Manic Pop

I actually finished this last piece almost 3 weeks ago before I went to visit Chicago for a bit (yes, in the winter - cold doesn't bother you after 10 years of living there!) I was lucky enough to find a few vintage patterns at a local thrift store with miraculously all the pieces! I feel like that never happens. I'm still going on my odd-Photoshop kick though this one is more just a color-palette background. I kinda like the way they all look so much better now. This pattern is Simplicity 6959 from 1975. So in these photos.... I was sort of going for a retro-ad feel. I think it works! Here's the scan of the pattern packet.  I toyed with the idea of making this romper in a combo (reeeeally bad Photoshop but it gets the idea across), and eventually went with all-over print since why not? I have the fabric already! I'm pleased to show off that the fabric I used is one of my own designs, printed off on Spoonflower! It's my hand-drawn Vi...

So last weekend I had the chance to head out to Chicago for a bit.... and it truly was visiting home. I know I'm on a creative sabbatical right now which is a luxury in and of itself but I can't wait to go home to the city I lived in for a decade. While there I couldn't pass up a book that was at Shangri-La Vintage in Roscoe Village. It's one of my personal favorite vintage boutiques in Chicago and it stocks some of my favorite things like retro interior decorating books and a fairly large corner of vintage fabric. (Of course I would like the fabric!) So that got me thinking about my (fictional) new place once I head back...My old house was super-retro and I'm sure an apartment will look similar for me. Enjoy some photos from a 1975 home decorating book I found for inspiration!  Dream living room.   But I'll take this too. Or this!   You know eventually I need to make one of these as a couch cover, right?  The red/yellow/...

I'm decidedly pretty bored with the typical "Look what I made!" formula of sew something, take some photos, then post. I get that it's the easiest thing to do, but it's not been any...fun. So, I made some non-boring Photoshop collages to present my new work. I certainly won't win any Photoshop awards for any of these, but I definitely had fun. I picked Burda's Boxy Jacket with Leather Patches because duh! That one looks just like something I would wear. I even already pretty much have the sunglasses. Of course, I decide to put my own spin on it. Why leave that nice inside of the jacket plain and boring if you can leave part of it open? I turned part of the facing into what the lining looked like by using interfacing on the back to stiffen it. This also gives that part of the jacket more pizzazz when left open. Here are better photos of what the jacket actually looks like. Sometimes I really don't understand why Burda patterns a...