Vintage Skills and Style in the Modern World
So did “smart homemakers” in 1948. I know this, because I happened across the December 1948 issue of Mademoiselle’s Living Magazine, which is, explicitly, the magazine for smart young homemakers.
I love home magazines, and this one, from the late 1940s, did not disappoint. Continue reading “6 DIY Christmas Decorations From 1948 To Try (Plus 1 NOT To)”
The world (and Internet) is full of makers. That’s why I’ve joined the 2016 Vintage Pledge. Thanks to fellow blogger Raven Gemini of Revisionist Vintage, I actually remembered that the Vintage Pledge is a thing, and signed up for it.
The basics are thus:
Sewists and knitters around the globe commit to using vintage or reproduction patterns to make a number of things of their choosing. They share their projects on a dedicated Pinterest board, and use the #VintagePledge hashtag, and eventually there are prizes and such. It’s a great way to see what other people are up to. I’m in it for the inspiration.
So here’s my #VintagePledge:
I, Megan, pledge to make at least three vintage style garments, using fabric and patterns I already own.
This is what’s known in the crafty world as “stash busting.” As a person with very limited storage space, I’m sure my fabric stash pales in comparison to many. This is fine by me. I want to be a person who uses fabric, not a person who stores it. I have two dresser drawers devoted to fabric, and I try hard to keep it strictly to that. However, lately it’s been getting a little crammed in there. There are some pieces I’ve been saving for “something special” which so far seems to mean, “the inside of this drawer.” It’s time for them to live their best life.
This should be fun.
Almost certainly due to a herd of little kids coughing in my face, high-fiving me with their germy hands, and general spreading their germs in my direction, I’ve been struck down with illness.
This has featured:
Magic Healing Soup is something my mom invented, and I continue to make, with additional tweaks. It may or may not be actually magic, or healing, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something for my health. Continue reading “Maker Monday: Magic Healing Soup”
All kinds of things. Food things. Crafty things. Story things. Here’s a little peek into what I’m working on lately.
The Green Cardigan
The project: I’m knitting a sweater. I’m farther along than I’ve ever been. There is still a sweater back and a box of yarn that I embarked on seven years ago waiting for me, but this time, I’m for real.
The details: It’s the “Essential Cardigan” from KnittingatKnoon, and it’s very no-frills. I don’t know how to knit frills, so that works out. I’m knitting it in Plymouth Yarn’s Encore in dark forest green. While green sweaters are not exactly a hole in my wardrobe, I don’t have a green cardigan, so I feel okay about it.
The schedule: Done before spring, I hope.
Fingerless Gloves: Great Weekend Mitts
The details: What do I love? Three quarter sleeves! What do I hate? Cold wrists! Thus, a pair of mitts. I’m knitting them in cheap-but-soft acrylic, in burgundy and navy stripe.
A word about the name of this pattern: While some humans could knit these up in a weekend, I have not. I have been picking at them since October, when I started knitting them so I’d have something to knit in a scene in my acting class. (The key to Chekhov is to add knitting, it turns out. You’re welcome, I solved acting for you).
The schedule: Done before spring, I hope.
In the past month I’ve completed Gertie’s “Portrait Blouse” and a pair of Wearing History’s “Smooth Sailing Trousers.” I’ve cut out an additional pair of trousers in black, and they’re just waiting for me to stitch them together. I need to fix the first pair’s zipper, as I have somewhat mucked it up, but otherwise it’s set. The Portrait Blouse is a dream, and a quick sew.
I found that cutting out a bunch of projects at once, and sewing them later seems to work out for me. It provides a jumping off point–it’s harder to make excuses about starting a project when it’s already cut out.
You can make seitan in a slow cooker. I’m not sure how I missed this. I was so skeptical. I gave that roast serious side-eye as it cooked, but holy cats! It works! Recipe here is equivalent to the one I used.
I’m writing a new play, and that feels deeply satisfying.
What are you making lately?
The temperature is low, the freeze is on, and moreover, the air is dry. Dry, dry, dry. The steam heat radiators in our apartment go full blast at night (so vintage, so charming, so very loud) and while it’s nice to be warm, they obliterate any moisture in the air.
We apparently own a humidifier. It’s supposedly in the basement. This was not a thing I knew when, in the middle of the night, feeling like I was slowly becoming a human raisin, I decided to throw a wet towel on the radiator.
