2013 Handmade Summer Wardrobe Fashion Show

Hello there!

It's Hannah sharing with you today. It was our Fourth Annual Handmade Summer Wardrobe Fashion Show on Saturday and we wanted to share some photos for those of you who weren't able to make it. It was a wonderful show (they just seem to get better and better every year!) and we were so thrilled to have multiple students participate. Thank you to everyone who did attend, we appreciate your support and sincerely hope you enjoyed yourselves! 

Our loosely translated "steampunk" theme allowed us to use all of our cool, industrial looking pieces from the shop. Mom also constructed some very neat pieces that included gears, wheels, washers, springs and other rusty pieces that looked fantastic in this old packing shed. 

Here are the pictures of the outfits Mom and I wore and the patterns that accompany them. We  love to share how our patterns and fabrics are transformed into the garments themselves. Please feel free to comment and ask questions about the pieces. We love to answer! 

Simplicity #7876 wrap skirt made of 100% cotton Chambray (available at The Tin Thimble) and a t-shirt hand stitched by Emma in Alabama Chanin style. 

Folkwear pattern based on Edwardian fashion of 1910's. Hand dyed 100% silk fabric by Mom. So, so, SO beautiful in person. Here's a detail shot. 

Marian Martin pattern #9005. Adorable culottes made with both Vintage and new fabrics. 

McCall's #8291 for the pants that were made with new cotton denim (available at The Tin Thimble) and McCall's #1254 for the blouse. That cute little number is made with vintage plaid and buttons up the back. 

1970's Simiplicity #9725 made with new fabrics available at The Tin Thimble in store (not online, sorry girls). Adorable double sleeves are fluttery and feminine. 

Feather blouse that was constructed using several different patterns (and several additional alterations by Hannah) and 100% linen fabric by Anna Maria Horner available at The Tin Thimble. New Look #6902 and New Look #6696,

Vintage pattern (that was mail-ordered in the 1940's) and vintage fabric. Mom got all fancy and even made the little hat and completed the outfit with vintage gloves and vintage shoes from the same era!

100% silk blouse (loosely) based on New Look #6784.

Awesome vintage reproduction Butterick #6582 and great vintage fabric. Click here to see a post on Hannah's blog for more info on this dress. 

Fabulous

Mom and I recently helped out Sunrise Community Church down if Fair Oaks with their most recent "Reminisce" event.  This time around we all jumped into the 1950's.  It was a lovely event with a great old car out front, classic (ORIGINAL!!) Jukebox in the lobby, ice cream sundaes and some great turquoise and pink to boot!  Mom, I, my dear friend Marie and a few of the teenage girls from the congregation put on a fashion show that was an absolute hit.

Marie in mom's 1962 8th Grade School Dance Dress.

Me in Grandma Betty's circle skirt.  

Classic mother/daughter shot.  

This little fashion show was a lot of work but very much worth it.  I received a call from the coordinator today and she said that that the audience of women were thrilled with the show.  It was fun for mom and I pull out all of our family garments that we've collected and share them.  I think that Auntie Eleanor and Betty Mom would have been pleased to see their skirts in the show.

Thank you Mr. Brown

for these absolutely BEAUTIFUL photos of the show!






Today is your last chance to come see the show! Matinee at 2:15 and Tonight at 7:15 at The Placer High School Auditorium. Visit the website for more info.

Happy Polyester & What a Wonderful Opening Night!

Pictures from the sidewalk sale that we set up this morning! Doesn't it look cute? Never thought I'd feel that way about a sidewalk sale, but..... I do! :-)


It feels so good to be clearing out our storage space a bit. Now we can purchase more stuff! He he he....




Never thought that pounds of polyester could look pretty.... but doesn't that look fantastic!? It's so bright and happy.

Chris and I sat with the audience for opening night last night AND. It. WAS. FANTASTIC!! You have to come and see the show!

Painting a Tie Yellow.

Never thought I'd paint a neck tie pee yellow. But, well, when the show's call Urinetown, you're going to paint and dye a lot things you never thought you would, pee yellow. Mom and I got to sit through the entire dress rehearsal last night and we are absolutely thrilled! The costumes look great on stage and the performance was fantastic. I can't wait to see it with a full audience. Please come pack the house and support this youth theater program - the cast has worked so hard and they are providing the community with a beautiful, professional show.

