Upcoming Plaid Flannel Party!

I LOVE me some Plaid Flannel. One could say I've been hoarding a yard or eighteen of this deliciously colorful and cozy fabric. I finally decided to do something about it to bust my stash.

Heads up! I am hosting a Plaid Flannel Party next week, October 24th - 29th! Grab the button and post it on your blog so everyone knows you are participating and get the word out!

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I have HEAPS of Plaid Flannel that are itching to get sewn, ripped, glued and crafted into beautiful things. Seriously, HEAPS.

What can you expect from this Plaid Flannel Shindig?

* Plaid Flannel Project ideas

* Plaid Flannel sewing tutorials

* New Plaid Flannel items in the Vintage Dutch Girl shop

* All ending with a huge Plaid Flannel Project Parade Link-up Party and GIVEAWAY on Friday, October 29th. Get your Plaid Flannel projects ready to post and link up and we can all be ready for some super Plaid Flannel project inspiration!

So, get out there and get shopping for some lovely Plaid Flannel to join our Plaid Flannel Party on October 24- 29th. Hope you can attend!

A

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My Hair Has Me All Ferklempt...

I just broke the super sharp upper slicing blade off my serger.

Stupid pin. Yup, I forgot about a hidden pin and let it go through the serger. Not a good plan.

The upper chunk of the blade flew off into a pile of unrolled yellow ribbon on my sewing counter with the sound of Julie Andrews singing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in the background. Do I need to wear safety goggles when sewing? Maybe.

Been searching online for an inexpensively priced blade replacement. Bah!

I'm feeling a little off today. I think I know why. I'm wearing my hair in a side messy bun and I think my brain's confused. Too much pressure and tension on one side of the head has my neurons misfiring and synapses all askew.

I think I'd better switch sides half way through the day. I wouldn't want to start walking sideways or anything.

That's it. The messy side bun has me all ferklempt today.

Yup, I'm blaming it on my hair.

+ 2 bonus points if you know the definition of 'ferklempt' and have used it appropriately in a sentence within the last two weeks.

+5 bonus points if you have used the word 'Ferklempt' today.

+35 points if you can sing the chorus to Craig Morgan's song 'International Harvester' by heart along with me.

+1,247 points if you can tell me what these points are for.

Told ya I was ferklempt...

A

p.s. you win the point game if you actually clicked over and sang with the video. Tell me, did anyone click over?

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Vacuuming My Driveway and Destroying Vanity...

I just got finished vacuuming my driveway. I am now not only known as the Mama whose little boy uses the rhododendron bush in the front yard as a convenient urinal but the crazy lady who vacuums her driveway.

Although, one of my neighbors is a crazy cleaning lady. She washes her windows weekly. Her outside windows. Her outside GARAGE windows.  I'd be impressed if I wasn't so jealous of her mad scrubbing skillz.

I hope she saw me vacuuming my driveway. I hope she was impressed. That's right neighbor lady, I've stepped it up!

WHY was I vacuuming my driveway? OK, it's kind of a story. Keep reading:

Last week I headed into our local thrift store. After throwing the ugly mangly little kid chair into my shopping cart I wheeled right to my favorite section: Furniture.

Right away I spotted an ADORABLE little girl's vintage white dressing vanity and mirror. The paint was perfectly chippy and the mirror had a lovely curve and charming aged appeal.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL.

It was labeled $40 and I snatched that purchase sticker and clutched it to my chest, already dreaming of the many hours my Lil Chick would spend sitting by her pretty vintage dressing table playing dress up and being all girly and such.

I called my Mom (who lives really close) and said, "IfoundthisawesomebeautifulvanitytableforLilChickandIneedfortydollarscashcanubehereinten???"

Thankfully she understands a good find and said she was coming.

I continued shopping while I waited.....until the store director came to tell me that unfortunately someone had already purchased the vintage vanity the day before and that it was mistagged.

*(heart breaking)*

Fast forward a few days and a bunch of phone calls later from a nice lady in our church asking me if I was the one at the thrift store wanting to purchase the vintage white vanity and that she insisted that I should really have it. SO nice. REALLY nice.

