And so I say good-bye

Well, hopefully it's not good-bye forever, but just for a while...
I am beginning my Doctor of Education studies next week and I know that all my fun side-projects (like sewing, blogging, recipe-experimenting, obsessive-movie-watching, closet-organizing, thrift-store-shopping, etc-etc.) will need to be curtailed. Time to focus on schoolwork and research for a time.
It isn't you, it's me.
It's not forever. We'll still see each, at school.

We can still be friends.

I'll always care about you. (but just as a friend.)

Mia modelling her home-made tie-dyed T-shirt.

Made by Me tank top, altered 1940's shirt pattern.

All My Dresses: Finale!

The end. That's it. All done. No more dresses.
The other day I walked by a shop window with a cute blue chiffon dress that had little polka dots on it and walked in to look at it, them immediately realized I have enough dresses, and turned around before I touched it. I had enough dresses to get me through March to June with no repeats. That means NO NEW dresses. Does home-made count??? I don't think so. OK. No BUYING any dresses is the new pledge (sewing them is fine :)
What's your pledge for the day?

All vintage, all thrifted, except bottom center: Prabal Garung for Target.

All My Dresses: part 10

Part 10. Wow. Next week should wrap it up. I can see the end of the (hem)line... I just have to get through one more week of dresses. It's been a skirt-drought that I can't wait to end. :)  In other news I finished my sprint triathlon (my last tri was 5 years ago) in 1:09 and got 15th in my division. Kicked the most ass on the bike course. Yeah! I love riding my bike! My garden is producing some fine vegetables, so garden fresh cooking/recipes will be posted throughout summer. And I'm nearly finished with this Butterick Retro dress in red chiffon with white polka dots: pics coming soon.

red hash mark dress from Modcloth; gray cotton plaid vintage dress from Goodwill; pink flowered summer dress from F21; purple jersey shift Made By Me; rose dress Made by Me; black halter from Goodwill.

All my Dresses:part 9

Another week, another 6 dresses. I was just about done and then I opened a vintage hard-side suitcase I keep in the bottom of the closet with vintage clothes I rarely wear... and don't you just know it? There were a handful of dresses in there just waiting to be pressed and worn. So the project rolls on...
Have a great weekend. I'll be racing in a triathlon this Sunday so no dressing up for me. I have to take a break once in a while :)

Gray shift Made By Me, with paper bead necklace, also MBM. Button print dress, MBM; black dress thrifted; white dress with blue flowers MBM; vintage green dress thrifted; black polka dot dress thrifted.

Also, I got a haircut; you may have noticed.

All my dresses: part 8

Oh, my dears, the end is near. I'm one more week closer to the end of this exercise. Dreaming of skirts and tops, mixing prints, patterns and fabrics...Oooooh...separates! :)

Get dressed up today! Wear everything in your closet!!! (Next week, I'll have to get into some of my evening dresses. I'm dead-set on wearing EVERY dress.) Until then....  Have a great weekend.xoxo

Black cotton dress from Shimamura; blue bee dress Made By Me; blue bow dress from ModCloth; summer flower dress from yard sale; pink jersey shift Made By Me; orange geo dress from ModCloth

All my dresses: part 7

Little Black dresses, bright stripes, lots of cotton and jersey... Me thinks summer is near!
Have you put away all your winter things? Now it the time for some closet organization! Clear the clutter. If you aren't wearing it, let it go! It always feels good to make some space.

Have a wonderful 3-day weekend! xoxo

Mr. Selfridge

I love Masterpiece and every Sunday night for weeks, I've been tucked in on the couch after the kids are in bed and glued to Call the Midwife and Mr. Selfridge. If you haven't seen it yet, you MUST! So much British TV is good, but you can count on the very best making it across to us. Of course I love the 1950's looks for East London on the Midwife (and I have a closet full of those silhouettes as you've seen), but the dazzling Edwardian gowns of Mr. Selfridge's wife, mistress, patron, and shopkeepers are to die for. This is my nod to 1909 (although it should be a foot longer and of course I should be wearing copious amounts of underpinnings :).

Find an inspiration and get fancy. Happy dressing!

