1920s Style

The Great Gatsby and a new season of Boardwalk Empire are inspiring me to go roaring 20s.  As I started looking for patterns I found I wasn't the only one. Miss Crayola Creepy has started The Great Gatsby Sewing Challenge.  I'm a bit late so I don't think I will finish by the deadline but I am still inspired to create my own 1920s dress. I will definitely have time to finish before the next season of Boardwalk Empire premiers.

I've found the following vintage knitting patterns that would be fun.

Beaded Knit Scarf

Summerland Sweater on Ravely

1920s dresses seem to be harder to find.  There are a lot of reproduction patterns for other decades but it looks like most patterns come in the typical flapper costume or actual vintage patterns.  Miss Crayola Creepy has a blog post about finding 1920s patterns online.  I think I am going to choose one of the following patterns for purchase from Mrs. Depew Vintage on etsy.  She has some cute patterns from other decades as well.

Tiered One-Piece Dress Pattern

Straight-Line Tunic Pattern

I'll keep you posted on which pattern (or patterns) I choose. Have you found any cute 1920s patterns?

An Unexpected Knitting Journey

Went to see the Hobbit today and I loved it.  I noticed those dwarves really like to wear hand knits.  Here are some of pictures I've found with some dwarf originals.

Oin

I love his cabled gloves and how the pearls look like armor. Also my favorite hand knit from the movie.

Ori and his cabled cowl.

His gloves already have their ravelry page and I'm sure his vest from is soon to come.  Below is a better picture of both his gloves and vest.

Bofer and his two toned scarf.

Bombur and some more fingerless gloves.

I've never been one for writing my own patterns but it sure would be neat to make these into a book of hand knits from middle earth book. I think I need to make an attempt at Oin's gloves at least. 

Did you notice any other hand knits I missed? Which are your favorite?

Photos found on IMBD The Hobbit.

Baby Hats!

For Christmas I received Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way from my boyfriend.  He knew I'd been making baby blankets and hats for friends who've been expecting.  I've decided to start out with a couple hats.  The pattern calls for size 17 double pointed so I should be able to knit them up pretty quick.  Which is perfect because a work friend is expecting in early January.  The sweet dreams hat also looks like a great way to use some of my hand spun yarn!

Hot dogs and Hot rods

Went to a car show at the Vienna Beef Factory today.  Great weather for a car show.

This Rolls Royce had lots of classy details.

This car is my style.  I like the silver flames.

I thought I liked Buick's before today and after seeing cars like this I've decided a vintage Buick is definitely what I want!

I loved the little skull details in this car. 

Another couple of awesome Buicks.

Krystyne was a pretty bad ass car.  Lots of custom details.  

Behind this car you can see a row of vintage bikes...if you can even see anything but this nice yellow car.

Although its not a vintage I had to get a picture in my friends car.  Thanks Jaime!

Is it Halloween yet?

I've started prepairing for Halloween!  Now don't think I'm too early, I have holiday rules. 

1. No Halloween decorations before October 1st, and no Christmas decorations before Black Friday.

2. Halloween decorations must be removed the weekend following Halloween and Christmas decorations much be taken down the weekend after New Years.

3. The only exception....The Nightmare Before Christmas.  This is a good movie anytime.

Of course us crafters will have to start crafting much farther out to ensure crafts are done in time for a holiday. Like I previously mentioned I got the Just Cross Stitch Halloween edition.  Irony...I'm using it to make Christmas presents!  Here is the progress.

 

Also on needles is a black lace shawl.  I started this quite some time ago but had it stashed away.  Here is a link to the pattern.

JoAnns recently had a sale on Holiday Fabric so I bought some cute grey fabric with spiders and webs.  I plan on making an A line skirt with this.  Isn't it cute?

I realized all these current projects had a Halloween Theme.  Has anyone else started Holiday projects?

Summer Shorts - Butterick 8170

At the Wicker Park fest a few weekends ago, I noticed a lot of girls had high waisted shorts. That inspired me to use this Butterick pattern 8170 and left over fabric from my red office dress.

When I initially put these shorts together they were a little larger than I wanted.  I figured they were made of cotton and I could throw then in the dryer a littler longer and might shrink a little. They shrank almost too much.  Of course I washed the fabric before I started sewing but this makes me want to wash cotton fabric twice before I sew with it.  Does this happen with anyone else?

The Circle Skirt

This is my new favorite skirt!  Got the instructions from Sew What! Skirts.  Its a little shorter than I wanted but works great with a t-shirt. I already bought more fabric to make another.  It was so easy I finished it up after work on evening.