Post-haircut photos

I am busy breaking all my previously set rules about not sewing for Viva since I suddenly found myself in desperate need of a blouse to match something, so I'm just going to quickly post a few photos post-haircut. Sorry, they're pretty anticlimactic actually. The cut went pretty much just as I expected. It's so nice to have a hair stylist who I can have a conversation with about setting my hair. I don't feel like the length looks dramatically different but it feels a lot lighter and was definitely easier to set and is easier to brush out, which was one of my main goals. It's probably pretty close to a (long, long) middy haircut.

So, a few photos. The first is from Friday night before going out to a friend's art opening. I worked from home Friday so I set my hair that morning.

 A close up at the bus stop of my latest pair of vintage eyeglasses...

The photo below was on the same set yesterday before going to an awesome vintage clothing party. Still hadn't washed my hair, I just set my curls back in sponge rollers Friday night. Not as many rollers, and kind of haphazard with a slight spritz of setting lotion and water (that mostly hit the mirror and not my head). I had to add a clip on the side because I had a really bad dent from my hair flower the night before. Oops!

And here's what it looks like from the back. (Now you see the angle I always avoid in photos, the dreaded ugly cat post. Ha ha! So mid-century, huh.)

And today, same set still (messy bangs since I'm not planning to go anywhere). I'm really impressed how well it lasted with fairly minimal effort.

Probably the best part of the haircut other than the cut itself was that my stylist taught me a trick that works really well for my bangs. I usually roll them with really small rollers with mixed results for trying to get them to go to the side when I side part my hair, which is more often than not lately.

With my bangs wet and unstyled, she put Layrite in them, then blowed them dry. That gave my usually roll-resistant flyaway hair just the perfect texture to create a roll with my bangs. I'd literally never been able to successfully do that before and now I know just the perfect trick.

I know it's not just a fluke, either. You know when you have a hair fluke: you do something awesome, and are cursed by never, ever being able to repeat it again. But I've done this a few times now so I'd call that a success. In fact, it worked so well I'm tempted to try it out for side rolls. If it works I might do a tutorial for it since there must be others who have pain-in-the-ass hair like mine. I rarely do rolls because they always come out like crap.

Now back to the sewing I swore I wasn't going to do. Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

A-choppin' my hair will go...

...okay, not really. It'll only be a few inches. And it's certainly not chopping itself. But in about an hour and a half I'll be getting my hair cut. I snapped some pre-cut photos last night before going out to dinner with friends. 

This was my hair after a Hot Sticks set (that of course only lasted through the evening, and barely at that) because since I made the appointment to cut my hair, I've been too lazy to bother setting it wet because I felt like what's the point? Guess that's why it was time for a cut. ;)

I seriously can't believe how long it's gotten and how long it's been since I was last getting it cut regularly. It dawned on me how many years I had short hair when I dressed for my appointment in a machine washable cardigan and a tee underneath, preparing for all those teensy little hairs that get stuck in your clothes... yes, it's been so long that the last time I had a cut the back of my neck was cleaned up with clippers! Won't be doing anything near that drastic this afternoon!

Dinah told me she didn't really care what I did to my hair one way or another. You can see it in her eyes.

Well, when we meet again my cheveux will be a little lighter. I admit I'm a bit nervous. Wish me luck!

Little outfit details

I am nearly in panic mode about my wardrobe for Viva Las Vegas. This is in part due to the fact that we did an idiotic, massive spring cleaning last year of our home and everything in it, and that's left me (actually both of us) with some ludicrous holes in my wardrobe that I've been struggling to fill ever since. Case in point: I no longer own a brown purse. Seriously. No brown purse of any kind.

I know it's time for me to open up my closet and figure out what I want to wear, because if I wait until the last minute and discover I need an accessory for a particular outfit (see above), I'll be screwed.

Because I've been so busy I'm trying not to be delusional about what craft projects I can complete in time. I want to finish my black u-neck blouse, because otherwise I have no top for a couple of skirts I'm planning to wear (once of which will be my castles skirt once I finally make a buttonhole for it). I don't think I ever posted the picture of this blouse, did I? It's a pattern from the 1953 Spring/Summer Vogue Knitting Book. I may do something different around the armholes and neckline because I simply don't know if I have the time and patience to knit little bias bands and sew them all the way around. I'll also be raising the neckline a bit in the interest of modesty as I'm not small-chested like the model.

I was daydreaming about other outfits, specifically trying to come up with something to wear with a navy-colored gorgeous slinky vintage sweater I recently got from Etsy. (Excuse the blah slapdash photo.)

It's a bit fancier than I usually go for, with the silver-flecked rope trim at the neckline,  rhinestones and a back keyhole neckline (sorry I didn't photograph that), but I couldn't resist. I thought it would make a great top for an evening outfit.

However I couldn't think of a single thing in my wardrobe that I could wear this with! Not one thing. It occurred to me that I could probably sew up a skirt in time, but I already feel pressed for time with the knitting project (not to mention Briar Rose), so I nixed that idea.

Then I remembered I have a pair of navy slacks from Heyday that have been sitting in my closet as I've been too lazy to hem them. I can squeeze in hemming, certainly. Those slacks, the knitted top, a pair of red Remix L'Amour wedges (that Mel bought me for my birthday at Viva two years ago since Viva usually falls near my birthday) and accessories? Perfect.

But when I pulled the slacks out, I realized they had white buttons.

I thought naturally they'd be so much nicer with vintage buttons, so I went through my stash. Sadly, I didn't have any navy buttons the right size. A quick stroll through Etsy and eBay didn't turn anything up, either. What I did turn up in my stash, however, was a set of great red vintage buttons.

