Wear-n-Worn

love this prim and proper dress i found at an estate sale recently.

the turquoise and gold beaded necklace make it a little fancy.

and the belt.....i love the belt.

i had to sass it up a bit by wearing knee highs and tall boots

and then to make it saucy.... the fur leopard print coat was added.

gotta have a little sauce now and then if you want to keep things spicy!

What do you like to wear to dress up?  Vintage?  Modern?  Classic?

Do tell....

pricing books,

xoxox

jennette

Wear-n-Worn

here is a little wear-n-worn to tide you over until i can get back to regular posting after the snow daze!

i have had this vintage kimono in rotation for many many years, like twenty, i think i have had it since high school!  And i recently discovered it again in the back of my closet!

i had gotten into the habit of always wearing cardigans and i have to remember that i have many other "cardingany-type" things in my closet to choose from!

here i paired the black and white kimono with a vintage frock i got last summer that just needed a few mends here and there.  i do think the "dress" is meant to be a house dress but i wear a black slip under it and and throw on my black knee socks and black boots and call it a dress to wear in public!

the dress has a fantastic asian inspired scene on it and has this great detailing on the pockets and collar.  oh yes, those who know me know i LOVE a dress with pockets!

its a good thing!

so in other news....it's saturday january 21 and the shop is finally open!  it has been closed for a week due to snow, ice and power outage.  our seating sale continues and i am adding clothing to the sale as well, for the next week! 

all seating and clothing 20% off!

come by when you can and take a look.  since i was stuck at home for a week i also cleaned my house and culled many of my personal items to bring in to sell to you so they can meld into their new lives with y'all!  two car loads to be exact so it will take me some time to get it priced but little by little it will all be out on the floor!  come see!

hoping flooding and high winds stay at bay,

xoxoxo

jennette

To Wear

there are many new items in the shop, to wear, for sale!

like the beaded pouch above that is being put on a chain to wear around your neck!

i just pulled these vintage heels out of my personal collection.

they are too big for me anyhow so they are bigger than 7.5 or 8

this gorgeous beaded silk crepe dress found it's way back from Nashville in my suitcase!   it is really lovely!

these fantastic little vintage lace up heels are to die for.  if you don't come buy them soon i may need to take them home!

here is another stunning beaded silk crepe dress i brought back from Nashville.   i just adore it so much!  if it doesn't sell soon i will wear it for my birthday!  the goddess Kelley Rush has a crush on this one!  and really, it has your name all over it!!

you know you want these fringe boots! 

i also brought these little vintage velvet Sunday shorts back from Nashville!  if these don't sell soon they will be made into a bag!

i did not bring these back from Nashville but every girl should have a great pair, or two, of cowboy boots!

i am such a sucker for vintage velvet! this vest would be great for a holiday outfit!

this boho skirt has mirrors and a great look and colors!

this sweet embroidered shift would fit a small person or lucky kid!

if it sparkles, glitters, or shines, i want it!

i brought this cork back pin home with me from Nashville.  it would be great as a hair clip too!

i found this vintage shirt, with deer and birch trees, in Nashville.  i wore it once and am ready to pass it on!

last but not at all least, these vintage swim trunks came straight from Nashville too! 

Are they not the cutest thing ever?! 

would look so great hanging in a beach or sea inspired bathroom!

i'm in eastern washington enjoying some quiet down time with my family.  the shop is open and full of unique gifts if you are trying to get your holiday shopping done.  we have some lovely soaps, plants and candle holders that i myself would be delighted to receive!  come and get em!

preparing to watch a favorite movie, The Royal Tenenbaums, for the 2nd time this week!,

xoxoxo

jennette

Wool Pants

The Felted Blanket Wool Pants, first attempt, are Done!

OK, all you nature school friendz.  Here they are!  The first go round of super thick, warm, soft and felted wool pants cut from an old wool blanket that I felted in the washer.  What do ya think?  I wish you could see and feel these in person.  If I played in the woods every week for several hours I would certainly be making myself a pair, stat!