I went to pick up the sweet vintage vanity today and smiled when I saw it sitting there.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL. I'm here to take you home, test you for lead, possibly refinish and repaint you, give you crystal cut knobs and a sweet little girl will spend hours and hours by you playing dress us and being all girly and such.

Finally loaded it and a few other treasures into the back of Lola and headed home. Pulled into the garage, randomly hit the automatic open back hatch button and opened Bubbalu's door to take him out.

THUNK THUNK THUNK......CRASH!

I screamed. Then cried. Then mentally groped for the rewind button on that dang life remote that is always lost.

Got the kids set up with a movie inside and sadly threw the biggest chunks in the garbage and vacuumed up the rest of the shattered pieces of a perfectly aged, bevel cut, vintage, curved mirror from our garage floor and driveway.

(Enter a poignant paragraph on the ironic circumstances of the vanity of decorating a little girls room that has led to destruction of a little girls vanity table.)

Being that I need to replace that shattered mirror, anyone know of a great, inexpensive mirror cutter?

*Sigh*

A

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Ugly Mangly Chair Gets a Makeover...

So I ran through our local thrift store last week and gasped when I saw this ugly mangly old chair.

I gasped because HELLO POTENTIAL!!! And for only $8 it was a STEAL. I all but dove for it and threw it in my cart, giving the ole hairy eyeball to anyone having the audacity to look at it sitting contentedly in my shopping cart. I've seen many upholstered little chairs for well over $100 at various stores. Lil Chick was anxious to sit on it but I refused to let her hiney touch that chair in its slubby state.

Fast forward three days. I've already ripped off and thrown away the previous disgusto upholstery fabric and purchased some pretty decor weight fabric, button kits and cording. My weapon of choice is a compression powered staple gun and I've got the craftin itchies. I told my hubby to keep the kidlets out of the living room and went to work:

New fabric covering cording and new padding:

Working on the back of the chair:

Only a SHORT time later (OK OK it took me six hours) I have a cute upholstered chair to adorn Lil Chick's new bedroom:

I FINALLY let her sit her hiney on it:

PERFECT.

A

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Black Edged Ruffle Tank ReVamp...

I'm digging black edged ruffles right now. They have a lovely vintage Paris (the city, not the socialite) feel about them. Any idea what I'm talking about?

Here are some examples:


(D&G)


(Modcloth)

And this vintage sassy little number from Etsy:



Feeling all inspired I quickly ran up into my closet and grabbed a new but boring basic white ribbed tank:



Wallyworld. I think it was only 4 bucks. Thicker than the Old Navy ones. They seem to hold their shape pretty well and are nice and long. Perfect.

As soon as the kiddos were napping/quiet time I ran to the craft room and eventually came up with this:



However I though it needed a little extra sumpin' sumpin'....so I accessorized:



Ahhhh, MUCH better!

Things that are making me laugh about this photo:

A. the ducky peeking out from behind my tush.

B. The fact that I'm all dressed up on the top....with capri workout pants on the bottom!

C. My Hair. Pulled back and clipped up, with a huge yellow headband holding the massive stringiness away from my face. Quote from Bubbalu this morning, "Mommy your hair is big today". True story.

D. I took this picture with my CHIN. Yep, my face. My face took this picture. Loving my new iPhone4. It has many many features. But certainly, CERTAINLY someone could figure out how to do a vocal pic cue, right? Or maybe I'm just not cool enough to know about the vocal pic cue app. Does it exist? If so, please clue me in!

This black edged ruffle stuff is very fun. I'm thinking I'll attack a few more shirts before I switch the thread out of my serger because HELLO is that an ordeal.

Goodness gracious it has been FAR too long since I posted anything personally sewn by me. Tutorial coming soon, stay tuned!

A

**Didja know you can find me HERE on Facebook? True story. Become a fan (or like) and get the latest Vintage Dutch Girl posts in your news feed. Oh, and it'll make my day! **

Sunshine Soaking...

Sunshine has been scarce in our parts. Lots and lots of days of gray and drizzle. I KNOW I live in the pacific northwest, but C'mon!

When the shy sunshine actually comes out I drop everything else and race outside to soak up some good ole Vitamin D.

