Spring Has Finally Sprung and Its Time For Some Straw

Spring and Summer are finally here! They seem to have come upon us together in the Heartland, because it seems to me that the last two months have been pretty chilly. 

With that said, happy June and hello to this month's Hat Attack. This is my sixth month of doing Hat Attack and that is a small mile stone for me. Originally, I wanted to do Judith's Hat Attack soooo badly, so I started this style blogging and have had such a great time doing it. 

With the warm weather, it was time to bring out my straw. Today's look is centered around mixing straw textures of different color. The snafu with today's shots is that you can't see my feet! I've made up for it below with one of my still life shots. 

There is a problem with great days like we are having. My in-house photographer (a.k.a as Michael the hubby) would rather be in his garden than anywhere else. I decided to be a nice wife and bring the camera and I to him. So we have this beautiful green backdrop in front of the Wisteria, but after downloading the photos, I realized that his taller garden grass and shoes don't mix well. 

This look started when I had just found this "new to me" apostrophe jacket on my Friday night "thrift hunt". I am not sure what I had planned for this post, but when I saw this jacket, everything went out the window.

The material is a 98% Cotton / 2 % Spandex and has a free flowing window pane type of design with off-white, black and grey. Gee, this goes with about 90% of my wardrobe. The jacket is a smock design with darts in the front, back and bottom of the bracelet length sleeves. And bracelet length sleeves are one of my favorites, because, as the name implies, you can show off your bracelets!

A back view, to show the slits I put in the back of my capris. Read below for more about that.

And now to the other choices I made for this look. I was drawn to this particular straw Fedora, because a Fedora always has a masculine flair about it, yet the large straw bow just sort of thumbs its nose at that notion. I picked it up at my favorite KC hat store Exclusively For You.  

The four textured sandals from Liz Claiborne picks up on the textures where the hat leaves off. With jute, suede cloth, straw and vegan leather, they manage to tie it all together with the the neutral tones. I wear them a lot. 

The bag is one of my Eric Javits eBay purchases. This is one of his smaller Squishee bags. Again, a straw texture. I love Javits bags for the summer. This one is such a "ladies who lunch bag".  

The jewelry is silver. There was a time when I was really a purist and would not mix gold with silver. Those days are over. I wear whatever with whatever, whenever -- as long as I feel that they can play nicely together.  

Now you can see the shoes

Now on to my capris, which I made. I used Vogue 2948, which is  discontinued,  unfortunately. I like this pattern because it has princess seaming, and for us who have no fannies, princess seam pants are great for getting a good fit. This point brings up something else. The reason I have always sewn is that my body is a very hard fit. Besides making original looks from scratch, it's nice to have skills to alter something off the rack (which is about 95% of the time when it comes to dresses).

The fabric is 100% Linen and I got it online from Vogue Fabrics out of Chicago. As I alluded to in the back view photo, I did change the pattern a tad. The pattern does not show a Capri style, so I just made them shorter and for some reason, I decided I needed slits up the back. A whim of the moment, I suppose. 

I made a top for my pants using another Vogue Options pattern (also princess seaming), and I found this photo from last summer to show you both pieces together. Wow, my hair was so blond. I started going natural back in February and think I have more of a mixed blond/silver tone now.

At a Claire McCaskill book signing through KC's Rainy Day Books

A scan of my pattern. I really want some pants like the sketch. Oh, I need so much more time!

I found one other princess seamed pants if someone was interested in trying to make a pair. I would first search eBay and ETSY for the original pattern because it is out there. These by Burda look a little more time consuming than my pattern. But, wow, they are stylish. It's a PDF so there would be a lot of taping together after you downloaded it.

Did I mention I made these pants twice? I made the longer version (as the pattern) in a 100% Linen black/white plaid that I purchased at a beloved but "oh, no more" fabric store Cy Rudnicks that was located in Kansas City. I need to do a styling with my longer version this Fall because I wear them all the time. 

And Then There Is the Polish............

I have to show you Zoya's Aster from their 2016 Spring Petals collection. This is another winner. It's Periwinkle (one of my favorite polish tones) with flecks of fuchsia. You can't get more Spring than that! 

I will say goodbye for now. This was suppose to be a short post, but, by the time I talk about styling, sewing and my beloved Zoya, perhaps short posts just aren't in my future. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.

Take care until we meet again. I will be back around the same time next week. I usually publish on Sunday afternoons.

This week, I am linking up with Judith of Style Crone's Hat Attack HERE, Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE,   High Altitude Style's Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE and Style Diary By Osy's Friday Link Up Party HERE. 

Celebrating Icons and Hats

Last week, local fashion lovers gathered at Kansas City’s Historic Garment Museum for a reception of the exhibition, Fashioning Kansas City Icons: The Art and Inspiration of Heidi Herrman, Steve Gibson and Amina Marie Hood.

This current show centers on Heidi Herrman’s spring line KC Icons Collection. Each design has it’s own inspired hat by Amina Marie Millinery and a Steve Gibson photo of the dress united with its inspirational Kansas City icon.

For starters, I have two photos of the very talented designers of this wonderful collaboration.

  Heidi Herrman and I with the Kauffman dress. This is one of my favorite designs, because the Kauffman Center For the Performing Arts is one of my favorite places to go.

Amina Marie Hood and I with The Shuttlecock dress. Amina designed a hat tailored to each dress theme. I am not going to describe each hat design that accompanies the dress, but know that I love almost everything this lady designs. I already have written a post about her HERE.

The Shuttlecock design is inspired by the Nelson Atkins Museum's Oldenburg/van Bruggen outdoor sculptures of the same name. Yes, there are two gigantic shuttlecocks in museum's outdoor sculpture garden. 

A solo shot of the Shuttlecock dress, hat, and accompanying photograph.

Next, we have a capped sleeve shift inspired by The Scout. The Scout is a statue by Cyrus E. Dallin. It is more than 10 feet tall, and depicts a Sioux Indian on horseback surveying the landscape. The Scout was conceived by Dallin in 1910 and is currently located east of Southwest Trafficway in Penn Valley Park, which is south of downtown Kansas City.

The back of this dress is a depiction of the statue itself. One would make a spectacular exit in this dress. The contrast between the grey and chartreuse is appealing to me. 

The relatively new (2006) Kansas City Star's printing and distribution facility is the inspiration for this high collared shift. This is another amazing color combination. The angles and geometry on this design make it one of my favorites of the collection. 

This strappy sundress is inspired by Kansas City's Union Station, which has undergone remarkable renovations during the last two decades. Union Station is also where Kansas City Fashion Week is held and where we first saw this collection last fall.

The next design is taken from the iconic Power and Light skyscraper, which is one of downtown Kansas City's landmark buildings. The Power and Light building was started in 1930 and finished in 1931. Design wise, I feel that the negative space is a very important part of this dress. 

Kansas City has 200 registered fountains in the metropolitan area, so how could there not be a design based on them? This particular design is taken from the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain located on the Plaza.

 The sculptures on top of the Bartle Hall Convention Center are depicted on the front of this shift. These sculptures are very dominant on the KC skyline. They have always reminded my daughter and I of futuristic kitchen appliances. On this dress, they give me a 30's sci-fi vibe. I love the ocean-blue grid background on the fabric.

I am so sad that I didn't get a photo of the Moonliner dress. I realize now where it was (bottom floor entrance) and it just slipped my mind. So instead, I have the Moonliner dress from Heidi's website.  

TWA and my family have a connection. Dad was a sheet metal mechanic there for years, and TWA gave me a great opportunity to travel when I was young. I remember driving down with Dad to this building to pick up last minute plane passes.

Photo by Steve Gibson

And finally, the Western Auto dress; another design that I didn't get a picture of.  I think this is the most pictorial dress. What do you think about this one? For me, there might be just too much going on image-wise. I do find the bodice very intriguing and wish I could have gotten a closer look at it.

Photo by Steve Gibson

I am going to close with what I wore that evening. I went with my "new to me" (code for Thrift Shop) black crepe sheath dress with a wonderful off center slit in the front. Except for the label (Sheri Martin/New York) there are no other tags. I am guessing that the fiber content is mainly rayon, because it can wrinkle. It was a bit too large, but I took it in about 3/4 inch on each side. 

Black can be a tad formal, which I didn't want. With that in mind, I added some casual accessories. My shoes are black cloth from DSW. Does anyone remember when Jason Wu did a line for Target? I found this bag on clearance from that collaboration. Do you see what' s wrong with this picture? I have my clutch backwards! We were late and in a hurry, so I didn't even notice it until after I downloaded the photos. Oh well, things happen. 

It was a cool but sunny evening, and I decided it might be a good time to try out my Beetle scarf by India Hicks (I went for the brightest Beetles she had). I figured that you couldn’t look too formal with rather large hot pink beetles crawling around! It's a huge scarf; I would say shawl size and did an ample job keeping my shoulders warm. 

And the Polish...............

Finally, a change to include one of my newer and instant spring favorites. This is Zoya's Zahara, which debuted this spring in their Petals Collection, and was what I picked to wear for the evening. 

It is on the thin side and I used three coats. The color is an orange-leaning coral with blue and pink flakes. Zahara was durable. I finally took it off after six days to go with another color. It's a pretty one!

In its heyday, the Kansas City garment industry boasted 75 factories and employed between 4,000 to 7,000 workers. It was  second only to the area's meatpacking industry. 
- See more at: http://meadowtree.blogspot.com/2016/03/rightfully-sewn.html#sthash.VzMqo8FV.dpuf

In its heyday, the Kansas City garment industry boasted 75 factories and employed between 4,000 to 7,000 workers. It was  second only to the area's meatpacking industry. 
- See more at: http://meadowtree.blogspot.com/2016/03/rightfully-sewn.html#sthash.VzMqo8FV.dpuf

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my thoughts on this show. 
The show will be up until July 16th at the Historic Garment Museum, which is located at 801 Broadway Blvd., KCMO. The museum is open on Saturdays only from 10:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. It is free and self guided. 

The museum is located in what was once a thriving garment industry in Kansas City. In its heyday, the Kansas City garment industry boasted 75 factories and employed between 4,000 to 7,000 workers. It was second only to the area's meatpacking industry.
 
Does anyone else enjoy or get the chance to go the shows celebrating design? I so enjoy being around creative people. We do live an hour away from KC,so I have to pick and choose what I attend. Nevertheless, when I get there, I have such a great time whether at the Nelson Atkins, First Friday in the Crossroads or fashion events. It has always been worth the drive. As I will never give up my life in the country, that is how it is going to be.


In closing, I have listed some extra links of interest.

Heidi Herrman Designs

Amina Marie Millinery

Steve Gibson Photography

Kansas City Garment Museum

Kansas City Landmarks To Visit

India Hicks  If you don't have an India Hicks sales ambassador, please use mine Karen Albert.
 

I will say goodbye for now. Take care until we meet again. I will be back around the same time next week. I usually publish on Sunday afternoons.

This week, I am participating in a few link ups:

Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE,   High Altitude Style's Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE and Style Diary By Osy's Friday Link Up Party HERE. 


This week, my photographic credits are mixed. Michael took the one shot of me. I took the others, except when I grabbed a poor unsuspecting onlooker to take the shots with Amina and Heidi.

Vintage, Martinis and Poodles

Ah, to lounge around sipping a great cocktail (preferably one that I have designed), in a comfortable lounging skirt with Poodles by my side. It's great when I do it and I probably don't do it often enough. 

Sophia and I in our matching outfits. That is the advantage of making it yourself. You can always do something with the leftovers.

My skirt is made from a vintage pattern that was in a box of patterns from my Mom. Simplicity 5082 was published in 1972. I don't remember making anything from it and neither does my sister. I have no idea why Mom had it, but I'm glad she did. 

This is a clever pantskirt pattern. The graphic on the front of the pattern demos how to wear it  (down below), and it's just a hoot to wear. 

There is only one pattern piece, but there is loads of fabric in this skirt. It would probably look better if I was a size zero, but I am not, and I love it too much to worry about that kind of stuff. 

What do you think about the fabric I found? I was going for my true Mid-Century vibe for this one and adore this fabric. It came from Hancock Fabrics (now out of business) about five years ago, which was when I put this skirt together. This is just a poly blend, but how this skirt would swish if it was done in silk!

Do you sew and would like this look? This pattern is all over ETSY with prices points anywhere from $5-$10. Just search Simplicity 5082 and tons pop up. I did put a link to the $5 one when I first mentioned the pattern number.

I couldn't do this post without putting in one of my vintage inspirations. This is one stylin' lady in my book. She was included in the first post I ever did about Poodles (before I even had my Poodle Time blog).

