Trollied Dolly Treasure

The year was 2012.  I was living in the constantly chilly Pacific Northwest, dreaming of day I would be warm enough to wear pretty dresses and actively planning for it by browsing ModCloth.  During that time I saw this beautiful sailor style dress with roses and gingham pop up on MC from Trollied Dolly.  It featured on blogs like Scathingly Brilliant  as part of her May Wishlist and by styled by the genius of Wildwood Flower when she snagged this dress on sale the following year.   Stripes with stripes and flowers?  I love it so much!  Where was this blog when I needed it in 2013?

Suffice to say I wasn't the only one who fell in love with this dress and it's basically been on ISO list for well over a decade.  It's something I have liked but never loved enough to pay $80 in second hand condition.  One day, while browsing Mercari, I saw it for only $10 with very reasonable shipping and decided this was kismet.  After thirteen years of searching, we're together at last!

Outfit Info:  Trollied Dolly Dress is thrifted from Depop, Honiara Vintage Shoes, Clutch is vintage, headband is old from SheIn

 

Mermaid in Winter

Collectif is back and the world seems like a brighter place.  In particular I'm glad to have my dear Caterina style back in so many beautiful new prints.  I purchased this mermaid print from the grand-opening sale in December and I have never had a Caterina that I didn't love.  

Outfit Info: Caterina Mermaid Check Swing Dress from Collectif Vintage  Sweater from YeMAK

No Ifs, Ants, or Buts About It

I'm beginning to realize that my blog is turning into an archive.  It's a place people stumble across because they are looking for a dress to buy or more likely looking to sell a dress and need to know the name and snatch a few photos for their listing as well.  While I'm not crazy about having people steal my photos and not at the very least give me credit for them, I really do understand the need because product photos just aren't out there anymore.  Once they're gone from the website, they're gone for good most of the time.  Ten years ago when people loved a dress they saved it to their pinterest, blogged about it, etc.  Now you have to search the company's instagram and hope someone out there tagged them in a post if you want to see what the dress looks like being worn, what its name is, and how long ago it came out.

This particular ModCloth gem came out in the summer of 2014, in case you're wondering, and was aptly named No Ifs, Ants, or Buts.  It was truly one of those pieces that we all drooled over during ModCloth's Bea & Dot golden age.  Back then I imagnined myself taking long picnics with my family in the Japanese countryside while wearing this dress, but alas, it just wasn't in the budget, so I let it go.  Recently I saw it on a resale site for extremely cheap and as I was desperately searching for just the perfect dress to go with these velvet strawberry earrings that I got for Christmas, I decided it was high time I made this dress mine.  10 years is long enough that there's no way this could be considered an impulse buy, right?

Outfit info:  ModCloth's No Ifs, Ants, or Buts Dress by Bea & Dot.  Earrings by Krameric Millinery, Collectif Strawberry bag, Shein headband.

Christmas Caterina

      I spent a pleasant afternoon, putting away all my autumn things and hanging up all the beautiful reds, greens, and blues of my winter wardrobe.  If you'd like to spend that afternoon with me, I'll link the YouTube video below.  I must say that, while I don't necessarily enjoy this task, it is very refreshing to see all these warm colors just as the winter chill sets in.

      I purchased a few wishlist Collectif Caterina dresses from my favorite thrift sites once I found out the brand was closing its doors and I'm so glad that I did.  These pretty little checked button down dresses are my favorite for wearing around the house as do my cozy little chores.  Still no noticeable progress on the Collectif website being back up, so in the meantime, all I can do is thrift these pretty pieces.  This one probably wasn't any cheaper thrifted than I would have paid buying it new, but I loved the colors so much, I think it was worth it.  With Christmas on the way and as much as I love reds to get me through the winter, it's bound to get lots of wear.  

Outfit Info:  Collectif Caterina Dress

Sewing a Christmas Dress and Apron

     

 I wear aprons.  I wear an apron everytime I cook, even if it's just to scramble a few eggs on my way out the door in the morning.  It's a habit I picked up long ago when my daughter's array of food allergies meant that pre-made food of any kind was out of the question.  I spent so much time in the kitchen that within a short amount of time, all of my tops had some sort of food splotch or grease spatter.  But, really, it began before that when my mom and I started flea marketing together and collecting vintage aprons for ourselves.  At the time, I just loved how pretty they were and couldn't really see myself getting much use out of them, but that all changed with a single diagnosis.

      It was tough to have to make all the meals all the time, including needing to pack all the food for our trips, because there were rarely restaurants that could accommodate her needs, but in the end, I'm glad for that experience because it kept my family away from the processed food trap that it's so easy to fall into and forced us to eat wholesome homemade meals.  It also taught me a myriad of substitutions and gave me a reason so put all those pretty aprons to use.  Recently I saw some autumn toweling fabric and thought it would be fun to try to make myself a fall apron with it.  I loved it so much, I'm doing one for every season.  Christmas is mt second try at this pattern and I love the results.  The YouTube video link will be posted below if you'd like to see my process.  The dress and brooch are also handmade by me, but perhaps I'll save that for another post.

Sewing Project:  Dress pattern is , Dress fabric is  , Apron pattern is Simplicity S9496, Toweling fabric is Moda Retro Christmas Tree, Dot fabric is from Joann.com