Friday, March 29, 2013

Mad Men Style






Hello!

I'm just dropping in to share with you a little link to a Mad Men Style Tips blog post on Fedoras.com.

My Joan dress from last year's Mad Men Dress Challenge has been featured there (scheduled to post on Monday officially, but appears to be live right now), along with some of your other favorite, vintage-loving bloggers, even the brains behind the Mad Men challenge, herself, Julia Bobbin.

Each featured blogger has answered a few questions about her own take on vintage style.

Hop on over and check it out! - you can even find out what my favorite cocktail is. :)




CA Vacation: Part 2

Alternate post title: LAX, Burbank, Atascadero, Paso Robles, San Simeon, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey, Redwood City, and San Francisco!

We went all over the place in this state! We flew into LA, rented a car, and made our way up to Redwood City (near SF) where my sister lives, stopping all along the way in any place that piqued our interest.








Here are a few shots from what I think was our first full day in LA, where we stayed with Tom's film school friend he hadn't seen in something like 10 years. Crazy, right? He took us on a tour of the area, showing us all the cool things locals like. We spent some time at the Griffith Observatory, where I caught my one and only glimpse of the Hollywood sign.










On our way out of LA, we made a point to stop at Mood. We got there right when they opened, so it was pretty quiet. I was like a kid in a candy shop, smiling and touching everything, but I was also pretty overwhelmed. I managed not to buy a single thing - thank goodness Tom took photos, or else I'd have nothing to remember it by! I'm definitely glad we stopped there, but I really wish I'd taken the time to plan a shopping/project list, so I could have made some smart purchases, instead of just drooling over all of the pretty bolts upon bolts upon bolts of fabric.











I had to include these snaps Tom took out front by the sign. I'm even wearing a me-made top! Speaking of me-mades worn on the trip, I also wore my Polka-Dotted New Look 6000 on the plane, which was great because it's polished yet casual.











Our brief stop in Paso Robles was really great! We hit up a pretty cool antique mall, and I bought the mail-order pattern I shared in my earlier post.  We also stopped at Cass winery, whose wines we've been really liking. We ate a great lunch there and then hopped back in the car. Next time we're in the area, we'll have to spend some more time exploring Paso Robles.












Then we traveled to Hearst Castle in San Simeon. At first, I was a little un-enthused to be there, but once we hopped on the bus that carries you up the windy roads to the top of the hill, I was hooked. The scenery was so pretty and when we got to the house, the architecture and gardens blew us away. Everything was exciting and beautiful to look at. Not a dull spot in the whole place.












After staying in Atascadero, and then spending our short time in Paso Robles, we made our way to Carmel. The scenery just kept getting better, though some of the windy roads along the cost were making me queasy at points - it was totally worth it! Once in Carmel, we ate some amazing food and marveled at all of the pretty houses, landscaping, and just cute little streets there, though most of the stores we could have stopped in were out of our price range.











After Carmel, we stopped in Monterey, where we found some more antique stores along Cannery Row.  Then we made the final stretch of our road trip up to Redwood City, where my sister lives (and where we took very few photos because we were too busy eating great food, petting the dog and cat, and generally having a great time).  One place we did make a point to stop when we went into San Francisco for a day was the Cliff House. They have the best cocktails! I had a super delicious pear martini and Tom had something old-timey that had milk or egg whites or something in it! It was great.

All in all it was an awesome vacation. There were so many great antique and vintage shops to check out, all the food we at was amazing, I officially set foot in Mood, and the scenery all along our journey was spectacular.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to land back in DC at the end of the week, though. :)









Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Another Green Mad Men Dress

So, I've finalized my Mad Men Dress Challenge plans. I've decided to use my vintage Simplicity 7980 pattern to recreate the Mad Men shift dress I've been dreaming of making ever since I first saw it appear in an episode.




It's the adorable green dress with the bow accent I've been drooling over for at least a year! What? another green Mad Men dress? YES.






My version will be a little bit different (shorter cap sleeves, and a bow taken from and likely attached via the same method as the blouse in Simplicity 2154), but obviously inspired by the green dress worn by the girl in the above photo, sitting next to Megan (before she was Draper).



I'm planning to steal this bow from Simplicity 2154


I've just cut out my green, thrifted (polyester, how authentic) fabric and am hoping I'll have time to start putting the dress together this weekend.

Boy, this month has really gotten away from me, what with my week-long vacation to California (that I'll be posting more about, soon), and busy season (and overtime) ramping up at work, as well as some of my and Tom's family events popping up, I've felt a bit frazzled!

What about you all? Are you finalizing or even finishing sewing your Mad Men dresses?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Perfect Pair

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Colette Patterns has just released a new pattern, the Laurel shift dress.

As soon as I saw it, I thought, hmmm that reminds me of something...






Just add a little bit of bias binding & a bow to the neckline, and and you've got yourself a Mad Men-inspired dress, just like Megan's!

You might see me trying something like this soon, not necessarily for the Mad Men Dress Challenge, as I've got other plans for that already (details soon!), but just for fun. I'm also pretty excited to try taking a crack at using some of the embellishment ideas found in the Laurel Extras ebook. Colette is known for the thorough, easy to understand instructions that come with their patterns, so I have a feeling I'd be confident trying just about any of the embellishment ideas they've come up with. They're even having a sale on the Laurel, through Friday, so check it out!



Sunday, March 17, 2013

Vacation Photos





Tom took some great photos with his fancy camera during our vacation in California at the beginning of the month. This album just contains shots of places and things, but I'll be sharing more images of us on our trip, along with some more details (like my trip to Mood!) soon. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

This Just In!

I know it's not super exciting for you all, but it is for me - I've finally gotten a new computer! Now I can more easily edit photos and create blog posts. Yay!  Anyway, I thought I'd give you all a little update about what's going on in these parts, sewing-wise, now that I've returned from my vacation (which I'll be sharing more about soon!).

In addition to lazily starting a wearable muslin for Tilly's recently released ADORABLE Mathilde blouse, I'm also planning out what I think I'll make for the upcoming Mad Men Dress Challenge (Part II). As I mentioned before, I'm feeling rather inspired by Megan Draper's character this time around. These are my top (dress) outfits of hers.






Source: wornontv.net via Susan on Pinterest





I love all of the bold, pretty colors, and let me just say, the girl can wear a shift dress. I'm also rather in love with the green dress worn by the girl (I remember this episode, but can't quite recall who her character is) sitting next to Megan in the below photo.





It seems that I've dedicated myself to making a shift dress of some sort, and I've got a fresh 1960s sewing pattern from Etsy just waiting for me to break it open and start working.


What do you think? Have you decided on your plan for this year's Mad Men Dress Challenge?

Friday, March 8, 2013

Vacation finds

First off, thank you for all of your nice comments on my polka-dotted New Look 6000 that I shared in my last post. Today's post wont include any awkward modeling shots, but there will definitely be more of those in the future. :)

Tom and I are reaching the end of our west coast vacation and just have one more day before we head back home across the country. As promised (though a little later than I'd hoped), I've got a few snapshots of things I've found during our travels thus far. There have been lots of antique and vintage shops to browse, which has been great. We've got heaps of photos to share, so I'll be posting those once I'm home and can use the computer. Anyway, here's a quick peek!