l a c e : c o l l a r

Hello again! (long time no see right?) I realize I'm been pretty bad about posting regularly like I promised, but I will admit that I've been alot busier than planned. Today I have a nice little project I whipped up quickly - a little lace collar/necklace!! 

I started out by tracing a the size/shape of collar I wanted on some newsprint paper, and cutting two layers of the fabric accordingly. The intricately patterned lace makes this summertime accessory a easy fit in my wardrobe. It virtually fits almost any outfit and neckline!

TA DA!! 

Here's the finished piece :]

I decided to make the back closure adjustable with ribbons (which was easier than trying to use my original plan of having a tighter fitted back).

So to show off my little collar, I went adventuring with one of my dearest friends!

I love how I can use it an an outfit accent - especially since almost all of my summer shoes are either white or cream haha.

So now I must introduce one of my bestest friends: Melisa! (she's a dancer can't you tell?? haha) We've been friends for many-a-year, and we took one pleasant summer day to adventure through a local park.

We wandered through shaded forests and sunlight trails, just chatting and enjoying the beautiful summer day. I love spending time with Melisa - especially because she always knows how to put a smile on my face :]

We also found some little yellow flowers that we played around with for a while. (One of which said flowers, was plucked and fastened as a hair accessory!)

I have another finished sewing project to show you - and will hopefully feature my sewing friend and some of the wonderful creations she's been making.

Well I hope your all having a splendid summer - and keeping cool through the crazy heat!

Ta ta for now

|| Grace Marie ||

f o r : s a l e

Hey there gang! I thought I'd start off a new week with a new post :] No sewing projects this time, but juts a few odds and ends that I've been meaning to post. 

First off: I've been feeling very WWII-ish lately and I've been wanting to give victory curls another try. So over the weekend I did a little experiment and styled some DOUBLE VICTORY CURLS!! (Just in time for the 4th of July - freedom rolls x2! haha)

It took me a while to achieve it, but I feel like I've gotten much better since last time. I'm curious to know if anyone would be interested in a hair tutorial? Hmmm.. we shall see.

And now, I'd like to get down to business and introduce two items that I would like to sell before the end of the summer. 

ITEM #1:

Crosley AV Portable USB Turntable

This retro inspired turntable is portable, can turn your records into digital files through a USB cable (which is both MAC and PC compatible), and not to mention - is EYE CANDY! Its in good working condition, and I'm asking $75 for it (I've seen it go double that for new.)

*spiffy "Steady Date with Tommy Sands" record not included. It would be too much 1950's teenage hottie to handle*

ITEM #2:

Stagi C/G Concertina

This little honey is a barely used diatonic concertina that has a full robust tone and sounds beautiful! I bought it new but never played it too much because I primarily use my two other accordions. Its a really great instrument and very unique, but I just dont have the time to play it so I'm hoping to find to find it a new home. I am asking $500 for it, and will include a plushly padded carrying case, and beginners music books. 

For serious inquiries or more information, please email me at gbienek@gmail.com

So now that those items are taken care of, I hope you have a wonderful week - I know I will be looking forward to the 4th of July :] And I have a completed project to show you next time!! So ta ta for now <3

s e w : p a s t e l

Hello lovies! I'm back with another sewing blog post! I left you off last time with my little poka-dot skirt that needed a solution, but while that solution is still being figured out, I decided to show you some more goodies and another skirt. (Because sadly, I think I have more projects than a dog has fleas!)

I found this pleated pastel pink skirt at a local thrift shop and couldn't help but want to make it mine!

* * s p a r k l e ~ s p a r k l e * l e n s ~ f l a r e * *

Okay, so here's my quick "before shot" (note to self: find a way to do a more standardized/better before shots - Its actually quite hard!)

And TA DA! This is what it looked like afterward:

I had to take the top stitching off from the upper section of the skirt, hem it to the desired length, and press those pleats back into submission! (which was/is quite hard to do)

I also found these cute leather wing-tipped flats, and they've been a recent favorite. They're super comfortable and have been matching alot of my summer wardrobe. hooray!

So now that I've shown you my new pastel skirt, I want to introduce a new character into the story line of my life.. 

WHAT CAN IT BE?? WHAT'S IN THAT MYSTERIOUS BOX??

TA DAAAA!!! 

It's a 1950's pastel blue sewing machine!

I already showed you some photos of my primary sewing machine in a previous blog post - but I couldn't help taking this honey home with me after I laid my peepers on it! I found it at a garage sale for $5 and was naturally drawn to it's bright sea foamy green and blue hues. (who couldn't resist!!) So I took it home, polished it up, and oiled it thoroughly.

I've decided to make this one my travel machine - because it has a carrying case and is fairly compact.

I adore all of the metal details on the machine! Its just so pretty!! But talk about your metal.. this thing is a hunk of heavy ~ pheeew! I think it weighs more than me haha.

And lastly, I wanted to show off my new hair cut: its finally symmetrical!! haha -- and show off my little pastel pink earrings that match my skirt perfectly. 

