Wednesday, October 14, 2009

yeah!

Our dress pattern was approved by the director last night. Looks like I will be sewing like crazy this weekend!
Have a great day!
Donnelly

Monday, October 12, 2009

Excitement!

Hannah and I went one of the local thrift stores today to try to find a dress that I could alter for Jekyll and Hyde. No luck.

Earlier in the day, I had gone to JoAnn's to pick up a few things. I saw that Simplicity patterns were $0.99. Didn't know why that caught my attention because I haven't used a sewing pattern in ages.

Flash forward to the unsuccessful trip to the thrift store. Both of us are pretty disappointed. Hannah reminds me of the impending deadline for costumes, which depresses both of us more. All of a sudden, $0.99 patterns pop into my head. Hello!

So here is the pattern that we are going to use.

Along with the pattern are Hannah's fabric choices. I took the photo without a flash because the glare from the taffeta was blinding with the flash! These are both very rich, luminous colors. Hannah is excited about the swish the taffeta will make when she walks and dances.

Lori, the director, wants jewel tone fabrics for the scenes the ladies will be wearing their dresses for. These fabrics are Hannah's choice for "jewel-tones". We only bought 1/8 yard of each fabric and the main ribbon, just in case Lori doesn't like the pattern or the colors. The whole lot cost me $2.63! Much cheaper than buying a dress at the thrift store that you can't return.

Cross your fingers for Hannah and I, please. We are both hoping the dress style and fabrics work for Lori. Jekyll and Hyde takes place in the Victorian era. I know this pattern is not spot on, but it is the best we could do. There were a lot of patterns for the Elizabethan era, the Renaissance era, the Medieval era, the Georgian era; but none for the Victorian era. I think that this one is close and I can absolutely adapt this with a bustle and maybe fitted sleeves with a gathered puff between the shoulder and elbow, if needed.

Have a great day!
Donnelly

Sunday, October 11, 2009

New Thrift Finds!

Yesterday, Rick and I hit the thrift stores. I picked up a few things that I absolutely loved. I picked up 2 Coates and Clark and 1 Gem size 30 threads. I know I have said this before, but I LOVE vintage threads. All 3 spools look like they had never been used and each one cost 75 cents! Total output was $2.25. I have a couple of the varigated yellow and orange spools so back-ups are always good. I have never had the solid orange before. At the thrift store, I thought they looked like fall colors. When I got home, the only fall color was the solid orange. The varigated yellow reminds me of spring sunshine and the varigated orange reminds me of Creamsicles. Funny how perceptions change.

My next vintage purchase was a duck teapot. It was without it's lid. I scored this treat for $1.50! I am going to use it in my craftroom to put tools in. I see this with knitting needles, scissors, crochet hooks, rotary cutters, etc in it!

It is marked "Hand Painted Japan" on the bottom.

My next find is awesome! I don't know if I have talked about how much Rick changed Christmas for me. There was a time when Christmas was not my favorite holiday. My mom was and still is depressed around Christmas-time and I am sure it rubbed off on me. Thanks to Rick's hard work, I have become a fan of Christmas. So without further ado, I present to you a vintage Santa vase. He cost $1.99.

His bag is the vase! How cool is this? I can tell by the way he is painted that he is old. Every year, I find as many different flavors of candy canes as I can and stick them in things for visitors to enjoy. Can't wait to see his bag filled with candy canes waiting for someone to take one!

All together my treasures cost. $5.74! I couldn't be happier!

Hannah thinks that I need to come up with a new adjective to wish you the best of days, so here it is: Hannah wants to tell you all to have a stupendous day!

Donnelly