Sew What?! Red, White, and NEW!

I often get sentimental thinking of my grandparents - particularly during holiday celebrations (the 4th of July being no exception).  Although it has been many years since their passing (as romantic as it seems, they did not have The Notebook ending; they died quite separately and years apart), I find myself wanting to visit them, to bask in the warmth of their gentle, old-timey, unconditional, grandparental love.  As much as I appreciated having them as such an integral part of my youth, I find myself craving their love and counsel even more as an adult.

Leona & Bob
(Read more about them here and here)

And so I do visit them.  As well as visiting their "final resting place," when I am in the area, I also make a habit of driving past the home in which they lived out their last days (Neighborhood Watch is on high alert).  I've even eaten at the local coffee shop they frequented, confirming that the food is just as terrible as I remembered.  It brings an immeasurable amount of comfort to revisit some of their old stomping grounds, including their local thrift store.  It was there that I nabbed a length of tricolor, floral seersucker for the bargain price of $3.00 (I like to think it was grandmotherly providence; she was both thrifty and a sewing fiend).

As an inveterate fabric hoarder, rare is the occasion when I know
exactly what form the fabric will assume; usually I just hoard and hope for
the best.  Because the amount of fabric was limited, so were my options!

In the end, short supply and color palette dictated that this would be a fun, 1940s-style sun suit comprised of a ruched bikini top and a short, semi-circle skirt with attached bloomers.  Mary would have a red, white, and new outfit for the 4th of July!

I'm going to try and continue including my sketches in an attempt at
practice making perfect - both in drawing and silencing the nagging
voice inside that says the drawings are never "good enough." 

In spite of what I like to believe, my sewing skills are also rather amateurish.
Hoping to expand the breadth of my abilities with each new project, I try to
challenge myself with some easy but new-to-me techniques.  This time,
I drafted my own pattern for the fully-lined, elasticized bikini bottoms/bloomers
and made a shaped hem-facing for the skirt from the fashion fabric.  

Luckily, my efforts made the cut for Mary's Las Vegas shoot with the photography phenom, Alexander Thompson, for a style editorial in Ponyboy Magazine.

Capturing simple beauty is a task I think often more difficult than documenting
"grittiness" and "edge" - not that there is anything wrong with grit and edge.
I just know that our grandparents would have truly appreciated the simplicity
and loveliness of this photograph.
(Photo courtesy of Alexander Thompson/Ponyboy Magazine)

Feeling the pressure of last-minute holiday preparations, I am grateful that this ensemble was completed with a few months to spare!  I am also grateful for the talents of Alexander Thompson and Ponyboy Magazine, without whom we would not have these great photos - THANK YOU!!!

Do you hoard fabric with the intention of making themed, holiday outfits?  Were your grandmothers sewing fiends like mine?  Do certain sounds, sights, or smells remind you of your loved ones?  Are you a sucker for seersucker?

While you are pondering these questions, we hope that you have a safe, sane, and Happy 4th of July!!!


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! A 1940's Sun Suit

Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I am decluttering, stash busting, and overcoming the hoarder in me.  In actuality, I am usually doing quite the opposite - only making things worse by enabling the same terrible behavior in Mary.  The overwhelming "need" to rescue things from trash barrels, thrift stores, estate/garage sales is a monkey on our collective back.  And if we can't get rid of the monkey, at the very least, I would like to train him to recognize awesome vintage scores and to haggle like he's in a Baghdad bazaar.  I will admit that I am improving (the first step is admitting that I have a problem, right?) but when, on a road trip through Albuquerque, NM, I saw chenille sailboats peeking out from a rack full of unremarkable thrift store clothing, it was immediately obvious that this piece was not going to be abandoned to whatever fates the scorching desert sun offers to pink and purple, chenille sailboats.

This vintage, chenille beach cape languished in a closet for the
last couple of years waiting for me to figure out an appropriate
 ensemble; purple/salmon/lavender is a difficult color story to replicate.  

Our recent adventures on Catalina Island didn't begin and end with our friends' wedding; we made a long weekend out of it and that, of course, proved the perfect opportunity to bring the sailboats out of dry dock.

As we took the photo of Mary with the statue,
 this baby sea lion was perched on the rocks immediately
across from us.  He was not about to be outdone by some
crummy, old statue! 

