friday morning

This is what my Friday morning looked like. For some reason my body woke me up at 8:30 AM, something that I'm not used to at all, but it was actually pretty nice.

That's a mitten and mitten pattern that I've been working on since the end of December. They're for a matching set with a scarf for a friend's birthday that was in January. She has the scarf already, I just took a break on the mittens until now. You know, when the weather is starting to think about getting warm.

Sadly I'm about to pull the mitten out, which is why I wanted photographic evidence. I made a test set of mittens, but when I wrote my notes into a pattern something got fudged. Goodbye mittens! We'll meet again someday.

ticker tape parade no. 4

Image from The Cupcake Goddess's Hand Worked Button Hole Tutorial

So I seam to only care about sewing related things on the internet this week, even though I've been knitting up a storm lately. (Ha ha, did you catch my bad joke? Seam? Sewing? Yeah, that's an awful pun.)

• Bound buttonholes by Tasia at Sewaholic! I'm terrified of even trying bound buttonholes (good thing I'm not sewing anything with them right now), but when the time comes hopefully this will help.
• Two sweet sewing tutorials from The Cupcake Godess! A nice way to finish a facing. In all my projects I've been trying to learn tricks to make them look as pretty on the inside as they do on the outside. Also hand worked button holes.
• Tilly and the Buttons made a guest post over at Casey's Elegant Musings on how to make a fabric covered necklace for spring. There have been so many "get ready for spring" posts lately but I can still see a pile of snow from where I'm sitting at my kitchen table.
  

However, I can start to dream about warmer weather. I really want a pair of nice sandals for this summer, and there are so many nice ones in this etsy shop, Anania's Sandals. These might be my favorites, and none of the sandals are too expensive. What are the labor laws like in Greece (where they're based)? This is something I'm going to have to look into before I feel alright getting anything from them.

Finally, I started following Molly-Made, Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Femme (I love this name!), Speak Quietly, Orchids in Buttonholes, One Pearl Button, Fatty Unbound, Wrinkled Dollar, Compiling My Closet, Little Girl Big Closet, and Little Boat this week.

these are a few of my favorite things no. 1

I got this charm bracelet yesterday at the Goodwill for two dollars. It was on the counter as I was paying and it was so weird that I couldn't help but get it. Then I ended up wearing it all day.

The only charms on it are a swan, a bear (or a monkey? I have no idea what it actually is), and a rabbit, and they repeat in that order. They also cycle through being a silver-ish metal, a copper-ish metal, then a gold-ish metal. Really, you should look at the bear closely. The face is really amazing.

the pants question

Sweater: thrifted, necklace: vintage, dress: Target, tights: Hue, shoes: thrifted

Since my last outfit post I have worn the same pair of skinny jeans four days in a row. It's not that I think this is gross, it's that this is kind of a revelation to me. In fact, I wouldn't have even noticed except that I've been keeping a what-I-wore journal a la PaperSparrow. Now here's the real kicker: I own three pairs of pants. Maybe it's not so surprising that I wore the same pair for days in a row? Either way, I challenged myself to wear anything but pants. I like wearing skirts and dresses more, and have tons, so I can't see any reason to wear the same pair of pants multiple days in a row. Laziness? I might challenge myself to a week without pants sometime soon.


I also own a ton of jewelry, necklaces in particular, but hardly wear them. I really like this one. I got it at an antiques mall over a year ago for five dollars! One of the reasons I don't wear a lot of jewelry is that nice little ring in my nose. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm overdoing it if I wear jewelry, and sometimes I worry about mixing silver and gold jewelry. I've been thinking about getting a retainer for my septum so it's not quite as noticeable. I don't want to get rid of it, I just don't want it to be so in yer face.

Detail shot. I really love lockets.

new babies

I am such a happy camper right now. These are my brand spanking new (to me) Singer 6215c sewing machine and Vogue Sewing book! Now, I already have a wonderful Brother sewing machine, but my partner noticed this baby when we were at the Goodwill and pointed it out to me (he knows me too well). This Singer has a horizontal spool holder and a drop in bobbin, two things I've never used before.

So now I guess I have a small collection of sewing machines.


I'm also really excited about Vogue Sewing. There isn't any information in it that I couldn't look up online, but it's nice to have it in paper form. You know, so I don't always have to sew with my laptop next to me. And look at these sleeves! Wonderful 80's puff sleeves! My Vogue Sewing was printed in 1982 so it's full of beauties like these. I want to replace this picture with a better one, but my computer does not want to cooperate with this idea.


Back to the Singer: the Goodwill wanted $25 for this, and I would have happily payed that if it weren't missing so many things. That's the bad news. Here's the list: power/foot pedal cord, the whole storage compartment and everything that would have been kept in it like feet, needles, bobbins, the spool holder. The missing cord is the big problem, but it's not irreplaceable. So I got my new sewing machine for $10, a whole lot better after looking at the price for a new cord.

ticker tape parade no. 3

There is a Bloggers Day of Silence tomorrow for Japan. I can't say that I believe an internet day of silence is the best way to help Japan, or even to raise awareness, but it doesn't hurt.

The ClothesEncounters YouTube channel is pretty neat. So much thrifting. So much cute. I love puns so I think their name is pretty neat by itself.

Some sewing geekery: there a tutorial on how to pivot a dart on Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing.

Started following Knitted Bliss, our.city.lights, The Quiet Life of Violet, Little Tree Vintage, and my girl thursday. I feel like I found a new corner of the internet this week, and I really like it.

Also I finished (re)reading Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction, by J.D. Salinger. Possibly a little cliched, but I think he's my favorite author. Hands down he's one of my favorites, at the very, very least. So my partner put it well when he called this a "comfort read" for me.

try, try again

Shirt: thrifted, trouser jeans: thrifted, shoes: thrifted

Over the past few months I've been dipping my toes into two clothing choices.

