriving in their original locations, so I transplanted them into the herb garden where they will get more sun and water. Yarrow, which truly does "spread joyfully" as Richo of Horizon Herbs claims, needed some thinning and relocating so that it didn't take over the herb bed. And the borage - which I have always (incorrectly, apparently) thought of as a delicate annual, has been coming up (from windblown seeds) all over the herb garden this month! So I have gently dug up the borage sprouts and replanted them in the strawberry patch. Borage is the perfect companion plant for just about anything! It improves flavor and protects against pests (especially with tomatoes and strawberries!).

The first true leaves are appearing on my artichoke sprouts, and soon it will be time to transplant all of them into larger "adult" 4 inch pots. We are currently experiencing our annual January/February 2 week warming spell. Though the nights have still remained a chilly 28 degrees or so, the days have been in the 50s and 60s! Warm enough to work outside in short sleeves!

I cooked the last of our Sweet Meat heirloom winter squash last night. I'm so sad that there won't be any more squash for another 9 months or so! But the one I cooked (which I also saved many, many seeds from) must have weighed at least 20 pounds! I could BARELY fit all of the pieces in my oven! With some of the cooked squash I made my delicious fall/winter staple meal: Squash Risotto with (our own) Cornmeal-Fried Shrimp. SO GOOD! And for dessert, I made a sour cherry pie using some of the cherries we canned last summer! Ryan said it's the best pie he's ever eaten. *grin* I don't normally brag, but I do make the world's best pie crust. When you cut into it, you can see the flaky layers that sort of remind me of phyllo dough.

Well, back to work!

When You're Feeling Blue...Sew!

(So yes, I have just realized that my pink dress is the same color as my pink bedroom walls...I'm CAMOUFLAGED!!)

I've been feeling incredibly under the weather today, so in an effort to stay inside and recoup (as opposed to my original plan of pulling another looooong day moving compost), I sat myself in front of my sewing machine and got back to work on some of my projects. I finished letting out the seams on the other side of that pink dress I purchased yesterday. It now fits and looks oh-so-snazzy!

The pictures aren't the best because my husband stole the camera tripod (thief!) and I can't find it...it's probably in his man cave - excuse me, WORKSHOP.

My big project (that I started months ago!) is my 1940's wedding dress that I have been re-sizing to fit my slightly larger frame. The problem is that the lace is SO delicate it's a real pain to work with, and right now I am trying to add lace panels into the arms (which is why in the photo the sleeves are opened) so that I can get my own incredibly muscular farm girl arms into the sleeves. I finally got frustrated and decided to quit for the day before I ruined what I had already accomplished. The good news is that I got my pink dress done, one of my 1950's dresses mended, and some more work done on the wedding dress. So it was a bit of a productive day!

Oh, this is what I look like when I accidentally drop the camera in the middle of the timer going off. This face says, "Oooops! Is the camera ok?"