Sewing Room & New Look A6094

A view from my mess sewing room. I'm working on a quick project, since I'm always for wont of dresses!

I picked up New Look's A6094 pattern a while back because I was, well, bored. New Look are, how you say... economical patterns and I think I got this one for under $3. And, frankly, it works like a cheap pattern. The total ease in this particular pattern is 2 1/2", so in my (limited) experience, there will be a lot of fitting to make the dress look nice.

 I've already had to modify the bodice, but that didn't come as a surprise to me, since I usually have to do that with every pattern. My "problem" is that I have a smaller bust, but a larger waist. So I generally cut the pattern to fit my waist, then alter accordingly (my boobs just ain't that big!) The sleeves of this are going to be frustrating:

The pattern doesn't have the sleeve go all the way around, leaving a large unfinished gap by the armpit. The solution that they provide is using bias tape...I'm not too thrilled with this.

The fabric that I'm working with is a vintage full-sized bed sheet that I picked up for like maybe $4 at St. Vincent De Paul's. Sheets are one of my favorite 'secret' resources for fabric. They are a decent amount of fabric (enough to make a dress with a full skirt), you can find some pretty cool and interesting patterns and THEY ARE CHEAP!

Never enough projects.......never enough dresses......

Success! Simplicity 1755

I feel so accomplished! I actually, finally finished* a sewing project in a timely manner!  I had this fabric in my stash for a while and I had picked them up at my favorite thrift shop, knowing I wanted to use them together. When I laid eyes on the Simplicity pattern 1755, I knew the fabrics had a destiny. The pattern was really a breeze. Any problems that I ran into were the fault of my own, sleep deprived brain. I usually am hesitant with full skirts, as they tend to make me look hippy. I love how this skirt/bodice combo make my waist look slim(mer). I also love the loose raglan sleeves that fit over my "helga" arms (you know what I'm talking about *points to mom*). I found it a simple delight that the seams and pockets were hidden in the pleats of the skirt. I also lined it with a flamingo pink pop of color. 

The reasons I usually procrastinate with sewing projects is: HEMS AND ZIPPERS!!!! 

<insert a slew of curse words and tears of frustration>

YET! this time around, I think I finally got the hang of zippers, all it really took was one handy trick: 

READ.THE.INSTRUCTIONS.  who knew.

*I have not totally finished this, there is a belt in the works.

It's sooo "back-to-school"!! I need to work on my posing, haha :/.... also, you may note that in one picture I'm wearing thigh high stockings. Well....these photos were taking on a day that reached almost 90 degrees outside, and it was more than likely hotter in our apartment. SO, the stockings didn't last.

I Feel Pretty....Oh So Pretty

Not much going on around here, so I thought I'd hone up on my camera skills. I decided to take advantage of the sunlight.

My 1920's vanity, along with vintage jewelry.

There he is again....

I'm so happy I found this vanity for a steal! It makes me feel so glamorous, even if I am only getting ready for work.

Quick Project

 As usual on my Saturday shift break, I decided to go-a-thrifting. I normally don't go looking for anything in particular. Rather, I just try to look at everything and bide by time. Holy-Moley! I got lucky and came away with a big haul. I found a 1950's Zenith tabletop radio, a set of gold bar glasses and THIS beauty. As you can tell, it doesn't look pretty. I imagined that some grandmother tried to "refashinon" it to make it cool for their grandchild, and it ended up in the thrift store :(  The top cushion was covered with blue knitting and the rest was unlovingly doused in baby blue spray paint.

First things first, I cut off the web of yarn, and found a white pleather/vinyl material. It's not in the best condition. It's stained by age and/or smoke that left a yellow tinge behind. Around the buttons, it has begun to tear. All I ended up doing is scrubbing it with bleach.

Now to the nitty gritty: CHEMICALS! The Man and I went to the local hardware store and picked up an aerosol chemical paint stripper. I generally like chemical strippers because it does a lot of the elbow work for you. My only beef with this one is the way it sprayed. The nozzle only has one setting and it sprays in a stream, making it slightly more difficult to be precise. I also felt like a lot of product was wasted because of that. That being said, it helped removing the paint with minimal effort on my part. I scraped it off with a plastic noodle measurer (sorry, honey :/ ) but I would recommend an actual tool,  or an old credit/debit/I.D. card. Then attacked it all with 000 (very fine) steel wool. What didn't come off then, got a second coating of the stripper.

Under the baby blue spray paint, the legs had a thick ugly varnish. Although that would have been the original finish, I prefer to see wood grain. I think it's pretty. The brass tips needed very little TLC, I just stripped the paint and polished with the steel wool. I stained the wood legs with 2 coats of Minwax Polyshade in Olde Maple Satin.

 

I should say that I tore this thing apart. Any piece that could be unscrewed or just plain ol' pulled off like an animal was. After the brass binding was separated, I treated it just like the tips-just a polishing with steel wool. Then, I spray painted the top with one of my favorite colors: Krylon Indoor Outdoor in Satin Pistachio. I, personally, think that it compliments the brass fittings and the natural wood quite well. With the Rust-Oleum American Accents Bright Metallics in Gold, I painted the mounting plates and the "handles." They were rather tarnished.

Overall, I'm rather happy with the results. I may, eventually, do something with the cushion, but for under $25, I can't complain.

Footstool/Bench: $5.00

Paint Stripper: $9.00

Pistachio Paint: $3.75

Steel Wool: In Inventory

Gold Paint: In Inventory

Stain: In Inventory

It's Beginning to Come Together

Please ignore the ugly A/C unit and the gnarly wires

I love thrifting and I love Craigslist! And yesterday it paid off in full! We had spied this table and chair set months ago, but couldn't justify the price. To be honest, they were asking a very fair price from the beginning, yet we just didn't have it in the budget.

I couldn't let it go. I constantly checked to see if it had sold, and after a couple of weeks they had lowered the price.....but not enough. *whimper* We tried to justify it. We couldn't. I had to accept that it wouldn't be ours.

swoon

Yet, persistence paid off. Yesterday, I noticed that the price had been reduced yet again....and within our budget!! I begged the Man to get on the phone, as I have a phobia of talking on the phone. In a half an hour we were there packing it up into Goldie (the loving name giving to his gold convertible). The old Italian (?) man got a kick out of that, and waved us off with a cigarette in hand.

There are no marks or tags, and I am hesitant to say exactly what era it's from. It works for us, though. We are so happy that it's black and white, which means it can go with any color that we paint the kitchen. All we need now is a chrome napkin dispenser, or a table top jukebox!