Osteology Dress & Cyborg Cat

Above is my new dress, made with Alexander Henry Osteology fabric. The dress is a mix of patterns - Simplicity 1699 for the skirt, Simplicity 1651 for the bodice and McCalls 6278 for the modified sleeves. Simplicity 1651 is a new pattern and while it looked smooth and nice, it was not so. The shoulder seams were so out of whack! They might fit if my shoulders were 3 inches higher and sloped upwards towards my ears! The front sweetheart neckline was also way too wide, thank goodness I cut the bodice in lining first! You can't see, but there are self covered buttons with skulls on the sleeves.

 Max went to the vet to get his last round of boosters today. When I adopted his 2 years ago he weighed 10 pounds and he now weighs 12.5! When I was waiting for his I inquired about getting him micro chipped.after I heard some scary stats about missing kitties on tv. To my surprise it was only $40!

When I got home my boyfriend insisted on talking to him like a robot, now that he's a cyborg. Then he "forced" me to sing the theme song from Small Wonder to Max, which for some reason I know all the lyrics to...

Outfit Post - Stretch Black Satin Dress With Mourning Pin

I bought this dress a year ago to wear to D-Day Ohio, and then promptly forgot about it! When all your clothes are double or triple hung, sometimes you lose something for a while... Yesterday I found it again! I'm wearing it with my new Victorian-era mourning pin. I've bid on a few in the past but they all went too pricey for me. Finally I got one! I know it's from a child's funeral, but how would they wear it? I picture it on a black armband. As much as I want to wear it that way, I don't think it'd be appropriate for work!

 LOVE IT!

Re-Upholstered Skull Print Sewing Chair

I've been looking for a new chair for my sewing room for a while now. I already had this fabric and knew how I wanted to use it. I finally came across this chair in a church based thrift store. I was looking it over and explaining to my boyfriend what I wanted to do with it "I want to centre the skull here" etc... when one of the women working there (who had been following me around the store) came over and tried to take the chair from me - saying it was not for sale. I asked her why and she could not come up with an answer. But what she didn't see is that my boyfriend had taken the tag to the register, paid for it and them came back and took the chair out of her grip. When she started o protest, the manager came over and asked her what was wrong with her and she needed to get in the back. It was all SO stupid!
Anyway,  I LOVE how it came out & it is the right height for my sewing table. I also made matching curtains as well.

Grandma's House

I've been at my Grandma's quite a bit lately, unfortunately there is no internet there. I amused myself by cooking, baking and taking photos! 

Like my aunt, my mother and I, my grandma collects head vases. These are on the fireplace mantle. What Canadian home is complete without a giant elk head? The snowshoes add to the ambiance, but sadly the whip and shotguns that hung there forever are gone.

My grandma used to to sew quite a bit, and I've previously take quite a few of her patterns. But looking through her stash, I found a few more oldies. The little fellow on the right is a thermometer from Buirntisland, Scotland, which is where my grandfather was born. This was is his bedroom and I've always wanted it, so she gave it to me!

Tons of creepy dolls abound in my grandma's house.Quite a few are not politically correct, but they're vintage and innocently collected. On the right is a "bad" oil painting of my grandma holding me as an infant. This hangs in pride of place in the living room, much to my aunt's dislike!

New Boots!

I bought some new leather boots on black Friday. My mum and I got up around 5am to go shopping this black Friday. Neither of us was after much, just random things that were really on sale. I shopped most for xmas gifts for my Grandmother to give away. At 11am we were mostly dead, but couldn't pass up a consignment store on the way home. I saw these the moment I walked in, and they are my actual true shoe size 7 1/2WW! They were $15.00, but I had a credit at the store, so they were free! I've been wearing them every day since then.

Baby Shower & Edward Gorey Baby Book

It was my friend Malia's baby shower this weekend.

I've been working for months getting things together, ever since she told me she was pregnant!

As you can probably tell from her blue mohawk, Malia is not your average person - in a very good way! Baby pastels and frou frou are not her, and are not for her baby. I decided to go with a lime green & monster theme, which I feel worked out well. Most everthing in the left photo I bought, while I made everything in the right photo. Yes, that gray onesie I embroidered says "Redrum". The sock monkey plays a song that scared my cat so bad, he would not come near me for a whole evening!

I wrapped everything in lime green & black to keep the theme going. The onesie at the right I finished embroidering the night before!

All the baby books out there were so smarmy and well, not Malia. In fiddling around with vintage images, I started think more and more about Edward Gorey. He has a drawing for every category I could imagine, and it worked out SO perfectly. I bound the book in some gray/green card stock that looked like and old library book.

Vintage Stockings Collection Part 2

Part 2 of my vintage stockings. This is the other half of a tub of seamless stockings. I think my favourite
package is the Lerner one with the peach stripes.