All my dresses: part 6

What?!?! This project is still going???
Yes, I'm afraid so. It's like running a marathon. You just have to keep chugging along until you get to the end. Once you start and you've committed to finishing, well, then you just keep going. :)   Lesson for life? YES. Just keep going.

I finally wore my spats! I've had them for years and was just waiting for the right item to pair them with. Since booties are in this year, these make any pumps into button-up booties. I love them and they are real 1920's spats from Box Cloth Company of Chicago.  Makes me want some bathtub gin! I guess I better get myself out to see the new Gatsby ASAP! Have a great weekend.

Red & white vintage dress thrifted; sage green peplum dress Mady By Me; white cotton dress from Target, orange vintage dress thrifted and altered; pink and gray dress from ModCloth; SPATS! thrifted; button ring Made By Me

Peplum dress from Butterick 5520, fyi.

All my dresses: part 5

New shoe clips, in navy blue! I used this tutorial. YouTube has hundreds. Thank you for sharing, fellow craft-maniacs!

Half way through the dress challenge. Missing my skirts so much...

Red jersey dress from ModCloth; black mexican-style dress thrifted; green stretch dress from ModCloth; tweed suit from Macy's about 8 years ago; blue striped nautical dress from ModCloth.

Have a great weekend!xoxoxox

All of my dresses: part 4

Week 4 and still going strong. Lots of dresses to go...but I think this exercise is a good test. If you aren't willing to wear the stuff in your closet, get rid of it! So far, so good. I'm finding it all useful and most of it fits well. (I did find a few things too big so I donated them. And also one dress that I can never ever press the wrinkles out of. aaarrrggghh. Good-bye.)  On the coral dress, you may recognize that bow on the belt... it's one of the shoe clips I made a few weeks ago!! WooHoo- multi-use crafts!
Have a great weekend.
xoxoxo
Trista

Coral silk dress by I.N.C, striped dress and dot cardi from ModCloth; brown vintage dress, blue dot dress, and beige flower dress thrifted; black tank dress from Macy's.

My latest button ring. Coming soon to my Etsy...

All my dresses: part3

Well, the saga continues... I'm about a third of the way through the dresses in my closet. This week's pic (dresses from last week) features my new brown "bow tie" shoe clips. I LOVE them! And since I had to travel for work to a conference in BEAUTIFUL Chicago, you get to see my "travel dresses." I pack the same dresses every time; they don't wrinkle and are easy to wash in the sink if needed. The pink (top center) and black and white (bottom left) are both Jason Wu for Target. The top right is a Made-by-Me from a vintage 80's pattern. Non-travel dresses included here: top left is Made by Me from a Butterick knit wrap-dress pattern, and bottom right is vintage 1960's wool dress from Korea.

Chicago was great. I enjoyed being by the river. It's a very pretty city. The conference was interesting and I ate delicious deep dish pizza at Gino's and saw Book of Mormon and The Second City revue. I didn't waste any of my free time.:)  I encourage you to do the same- Don't waste time! Do things you love! 
Have a great week.

All my dresses, part 2

Here is another week's worth of dresses. I'm really excited about wearing EVERY dress in the closet! Tune in next week for the next five. Also pictured here are my blue tip french manicure (masked with masking tape, covered in glittery gold!:), and my new craft obsession -- SHOE CLIPS! I used this tutorial to make these. I am loving show clips right now. Get crafting!

Navy blue dress Jason Wu for Target, cropped sweater from ModCloth; striped black dress and black silk dress with white peter pan collar from ModCloth; purple cotton print dress Made By Me; white floral dress from ModCloth with a striped wool cardigan from Target.

All My Dresses, part 1

It just came to me one day. In a recent conversation about dresses and shopping and sewing, that I have a closet FULL of dresses, that I do not wear enough, and could wear them for months without duplication. So that set me on a closet exploration. How many do I have and can I wear them all and post them all? It turns out there are about 50 dresses in my closet (this does not count any skirts or matching separates) and my plan is to wear them all this spring. If something doesn't fit, I should probably let it go. That'll be a struggle.

Blue Esprit cotton print dress from Goodwill; black and white "film strip" dress from ModCloth, pink cardi from H&M; turquoise peplum dress from ModCloth; pink vintage dress with white birds from a Paris thrift store with vintage belt and head scarf too. The last one is Made By Me from Butterick 5520.  (One pic with cardigan, and one w/o so you can see the contrast raglan shoulder). This is a great easy pattern. I recommend it and I will use it again. I made one long sleeved peplum dress with it as well in sage; I will post it in the upcoming weeks.

