Sew What?! Santa Clarita Meets Santa Maria

Please stop me before I've gone too Chico's.  There is a fine line between bohemian/folky/ethnic chic and a full-blown Southwest nightmare - and I'm having to learn where to draw it.  Not that there is anything wrong with Chico's; it's only that Mary is just barely twenty-two and not quite ready to ride off into that great sunset of Santa Fe-senior sophistication.

Santa Maria in Mr. Tiny's Mexicali Folk Couture
Nevermind the blue wristband...check out those cool, cowgirl gauntlets!

This past weekend, Tiny & Mary were thrilled to be part of the annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival where we shared the stage with our pals Deke Dickerson and the rip-roarin'est kings of the Hollywood honky-tonk, The Lucky Stars.

File this under awkward family photos.
Dan, Mary, Tiny, Russ, Sage, Pappy, Andy, Djordje,
with Deke front and center...but where's Wally?!?!!

As the event landed within a few days of Mary's birth, she was definitely entitled to one new outfit, one that would hopefully work for our performance.  Ours was a daytime affair, so instead of going the rhinestones and fringe route, I opted for something a little more casual, a little more sultry, and a little more inspired by looks found south of the border.

Our little Santa Maria is still "on the fence" as to whether this looks
artistic or like the climax of an old-west melodrama.  Or maybe both?

In the steadily-reducing fabric stash at Mr. Tiny's Workshop, I discovered a remnant of multi-colored, woven fabric of indeterminate origin (my best guess is Peru).  The oddly shaped piece, garnered at an estate sale as part of a bin of fabric, had already been cut and used by its previous owner (a seamstress and lover of ethnic textiles); there was so little usable material left that I almost put it in the rag bag.  Mary rescued the remnant and it became the top of this two-piece entry into Mr. Tiny's Mexicali Folk Couture.

On the balcony with a balconette top.
I rather inappropriately think of those decorative accents at the neckline as
"eyebrows;" some perfunctory internet research indicated that tops of this nature
can be referred to as "balconettes."  Help me out here, vintage sewing pals???

Because I had only enough to barely eke out the bra-top, I began the hunt for fabric in a complimentary style.  I drove to nearly EVERY fabric store in the Western Hemisphere, even perusing the stalls at that lovable, little tourist-trap known as Olvera Street, to no avail.  I was not looking for a match.  In fact, I was happy with the idea of an altogether mismatched set.  Nothing I found, however, had the same weight, the same richness, nor the same quality as that damnable little scrap of fabric with which I began this whole mess...until I remembered that there was another, much larger, woven textile found in the same tub of fabric at the same estate sale, a piece I had looked at every day during my search but had tuned out because it was being used as a throw over a chair.

Using every last inch of the material, I gathered it into a long,
patio-style skirt, using solid black for the alternating tiers.

After the show, we went to explore the festival grounds, situated on the historic estate of William S. Hart.  The 1927 Spanish-Colonial mansion, the cactus, and the slowly-sinking sun were an ideal backdrop for a few photo-ops.

But maybe the sun had sunk a little too low for this picture...
Nevertheless, the view from the Hart mansion is 360-degrees of beautiful hill country.

Justifiably unsatisfied with my pitiful photography skills, Mary
set the auto-timer on her phone and captured this photo of herself.

As this was our first time at The Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, we were unsure of exactly what to expect.  As it happens, the festival is a full family affair with activities for everyone.  Next year, I plan to make a long weekend out of it and listen to some of that cowboy poetry, hear a few more bands, rope 'n ride 'n wrangle, and get there well before all the barbecue is sold out!

Happy to finally be standing next to a real cowboy/frontiersman,
Santa Maria thought this guy was Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and
Buffalo Bill all rolled into one!

Well, what do you think?  Have I strayed too far into the land of metal lizards and copious amounts amber jewelry?  Are this ensemble and this guy haunting your desert dreams?  Fortunately, with this photo set, I think we're giving neither Chico's nor any of our photographer pals need to worry that were moving in on their territory!

Mr. Tiny & the wacky tacky adventure team say, "'Happy Trails,' until we meet again, Mr. Hart!!!"

"Happy Trails" - Roy Rogers & Dale Evans

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! The Copy Cat's Pajamas

I guess when one is sewing with a vintage aesthetic in mind, there may not be a truly original idea left under the heavens.  Having said that, there are a few staples that every well-stocked vintage wardrobe ought to have and are therefore common amongst the old-timey set - including beach pajamas.  I have always been smitten with women's beach pajamas and having seen the awesome, spacey, satin set Betty Grable wears in the "Let's K-nock K-nees" number in The Gay Divorcee, I attempted to make Mary a set very loosely based on the same (although my version was neither spacey nor satin). 

That was a few years ago.  Having sufficiently scratched the itch, I left the idea of "beach pajamas" alone for a while (mostly because I wasn't sure if the two-piece ensemble I made even counted as beach pajamas).  Well apparently enough summers had passed and the inspiration to sew a new set struck in the form of a reproduction, feedsack-style print that I found in the flat fold, discount section of our local fabric store.

It's funny, up close the pattern is very meandering but from far 

away it is easy to see the stripes created by the pattern's repeat.

I used a reproduction feedsack-style print in primary colors and a
vintage trim that was inherited from my great-grandmother's stash
(two rows of the trim is used at the hem of the wide-legged pants).