Our little garden is starting to provide beautiful tomatoes! That middle plant there didn't make it.... mom and I think mold got to it. We've never container gardened before and didn't think about mold growing under the containers.... Live and learn.



Our Sidewalk Sale is this Friday and Saturday! Make sure to come and join in. The average price is $1.00!

Apple Apron & Running Around

When mom and I had a booth at the Roseville Antique Market we scored a BOX full of vintage, mail order apron patterns. Here's the first apron that mom has made from the bundle:




The costumes for Urinetown are wrapping up today and dress rehearsals start on Monday. I'm so excited to finally get to sit and watch the show from beginning to end! We have a sidewalk sale coming up at the end of the month and TONS of classes in August and we just opened up registration for our Autumn Downieville Retreat Soooooooo..... we're running around like crazy people, which seems to be the usual lately! :-)

What-a-month

Phew! This is the first time I've looked at our blog since June 6th. Oy. My husband's and my housemate, Phillip, was in a near-fatal car accident on June 7th. He sustained significant head trauma and burns to 35% of his body and I must say: the. man. is. SUPERMAN! After being in a medically induced coma and skin grafting surgery he came home almost 2 weeks ago (less than a month after the accident) and he's up-and-about and healing quickly.

This has been an amazing experience in so many ways. It's hard to put it all into words. It was a reminder that we are a part of a family that is much larger than the family that we are born/marry into. A reminder that life is precious and we never know what may happen in the next moment so treasure the time that we get. A reminder that the health insurance that Chris and I dish out hundreds of dollars for every month really is worth it but at the same time, a reminder of how much I detest the bureaucratic system and all of the paperwork involved with our health care system.

To Phillip - I love you. You are the brother that I never had. I am so glad that Chris and I live with you and Lindsay. Lindsay is an amazing woman - her strength is amazing. I look forward to future vacations, family gatherings, and weddings (hint, hint ;-). Lindsay and I are ready, when do we move the farm? :-)

As far as The Thimble goes, our 2 week vacation was timed perfectly - I was able to be at the hospital almost everyday. Mom got to go up to Eugene, OR with Carin and attend The Black Sheep Gathering. They had a fantastic time. Mom and I are currently working on the costumes for Placer Union High School District's Musical, Urinetown (more about that later).

Little Shop of Horrors

Josh asked me to be a part of the production team for Placer High School's Spring Musical, so mom and I are working on costumes again! Tickets are on sale and we have a spiffy, new website - www.placermusical.com. We're in need of a LOT of props and our budget is VERY tight, so if you have any of the items here, please let me know. Hope to see you at the show!

DON'T FEED THE PLANTS!

Sugar

Mom and I were sewing away today on these:


My friend, Eric (who was actually my first my first kiss in junior high. Aaaahhhhh) contacted me a while back and asked me to do the costumes for a short film that he's directing in his graduate film program at UCLA. He tells me, "I only need two costumes." I'm thinking, "cool." Then he tells me, "but since we'll be working with kids, I need two of each costume." I'm thinking, "damn." But it really isn't that bad. I just do step one on both, then step two and so on.

What was the difficult part was the fabric! Eric wanted the fabric to look worn and old. Do you know how difficult it is to make NEW fabric look OLD??? I bleached this great canary yellow fabric to DEATH and then I dyed it with tan Rit dye (I love that stuff). And I'm actually very pleased with the turn out. Now that I have the dresses made (I just need to put the zipper in and the hem) I think I'm going to dye them one more time. I want them a little darker. I wonder if I could mix yellow and tan at the same time? OH MY GOD! What if I mess them up?! Yikes! The risks we take for perfection! :-)

Now I'm off to find 2 light blue t-shirts and 2 light blue button up shirts (or white and I'll be doing some more dying!).

The Mandarin Festival Clown

Mom has been slaving away at a costume for the Mandarin Festival Clown and it is adorable! I never thought I'd say that about a clown costume!


And there's a hat! It's not done yet though - I'll have a picture later.

Seussical the Musical

I had the honor and the pleasure of working with my dear friend, Josh, on Auburn's Summer Youth Theater's production of Seussical the Musical. Josh directed the show and a few weeks into rehearsals he asked me to step in as costume designer. I had already done some sketches for him to help him with the overall look of the show and then I was able to actively make those sketches a reality!