Here's what I grab to head outside, summer sunshine-style:



Diet Coke on ice

Sunglasses

Spray sunscreen (Seriously, if you haven't tried the spray yet, you SHOULD! Especially for kiddos. No more slathering for us!)

Telephone

Ipod - Currently jiving to Allison Krauss

Magazines

Pirate Booty....which Bubbalu stole and ate.

Beach towel

and one good craft project. Nothing like cutting/seam ripping/sewing in the sunshine.

Ooops! Speaking of sunshine, I see some right this moment.

See ya, I'm off to relax...

A

These Ruffles Used To Be Sleeves...

Everyone has that boring plain white long-sleeve button down shirt just hanging in their closet, right? In my case, that boring white plain button down shirt had an extremely unflattering criss cross tie detail between the two back seams that just screamed MATERNITY. Or OUTDATED. Either one, not good.

So.....I chopped it up.

(And no, I did NOT take a before picture. Mostly because I couldn't find my camera. Also because when inspiration hits I can't think straight until I've attempted to create said inspiration. And lastly because you ALL KNOW what a boring plain white long-sleeve button down shirt looks like, right???)

Step 1: The collar was seam ripped off and then restitched the seam down leaving a simple edge. A much more clean and crisp look. Besides, the collar was all ugly and slubby from use. It was time for it to go.

Step 2: The long sleeves were chopped off and the sleeve edges refinished. (Save those cut off sleeves for Step 4!)

Step 3: Goodbye ugly outdated maternity criss-cross back ties! Seam ripped those babies right out and tossed em in the trash. Just a bit of restitching the seams down without those ties and the back looks 100% better.

Lastly, and most importantly....

Step 4: The sass. The fun. The RUFFLES! Seam ripped those cut off sleeves from Step 2 and cut double matching lengths for each side of front button placket.

(I had NO IDEA that my still-sorta-new-and-scary serger could do rolled hem edges. SAWEET! So stinkin' fun. Maybe I should actually finish reading my serger manual. It probably can do dishes and mop the floors too!)

Ran those matching lengths through the serger creating a rolled hem edge on each side, top and bottom and then created some sassy ruffles using a basting stitch with my regular sewing machine.

Pinned the ruffled goodness on, sewed em down and jumped up and down with glee. Sometimes I get so excited when a project I'm working on finally turns out the way I envisioned it that I just can't stand it and have to jump around a bit.



Hows this for some sass?



Looks much better with a black belt too:



(Pardon the bulkiness, I threw it on over a pink t shirt to snap this photo. Ha! I just noticed you can see the vertical lettering on my t shirt through the white shirt. :) I am SUCH a dork!)

OK, tear through your closet and start turning those long-sleeved shirts into ruffled short sleeved sass!

A

** Didja know you can find me HERE on Facebook? True story. Become a fan (or like) and see the latest Vintage Dutch Girl posts in your news feed. Oh, and it'll make my day! **

Wearing Maternity Clothing While NOT Pregnant, Episode 2...

I had to laugh at all of your comments in reply to my Maternity clothing question from yesterday. So, I'm NOT alone! Some of you DO have some cute maternity clothes that pass for "regular" wear.

However, most of my Facebook friends stated that they don't wear ANY maternity clothing items when not pregnant.

I must admit, wearing maternity clothing while not actually pregnant is a gamble.

• First of all, someone might actually ASK YOU where you purchased, oh, I don't know, a CARDIGAN and you have to be all vague and not answer in complete truthfulness.

• Secondly, someone might suspect that you actually ARE pregnant. However, my style consultant has let me in on a little secret: If someone IS pregnant, they try to HIGHLIGHT their belly....if someone IS NOT pregnant, they try to HIDE it. Good to know. ( And I never never NEVER ask if someone is pregnant unless I am assisting them while they deliver their baby. You shouldn't ask either.)

• Thirdly, maternity clothing might actually make you look BIGGER. You need to have an in depth discussion with a good full length mirror before trying this. Also, you might want to enlist the opinion of a friend or ( if he has good taste and will actually answer HONESTLY) a husband.

• Fourthly, Get to know your seam ripper and take those incriminating tags OFF your Maternity clothing!
  

There, those are my rough guidelines.

My biggest reason for choosing to wear some maternity clothing while not pregnant is that over the past four years maternity clothing was the cutest, newest, and most stylish clothing I purchased....strike that, the ONLY clothing I purchased.

