I'm Building My Own Wardrobe in 2015!!

Good afternoon blogfriends!

 

 

 

This year I'm challenging myself in many ways. One of the big ones is rebuilding my wardrobe and creating a great capsule wardrobe that I can use all year round. I've decided to join in with Kristen from Coletterie and complete this great challenge. I've already completed January's tasks and am eagerly awaiting the tasks for February.

 



 



You'll be able to follow my progress through this challenge here and on my instagram by following me @kc_leigh1014.

 

 

This also leads into and lends itself to another challenge I'm joining up with this year. Stay tuned for more details in my next post!

New Year, New Plans

 

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season! I can't believe that it is 2015 already. Where has the time gone? I just realized this past week that my baby girl will be one in 5 weeks. Time flies, that is for sure. So now that we are into this new year, I have spent the past week thinking about what I want out of this year and what I want to do with it. I don't do resolutions, but I'm a firm believer in making goals and the start of a new year is always a great time to make new goals for ourselves. So my goals for this year are;

 

1. Eat healthier - this is a must. I am almost a year post partum and I weigh more now than I did when she was 6 weeks old. This is unnacceptable. I need to maintain my calorie intake because baby girl is still nursing but I need to make sure that I am eating foods that are better for me, thus reducing my fat intake and hopefully reducing my waistline!

 

2. Find more time for myself - this is also a must. As a mom to two children ages 4 years and 11 months, I don't get much time for me. I need to start asking for time for myself. I need to be confident that my children will be alright if I leave them with their dad for an hour or two. I need to not be afraid to take time for me. For my sanity this needs to happen.

 

3. Sew more - I need to focus more on sewing and less on planning to sew. I get wrapped up in the logistics of a project and more times than not I end up putting the project aside and never getting started. It's time to use up that fabric hoard that I have and make. all. the. things!!

 

4. Hoop more - I need to find time everyday to get lost in my hoop and relearn the moves and skills that I have lost. I need to do this, to help get myself back in shape and healthier. I need to move. I've become too sedentary this past year due to previously mentioned nursing infant and my love of terrible for me food.

 

5. Stop yelling - I find myself frustrated, as so often happens when you are a parent to two children, and I tend to yell. I yell to get their attention, I yell when they aren't listening, I yell when my son is doing something he isn't supposed to be. I yell way to much and that has to stop. My son deserves better from me and my daughter doesn't need to learn this terrible habit. I'll admit I'm not off to a great start on this this year, but I'm taking every day one at a time and hopefully I'll settle into a rhythm. I need to find some alternative measures to try and find something that works for us.

 

6. Be the best me I can be - Wow that sounds so cliche reading that here, but it's true. The biggest thing I want out of this year, is to do the best I can, as often as I can. I want to be the best me I've ever been and I want to share that with the world. I started #takingbackkacy last year and this year I want to continue that journey to finding myself.

 

So I think that I'm off to a healthy start this year and these goals are all reachable and easy for me to be held accountable for them.

 

 What great goals are you making this year? How are you planning to keep up with your goals and ambitions?

Beautiful Dresses for Holiday Parties

So the holidays are fast upon us and that means Holiday party season is here! Here's a list of gorgeous, glamorous, dramatic evening wear patterns that I think would look amazing at any holiday party. Feel free to click the link above the pattern art to be taken to a random seller.

 

McCall 7595 - ©1933

So glamorous. I love the deep open back on this one.

 

 

 Butterick 6810

A classic ballgown style. I love the surplice bodice.

 

 

 Vogue 599 - ©1951

This is by far my favorite in this group. The single shoulder but double strap is just fabulous. The drape on the hip is also lovely. This just screams Old Hollywood. This is one I'd love to find for sale. If you see if let me know!

 

 

 Simplicity 1795 - ©1956

Another lovely dress. I would love to see this in an ivory lace with a bold red satin sash for Christmas.

 

 McCall's 5131 - ©1959

A spectacular gown by Pauline Trigere. The tulip hemline and deep back v are just beautiful.

 

 

I love all of these and wish I had the time to track them all down and sew them all up. Then I would have to find someone to invite me to tons of holiday parties!

Dreaming of Summer

So the weather has taken a turn and it's getting colder. Naturally, my thoughts turn to summer and warm, sandy beaches. I'm a southern girl living in the Buckeye State. We've been here for 3 years now; I still miss my Florida sunshine, and I just can't get used to the cold, wet, snowy weather. I grew up in Texas, but moved to Florida in my early twenties and was there for the better part of a decade. While I'm tring to put together a fall/winter wardrobe, I can't help but dream of light cotton dresses and seersucker playsuits. So I've put together a list of adorable playsuits that I'd love to add to my wardrobe.

 

Simplicity 3583A

I just love the cute capri length overalls in this one. Find this one for sale here in a size 15!

 

 

Butterick 6161

Great shirtwaist dress from for the cover up in this one. Would be a great transition suit from beach to dinner by the water! Find this great pattern from 1952 here!

 

 

Advance 8636 

Loving this 1958 pattern. The little cover up is to adorable and the great halter look on view 1 is cute! Find this pattern for sale here in a size 14!

 

 

Simplicity 1621A

Such a cute peasant top style with a little midriff showing! Adorable bubble shorts/bloomers too! This pattern is for sale here in size 16!

 

 

Vogue 6029 

Lots of cute pieces in this pattern from 1947. Loving the shrug and the bra top. Very versatile. Let me know if you come across this one for sale!

 

 

Advance 4147 

Super cute top on this one. Love this all the way around! Get this one for size 14 for sale from Mrs. Depew!

 

So there you have it. A few summery suits to daydream about. Have a wonderful day!

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween, witches and ghouls! Halloween is by far one of my favorite holidays. Especially now that I have children of my own. My 4 year old son decided last night that he wanted to go trick or treating tonight, and he hasn't shown any interest in the holiday up until this point. So, of course, we went out late last night to let him pick out a costume. He decided on a vampire, so I'm excited to see him all dressed up. My little one is only 8 months old so she will be wearing her pink skeleton sleeper with a pink beanie to keep her head warm as it will be very chilly tonight.

 

I decided to look into some vintage costume patterns while working this morning and came up with a few to spark your creativity.

 

Advance 709

A fantastic Disney Peter Pan costume from 1953. You can get this pattern here!

 

 

Simplicity 4069

 

A Colonial dress costume from 1952. Full gathered skirt with hip pannier and other accessories. You can find this pattern for sale here!

 

Butterick 6596

 

Angel and Clown costumes and Choir Robes pattern from 1953. You can find the 1959-1960 reprint of this pattern for sale here!

 

Simplicity 4073

 

I adore this pattern. This is a pattern from 1952, for a child's bunny, cat and penguin costume. How freaking cute are they? You can find this pattern here!

 

Well, I wish you all a very happy halloween. I hope that you get more treats than tricks and I hope that you see lots of little ghouls and goblins tonight and make them smile.

 





Vintage Patterns and Inspiration

So while wandering around on the net today I stumbled across the Vintage Pattern Wikia... Do you know of this? The Wikia is a collection of patterns 25 years old or older. According to the Wikia they "are working to create one location online where people can go to browse through vintage patterns from the 1980s and older and share information about them."

 

I have not yet sewn anything from a vintage pattern, but am amassing quite a collection of vintage reproductions from The Big Four. I'd love to get my hands on some of the vintage patterns and hopefully will one day. For now I can just dream about them, right? 

 

As I was searching through the Wikia today, I came across several that sparked my imagination and got me planning some future projects.

 

Simplicity 1153

I adore this pattern for several reasons. The first being that it would be possible to create a large part of one's wardrobe with only this pattern, because of the seperates. The second thing I love about this pattern is the neckline on the top. I love the look of the crossover top. As a nursing mother to an 8 month old baby girl, wearing vintage can be difficult because it's not really breastfeeding friendly, but this would make it possible to nurse during my lunch break and pump while at work, without having to undress down to my knickers. You can find this pattern for sale here!

 

McCalls 3602

 

Another great set of seperates. This one even includes shorts and a pencil skirt! What a great wardrobe starter! You can find this pattern for sale here!

 

Simplicity 3512

 

This is a very nice pattern. I love the button front on the dress, again nursing friendly, always a plus. I love the sweetheart neckline and princess seams on the dress. The coordinating bolero in both short sleeve and 3/4 length, and sash really complete the emsemble! This would be perfect for a night out or for the office (with the bolero of course). You can find this pattern for sale here!

 

Butterick 6119A

 

Oh My Golly, look at this one. I'm so in love with the buttons on the back! How totally adorable. I don't even know how much I love this pattern. It's going on my wish list. You can find it for sale here!

 

So there's a bit of inspiration for you today. Get out there and make something fabulous!