#489...fashion forward

While in California, my Mother-in-law gave me a few vintage clothing pieces from her closet. She thought I should cut them up and re-purpose the fabric, but when I got home and put them on, I actually liked them, and they fit...hooray! They are all from the late 60's/early 70's and definitely look that era. I wear a lot of vintage stuff, but these are a little too vintage, so I did an experiment in updating them. I put each piece on with how I thought it would have been styled back in the day, then I tried to find a way that I could wear it and make it look more current. Here is a photo montage of my efforts in updating my new vintage digs.

First up is this long leather tassel vest. Here's my flashback effort...

...and here is my updated use for the vest.

Next up is a blue lace leisure suit with vest and slacks. Here's my flashback attempt.

Obviously, I had to separate the vest and pants to update the pieces.

The last piece she gave me was a linen stripe tank jumper. Here's my flashback outfit.

At first I thought there was no way that I would wear this jumper, but then I cut the buttons off, and I think it will make a great outfit whenever cold weather comes back to Texas.

One of my clients recently asked me to help her update her husband's wardrobe. We used photos like those above to show many ways to wear one piece. The pictures really helped give each item purpose, and helped us figure out what he should keep and ditch. Also, they helped highlight the few items that he needed to add to his wardrobe. 

#488...cali

We spent a couple days over the holiday weekend in southern California visiting Tyler's parents. I finally got instagram on my phone. Here are a few shots from our trip.

New surf shop in Manhattan Beach

Cactus Gardens at the Getty

Venice Canals

Manhattan Beach Pier

Me, on Rodeo Drive, giving an impromptu interview to Lisa Rinna and QVC host Amy Stran for a new fashion show on QVC airing in August!

#487...sarah's silk shirt

My sister Sarah really liked the style lines of the above silk shirt from Anthropologie, so I decided to try to make the shirt for her.

Step one was to draft a pattern of the shirt, (I learned how to do this when I went to fashion school). Step two was to sew a muslin of the pattern (sorry no pic of this step). We used the muslin to tweak the paper pattern. You can see on the sleeve piece where we cut it, and made the peak of the armhole gather a little wider. I used silk to make the blouse, and since this was a trial run for the pattern, I used some fabric that I have had laying around for awhile. 

Both Sarah and I really like how it turned out. I gave it a trial wear before Sarah took it home.

#486...neon bike basket

I saw this neon painted basket DIY tutorial on Harper's Bazaar, and decided to try the technique on my bike basket. I started with this Electra Basket.

I taped and papered off the portion that I wanted to leave unpainted.

I decided to go with a yellow neon paint, similar to the Harper's Bazaar basket.

I found this spray paint in my garage, so I used it.

I sprayed the basket in several thin coats.

I let it dry for a few hours, removed the tape and paper, attached the embellished basket to my Townie, and took it for a whirl.

#485...dessert or snack?

I've been eating this combo as a snack, but I really think it falls into the dessert category. One slice of Slow Dough multi-grain bread. A spread of Earth Balance creamy peanut butter, and a layer of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. Heat in microwave for 10 seconds and eat!

#484...western strip quilt

Last week, I completed a crib quilt and pillow for a client's new baby boy in Dallas. The couple wanted to use some vintage inspired cowboy fabrics, but wanted the quilt to feel modern, so I opted for a big block strip quilt design to display the fabrics in a non-traditional way. The couple chose the two cowboy prints and I mixed them with the horseshoe fabric (first used here in Lyla's room), the red print, and the blue and white ticking stripe fabric.

Here is the front of the quilt and pillow.....

...and here is the back of the quilt and pillow

#483...fitz

My parents got a new puppy, and I am watching him this week while they are on vacation. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and we think his name is going to be Fitz (after F. Scott Fitzgerald). He is really wiggly and hard to get a picture of. I'd forgotten how fun, soft and time-consuming puppies are. We've had fun having a baby at our house. 

This is Fitz's big brother Charlie. As you can see, they are the same breed. Charlie is slowly warming to his new puppy. He won't play with him yet, but he is very interested in what Fitz is doing, and follows him around.

#482...my barbie dream house

Have you seen this bookcase turned dollhouse? I found it while researching ideas for a little girl's room on Pinterest. It is from The Land of Nod, but I can't find it on their blog anywhere. It would be so easy to create this with an Ikea bookcase. I played Barbie's until I was about 12 years old....I would use books to create walls for rooms, and my sister and I would build our Barbie house maze out clear across the living room. We would have loved this house.

#481...gallery art groupings

A few years ago, I wrote a tutorial  post on how to hang a gallery art wall. You can read my hanging tips here. I help many clients hang gallery art walls in their homes, and I still basically follow my own guidelines, with one major exception. I used to arrange the frames on the floor and then draw a diagram of them prior to hanging (which you can see example of in my previous post). I now simply take a reference photo of the arrangement instead of making the sketch. It's a crucial step, because as soon as you pick a few frames up to put on the wall, it is hard to remember how they fit together. Here are some reference photos I took of a gallery photo wall I hung recently.

...and here is a progression of my hanging

...my client has some work to do now filling her frames with photos.

I love the graphic quality of gallery grouped art displays. Here are a few inspiring groupings found via Pinterest.