Remember back in college when you would hear a band come on the radio, and in true wannabe-hipster fashion you would toss your hair and say haughtily, “Yeah…I was totally into them before they ever became mainstream…” Like there was some sort of badge of honor in appreciating a band before social proof? Well, I swear you guys…I totally started this skirt before The Queens Gambit was ever a thing!
One of my most vivid childhood memories is of autumn. My grandmother had this massive maple tree in her backyard and every fall we would bundle into the car to her house to help her rake the leaves. I remember there were so many that I could stand almost knee deep in what had fallen to the ground. We would spend the afternoon raking them into even greater piles, jumping into the crisp signs of autumn with abandon. I remember moving them one pile at a time over the fence into the wooded area behind her yard.
You know how sometimes there’s a certain phrase or tv show or new app that you’ve never heard of before, and then all of the sudden 5 people tell you about it in one day? Well, I had been navigating my life and circle-skirt-making-mania very pleasantly, until one day I heard about the Cricut. Suddenly, without warning, came the deluge of readers and followers asking me if I had one and the hours upon hours of hand cutting I would save. And with a few simple clicks, I fell down the rabbit hole…
I can get so committed to my love of appliqué circle skirts, that sometimes I forget how much fun it can be to make a beautiful dress. It always a good idea to flex your creative muscles now and then and step outside of that trusty circle skirt comfort zone. And given how dark and grey the world has seemed lately, it should be no surprise that I turned to the sunniest yellow floral border print I could find….
I make no secret of the fact that I love to create. More and more lately, I’ve released myself of any mental shackles that might feel a bit intimidated by a project, and have adopted a, “why not just try it?” approach to my sewing. Given we have had months of isolation behind us and what looks to be many miles of isolated road stretching in front of us, no time like the present to just give things a shot. Segue to my latest sewing project….
Truth be told, I hate the rain. Now, don’t get me wrong – I know we need it. Without rain, life as we know it would pretty much not exist. But, I still can’t help but sigh when I wake up and see grey and gloom outside my window. Rain is not a friend to a suede shoe or an appliqué prone to color bleed. So, in the middle of a two week bought of nothing but grey skies and soggy sidewalks, I decided to turn the weather into inspiration.
You know the old cliche, the Grass is Always Greener? Well, never is this more true than when peeping at another vintage lover’s wardrobe. No matter how much you love your closet, your eye can’t help but wander to the next wardrobe over and start gawping at the covetable, lush contents within…
There are some sewing projects I feel I can do on auto-pilot – I barely have to think about drafting a circle skirt or creating a complex vignette out of felt pieces. But, while I love my comfort zone, I’m always itching to try new techniques. Even if they fail spectacularly, the scientist in me has a relentless need to find something new to learn.
As much as I’m a gal who likes to take risks now and then, there are always certain old favorites I come back to. It’s no surprise why, no matter how far I stray, you’ll see me inching back to circle skirts, nipped waists, border prints. I mean, tried and true exists for a reason, and there are a lot of cases where one just shouldn’t mess with perfection. And nothing says perfection like the perfect appliqué skirt…
I grew up in New England, where differentiated seasons abound. This means we plowed through 2 ft snow drifts in winter, melted in the summer heat, and watched the world bloom around us in spring. But, my favorite season was always fall. One of my most vivid childhood memories was always of that first crisp fall weekend, where my family and I would make a trip to the apple orchards to find the most perfect pie-worthy apples to commemorate autumn.