Bridesmaid Dress, Trial Two, Retro Edition

I really need to do something about those shoulder tan lines!

My friend (the bride!) told me this fabric was totally '80s. Hey, it was $1 for three yards at a garage sale! You better believe I snatched it up. Not sure we can call it "vintage" yet, so we'll go with "retro."

Pardon the cut off head - apparently I can't make a proper smiling face anymore.

This one fits me perfectly. I think I'm ready to make the real deal now.

bridesmaid dress trial run

If there's one thing I know about myself, it's that I need to practice if it's something important I'm making. I'm in a wedding the end of August and I am making my bridesmaid dress for it. I didn't want to cut the fabric (I only got 3 yards and there isn't any more!) and mess it up, so I made a practice dress to start with. It's a good thing, too, because it totally doesn't fit me. Ha! I have been losing weight, but apparently not quite enough yet! This dress fits VERY tightly. Scarlett O'Hara tightly. So I will be making another practice dress in a larger size. It's okay, they are surprisingly easy to put together and hey, I like dresses.

Simple Curtains

We are continuing our living room remodeling. The walls are now white instead of blue.



I had colorful, showy curtains all picked out, but then after the walls and trim got painted, I decided I liked the clean, simple look of the windows with nothing on them. Sorry I wasted so much time and energy on those first curtains, because they are not going up.

I had some muslin in my fabric stash and made simple roll-up shades for the windows instead. I had all the materials, so I just had to go buy two tension rods ($5 each) and I was set!



I used some of my vintage lace around the bottom for a hint of color, and some vintage trim as ties for when the shades are rolled up.



I love how tidy and simple it turned out. I might be turning into a minimalist in my old age. :)

New Swing Cushions

You may remember two years ago when I made cushions for our backyard swing. Well guess what? They both blew away in storms and were never recovered. Sad fate. I have been waiting for foam to go on sale at the fabric store and it finally did (60% off - score!), so I made new cushions. They aren't fancy, but they are comfy! We also put up that lovely fence behind it, on the hottest day of the year. Great planning, ha.

I haven't been in a crafting or blogging mood much lately, but I did get some half hexagons cut for a quilt for the family room. Hopefully when I get motivated to sew it, it will go quickly.