Tangerine with a Spot of Leopard

Finished a pair of re-modeled capris just in time for my birthday brunch.  Yesterday my true love and I walked to the nearby m. henrietta's for a scrumptious brunch in Chicago's record-setting 100+ degree weather.

~painting by Zurab Martiashvili~

I thought I was very cool in my outfit, but actually withered completely by the time we walked home again in all that heat.  It took just hours in our single room air conditioning to recover.

Later that night was the Sewing Rebellion

Have Singer, Will Sew

~Singer Model 99K, 1952~

Mom gave me her old Singer Sewing Machine when I visited this week.  I looked up the serial # and found out it was manufactured the same year I was born - 1952!  Awesome.

She's a real beauty too.  Shiny black metal with gold art deco scroll work. mmm, mmm.

Road Trip Wardrobe

My It's Hot, Hot, Hot! Outfit

Oh, Oh, do I get to do a "Travel Capsule" or whatever they're called, for a road trip to visit Mom?  Yes, let's!  Okay, it's only for 3 days, mostly on the road and then just at Mom's house.  Well, to travel in I wore:

stretch lace crop top

and sarong skirt

with this underneath

Of course everything here is made-from-scratch or refashioned to fit.  It was very hot here, on the road, and where we were going.  At mom's I wore:

Art About Town

Lately I've been such the fashion photo model (!) that I haven't had time to sew.  drat and drat.  I even received two new Japanese sewing books for my soon-to-be birthday from the True Love.  I have had fun with the background-finding for the photos and playing around with that.

Aline Smithson, photographer

But I truly can't wait to get back to my daily sewing routine along with the exercise.  I skipped a bit last week.  But I'm back on track now.  There's been some visiting too which is not something we really do and a road trip scheduled to Mom's for tomorrow.  Maybe I can figure out some hand sewing I can do in the car...

You can see all the latest photo extravaganzas on my clothes collage page

A Little Dab of Neon

~artwork by Mary Virginia Carmack~

Put patch pockets on an old linen/cotten shirt I had and painted the buttons to match.  yep.  I had a scrap of knock-your-eyes-out yellow broadcloth that was just the right size for pockets and I had the same color fluorescent acrylic paint to do the buttons.

My, my, once I got started...some old canvas tennis shoes that I have never worn came under the brush.  I painted them like saddle shoes and I think they look cute as a...button?

You can see me with my neon on the Clothes Collage page 

Less is More...

Ok just so you know, this is what I'm up for next Monday...this Picasso is the inspiration for the Style Imitates Art challenge, which is cool.   I have a blast doing it and I encourage you all to go for it!  But then I also signed on for This or That Trend:

~painting by Picasso~

~www.meganmaedaily.com~

I thought it sounded fun, but it happens every day this week!  I don't know if I will.  You know there's such a thing as too much...or too much of a good thing...whatevah.







 And of course, I'm way into sweet Patti's Not Dead Yet Style, meet-up every Monday:

~not dead yet style~

Let's Skirt Around It, Shall We?

This old wrap-around straight skirt is made of silk and linen with a lining. Not too much wrap-aroundness available on me anymore, so...I relocated the two buttons

painting by Wim Schuhmacher.

on the waistband to fit and then sewed on some decorative buttons down the center front to close it up.  I left about 5 inches open from the waistband down to the first decorative button to be able to get in and out of it.   Then I slip stitched the rest of the front down to secure it even more.

Wrap-arounds are a great fashion buy - they can go either way as needed - downsizing or upsizing, as the case may be. 

The Look of Linen

painting by Meredith Frampton.

Knocked out a rehabbed linen skirt today.  It used to be a wrap around straight skirt, ankle length.  It's the same length, still straight, but now it's more like seamed up rather than wrapped around.  I used the 3 button holes and just moved over the buttons to fit.  Then added decorative buttons with tassels down the side seam and slip stitched it closed,