While in general I'm not a fan of contrasting buttons because I am a big weirdo and they make me feel I can only match those exact colors in my outfit, this turned out to be just the lightbulb moment I needed. I thought I would switch out the buttons on the slacks to red, they'd go great with my outfit for Viva, and then I'd have the luxury of time afterwards to find perfect navy buttons for permanent use on the slacks.

So that's exactly what I did.

One outfit complete with 5 minutes of sewing!

Bombshell Shocked winner!

And the winner of the Bombshell Shocked giveaway is...

Kally of Kalandra Jane Millinery and Musings in the UK!

Everyone should check out her blog, too, she's a very talented gal. Can you believe this is not a vintage necklace but polymer clay sculpted fruit that she made herself? Wow!!

Image from http://kalandrajane.blogspot.com/

So Kally, please email me at tasha {at} bygumbygolly {dot} {com} and your vintage sewing and knitting goodies will wing their way around the world to you! Congratulations!

Thanks again ever so much to the lovely Nicole Hughes at Bombshell Shocked for sponsoring this awesome giveaway! ♥

A thank you and a reminder

A huge thank you to everyone for your support when I announced last week that I'm planning to design a sweater pattern. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! ♥ Each comment has made me feel great and really cements it for me that I made the right decision to dip my toe in the design pool.

Honestly I've had so much going on that I really don't have anything fun or interesting to share right now! I even looked at my schedule for the Briar Rose Knit-Along for the week and saw that I wrote down "Week of March 28th: Buttonholes". Huh? What was I going to say about buttonholes? Hmm. I'll have to figure that one out.

So instead I give you just a couple of photos from today from a fruitless thrifting adventure (two thrift stores, not so much as a scarf acquired). The first was out by a neat glass block wall in Uptown. It was really cold, can you tell? I even had knee highs on under my socks. Sheesh.

The second was at a hot dog restaurant I've been going to since I was little. A nice surprise was that we ran into our friend and his girlfriend also out for a Sunday hot dog.

Mel liked that I matched the wall and the booth behind me...

I just had my hair in a messy ponytail. I've had to face the fact lately that my hair has gotten to the point where I can't get it to do anything! It's just too long. I rarely seem to be able to coax it into a style that works well, wet sets are a huge chore now (if they work at all) and heated roller sets only last a few hours. Now, sometimes I go through times when I seem to be all thumbs about my hair, but this has been ongoing for quite awhile. And I finally decided that three weeks before Viva Las Vegas is not the time for me to be having major hair trauma! No sirree. So I scheduled a haircut on Thursday after work. I don't know exactly how much I'm going to get chopped off, but I'm thinking at least 3 inches. Fortunately my hair stylist knows vintage styles so I should be able to tell her how I intend to set my hair and what I'm going for. Assuming I figure out what that is. (I admit there's part of me that wants to get it cut as short as Yesterday Girl, I just love that short look but I'm not sure my hair would perform and then I'd really be screwed if I discovered it didn't!) This will be my first haircut in 2 years, and my first time getting it cut since I've had a better understanding about setting my hair, so it'll be kind of a unique experience. Wish me luck!


And hey... don't forget tomorrow night my Bombshell Shocked Giveaway ends! One more day to get your entries in!

Something's under my (knitted) cap

I've had an idea percolating in the back of my mind for awhile. I feel like it's time I really commit to it, otherwise it might just sit inside there forever gathering dust. (You know how some ideas can be like that?)

As many of you may have figured out, I am an unrepentant knitting pattern tweaker when it comes to sweaters. I almost have an inability to knit a sweater exactly as written. Not because I think there's anything wrong with the patterns, but because my brain just works that way. I see a pattern as a bunch of little parts, and my mind starts putting together the pieces in its own way, tailoring things to meet my own needs and whims. In large part thanks to running the Briar Rose Vintage Knit-Along, I've really started to think about my relationship with knitting patterns a lot lately.

So let's cut to the chase: I've decided that it's time for me to take the plunge and design a knitting pattern.

I don't mean a knitting pattern for myself (I've already done that) but a self-published knitting pattern. I'll see how the process goes before I decide if I want to throw my hat into the ring another time, or if I'm on the mark enough to even dare to try it again. One step at a time.

I don't want to say much about the design yet, as I'm still in the very wee early stages of the design process. I can tell you that it will be a cardigan in a large range of sizes, and I really hope it will appeal to both vintage and modern knitters alike. It draws inspiration from one of my absolute favorite vintage fashion items ever. It will include instruction for at least one interesting technique and will involve the use of color, though no colorwork skills will be needed or used. And at this point... that's about all I want to say until I iron out more details. :)

Knitting is something I truly love. I enjoy sewing, but it's nothing like knitting is to me. I love everything about knitting. The yarn, the needles, the process, the end result, the history. Sitting with a piece of paper and a calculator and quickly turning one thing into another. The fact that I can knit a sweater with the same basic skills as someone would have used 50 years ago, 100 years ago, or more. I can chose to knit for fun, for whimsy, for fashion or to keep from freezing to death. There is power in knitting. And I now find myself at the point where I'm ready to (attempt to!) channel my exuberance about knitting into something that I hope others might be able to enjoy and get pleasure out of, themselves.

Well, that was actually pretty anti-climactic writing about it! Ha ha. It's not a huge revelation as there are hundreds if not thousands of knitwear designers out there, so declaring I want to design something is hardly revolutionary. But for me, it's a big deal. So I thought I should share this with you while my little seed is starting to germinate. I may post some questions now and again for my knitting readers, to get some general opinions and do some size comparisons, and at some point I'll have to contemplate attempting to find test knitters. But that's down the road. Right now I'm focusing on selecting yarn (I'm waiting for a color card to arrive in the mail) and crunching numbers.

What's the worst that can happen? I design a cardigan that I love, not a single other soul wants to knit it, and life moves on to the next knitting project. Wish me luck! :)