Happy Closet Cleaning!

Simple Chicken Pot Pie & Irish Soda Bread

I just got back from a week in Ireland for work. Oh, poor me! Work is so so busy and I had to go travel all over Ireland for a week. Boo Hoo WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (heehee:) Now that I got that silliness out of the way...  As soon as I got home, I had to make some Irish soda bread and some yummy meat pies. CARBS! (Irish know carbs, man -- bread, beer, potatoes, oh my.)

Make this today:
SUPER Simple Pot Pie
Mix in a saucepan on medium heat: one can cream of mushroom soup, one can water, one can cooked chicken breast (or you can cook your own 2-3 chicken breast and chop them up), one bag mixed veggies, and slowly stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir regularly. Once it's warm and well-mixed. Pour it into a frozen pie crust; cover the top with another crust. Cut a slit vent. Bake at 425 for 30-40 min. (Leave out the chicken, add more veggies, change up the meat or veggies...it's very flexible. Next time I make it I'll add more vegetables and definitely a few potatoes.)
It was so delicious. My hubby and I tore this up in like 10 minutes. :)

BONUS! Weekend Project:
I also made this Irish Soda Bread; it was really easy and really tasty. Eat it plain, or with butter, jam, or some nice sharp Irish cheddar (which is what I did). Enjoy!

Have a great weekend. xoxo

My "Ikea Hack": Latt table and Aneboda dresser

I love Ikea Hackers (more pics via Pinterest) and finally got down to business last weekend and did some of my own hackin'. It was time to redecorate the kids' room. The toys have gone wild and the crib needs to go. It's a small room, beautifully painted "mint" by me. So I decided to give it a facelift. Bringing in all kinds of blues. (Out with the greens and reds.) Ikea furniture is functional, well-designed, and cheap. And it's plain -- but it is so easy to fix it up and make it your own style. And I am a big believer in personal style and unique pieces. Enjoy this improved Ikea furniture! :)

For $20 the LATT is the best kids table you can get. Inspired by other hackers, I opted for new seat cover and some accent painted pieces in goodnight blue gloss (acrylic craft paint). It took two coats. The vintage fabric is scrap leftover from a dress I made. Cream colored jersey with little blue bugs on it. Slipping in the seat pieces covered with fabric was tough but it worked out fine in the end. I used double stick tape to hold it underneath the seat board. Cute. Not too difficult. Very unique.

The Aneboda dresser was also cheap (about $60) and I really liked how simple it was when I bought it 4 years ago; but like everyone who has hacked it, I got sick of seeing all the messy stuff inside. For this project I used a 4'x6' vintage world map which I had in the closet (purchased from a flea market or thrift store or yard sale? I don't remember.) Cutting the map pieces took some time. Lots of measuring and careful marking. In the end I hoped I could slip the edges under the lip that holds the plastic window in (they do not slide out :( ), but it was quite difficult. I again used double-sided tape to secure it. And then I switched out the handles with wooden knobs I had on hand. I LOVE VINTAGE MAPS!!! (Really, who doesn't?) Like the table, it's very cute and unique.

Satisfied Customer :)

Have a great weekend.

Made by me: Vintage 50's "teen" dress

Sorry, my friends. I basically checked out during the holiday season (which I GREATLY enjoyed). I'll likely just post every few weeks when I have something great to share. I was going really strong for a while, posting several items per week. But I cannot sustain that with all my other projects :)

Enjoy this dress: Adorable 50's "teen" dress pattern sewn with vintage fabric, purchased for $1 at an estate sale. Amazing. So fun to make and wear. I'm pleased with how it came out. The pattern was missing the front and back bodice pieces, but I had another dress pattern that I could use for the bodice pieces. Then I had to dart-dart-dart until I got the fit right at the waist (but not TOO tight) before attaching the bodice to the skirt. And the Gathering!!! Oh, so much fabric! But it was a fun project.
Now I just need to find a perfect little belt to cinch in that waist. :)

Cute dress! Love the eggplant purple. But, um, those shoes do not go with that...