During the week of Independence Day, I had the week off from teaching. What better way to celebrate than to get to sewing. I had just found a beautiful 1930’s style floral quilting cotton that coordinated with a blue and white fabric I’de been saving for a blouse. My plan was to re-make the Wearing History Smooth Sailing Blouse with a coordinating from the floral fabric.
Read moreInterview with Liz Gross, Owner of Xtabay Vintage
No trip to Portland is complete, to me, without a trip to Xtabay Vintage. This place is the Bomb! it’s so lovely and special inside and one can’t help but absorb that glamor that oozes from every corner. I was lucky to run into the owner Liz Gross, who was kind enough to grant me an interview. She’s owned & operated Xtabay for quite some time now and the shop (both in person and online) have become a fixture in the vintage clothing community. Read on to meet Liz and find out about this extraordinary business and woman behind it:
Read moreVintage Shopping In Portland Oregon
Every year my daughter & I go to Portland, Oregon, to visit my best friend, Angie and her family. It’s always one of the highlights of my year. Do you have a friend who just “gets” you? Well, Angie is that friend to me and she & her family always welcome us with open arms.
We both LOVE shopping and so does Emma, so it was fun day to be had by all, when Angie mentioned she needed to go buy some mirrors for the winery & tasting room, she and her husband, Matt are building. Their wine is really lovely by the way. Love & Squalor does a fabulous Riesling and they also make very special Pinot Noir for which they are gaining some critical acclaim. Go Love & Squalor!!!
Our first stop was Monticello Antique Marketplace. The building is very large and houses many little booths operated by an eclectic array of vendors with lovely pieces in every one.
Read moreRevamping a Men's Sport Coat for the Sacramento Tweed Ride - Part 2
After being invited to the Sacramento Tweed Ride, by friends Lisa and Robb, I had only two weeks to get something together. I took my inspiration from vintage hunting/riding/sporting attire and my imaginings of vintage country living. I hope to one day, own a country home. Until that happens, I can just dress as if I do, right?
Read more2019 Sacramento Tweed Ride - Sport Coat Revamp - Part 1
Tweed Rides have become popular around California and other parts of the US. What is a Tweed Ride you ask? That’s what a lot of people asked me when I told them my plans for that Sunday afternoon. Well, Tweed Rides seem to have a few things in common - Bicycles (mostly vintage), Downtown Streets and a bunch of people wearing Tweed. I’m not sure why all these people do this, but, as you may have realized, I really love an excuse to get dressed up and/or make an outfit for occasions like these.
Read moreJulie Ann Silverman - On Developing Your Own Style - Interview with a Fashion Designer - Part One
I recently had the opportunity to interview our new Fashion Illustration and Design Instructor, for the Fashion Studies Course, Julie Ann Silverman. She comes to us from Southern California where she has been a swimwear designer for the last 20 years. She is amazingly talented, and a wonderful Instructor. I’ll be breaking her interview into several parts as she has revealed so many little diamonds in this one interview, that it is too hard to absorb all at once. I love her take on developing your own style so read on below to find out more.
Read moreWork in Progress - Knitting a 1920's Polka Dot Sweater
Last year I came across the photo above while looking for inspiration on Pinterest. I was immediately struck by the novelty of the graduated dots and sharpness in the way the subject has put her outfit together. The whole ensemble - Jumper, paired with the hat, necklace, belt, skirt and shoes, is iconically 1920’s in a sporting kind of way. Everything about the photo delighted me and I KNEW that it must be brought to life in the 21st century.
Read moreSewing a Miss Fisher Style Jacket with Vintage Chinese Silk
Today’s post is about a 1920’s Short Car Coat I finished just last week. The fabric for the jacket/coat has been in my stash for the last several years. I was planning on making it to go with the blouse and skirt I’m wearing in the photos, for Miss Fisher Con, which was almost 1 year ago (already?). It didn’t quite happen in the time I originally planned to make it, but an occasion came up and It seemed like a faster make than finishing a sweater, so off I went.
Read moreSewing a 1930's Blouse, Hat & Skirt
It’s been busy over here at The Sewing Room and finishing this ensemble took some time. I think the blouse was one of my longest running projects in quite sometime. Partially, because of other projects that got in the way and also because I did a LOT of hand finishing.
Read moreSewing a Gingerbread Inspired Dress & Apron for The Holidays
I recently finished these 3 pieces for our Holiday Window and thought it might be interesting to show how I put them together. These were 3 very fast and furious projects that you could easily accomplish in a weekend.