Using a pattern that Mary created, I made a gathered,
halter-style bra top with a keyhole cutout.  The shorts
were altered from a contemporary pattern and then
given the Mr. Tiny treatment with a sailboat based on
the cape's design.

Using a satin stitch in varying widths, I machine-appliqued a
 sunset and sailboat on the shorts of Mary's sun suit in colors
coordinating with those on the beach cape. 

I call it a "sun suit" because, while it was technically safe to submerge in
 water, the two-piece set doesn't really have all of the desirable wicking
qualities and ultra-snug fit of a proper swimsuit.  Wanting to dive in,
 Mary was a little wistful at the water's edge.

Looking not unlike the bathing beauties for which Catalina Island
 was so famous in its heyday, Mary strikes a pose for the fine folks
of Avalon, CA.
(photo by Amber Foxx)

Mr. Tiny, Mary, and our pals Damien & Allison.
I like the fact that we ran the gamut of styles and levels of dress/undress.
White pants?  Don't mind if I do!
(photo by Amber Foxx)

Having done more than my fair share of sewing, planning, packing, performing, and preparation, I was ready to use our Catalina weekend as an excuse to relax and enjoy our sunny, Southern California weather.  While Mary sauntered around the tiny town of Avalon, Mr. Tiny was sitting...er, swinging...pretty.

The new album cover - "Mr. Tiny Swings in Avalon"

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! A Gratuitous Outfit Post

I'm afraid that there is an epidemic of deafness in our neighborhood and it's ALL OUR FAULT!  Day after day, we stumble out the front door deafening our neighbors with the loudness of whatever crazy get-up we happen to be wearing.  Either that, or they think we're totally insane...

I really don't think of our clothes as "costumes," but I'm almost positive that we have sent at least one neighbor running to the calendar to see if they have missed Halloween.  I'll admit, sometimes it can get a bit theatrical.  After all, who wears western wear on a regular basis?  Who isn't a farmer or a five-year-old child, yet insists on wearing bib overalls?  Who goes on a weekend getaway and takes square dance appropriate garb should the occasion arise?  Who can leave the house in the morning in a 30's-style frock, come home, and after a flurry of teasing combs and a heavy cloud of hairspray, can dash back out the door in a 60's minidress?  (not all of these apply exclusively to Mr. Tiny...hahahaha)

(Photo by P. Oeser III)

Oh yeah, and then there's this...

But this actually WAS Halloween!

Last weekend our friends held their awesome, annual "It's Roughly The 4th of July" barbecue.  It is a huge gathering of folks for some old-fashioned, eating, dancing, and merry making; I thought it would be a good idea for Mary to debut the new, neighbor-confusing, ensemble that I made for her - a 3-piece playsuit.

My newest mania is to purge myself of all the extraneous stuff that I have amassed over the years.
This includes the ungodly fabric pile that, like a creature from a 50's science fiction movie,
continues to grow no matter what I do.  Oh, I'm not supposed to be feeding it more fabric?  Huh.

The blue floral, of indeterminate vintage, was used to make the shorts and the blouse;
 it was something I picked up very inexpensively at a thrift store.  The white overskirt was
 made of fabric that I had to go out and purchase...so much for stash busting! 

In my first attempt at applique (beyond ric rac, trims, etc.), I took portions
 of the fabric used for the shorts and top and "traced" them with a machine,
embroidery stitch onto the oversized pockets of the skirt and then trimmed away
the excess fabric...or something.
Sometimes I just jump into this stuff without any kind of instruction
 or appropriate terminology; I just cross my fingers and hope it all works out.

Side Note: Don't sew with your fingers crossed unless you want them to stay that way.

I kind of used the same technique to make the patches that I added
to the straps of her top.  I had recently seen a similar treatment on a
vintage dress and wanted to give it a go.

I've heard from several people that wearing vintage/vintage inspired clothing results in unwanted attention or worse, derision.  Oddly enough, whenever we go anywhere, I would say that 99.736% of the response we receive from people (friends, neighbors, strangers), as it relates to our clothing, is extremely positive.  As a matter of fact, our style choices often result in compliments, nostalgic remembrances, freebies/discounts, invitations, etc.  Furthermore, while they might still be under the impression that we are insane, most of those neighbors that I'm so worried about believe that we are on one never-ending circuit of dances, photo shoots, elegant soirees, and fancy dress balls.  Since it's a myth the absolute truth, I'll just let them go on believing.


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny