A coat of a different color

I actually listed one of my ebay items (others should start being listed more quickly now).
I am going back on what I said (not to post about any of them), but only because this one has to do with my next big sewing adventure.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180979274573

See I bought this coat off of ebay and it is indeed very lovely. It is heavy warm and i love how the mink gives it a feminine elegance. But alas, it doesn't even close to fit. I have been keeping it for years now thinking that I would get profecient enough at sewing one day that I would be comfortable taking it in. I also thought of just taking it to the talor and having them take it in. However, the coat just seems so well made and lovely the way it is. Plus I keep reading about people not being able to find larger vintage clothes. so I have decided to part with it and free up the space that it claims in my closet.

In that reclaimed space, I would like to replace it with just as lovely a coat because I don't have a vintage coat or even a coat that goes at all with my vintage wardrobe. So, in an effort to be able to wear vintage everyday I will need a coat in order to be prepared for the colder winter my collegies tell me is coming this year.

In comes Gertie's coat sew-along. It only calls for medium weight fabric, but I think it will fill the void nicely. I am worried that I don't have all of the sewing skills needed to make it, but I love learning and Gertie seems to be a really good teacher. I have already purchased her craftsy class on the starlet suit and am hoping that I can use some of those videos for extra places I need help. I know it covers bound buttonholes for example. If anyone has taken the class and knows what sections would be helpful, i am up for suggestions since I haven't looked at the class at all yet (oops).
So, I am going to do the sew-along, but at my own pace (as I do everything) and hope to come out of it with a nice winter coat and perhaps a wearable muslin.

Now comes the part where I might lose you. I found this drawing

and am a big Doctor Who fan. I think that it would be really cool. not to go over the top this time, but just to do a lining like that. But how would I get fabric like that? I know you can do custom printed fabric at spoonflower and I might go that route.  they have an inside the TARDIS print already, but it isn't quite what I am looking for. it is just too, clean, rigid, I don't know (and it won't let me post a picture of it here).
Here is the inside of the TARDIS  (from when david Tennant was the Doctor)

What about painting fabric? I don't have any experience with that. Do they make paint that doesn't make the fabric stiff? Markers, dye, I have no clue. I probably wouldn't bee any good at drawing it, but I might be ok with a bit abstract.
Any ideas on something that might work for the lining?

So, are any of you planning on doing Gertie's sew-along? What are your plans?
Have you done any of Gertie's craftsy classes?
What about her book, have any of you gotten your copy yet? i have been pining for one, but haven't been able to get it yet. (Hint hint that would be a great gift if any of my family members are reading this).


And I will finish off this post with some other lovely coats I have found on pinterest

Yeah, I finally post and it is mostly off topic.

As you may have noticed, I have taken kind of a break from blogging (not that I was ever very regular at it). It is not that I don't have things that I want to share with you (because I most definitely do). It is just that I am still working on my priorities and way of life as I mentioned in my new years resolution post.

It is very important that I take care of myself and my family and I have been striving to do that better each day. I have been struggling with it and haven't gotten things perfect, but I am working with God to walk closer with him and his plan for me each day.

I have not given up on my blog or posting to it. It has just taken a backseat until I get some other really important things worked out and until I get a good schedule going where I have the time and energy to get the necessary things done in a day that need done.

Honestly I don't know how some people do it. Take working out for example. How does one who works full time, takes care of children (before and after school until bedtime), takes care of home (which is part of blessing my family), makes time for husband, etc. find the time in her day to workout. I know that working out is important and not just for weight loss or make myself not only feel good about myself, but it actually physically makes me feel better throughout the day, I have more energy and am more relaxed.

Marilyn Monroe

If any of you have any insider tricks on how to fit this into a schedule that starts at 5:15am (with getting kids ready for school) and doesn't end until at least after 9pm (with putting children to bed) mostly later with preparing food for next day and cleaning up, I would love suggestions. I have tried getting up earlier and that is currently what I am thinking the only option is, but I am not very diligent at it. I have thought about doing something during my lunch hour, but I don't know how I would be able to workout, clean up, eat and make it back to work in 1 hour, does anyone do that?

I have done better (not perfect, but better) at some things on my resolution.

For one, I caved and have gotten a blue tooth so that I am hands free while driving. Now, that is not being off the phone completely while driving (though I try to do that when the children are in the car), but it is a move in the right direction and I think that is enough for now. I will determine at a later date if this habit needs modified more.

I have been making healthier meals for my family. Okay, they haven't all been healthy, but I have pretty much stopped doing the fast food thing. I have come up with a menu planning system (which I am still perfecting) which allows up to 2 nights a month of fast food/going out to dinner. The only exceptions I have made is for when my husband meets me for a lunch date. We do not get to go on "dates" much so I let the fast food/restaurant rule slide when he comes to my work. I feel that our relationship is more important.

I hate that all my weekend time has been/is spent cleaning, so I have been working on getting a good cleaning routine down. The house isn't spotless but I am making strides everyday (and my cleaning pinterest board is overflowing with ideas to try). Which brings me to a tiny portion of this post that is actually slightly relevant to the blog....

In cleaning the house, I have determined that I need to purge a lot of things that I do not love, have room for, use, etc. Most of these things I have sent to Goodwill (though a lady at work is going to help me deliver some of the items to a women's and children's shelter in the future). There are some things though that I am not going to donate (vintage clothing, collectibles, etc). I was told that Goodwill does not accept vintage(retro was the word I think was used) clothing and such. I am not exactly sure what they do with it, but I was worried that they might dispose of it and I felt that was terrible. These items deserve homes that appreciate them. I thought of opening an etsy shop, but that requires me putting a value on these objects and I feel very reluctant to do that and it doesn't put a time frame of getting these items out of my home. So I have decided that I am going to put these items on ebay.

I haven't sold much on ebay (back in college I tried and it was a disaster -I was just too naive). I haven't actually started selling these things and I can't tell you how fast they will come out or what not. I am also not going to post every little thing on my blog and make this a selling tool, I don't like that and that is not the purpose for this blog nor will it ever be. But, I wanted to let my readers know about the things that I am selling (I figure they will go for very reasonable prices), so what I did was set up a pinterest board where I will post pictures of the things I am selling with links back to the ebay postings when I get them up. (Nothing is up yet, I am just preparing now, but expect the selling to start this weekend *crossing fingers*).

Things to look for me to sell...
- original vintage purses/handbags
- original vintage clothing (dresses, skirts, shirts, sweaters, etc)
- original vintage scarves, jewlery, other accessories
- original vintage sewing patterns (mostly women's but a few childrens)
- original vintage shoes (& a couple of rockabilly/pinup new pairs)
- collector barbie dolls ( not vintage - unless the 90s is now vintage- I know not really related, but I need to get rid of them too)
- plus random pinup/rockabilly/vintage inspired pieces that are repros (or 80s does 50s)

So that is about all the vintage stuff that I have to post at the moment, I do hope to get back to being able to blog more regularly soon, but until then, I do keep my vintage pinterest boards really active. Now I do pin lots of other things, so if you only want to watch my vintage boards I suggest going to my main page and then just following the boards individually with whatever your interests are. If you would like to follow new boards that I might create, but don't want to follow some of the boards in particular, what you do is select follow all on my main page and then unfollow the boards that you are not interested in.