On Wednesday, Pj had another rain out day so we walked to the river in the morning so he could play with his new under water camera. I brought an umbrella along since it had been raining off and on all morning but we lucked out and barely had a sprinkle.

It has been raining a lot lately and the water level is much higher than usual. I love walking down there and seeing how the banks change. With each flood brings new rocks, shells, driftwood and fallen trees. Living so close to the river, we often get dense fog in the neighborhood. Spring hasn't coated everything in green yet and the scenery looked like everything had the color drained out of it with the exception of a few tufts of weeds sprouting out of the mud. While I was setting my tripod up, I was startled by a quick movement at my feet. I looked down and found this cute little guy! We put him in the fallen tree after snapping his picture.



 Today I tried my new clip-in bangs. I've never tried hair extensions or clip ins before and I was worried about finding something that would come close to my hair color. I like to play with bangs sometimes but every time I've cut them, I immediately regret the decision so this seemed like a pretty good alternative. I found these real hair clip in bangs on Amazon for less than $15. I didn't expect much for the price but they're not too bad. They arrived already red but I dyed them to match when I colored my hair and they turned out pretty darn close! I think my natural hair color is actually a mousy brown so next time I'll order the brown ones and see if they're even closer.




I haven't been wearing any of my beautiful vintage hats lately and this straw beret caught my eye on the way out the door. Since I knew it would be windy, I fastened it with a hat pin before we left home.

This jacket is one of my new favorite finds. I thought the floral print and colors were very 1960s but its actually from Old Navy. It's very spring-like and good to throw over my pajamas when I walk the kids to the bus stop in the morning.

There are many challenges in fashion blogging. The biggest for me lately is leaving the house for pictures. For a long time I took pictures in my back alley, which is pretty secluded and I enjoy the safety and pretty look of my front porch. I've been getting to know my camera a little better too so I can take pictures indoors, even when the light is a bit limited.

 I don't know about you but I especially love to read blogs with beautiful places as the backdrop of these wonderful outfits. I like to see where people live, where they travel, how they spend their day and the clothes that they wear as they do those things. Lately, I've been challenging myself to get out more and explore town.



My neighborhood is one of the prettiest and most interesting in the county. I live in Historic St Charles, Missouri, near the Missouri river. There's so much history, beautiful old buildings, mossy cobblestone streets and paths, Victorian gardens, lush parks and forests, charming pavilions. Why stay on the porch? Just within sight of my pretty little porch is an old school house converted into a church with beautiful blooming trees, old stone walls and a spectacular metal staircase on the side. There's a small park with a pond and pavilion where native flowers will be blooming soon. There are  businesses with interesting windows and brightly painted brick and alleys with pretty wood garages.

I thought to myself this morning, I could go over there, across the street and take pictures of my new dress today. But my neighbor is home and if she looks out her front window and sees me twirling in front of a tripod, I'll look like a total lunatic. The mail lady came by as I was walking back home to grab my forgotten camera remote in pink heels and I may have looked a little crazy.  I thought for sure at any moment, someone would come out of the church and ask "What exactly are you doing?"

Well, I did it anyway! No one came out to ask questions, no one gawked and honestly, people are more busy and concerned about their own stuff than we like to realize so they probably didn't even notice. I definitely felt a little awkward at first but I have so much fun taking blog photos and exploring the neighborhood so once I loosened up and just focused on my project, I didn't feel weird at all.  I don't think that something as silly as that should keep anyone from having fun and doing their thing so I'm not going to let it keep me inside either. 




I wore one of my new me-made dresses. I cranked out 4 of this same dress last month, two in solids and two in prints. I took apart one of my favorite vintage dresses to make a pattern for this. The original was so old and threadbare that the fabric was shredding in several parts. It had been patched to death and I knew if I wore it one more time, it would fall right off of me so I watched a movie while picking the seams out one day and I made a pattern. Its a pretty simple dress and I can get by with 2 1/2- 3 yards, depending on the fabric width so its very affordable to make, even in fancy fabrics. It has one pocket and these decorative fabric tabs at the pocket and bodice. The original had a side zip but I can pull this over my head to put it on so I don't even use a closure on them, which makes it even more affordable and easy to sew! Simplicity's reprint of Jiffy #1252 is similar.  I'm not much of a sleeveless dress kind of girl but I love the 60s jumper over a turtle neck look. I'm also not much of a turtle neck kind of girl so I paired it with a little black knit top.  My kids call this my "bacon dress" due to the rust colored strips on the print.  I think I will hunt down a plain black turtle neck and give it a try. I haven't worn them since I was in 5th grade so maybe I'm just reliving the awful 90s turtle neck Christmas photos of my past when I see them. I think everything is worth trying on at the very least!

I also wore my new pink Bettie Page Darla platform shoes, which are much more comfortable than they look! I typically wear a 9 1/2- 10. These are in a 10 and I think pretty true to size. I found them on Amazon for quite a bit less than other websites so if you're in the market for cute shoes, check there first!
 

60s dress- made by me with Paneling in Pink fabric by Kim Knight, Homebody collection for Cotton and Steel
black top-thrifted
pink Darla shoe by Bettie Page shoes by Ellie- Amazon

Its a rainy spring afternoon and rain means my roofer husband, Pj is home from work. I do love rain days. Sometimes we run errands or go see a movie or tackle a big project while the kids are in school. Today is my favorite kind,  a rainy sewing day.