Here they are unhemmed.  Jasper was not so sure about these at first.  They really are SO thick.  But now they are hemmed and he is getting used to what they feel like.  I think they will be superb when worn with his REI undergarments.  To me they are super soft but his sensitive skin may need the long-john barrier.  I left off the pockets for now since the front ones on this pattern require sewing them into the side seems.  I could see no way that my machine would play nice with that much thickness!  I have an old pair of his cargo pants that I may just cut the pockets off of and attach to these.  They would be cotton pockets but I think it would be OK.  Also, I may use a contrasting felted wool piece to make knee patches but I can add these or pockets any time.  For now he just needs a chance to wear them for a day to see how they hold up.  It was so nice on Friday he wore "regular" clothes to Tracks and Tales.

Here is a back view.  I used the thickest felted blanket I had to try to ensure durability.  I have several more blankets but I am thinking they wont felt up as thick as this.  Which makes me wonder if I can make these for other children and have them last.  I was hoping to make and sell some but I would need to feel good about the undestructiveness of the pants!  I have a load of blankets in the wash now so we will see if they felt as thick as this.  This particular blanket has a nice basket weave type of pattern to it as well that seems to add to its strength.

I used a vintage canvas type material for the waistband and draw string.  We'll see how this holds up too.  The drawstrings are attached to elastic that goes across the back but inside the waistband.  And the elastic is stretched a bit and attached to the side seems where it also attaches to the drawstrings.  Does that make sense?  So the elastic can't move around and the drawstrings finish up the job of cinching the pants on tight enough to stay up.  This method works nicely to prevent losing your drawstrings inside your waistband casing.

So the experiments continue!  All the extra length on these just got hemmed up to the inside so I can let the hem out as Jasper continues to become a giant!  And if they last that long.  I was concerned about the hemming because that doubled again the thickness I was trying to sew through.  But it worked!  My machine complained just a tad but with a little finessing it cooperated.

What are you all making, upcycling, or repurposing these days?

Do what you love friendz!  Make art, create, imagine!

Don't Follow your Head, just Follow Your Heart.

xoxox -

Jennette

 



Vintage Car Pants

Worked on another pair of Oliver+S pants for Jasper this weekend.

We had found this vintage car/transportation material at an estate sale.

Jasper liked it a lot.  But the material was cut in short pieces so I had to make the cars running up and down his legs.  I was able to line up the pattern so the bottom edge sat right on the selvage.  That worked out nicely.

Close-up of material.  We really like the colors.

Here are the finished pants before he tried them on.  I was working on them in stages.  One of those stages was Friday night.  At one point I sewed the waistband on backwards and had to seam-rip it out and begin again.  That's usually when I know its time to take a break!

I used one of his other pair of Oliver+S to get the hem length right.  We make them a tad long and he likes to roll them up sometimes.

All in all, another stunning success with this pattern! 

We had a brilliant idea as we were finishing these up.  Jasper has been attending Roots and Wings at Wilderness Awareness School (WAS) for the past three years but this year he is at Tracks and Tales.  Jasper goes to his Montessori School on Mon., Tues., Thurs. which leaves Wed. and Fri. for other activities.  WAS's class for 7 year olds is on Thursdays so Jasper can't attend.  But we found Tracks and Tales and he LOVES it!  

In Jasper's first year at WAS he was able to fit into a pair of wool Gap pants I had found on consignment at Booty Land.  They were Awesome pants!  We were frequently asked by other parents where and how to get them.  Nice wool pants are not easy to find for small children!  After his first year, we resorted to snow pants most rainy, wet WAS days since the wool pants no longer fit.

Fast forward to last week when Jasper went to his first day at Tracks and Tales and we were scrambling to locate the snow pants.  We found them but they are finally getting too small as well.  They kept the mud and wetness off him but he looked like he was waiting for a flood!

As I was making this latest pair of Oliver+S pants I had a moment of pure clarity and remembered that the reason I had been collecting umpteen bazillion old wool blankets over the last few years was to be able to felt them, cut them, and make cool recycled wool blanket projects.  Originally I was thinking holiday stockings, dog bed cover, ornaments, etc.  But why not pants?!  Yes!  Pants!!

So I washed and felted a few old blankets on Sunday to prepare.  I am super excited to see if I can make this work!  I think I know a few people who might want some wool pants for their kiddos!  I plan to reinforce the knees with a contrasting wool patch, and maybe even add some rear-end patches too!  Jasper always wears his REI long underwear top and bottom as his first layer so that will help the wool not feel itchy.  As soon as I have a prototype, I will show you.  My only worry is that my machine wont want to sew thru the thick parts.  Maybe its time to take the ancient Singer I have sitting in my garage into the shop to see if she can be resurrected!  The work-horse Singer would definitely get the job done!