One: Leopard print. When I was maybe 16 my mom got a set of leopard print sheets and I told her leopard print was only for women going through mid-life crises (oof, I was such a brat). Well, she wins this one! I really, really like leopard print now. This shirt is so comfy; it's an acrylic sweater/blouse, perfect for weather that's just starting to warm up. Hopefully I'm not going through a mid-life crisis because that would make for one very short life.

Two: Red. Another story. When I was 13 me and my sister were back to school shopping and I tried on a red shirt. She told me, in all her 11 year old fashion savvy, that I should never wear red because it makes my skin look blotchy. Ouch. It's taken me almost ten years to try wearing red again. When you're an awkward 13 year old these things really stick I guess.

Also I found one way to combat my fantastic picture face. Looking down!

not a fluke

Sweater: thrifted, pants: Old Navy, boots: thrifted, scarf: vendor on my college campus

Oh man, look how goofy that face is. The choice was between this and a picture of me in mid-sentence, and this one turned out to be the winner! So much for magically getting better at having my picture taken.

I've been having a lot of trouble figuring out how to wear this sweater. However, when I saw this post on What Would a Nerd Wear, I knew something similar would work. This outfit might be eerily similar, but it's a start. The funny thing is I also have a hard time trying to wear this scarf, so it kills two birds with one stone.

Now to put my funny face in context here's a picture from the same photo shoot. That grin is not a fluke, it's my tried and true picture taking face. I'll try harder to make a different one next time. Possibly.

Also this is my sweet friend Dan. Dan's super sweet.

ticker tape parade no. 2

Pax East is this weekend! So nerdily excited!

Kendi's 30 for 30 winter challenge just came to an end. Hopefully next time around I'll be brave enough to join in!

Peter wrote a great post as part of his Guy Week about "men who dress like women." While he doesn't go into details like gender theory it's a fun post and an easy way to open up the topic to people who might not be familiar with different gender expressions.

I started following academichic, bearly on earth, the cupcake goddess, paper sparrow, gertie's new blog for better sewing (which I've been reading for quite a while, but just started "following"). There are so many sweet blogs out there, how does anyone keep up with them all?

jealousy

Plaid & pants: Target, shirt: Arcade Fire, shoes: thrifted

This is my partner. He's the one that took the pictures of me, and who will hopefully continue to put up with me asking him to do so. The point of this post, however, is not just to show off his sweet mug, but also to show off his sweet shoes. Today was the first time he's worn these babies out of the house since he got them a few weeks ago.


I love saddle shoes. So. Much. I wish they were my size; they are a beautiful color and have fantastic details. He has no idea how jealous I am of these shoes. Since they're not my size I've been encouraging him to wear them and I'm so happy he did.

Edit: I've been told these are wingtips, not saddle shoes. Still jealous!

full sleeve

Jars are quite possibly the best travel mugs. They seal completely so they don't spill. They fit the perfect amount of water for a cup of tea. They're designed to withstand hot temperatures. You probably have a million of them in your recycle bin. The only problem is that the glass gets hot! So without further ado, I introduce to you the jar sleeve!


One of my friends (and future housemate!) bikes everywhere and almost always has a jar of tea with her. However, she just wraps a bandanna around her jar and ties it off, which leads to slippage and her not being able to tie her hair back with the bandanna. So for her birthday I wanted to make a jar sleeve. Even if her birthday was almost a month ago.

Birthday present recieved!

I wanted to crochet an elastic into the final round to keep the sleeve tight on the jar, but the only elastic I had was far too thick and stiff. This is fine, I made a drawstring instead and it breaks up the monotony on the back.


This crochet pattern was my inspiration for making the jar sleeve in the first place and where I got the motif. I made everything so much more complicated by only following the pattern for the motif and making the rest up as I went along. I think it turned out great, so this is a success in my book!

More info on how to make your own here.

ticker tape parade no. 1

This is this weekend! I'm so excited!!!

Having gone to a large university/still living in the same town as said large university, this analysis of "ladies drink for free nights," is funny and not funny at the same time.

There have been some sweet posts lately with thrifting tips. Thrifting is something near and dear to my heart. I love Casey's video intro to thrifting and Already Pretty's quick tips. I usually have to go section by section and stick to a list in large thrift stores when thrifting with friends, because most of my friends don't have the same patience with the thrifts that I do.

Gertie of the New Blog fame posted about how she does what she does. I'm not making a living off my two-post blog, but it's a good post and applicable to almost anything a person might want to accomplish.

I recently started following Patty the Snug Bug's blog, so cute! It was this post specifically that made me start crushing so hard!

I think a "Friday Favorites" type post will be a regular thing here.

about me

dress: thrifted Gap, sweater: thrifted Gap, belt: thrifted, tights: CVS, boots: thrifted

So. I've had this "blog" for well over a year, wrote some posts with bad pictures, took those posts down, and now I want to try again.

My name is Amelia. I'm a twenty-something year old trying to figure out how to live in this world without a college degree. Someday I'll go back to school, but not yet.

Recently I've been trying to dress purposefully, not just wear clothes. I've been reading blogs like Kendi Everyday, What Would a Nerd Wear, Already Pretty, and so many more for a while and want to try to document what I'm wearing.

That being said, I also knit, crochet, sew and craft. I'm not sure what kind of mixture I'm going for with fashion, crafting, and other things of interest to myself. I guess we'll see.

I wish I had taken a detail shot of the print on my dress, it's the nicest pink floral. I'll remember next time!

P.S. I've never been very good at having my picture taken. This is what most of the pictures looked like.