Last night we visited my mother in law and I asked her to cut my hair. Last time she cut it, she gave me a middy inspired cut and did an amazing job.  This time, she just gave it a trim and cut it blunt, straight across. I've been having a hard time reaching the back of my hair to put it in rollers so I thought this would be easier on me. My former layers didn't roll in the hot rollers very well either so it was probably time for a little chop. Today's hot roller set was much easier!



I had a big stack of stretchy-type pants that needed to be taken in. I added a split seam on some of them for a more vintage vibe. I may add some trim or cute buttons to some of these at a later date.
I also had two thrift store pants that I bought recently. I have such a hard time finding pants that fit well that I like. I almost sewed a few pairs but I really wanted to spend my fabric budget on dresses and tops instead. I found these too big pants at a thrift store and I thought they had potential. With some fitting and marking and a quick run through the machine, they were looking much better!

I made this adorable tiger print knit top a few months ago. It was my first time sewing knit fabrics and I was a little nervous but I found several helpful articles online and it was actually really easy to work with. I used the 1960s reprint of Simplicity 1364, View A , which is my new favorite top, similar to the Vivien of Holloway slash neck top.

 

Outfit: tiger slash neck top- made by me |  pants- thrifted  |  pom pom slippers- gift from my mom

Spring break week is almost over. Rhys and Olivia go back to school on Monday and although it'll be nice to get back into the swing of things when they're not home, I've had so much fun playing with them and fixing up their playroom in the basement this week. Olivia and I played a few rounds of tic tac toe before lunch. She has a sharp eye so I can't take it easy on her or she'll beat me every time!

These past few months that I haven't been blogging, I've been reevaluating my wardrobe a bit. I love the 40s and 50s but my lifestyle has changed a lot this year and I feel like earlier decades don't suit me as much anymore.  I've been volunteering with the PTO, going to neighborhood meetings and planning girls night out with some moms from school so I haven't wanted to wear many of my delicate 40s dresses to do those things. When not doing that stuff, I'm at home cleaning house, sewing, knitting, working in the garden now that its spring. I needed more wash and wear pieces and I long for more fitted, youthful silhouettes, knit fabrics and dare I say....modern styles?

 I poured over my vintage sewing patterns, magazines and made a Pinterest board for inspiration and I think I'm really loving the late 50s-early 60s. Think Ann-Margret, Mad Men, a little Jane Asher. I re-sorted my closet and put away things I'm not feeling now but maybe I'll want to wear later on. I'm in love with the new things I've sewn and new thrift finds. This mustard skirt is a new favorite, as are the lace-up flats instead of simple ballet flats.

I've been wearing vintage for almost 8 years and I'm really happy to have a little style evolution. It sucks having a closet full of clothes and nothing you really want to wear. It also sucks thinking you can't wear things because they aren't "vintage enough". I'm sure I'll still pin curl and bust out my fab 40s dresses when I have somewhere fancy to go (or just want to dress up more for a day) but for a mom at home, running to school and doing errands and housework, I think a more wearable vintage style is a great thing for me. Its definitely motivated me to blog and post on Instagram more!  I  have an easier time dealing with my pin straight hair these days and I'm hoping to share some hair tutorials of later decades very soon!



This weekend, I have several thrift store finds that I bought last month with the purpose of altering them a bit. Here's a little peek at some of the fabrics. I found some skirts, pants and a couple of tops that I think I can tweak a little for a perfect late 50s-early 60s look. I'll share a little of the process and pics of the before and afters here on the blog and on Instagram as I get them finished!

It's the first day of spring and I thought it would be a great day to get back to blogging (finally) after a long break. I've spent the past several weeks sewing new clothes, fixing old ones and working on some small vintage wardrobe changes. I can't wait to share some of my new found and newly made things here with you!

Rhys and Olivia are on spring break this week and although my weather app called for rain, we had a warm sunny day. I picked up some spring break essentials over the weekend including a pack of bubbles to keep them occupied. As it turns out, great entertainment for me as well.



This morning, we walked to the park and Rhys tried to bring home a stick the size of a small tree. I'm a mean mom and I made him leave it in the forest but I promised home made popsicles when we returned home. After lunch, I set their tee pee up in the back yard so I could get a few moments of quiet time while they played.

We all went out to play after my chores were done and blew bubbles on the porch and I got some great funny Rhys faces.  This spring and summer, I hope to get a lot of wonderful photos of them playing to frame and hang in the living room.





This outfit is part of my new wardrobe collection. The pants are thrifted, modern pants but I thought they had a great late 50s, early 60s feel about them. I took the leg in a bit and added a split seam at the ankle. The sweater reminded me of this beautiful 1950s cardigan pattern from Subversive Femme







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If you're having a vintage wedding this year, here's a simple pattern from 1946 for a crocheted heart shaped halo headband for a bridal veil. This pattern would be so pretty to attach a snood to, embellish with sparkly things or just wear on its own with some fabulous victory rolls!  See my free patterns page for more knitting, crochet and sewing patterns