Back to School

This week I have been working on some alterations for my daughter.  I love vintage, and felt it was time she worked a few pieces into her wardrobe (she is beginning her Senior year in less than a month).  She usually wears the usual teenage girl's uniform of jeans and a tank top so this is a stretch for her, but I hope the tailoring helps her see you can make a vintage piece look and feel like it was made for you.

Vintage lace added to the hem of a cute printed skirt

A cute wool skirt taken up to become a mini

And the most amazing pair of vintage Italian jeans!

The skirts were very basic changes, the first one I simply added the vintage lace to the hem with my machine, done in less than 10 minutes.  The wool skirt I took about 6" off the hem and then gave it a new hand-sewn rolled hem, this one took longer, but still used very basic sewing skills.  Both of these skirts could be done by a beginning level sewer.  The jeans required lowering the waist and tapering the legs, but they were so worth the effort.  I think these may be the most rockin' pair of pants ever.  It doesn't hurt that the jeans cost about $5 and then we found $2 in the pocket!  I also did up a pair of skinny purple jeans and a cute little black vest for her, having items tailored to fit you just right makes all the difference in bringing new things into your fashion repertoire- it is hard not to feel comfortable when things fit "just right."

A Lovely Weekend

Glorious weather in the Pacific North West

Well we got a beautiful weekend this time around, I am so thankful.  Today continues to be gorgeous, but I have chores piled up from the last couple of beautiful days, so I will try to get outside when I can. 

Just a glimpse of my friends garden...

Saturday evening I got to play Medieval dress up and visit a wonderful homestead out Tulalip Res way.  There were lovely people, some neat activities, and a horse, two goats, and a coop full of hens (plus one rat skulking out of the hen house).  I want to thank my sweet new friend Isabel of Oxenford for taking me to this event, and also a big thank you to the Baron and Baroness of Aquaterra for all the information they shared with me. 

Sunday was loads of fun with a trip to visit friends in Seattle (the pictures above were taken on my friend's property in Lake Forest).  Plenty of sun, drinks, and the Fremont Market, followed by snacks from the food trucks lined up for the Mobile Food Rodeo.  Next time, I bring a bigger stomach! When you visit Fremont be sure to try the Guinness Float at The Red Door too, yummy!

Lines were long at the Rodeo, but the food was worth the wait

Thrift Haul

Sunday was a thrifting day at my house.  I went out after lunch to grab some leggings for my boys at the SVDP 99 cent sale.  That went well, I got the hubby some nice stretchy pants and my son some perfect linen drawstring  pants, and a pair of leather sandals, all to wear with their medieval garb.  I also found an awesome tankard for $2.99!  We have been talking about getting a set of these so we can have medieval beverages in style, but they run at least $20 each new, so this was a great find.  When I got home and showed off my new treasure it sparked my husband's inner thrifter, so we went back out looking for more goodies. 

At the Goodwill we found a leather weight lifting belt hand tooled with a dragon image (this is now a part of my son's armor.  We also got a wooden bowl and a metal bowl, both good for medieval potlucking, and a ceramic goblet, all together about $15. 

Next we hit the ever popular Value Village and I found two matching tankards for $3.99 each!  The mugs had a f-ugly engraved plaque on the front but my hubby has a grinder so, no problem.  I also found a pair of silver champagne flutes, my husband reminded me we don't drink a lot of champers, I think they will be great for mead, so we got them anyway.  We also picked up some timberland boots for my son to wear in combat, and a pair of creepers for me.  We actually spent too much money at the Village, but it was the shoes, so it doesn't really count, right? 

Picnic Time!