Our clothing budget last year was a big fat $0.00 and I had to improvise. Which is why I hauled my Maternity clothing stash up the stairs to my sewing room and started cutting and resewing them....all sassified, of course, and taken in on the side seams so I didn't LOOK pregnant.

Refashioning Maternity (or any other) clothing can be tricky and at times frustrating, but in the case of a low budget with a splash of creativity...it's a perfect fit.

A

***Didja know you can find me HERE on facebook? True story. Become a fan and see the latest Vintage Dutch Girl posts in your news feed. Oh, and it'll make my day :) ***

While In Line At The Costco Food Court...AGAIN...

On Friday I was in line at Costco's food court to get a (*ahem, 2) mocha to sip on my drive home. It was quite a long line as the lunch crowd was getting all antsy for their chicken bakes and slices of pepperoni pizza. And by slice I do mean the equivalent of a medium sized pizza. But in slice form. HUGE slices.

Anywho.

So I overhear these two young women chatting behind me in the line. They were dressed in workout gear and all cute and sassy. Best of all?

They had British accents.

Maybe it's my current obsession with 'Pride and Prejudice' that is making me love a British accent right now. I read through the entire book last week. Yep, in ONE WEEK. I've actually started it a few times but never got past the first 50 pages or so. Now that I've watched the latest movie version ( yes, yes, I realize that it's sputton (aka: sacrilege) to you die hard Austen fans who prefer the A&E version from 1995 or maybe even the BBC production from 1980.) I think I understand the story line so well now that it was an absolute delight to read. I'm now on to 'Sense and Sensibility'. After that maybe some Emma. I've also been told that 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' is quite good. Not sure what THAT'S all about but I think I'll give it a try.

ANYWHO. Got a smidgen off subject there.

Back to Costco.

So the sassy British accent woman says to me, "Excuse me Miss, where did you purchase your cardigan? I've been looking for a short sleeved cardigan and can't seem to find one?".

NOW. I was feeling all proud of myself for actually sorta dressing cute that day. I had a hot date with the hubby that morning at the office. Nothing like some drilling and sealants on a date! But I wanted to look cute so I retired my faded-to-gray yoga pants and actually tried to put an outfit together.

Dark yellow fitted tee, black short sleeved long length cardigan with hot pink flower pin, a black necklace, Diva jeans from Old Navy and my normal black wedge shoes. I was so proud of myself for mixing colors.

When she asked me I paused a bit before answering her a vague, "Oh, somewhere in the mall?" smiled and turned back around.

I hope she didn't see my flaming red cheeks.

You see, how do you explain to a young, hip woman that you are not currently and haven't been pregnant for about 16 months but bought your coveted cardigan at MOTHERHOOD MATERNITY and are STILL WEARING it?

I just didn't have the self-confidence or nerve to tell her.

Methinks it's time to get the ole seam ripper busy and take that incriminating tag off of my black cardigan.

And I think I'll be sticking with my vague, "Oh, somewhere in the mall..." answer.

Hey, at least I looked cute and had a mocha (*ahem, 2) to sip on while driving my non-pregnant but maternity clothes wearing self home.

C'mon ladies, spill it. Do YOU have a item of maternity clothing that you STILL wear despite not being preggers?

A

***Didja know you can find me HERE on facebook? True story. Become a fan and see the latest Vintage Dutch Girl posts in your news feed. Oh, and it'll make my day :) ***

A Quick Lil Sneak Peak...

Amazingly, I remembered to grab one quick picture before bringing over a huge box full of fun new product over to Grandiflora yesterday.

A quick lil sneak peek for you:



A

A Chick Update...

Yep, I realize most of my stories are about Bubbalu. Time for a Lil Chicky update!

Lately my Lil Chick has been, uh, SMILING, like this lately:



It cracks me up. Such a ham.

She also has been LOVING her doll cradle...which actually used to be MY doll cradle. My Grandpa K made it for me when I was a little girl. It was in sad shape so I spruced it up a bit and gave it to Lil Chick to use. I thought she'd enjoy putting her dolls (Zoe and Zara) in there. Didn't think she'd want to be in it WITH her dolls. Ah well, makes for a cute photo, right!?