Nicky never wants to be left out. He will find a way even if there isn't very much room. He is the baby.

 I did a fly out with the skirt so you could see the pant look underneath and also see all the fabric. You definitely need a lighter blend for this pattern. There's three yards in this skirt. 

I want to give Sophia her own shot on this one. She loves her clothes. I imagine that when she sees them, she thinks she is getting to go somewhere with me. 

Now on to the other elements I chose for this look. I strung the necklace from a great selection of cubed semi-precious stones that I found at a KC bead shop. 

My long-owned and much worn top is 100% cotton and made in the USA by Necessitees. I picked it up at a great shop located in the Brookside area in Kansas City, World's Window. 

My bracelet was picked up at the Kemper Museum of Art's gift shop. Museum gift shops are some of the best places I know to get one of a kind, handcrafted items. What I remember about this bracelet was that it was by a designer from New York, and she made them in her living room. I loved the story and loved the bracelet. 

Finally, a shot of the pattern.

I have to share my cocktail. As I mentioned, I design cocktails from time to time. I usually name them after dogs (OK, so far only Poodles), but I did dedicate one to Taz, our Siamese cat. You can find these above under the Garden Thyme tab.

The Apricot Poodle Cocktail

My aim for cocktails is that they are simple and delicious, so I think this one fits the bill. The key to the deliciousness of The Apricot Poodle is the quality of the Apricot liqueur. At first, I used a cheaper bottle that I had on hand but was so discouraged by the results. 

Then I made a trip to Lucas Liquor in Kansas City on a hunt, and I found the Orchard liqueurs from Austria's Rothman and Winter. One of them was Apricot. It runs around $20 but is so smooth. It would be delicious in deserts too. 

So, on to the drink.............

The Apricot Poodle 

1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka

1 and 1/2 oz Apricot Orchard

2 oz Apricot Juice

Chill one martini glass (of course, this is optional....but I like to).

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into a martini glass and serve. Swizzle stick is optional! 

You may notice that I have a love of vintage barware with Poodle themes. If you would like a closer look, click HERE and you will be taken to my Time For Poodles and Friend's blog, which has more photos. 


I will say goodbye for now. Take care until we meet again. I will be back around the same time next week. I usually publish on Sunday afternoons.

This week, I am participating in a few link ups:

Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE,   High Altitude Style's Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE and Style Diary By Osy's Friday Link Up Party HERE. 


This week, the photographic credits go to Michael, my husband.

Open House at Amina Marie Millinery

Friday evening was special if you are a hat and textile lover in Kansas City. The combined studio of Amina Marie Millinery and Debbie Barrett-Jones Textiles held an open house of their new shared studio at 633 East 63rd Street. 

I was like a moth to the flame when this event popped up! Often I have a hat on my head and I knit, spin and sometime weave. Not necessary to be to wordy with this post. With these hats and art, visuals are stronger than words.

Trying on one of Amina's Fedoras

Debbie's end of the studio.  My daughter Rachelle is also a Kansas City artist and knows Debbie. They have exhibited in shows together.

Amina of Amina Marie Millinery

Oh, such gorgeous hats......

Close up of a lovely natural straw

Pink would not be my color, but this hat is beautiful for the lucky lady who can wear it.

 

Ami Beck of Dolyn Bags was so lovely in the portrait hat, I had to include her.

I am enamored with this very chic and retro inspired black felt. The jewelry detail makes it special. Not the best picture of me but I had to show this hat. 
Notice Amina's gorgeous confection behind me. 
Also, one of Debbie's weavings is in good view. Both warp and weft yarns change colors. For me, it is a beautiful study of color. 

That's it for today. I am hoping to get to wear some of my straws hats starting in May. The weather here just did not let me in April. Sunscreen is great but wearing a hat leaves me feeling more protected. 

If you were wondering, yes, I am probably going to have a Amina Marie hat in my future. At the moment she is very busy with Derby orders. Many of the hats in this post are soon to be shipped off. But my day is coming.................

Take Care,

 

Today, I am linking up with  Judith of The Style Crone's Hat Attack HERE, Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE, Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Color and Grace's Link Up Party HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Sydney's Fashion Hunter's Fresh Fashion Forum HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE and Style Diary By Osy's Friday Link Up Party HERE.