Off to test out my new running shoes,

xo

Jennette

Striped (vintage looking) Pants

Here are the finished Oliver + S striped pants for J.

They were made using the same pattern from this post.  Its the Oliver +S Sandbox Pants Pattern & Starfish Stencil.  This time I layed out the pattern, pinned it and cut it in one sitting. That only took about .5 hours or so.   And then did all the sewing, start to finish, in one evening.  That took about 2.5 hours.  So 3 hours or so all together.  Not bad.  It took a lot less time, this time around, since I had used the pattern once before.  Reusing patterns helps you get faster!

back view

This fabric is not near as hefty as the last fabric I used.  Its a little more flowy.  It was also curtain panels and I have a lot of this material left.  I did the pockets so that the stripes are crosswise.  I like the contrast of the vertical and horizontal lines.  Shows off the pockets a bit.

Jasper loves to model for me,

can't you tell,

he wants to be a star.

Love that boy

and he wears awesome pants!

Off to read my new Mary Oliver New and Selected Poems Volume Two,

ttfn,

Jennette

Vintage Curtain Pants!

Jasper got some new pants!  I sewed this Oliver + S pattern for him using a vintage curtain panel!

Lucky Jasper!  His nice Mama sewed him some new/old pants!  I used the Oliver + S pattern, Sandbox Pants Pattern & Starfish Stencil, bought at Ben Franklin, on sale, many many months ago.  This pattern goes up to size 8, which is great, since he is wearing size 8 in jeans, mostly for the length, since he is a tall 7 year old.    I found after cutting out the pattern that the length sizing was generous so I cut the pattern out on size 8 but folded up the bottom edge to the size 7 and still had more than enough fabric to hem.  Oliver + S rates the sewing difficulty of the patterns by number of scissors images.  They gave this a one scissor out of four, and it was super easy.  I think this pattern will be useful for a long time to come, if he continues to enjoy homemade pants!

I know he is my kid, but how cute is he in these pants?!  Uber Cute! 

This fabric is like heavy cotton canvas, almost.  Not stiff, but definitely with some heft to it.  I will show you some details of the pockets, which I think help them look not so much like pajama pants, but are hard to see in some of these photos.  You could easily make these more like pajama bottoms by leaving the pockets off and using a thinner material.  I think one reason Jasper is so fond of these pants is because people keep telling him they look like really cool camo!  Its a bit hard to tell but they are covered with all kinds of game birds!

These have become the perfect summer pants.  They can be worn with slippers, as seen here, and you can roll them up for a cropped, capri look.  The pants allow plenty of room for stretching, running, tree climbing, forest exploring, fish catching, etc.   They got a lotta give! 

This pattern would totally work for a girl too and I can just imagine them in some of my favorite Heather Ross prints!

Here is a closeup of  a front pocket.  These are fully lined and have double top stitching for an added lil' sumpin, sumpin!  I didn't change anything about the front pockets.  Just followed the pattern directions.

Here is a back pocket, fully lined and double top stitched as well.  I did change the back pocket only in that it did call for a button closure but  I left that out.  Back pocket buttons would just get in the way for my guy.  And be an added unnecessary step for me!

Trying to show you a picture of the casing here.  The elastic in the casing is just across the back, attached at the sides, and then the draw string is used to cinch up the front.  I hadn't used this method before but I am liking how it works.  Yes, those are button holes, and they were very easy to do on my new machine once I got off my lazy bum and tried!  These pants did sit unfinished for a couple weeks because I was not wanting to fuss with button holes.  It was done in less then 5 minutes when I actually just did it!  EasyPeasy! 

Upcycle, repurpose, sew, sew, sew!  I got the bug and I can't shake it!  Must craft, gotta make, will sew for food!  What are you crafting, sewing, knitting, making?  What are you reusing, repurposing, upcycling?  Do tell.  Share, share, share! 

Working on the next pair of pants for J. Vintage stripes!  Will post photos when completed.  It's cut out.  Just gotta sew it!

Off to pick blueberries with The Crafty Aunties,

xox- Jennette