Manic Pop

  So the other day I was so mad about my shoes breaking I set out to find more shoes. While at The Ark, browsing around at their shoes, I spotted this dress just hanging there on a rack just waiting for me.  It was $5 so I didn't even try it on and seeing as how it was jersey knit with a tie in the back, I knew it would be fine. The result? A kind of weirdo dress, but I couldn't resist since the sleeves are so amazing! I like the way this old necklace from H&M plays off of the stripes on the sleeves. I don't wear this necklace nearly as much as I should.   Funny thing about these shoes: I had a pair almost identical to these early this summer by Steve Madden and I destroyed them within 3 months of wearing them. I found these at Sears of all places - a last-ditch attempt on my quest for shoes. I seriously didn't expect to find ANYTHING there but I found 2 pairs! There you have it - my crazy, striped-sleeve thrifted dress!  Thri...

So a few weeks ago I made patterns for a dress I was going to dye with a few Rit dyes (a garment dye, which is dyeing the garment AFTER it's made versus dyeing the fabric before making the item.) The dress was going to be watercolor-like hues, but on the bus one day, I got an idea for a print that does not yet exist ... or would be super-hard to find. Solution? Make your own fabric stamps! Prior to that, I had read a post on The Pineneedle Collective, Annika's blog about DIY stamps and decided it was time to play with some again. I had made some stamps in high school using an eraser and then again in college in my surface design class. The stamp I made in college had almost a plaid-like effect when stamped. I first drew out my design in my sketchbook - 2 different sizes of clouds and then some wavy lines for underneath the clouds and a layering effect. Then I transferred it onto a sheet of foam for the stamp part. (A sheet of foam is around 89 cents at most craft st...

A quick outfit post - I've been pretty behind on posts, projects, etc. Summer is pretty busy and there have been back to back street festivals at work each weekend so my schedule has been flip-flopped a bit and I'm now almost a week straight into work. Yikes! Such is life. Max bought this little romper for me when we were in Fruitport over Memorial Day Weekend. I had to get a souvenir from the mall while we were there and I found this at Charlotte Russe of all places. Not sure what it is about that location, but I have the best luck there even versus the Chicago locations. I'm pretty sick of all the "put a bird on it" references though I do love Portlandia, but this is definitely a bird print. It's been so hot out (100 degrees here and there) so I've kept my look pretty simple this summer.  I was playing with a fabric backdrop here, but the space I could hang it isn't tall enough to let me stand straight (and I'm 5'1" on a good...

I am totally in love with the idea of this rug! But anyone who knows me shouldn't be surprised as I like stripes, vintage, and anything remotely psychedelic looking.  The squares can be kept separate for rearranging or sewn together for a full rug. Be forewarned: these rugs take quite a long time to hook, so do this only if you have lots of free time. Or, I guess if you want to be working on it for years - whatever.  On the contrary, these knots don't take too long to learn - mostly just muscle memory. You only need to buy a rug hook (which is still sold in most kits in craft stores) as well as the pre-cut yarn. In recent years, I find this proves to be slightly difficult as rug-hooking is a dying art, but you may be able to come across these yarn pieces online.   Of course, the fun part is that you can do whatever colors you want. I like this little chart that explains the reasons why you would pick each colorway - a little color theory ...

I ran out of time during the day to take photos during the day... so why not at night? I have a space shirt on anyway, right? What better way to take photos than underneath the stars?  I finally fixed these earrings after a few years of disrepair and they're getting a lot of wear. They were originally for a "mod costume" in maybe... 2006? I forget. They were cheapie earrings from now-defunct Jive Monkey over on Clark St. near Belmont in Chicago.   Thrift store loot! The store I go to out here always has a jackpot of goodies.  Password game, Probe game from 1964 (looks like a fun word game), a ladies tie in a psychedelic pattern, and a roomy vintage shirt I could potentially use as a cover-up at the beach. Grand total: $13.  I had to buy the Password game set even though I already own a copy (both from 1962) because I feel like I am one of very few in my generation who looooves that game show. Me and Brian found it 2 years ago and used...

Been a long time since I did a music post.... These days so many oldies radio stations are going under (who listens to anything from the 50s and 60s anymore? Besides me, anyway.) There was an awesome one on the internet I frequently tuned into called Technicolor Web of Sound - retro commercials and everything! - but unfortunately they went under too January 2012. These days, I find it hard to find a TON of good 60s music picks - and not just the stuff everyone knows. So here are a few of my favorites recently -one of them was discovered at Chipotle! And if you're into The Zombies, check out contemporary Australian band, Crayon Fields.

  So I recently finally sat down to look through this little book I have. It's about a magazine size and I think my mom sent it to me a while ago. I originally thought it was just a sewing how-to manual (which it kind of is) but it has some awesome full-color photos! The publishing date is 1969 and is right around the time period of much of my design inspiration. My favorite decade range encompasses about 1965 to 1975 and 1969 is almost smack-dab in the middle!  This magazine is perfect for a beginning sewer as it shows you how to measure yourself, body types/shapes, fit & fabric, helpful hints/tricks and illustrated step-by-steps. I'm not sure of it's availability anymore, but I am always on the hunt at thrift stores for how-to sewing books, craft books, interiors from 1965-75. There are many to find!   In this post, I thought I would share some pages from this for design and sewing inspiration!  This book actua...

So excited about this dress! This dress is made entirely of scrap fabric that I had in my fabric storage. I think the top fabric was thrifted, the yellow and dark blue fabric were scraps from the Space Dress and the mint color is a ton of extra fabric from the old 70s bridesmaid dress I found.    Exposed zip in the back. You can't quite see in these photos, but the colorblock detail is in fact slash patch pockets on each side.  

Some more Holga photos! This roll actually had much earlier photographs on it (some dating back to March when we had those freak 85 degree days) up until Memorial Day weekend where I finished the roll. Halfway through this roll, I noticed I had somehow had my camera on the bulb setting which is good for long exposure night shots with a tripod but not good for much else. As a result, many of the photos came out pretty blurry. However... a lot of them are salvageable for a hazy, blurry feel some with nice hues. 8 out of 12 shots isn't too bad. Enjoy! Same day as this blog post.   Oak Park, IL   Shadows at Berghoff Restaurant downtown.   I love the hues in this one.   P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, Norton Shores, MI  Hoffmaster. Oak Park green line?