Read moreThread Dolls by Ms. Y - Make your own dolls out of Thread Spools
Guest Post from Jo Anne Yada (AKA Ms. Y)
I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with the fabulous Jennifer Serr, owner of The Sewing Room, to design a holiday window display. I wanted to highlight her business in a fun, festive, and vintage way to showcase the amazing creativity that represents her and her business. I wanted to do more than hang some lights and set up a tree; I wanted to give the message to all those walking by that this is indeed a creative space where you can make adorable sewing projects. And so I decided to make some vintage-inspired dolls out of sewing materials to add to the display.
Read moreEtsy Gift Guide for Vintage Makers and the Vintage Enthusiast in your life
Some of my favorite places to shop are on ETSY, the global online marketplace for everything Vintage, Craft or Craft Supply. And lately, I’ve been coming across some really wonderful vendors as well as my trusted favorites. Below is my GIFT GUIDE for Vintage Makers and the enthusiasts in their life.
Read moreSewing for the Holidays! Our Store Window Display (and the Downtown Alameda Holiday Window Contest)
So excited to share what’s been happening in the Store Front! While it’s not my normal Vintage sewing, we did add a vintage twist to the Window Display at the Sewing Room. There is a contest, which started last year, in our Downtown Alameda Business District. Sponsored and run by the folks over at Digifli, the Downtown Alameda Window Contest has really encouraged downtown merchants (such as myself) to participate in making our town more Festive during the Holiday Season.
Read moreSewing a 1930's Fall Ensemble - Silk Blouse & Wool Trousers
It’s Fall here (finally) in Northern California and the trees are starting to turn. And by Fall I mean it’s gotten hot in the days (upper 70’s F) and cools off at night. Not quite jacket weather, in the daylight, but it feels good to dip into the fall colors.
Read moreAlameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire and Costume Contest
All photos courtesy of Daisy Coby - Memento Moda
Last month on a beautiful fall evening, Michaan’s Auction House opened up it’s doors to the Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire produced by Sandra Michaan with a little help from Jonathan Belmares and a host of a dozen (or more) others. This is an annual (and sometimes bi-annual) event that happens at the Point and the opening of the event is really quite special, happening the first evening of this, weekend long, event.
Read moreSewing Pattern Review - Colette Patterns Parfait Dress
Welcome to my favorite dress ever! Ha! I love this dress. And by this dress, I mean the Colette Patterns Parfait dress. I like it so much I’ve made 4 of them. There are only 3 pictured here because I have something planned for the 4th. It’s a little unusual and a little patch work…More on that later.
Read moreRe-Creating My Grandmother's Dress - Gatsby 2018
Every year the Art Deco Society of California puts on the The Gatsby Summer Afternoon. This Gatsby Event is the highlight of my year, as far as vintage events go, and this year was no exception. The weather was perfect (high 70 degrees and breezy), the picnics were exquisite and the company eclectic and entertaining.
For this year’s ensemble, I chose to replicate a look that my grandmother wore (see photo above) in one of her modeling photos. I’ve admired this dress for years and have not quite had the nerve to re-create it until now. That front neck detail with the capelet and ruching really had me flummoxed.
Read moreVintage Style Knitted Lace Cardigan -
I fell in love with this style when I paged through the Fall 2014 issue of Vogue Knitting Magazine and stopped on page 44. I’m kind of a sucker for a well styled layout and this was no exception (you can see a bit of the magazine in a photo below). What I really thought, however, was that this sweater would be a great accompaniment to my several Colette Parfait Parfait Dresses (Pattern Review coming soon). And pictured here in this post, it pairs perfectly with this dress.
Read moreGoing to Miss Fisher Con 2018 - my favorite moments
It's been almost two months since I attended the 2nd annual Miss Fisher Convention. If you don't know about Miss Fisher, she is the main character in a series of books by author, Kerry Greenwood. The books inspired an Australian TV Series called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. A quite liberated lady detective, Miss Fisher, lives in 1929 Melborne, Australia. The Convention, celebrated everything "Miss Fisher". If you haven't seen it, you should. Fantastic show and books and her snappy dressing (ie. beautiful costume design) inspired me to create a whole wardrobe and rope my friends into coming along for the ride.
Read moreSewing a Velvet Evening Coat for Miss Fisher Con
A 1920's evening gown is not quite complete with out an evening cloak, a headpiece and the right jewels. Luckily for me, I had a lovely piece of velvet and some pink silk crepe-de-chine along with matching crepe back satin, tucked up on my fabric shelf just waiting to be used.
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