After sewing up the whole thing I realized that this outfit seemed distractingly familiar; familiar not only because it was inspired by looks of a bygone era but because I so obviously, if subconsciously, appropriated it from our pal Lauren at Wearing History (see this one but more specifically this one).  THE COPY CAT'S PAJAMAS!!!!  I accept that they are similar but not exactly the same; she of course, she did it much better and more historically accurate than I.  If I had only put in some thought I would have simply used one of her beautiful patterns for vintage beach clothing instead of making up my own revisionist ensemble.

Mary ended up wearing the purloined pajamas to our friends' Memorial Day party and received enough compliments to boost my confidence.  So, I am setting into make another set in a floral-printed, rayon-linen blend that has been languishing at the bottom of fabric mountain for too long.  If you get a hankering to make a set of your very own beach pajamas, then do things the smart way and get a Wearing History pattern.

I'm already halfway there!

How do you feel about beach pajamas?  Are you sewing anything special for summer? 

"The Cat's Pajamas"

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! Pineapple Princess

For as much sewing as I do, the sad fact is that I kind of hate it - the cutting, the pinning, the hours spent hunched over the sewing machine breaking needle after needle because I am too lazy to remove pins (which only results in more work/time changing the needle).  When the mood strikes, however, you will always find me hunkered down there in the "treadle trenches" armed for battle with my disappearing-ink pen and scalloped shears.  Never knowing when inspiration will come, I of course shroud surround myself with an endless supply of fabric, thread, and notions so that I will have everything I need (except, of course, that one thing for which I will invariably have to make a last minute run to the fabric store).

As organized as ever...

As reluctant a seamster as I may be, the prospect of designing garments is my ideal.  The challenge of designing/constructing something with very little time and very little material creates enough motivation to rouse a little fire in my evidently-dormant competitive gene.  Last Saturday we were headed to our pal Emily's birthday barbecue.  Having just created one of my floral, basket purses as her gift, I still had some residual creative energy and found a scant yard of vintage, pineapple-printed material that we had picked up in a homemade, roadside, thrift shop on one of our desert adventure days.  Confounded for about a year over what to do with the material; the answer was really a cinch - a gathered bra top and bolero!

The yardage was just enough to eke out the top and the outer shell of the
 short-sleeved bolero (I had to piece together leftovers to make the string halter).
  Wanting to line the bolero with a solid grey like the one found in the pineapple
 print but knowing that I really didn't have enough time to go to the store AND
finish the project, I lined it with a remnant of white cotton that I had on hand.

I can't show what she wore on the bottom because I didn't have time to make ANYTHING!!!

The teal, grey, and white color story was one I had never used before and
I quite like it.  Next up will be some kind of coordinating skirt, shorts, or
combination of the two - inspiration might have struck but the clock was
 striking too and we didn't want to be late for the party!  

It is often believed that Annette Funicello never wore a two-piece bathing suit but the clip below not only provides thematically-appropriate musical accompaniment but also proof to the contrary.  YOWZA!!!

"Pineapple Princess" - Annette Funicello

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Happy 2nd Blog-O-Versary!!

As someone who writes quite frequently, I firmly believe that a notebook on the nightstand is imperative for capturing genius should the muse happen to come calling in the middle of the night.  In all sincerity, it is quite common that I wake up in the wee hours to scribble down the brilliant thoughts whose powers are strong enough to wrestle me from deepest slumber.  Why then, when I am fully awake do these ideas, that to a sleep-addled brain seem like all the wisdom of the ages combined, read like utter and unqualified nonsense?  It has happened before, even when I convince myself that I'll remember every detail of my active subconscious brainstorm, that I force myself to roll over and jot down a few notes only to wake anxious to find something poetic and instead find something woefully pathetic.

Happy Blog-O-Versary Darlin'!
(Source)

Today we celebrate two full years of bringing you our best in wacky tacky.  I didn't really have a clear direction when I began to compose this post last night so I decided the best thing to do was sleep on it.   I went to bed confident that in the morning the refreshment of a good night's sleep would break my writer's block.  A night of sleep, however fitful, did not disappoint in the brilliant ideas department and I was glad to know that if I didn't have a solid eight hours, I at least had a notebook full of inspiration.

Imagine my disappointment when I got up this morning to see two barely legible words scratched onto the page - "floaty pens."  FLOATY PENS?!?!?!  It all came rushing back to me; I had a semi-wakeful dream about those souvenir pens that have moving sailboats, animals, rockets, baseball players, race cars, and in the case of a secret one my grandpa hid in a drawer, a disappearing bikini.

(Source)

Instead of focusing solely on the never-ending charms of floaty pens, I thought I'd take a look at traditional anniversary gifts for a second anniversary.  According to several websites, a second anniversary warrants gifts of cotton.  Since, for all practical purposes, I am married to my blog, it only seemed fair that I pick out a few gifts that I'd like to receive for wacky tacky's two-year Blog-O-Versary!

This chenille, Hopalong Cassidy bedspread
(Source)

This vintage yardage for sale on Etsy
(Source)

More vintage yardage for sale on Etsy
(Source)

This hot dog & hamburger tablecloth from The Vintage Table.
(Source)

This old cotton candy sign...that counts right?
(Source)

The Yodeling Blonde Bombshell, Carolina Cotton
(Source)

"I Love to Yodel" - Carolina Cotton

...as long as we're on the subject...

Well, that's about it.  I just thought that I should acknowledge two years of blogging and express my appreciation that you've "cottoned on" to the world of wacky tacky; thank you for your support.  We are closing in on 200 followers and when we do, we'll have yet another big giveaway.  Until then, I remain respectfully yours.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny