1940s Kitchen Apron

I just finished sewing a kitchen apron from a real vintage pattern my grandma gave me. This was my first experience using a REAL vintage pattern- usually I use reproduction patterns that have been updated for modern sewing. There are definitely some major differences between vintage and modern patterns!

For one thing, the instructions are much more concise (half a  page as opposed to 3-4 full pages). Here is a modern pattern on the left compared to the vintage one on the right:



It's a good thing I already have a good bit of sewing experience, or I think I would have been totally confused about the instructions. Another difference between vintage and modern is that older patterns do not have any markings printed on them, only punch holes. Here's another comparison of modern(left) to vintage(right):

Some of the terminology was different as well, and I had to remember to sew 1/2" seam allowances instead of 5/8". I was a little intimidated at first but once I got started it really wasn't too difficult. Here is my finished product:

I had some leftover chevron fabric from the kitchen shade I made, so I used it as an accent fabric on the apron. After all the time I spent sewing it, I'm almost too afraid of staining it to use it though! Haha. I'm such a form over functionist.

Origami Ornaments

Every year at Christmas I try to add a few new ornaments to our collection. This year I decided to make some origami doves. These are pretty easy to make and inexpensive too. The paper I used was $5 for 20 sheets; add $1 worth of ribbon and you have 20 ornaments for $6. I found the pattern for the dove in a book I checked out from the library(free!)

Another Christmas "ornament" showed up at our house around the time we put up our tree. Meet Claude (Monet), our neighborhood stray cat. He's a perfect little orange tabby, and perfect for us because he is a(mostly) outdoor cat and requires very little care(:

Kitchen Makeover

I haven't blogged in quite a while- I've been really busy with music gigs, but my husband and I have also had some time to do projects around the house, and I'm so excited to have finished decorating one room of the house exactly the way I want it! Here is our kitchen the way it looked when we moved in:

Nice, but a little boring for my taste, so we painted it a beautiful dollhouse blue/green color.

I made a roman shade for the window- roman shades are quite a bit of work to make and it didn't save me money by making it, but if you want a custom print one, sewing your own is the way to go!

I bought this desk from a thrift store when I lived in my first apartment and originally painted it light green and distressed it, but it didn't really go with our kitchen so I painted it again! The framed floral print is a BJU science building clean out save from my dad. He knows what I like(:

Fall Happenings

As usual, fall has been a busy season for me, so I haven't posted in quite some time. I played in 3 orchestra concerts in September and have another one tomorrow night. In the midst of all that, I made a somewhat insane decision and accepted a last minute offer to play with the Asheville Lyric Opera. (I say insane because I received an 80+ page stack of music two days before rehearsals started.) Learning that much music in that amount of time was really challenging and a lot of hard work but very rewarding. We played Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Puccini's Suor Angelica. If you haven't heard it, Suor Angelica is absolutely gorgeous! Anyways, things are finally slowing down a bit, and my husband and I found time last week to go on our annual apple picking adventure.

I think the cows thought we had some sort of treat for them...they all mosied over to the fence to see us when I waved at them...

It's really nice having a man to carry the apples for you...

My husband sneeked this shot in...maybe I should be carrying an apple basket instead of a camera??

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

Fall is in the air...the leaves are starting to turn, and sometimes I can smell it in the breeze. Autumn has always been my favorite season, but it holds an even more special place for me now because I started dating my husband in September. Our first memories together involved things like apple picking, antiquing in Brevard, and shooting at the rifle range. On our very first date Nathan took me to the Church of God yard sale in Spindale, NC. It was an amazing yard sale! Afterwards we wandered around antique stores, Limestone College, and ate a surprise picnic that Nathan had packed. It was truly a magical day. This weekend, we decided to recreate our first date! We packed the exact same lunch and headed up to Spindale. Unfortunately the annual yard sale was not this weekend...but we still drove past the spot. Then, in keeping with the spontaneous nature of our first date, we drove aimlessly around for a while and finally stumbled across a lovely little lake in Tryon.  It was a great way to reminisce on our budding romance(:

Odds and Ends

I haven't blogged in forever! The summer has flown by...I've been busy moving and setting up house, and now the school year is about to begin so I'm also occupied with scheduling music students and checking the mailbox daily for numerous manila envelopes full of orchestra music. I've managed to accomplish a few things around our house...the first project I gave myself was making roman shades for our bedroom. They are finally done (Yay! They were a LOT of work) and we just have to mount them. I had to order a part for them online, so while I waited for it to arrive, I managed to make myself a little summer outfit.

Joann's Fabric just opened a new store on Haywood Rd. and I am loving having another option for sewing supplies!

I am dying to paint our house...we didn't have time to paint before moving in but I'm really glad because it gave me some time to really decide what I wanted to do with each room. I have my paint colors picked out and I've even put samples on the walls. Our living room, hall, and bedroom are going to be a sophisticated grey but I've chosen fun, happy colors for the rest of the house.

Hopefully I can post pics of my mounted shades soon!

Buried Treasure

A few years ago I uncovered an interesting tray on one of my Goodwill expeditions. I thought about painting it hot pink or something crazy, but never got around to it. We are moving on Monday(yay!! more on that later) so I have been busy packing. I came across the tray today and decided to try polishing it. Here is the before:

And after:

I love the all of the details! Also, the tray is silver plate on copper, and the silver has worn away in some places to reveal the copper underneath.

While cleaning the back of the tray I uncovered this:

So, I'm really glad I didn't paint it! This is the oldest thing I've thrifted, and I'm thrilled(: I think I'm going to put it on my dresser and fill it with my perfumes and things. Any ideas what you think it was originally used for? A tea tray maybe?

Sarah

Summer Blooms

I noticed that the magnolias are blooming today! The porcelain-like blooms of the magnolia are too lovely not to take pictures of. It really never ceases to amaze me how much variety and attention to detail God infused into His creation.

Does anybody know what type of plant this is below? I have no idea, but I love it! The stalk reminds me of asparagus. I love the contrasting colors and textures.

Our backyard is a jungle, as you can see! We live near the zoo, and sometimes when I hear the lions and the monkeys I feel like I might actually be living in the Amazon(:

My feet got chewed up by mosquitoes): A small price to pay, I suppose.