So thats it for now gang! I still have millions of projects to work on, so I'll try to post more regularly. And for a bit of side news, I now have a sewing buddy - who I'll have to feature in a post sometime :]

Ta ta for now!!

p+n

s e w : d o t s & s p o t s

Hey folks! Heres a quick mid-week post for you too take a gander at. I recently went to go visit my good friend Mike Myers in East Lansing, and got a chance to do a little thrifting out there. I found this nice little poka-dot skirt for a couple bucks and all it needed was a quick hem. So what to did I do? HEM IT - of course!

AND HERE'S WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE AFTER!!

The sun was super bright and in my eyes so I tried to do the quick "open you eyes before the camera snaps" trick, and I think I just ended up looking fierce haha.

So after a good one day of wearing, what do I do? I GET PERMANENT MARKER ON THE FRONT OF IT.... grr. And as I was trying different sorts of methods to get the spots off, what do I do? I  made the spots expand and managed to discolor the fabric around it.... grr x2. 

So soon I will be posting what I ended up doing with the half ruined skirt. Its a mystery surprise!!

project time: under 1hr

snack breaks: 0

compliments received: enough to make me happy for a one time wear.

ta ta for now :]

s e w : o r a n g e y

Hey there gang! Today I thought I'd share with you my first sewing project for the summer. I picked up this little 1950's sundress about a month ago, and figured it was the perfect thing to celebrate Andrew and I's two year anniversary in! It's a nice cotton summer dress that was just a size or two big on me, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to take it in. 

At first glance I felt like it would be a piece of cake, but after I examined how it laid on me, I realized that more than one seam had to be re-cut. I needed to take in 1in from the shoulder seams, roughly 1in from the under arm seams, re-center the back buckle, take on the pleats on each side of the skirt, shorten the sleeves, and hem the bottom.. yikes! It was definatly more work than I originally thought.

 Since I had my work cut out for me, tried to get hopping on it! With alittle help from mom, I measured out how much to take in where and started marking, pinning, opening, and sewing. (My little pin cushion started to look like a forest of needles from all of the pinning I had to do!)

 One thing that I love about working on vintage garments is the little details that you have to pay attention to. The way that the sleeves and hemline of the dress were sewn in were very characteristic of that time. They used to use ribbons to sew onto the edges of your garment so it would not start to unravel or fray (this was a standard way of closing cuffs and the bottoms or pants or dresses). So instead of using the modern methods (like using a serge machine to sew up the edges), I made a point to sew the ribbons back on to ensure that the dress would only be slightly altered. (I also used pinking scissors to cut the seams on the inside of the garment - another way for stopping the fabric from fraying from that time period.) Whenever I alter a vintage garment, I try to keep the methods and materials authentic!

So here's the finished result!!

I was thrilled to get to wear the little orange hat I featured in the last blog post with my newly altered dress and a pair of vintage sandals that I recently thrifted. It all matched perfectly :]

So on our anniversary date night, we took a little walk in a park and got some cocktails at our favorite bar before dinner. It was definatly a great way to spend some time enjoying each other's company!

And I couldn't help but take a few extra photos of my favorite little hat. Its so hard to find the netting un-torn in old hats - I got really lucky with this one!

 After an evening of tasty food and drink, we dallied back to Andrew's house where a bunch of friends came over and we projected some movies on their outdoor movie screen. Definatly the best way to end a night!

project time: 7hrs
snack breaks: does dinner and breakfast count?
price of dress: $8
number of time being pokes by needles: 100's

So stay tuned - I have endless projects in my pile of goodies! Ta ta for now :]

onward and upward

Hello friends! I'm finally back from my reclusive state (I survived college hooray!) haha. Now that I can start my sewing projects up again, I just have to sort through all of the goodies I've found and figure out which ones to do first. 

My sewing table (shown bellow) started to house all kinds of projects - from repairing a pair of beaded rain boots, to extra ribbons and strings that I had used for design projects. I had been a busy bee these past few months!

Here are a few of my favorite finds that I've gotten recently :} The suitcase was from an estate sale "basement excursion" that I tidied up, the hats were found on two separate thrifting occasions, and the camera was a recent find that I'm super excited to use.

The matching necklace and earrings were a graduation gift from my good friend Ryan, who is not only a talented jewelry maker himself, but a swell antique finder as well! He nabbed these pretties for me and I've been squealing over them ever since.

This honey is an old 35mm film 'Argus' camera. I have a nice digital SLR that I've been working with for years and I wanted to try getting into film. So I'm quite excited (and quite nervous) to see how my first roll will turn out!

And lastly I'll leave you with a quick snippet of a few garments that I plan to fix/alter/display soon. The beaded blue dress you already know, but the others are new to this blog!

I'm so thankful for everything that's been happening this year - I'm thrilled to be graduated, and I'm blessed to have so much support of my friends and family through all of the rocky climbs and turbulent times! Thanks everyone :]

Get ready gang! Pins + Needles is on the roll again!!

(p.s. if you want to check out some of the design projects I've been working on, go to my dribbble page! I have definatly been a busy bee.)