She's been LOVING being outside as much as possible:




And have you heard? This little woman LOVES to eat! She is staying quite tiny though...must have the metabolism of a hummingbird.

After we got home from a walk apparently Mama was too slow in getting dinner on the table:



I LOVE my Lil Chick...

A

How to Sassify A Plain Dress...

I went shopping and purchased a clearance rack dress. It is a super comfy, flattering cut, knit dress.

With one problem.

It's BORING.

OK, time to sassify!

Here is the dress BEFORE:



Just yer basic knit black dress. With side tie straps that really don't do anything as the empire waist is already fully elasticized. They just make it look more maternity-ish. NOT cool.

SNIP those useless straps right off!

OK, next up, some BLING BABY. BLING. I found my bling at the local fabric store. Didja know you can buy lace and blingy trims by the yard? Yeppero! Here's what I found:



And I also bought some lovely blue-tealish taffeta that matches my snazzy new shoes.

First up, pin and sew blingy trim around entire neckline of dress:



Then wait a few days because you got too busy with the sick children. In between wiping snotty noses cut and create a lovely HUGE blue-teal flower pin:



Wait a few more days.

Wipe more snotty noses.

Finally, pin and sew a few more rows of sassy bling onto the front of the dress:



Use up extra bling trim to bling up your HUGE blue-teal flower pin and throw it on your now sassy dress:



Ahhhh. That's better.

I can't decide if I'll wear it like the above picture of if I will wear it pinned on my new thick elastic black belt (Megs, my beautificationist/style consultant, just fell out of her chair. Yep Megs, FINALLY bought a thick belt!).

I kinda like it on the waist:



And yes, I'm going to wear my new teal shoes with my newly sassy dress:



Hello gorgeous shoes. I've missed you.

OK now, get out there and start sassing up those boring dresses!

A

The Flouncy Skirt...with Tutorial!

Mama made me a Flouncy Skirt. It's nice and sassy, just like me:



It's flips and flounces as I walk and crawl:





or when I'm standing, just being me:



The Flouncy Skirt:

Step 1: Purchase or repurpose xx-large (as large as you can find) clearance with extra 50% off lowest price jersey t-shirt with bottom elastic ruching, or banding, detail. I found mine at an Old Navy clearance and paid under $2 for it. For this project it works best to have multiple layers of banding/elastic ruching to create your easy skirt waistband. Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about:



Step 2: Measure your little girl's waist and add about two inches. Using this measurement, cut through one layer of the shirt to cut your new waistband. Leave an extra fourish or so inches on the length, like so:



Step 3: Put shorter right sides together and sew, creating a tube. The skirt waistband is already finished so no fussy finishing needed there. Yippee!

Step 4: Find a complimentary fabric for the Flounce main part of the skirt. I choose some leftover pink flannel that I am LOVING right now. I cut mine 6 inches wide by 30 inches long. Add extra width for a longer skirt or extra length for a flouncier skirt. Subtract inches in the width for a shorter skirt or subtract inches in the length for a less flouncier skirt (WHY anyone would want a LESS flouncier skirt, I have NO. IDEA).

Step 5: Finish (or leave raw, you rebel you!) both edges on the length and sew right sides of the width together creating a big tube of fabric. This will be your FLOUNCE.

Step 6: Gather and attach the flounce to the waistband. You can sew a basting stitch an inch lower than the top hem and gather the skirt before sewing the flounce to the waistband or you can be lazy like me and just hand gather and eyeball it, shoving folds of fabric under the presser foot as you go. I realize this sounds confusing, here's a diagram:


Sew the RIGHT side of the bottom edge of the waistband to the WRONG side of skirt flounce along the dotted line ( yes, leaving an inch or so of finished edge fabric out) attaching the flounce to the lower elastic edge of your already made waistband, gathering as you go. Here's a pic of mine:



Step 7: Cut a 4 x 4 square of fabric from leftover t-shirt and attach to under skirt making it a boyshort. Diagram:




Step 8: Try your Flouncy skirt on your daughter and giggle at the cuteness of it all:



Step 9: (optional) Dig through fabric stash and plan for 5 more FLOUNCY skirts...

A