Back at the Ranch - Home Design Part Deux

Continuing where I left off a few days ago... Part Two!

I've slowly been working on other rooms in our house outside of the "public" rooms. Our bedroom has been a bit of a challenge, I've been in my house for about 2 years and the bedroom has been on a delayed schedule of sorts. The public rooms were so easy for me - but our bedroom has one small window and presented a challenge for fitting in a queen size bed and select furniture. I like a lot of open space in bedrooms, however this one is pretty small for a "master" bedroom - old house, small rooms. My goal for this room was to create a focal point around the window and bed, creating a giant headboard look. Also, I love sleeping under an open window all year-round. Fresh air helps me sleep so much better!

Sad, sad bedroom before:

Bedroom after. Reggie (cat) included:

I think the window treatment helps create a lot of height. The white coverlet reflects a lot of light. The cat adds drama.

I repainted two bookcases the same color as the walls so they would give a bit of that "built-in" look. The wall color is not quite so saturated - it's a more delicate aqua in real life. The roman shade I made from some vintage style repro cowboy barkcloth, repurposing the mini-blinds mechanism that originally hung in the window. The curtains are IKEA relics from my college days (I think those were like $10 brand new at IKEA? Love it!) I need to get photos taken of the rest of the room, but honestly it's still a work in progress. There is a lot of random wasted space along the walls, I think it will take a bit more thought and experimentation to finalize the rest of the room. Please ignore the ceiling fan - it's needed for airflow, but I really need to find a sleeker model (maybe this one?) I hate those dingle-dangle lights - ugh.

MOVING ON TO HOUSEWARES.

I love hunting for vintage housewares. LOVE LOVE LOVE. As I said in my previous post, thrifting is one of my favorite hobbies. Nothing like the thrill of the hunt - I really do get an adrenaline rush when I spot something I like... approaching it quickly and quietly, lest a fellow hunter reaches it first... quick assessment, quick iPhone lookup for price comparison and value, quick buying decision. I usually decide on larger pieces in about 3 minutes - gotta be quick on the draw!

I found these awesome lamps at the flea market a coupla weeks back. They were a very quick buy, I couldn't resist for $30:

Got them home and started the rewiring process (I ALWAYS rewire vintage lamps - electrical fires are not fun. Take heed, take heed!) After taking apart the lamps, I discovered that the ceramic bases had been painted. Originally pink - PINK! - so of course I had to restore them to their original bubblegum glory. A bit of graffiti remover and a LOT of scrubbing were required.

 
Polished up the brass pieces, put the lamps back together, and they're perfect. They now live on my dresser with my other favorite pair, my very large brass 50s deer. Those babies are heavy, made out of solid brass! Another flea market find and snap decision - who doesn't want giant brass fawns in their home?

Final piece for show and tell is my latest Goodwill find. For $6, you too can own a cool MCM magazine rack, though it depends on the quality of your local Goodwill. Ours have been going downhill lately in the furniture department (we have 3 locations in town), but I was happy with this find. A lot of Brasso and scrubbing to make this one shine, but it was worth it! Now housing Atomic Ranch and Vogue, so handy! Also makes a delightful kitty jungle gym, as I discovered after hearing strange noises coming from the living room.

Whew... that's all I've got for now. I have a friend coming over in the near future to photograph the house properly, so I'll soon have better pictures of all our rooms. Real photos, as I keep telling hubs. iPhone photos don't count as "real" photos I've decided.

Over n' out!

Finished Sample, Reverse Engineering, New Oaktag!

It's been a busy couple of weeks here at the Rockin' B Ranch. New supplies of all kinds were ordered from SouthStar Supply in Nashville a few weeks ago, including a fresh roll of oaktag (a very large, very heavy new roll!)

I also got a new pattern notcher (yay!!), a new pair of embroidery scissors, new thread snips, and a new needlepoint tracer. I also ordered some heavy-duty pant/skirt hooks from Atlanta Thread Supply, and they are very nice. I highly recommend SouthStar for any production supply needs, they have wonderful customer service. Atlanta also has good customer service, my order was incorrect when I initially received it and they corrected the problem immediately - but I've heard from other people that they have a habit of messing up orders, so buyer beware if you need something immediately.

Moving on to other fun stuff - I finished up another sample of my style# 11001, which is a yoked pencil skirt with a large front placket and welt faux-pockets. I snapped a few preview pics of this sample for my last entry, showing off the colors and some of the detailing. Friends, can I just tell you it turned out BEAUTIFULLY. The fit is perfection... I usually get so hung up with the fit of my garments, and to be honest the first fit sample for this pattern didn't turn out so great. It is, however, very reassuring that my pattern adjustments after that first sample did the trick - meaning I haven't lost my touch (as I thought I had following some frustrating samples in the near past).

Unfortunately, no photos of this newest sample yet - I finished it pretty late last night and didn't have the motivation to dig out my camera. I think it's pretty funny how Ryan is so blown away by each garment I create, he was the cutest last night after I tried it on to show him the final product - he was literally speechless and grinning from ear to ear. Guess it's good to know he thinks I'm talented, haha.

On to the even better stuff: Reverse engineering. I've always been fascinated (and dare I say "obsessed") with executing operations using the correct industrial procedure. Maybe it's just my personality or my raising, but I'm a stickler for having things done "the right way". I've been learning over the past year or so that in industry there aren't as many standard procedures as I had thought. A lot of processes and operations depend on the individual factory, based on their management, their equipment and their workers' skill sets. Automated equipment will produce a certain seam class in a different way than a worker using a single-needle approach. Outside of obtaining a job in a garment factory (which is impossible for me at the moment), the best way to develop my own factory procedures is to employ reverse engineering using well-made garments from companies that produce garments similar to mine, in my target price point.

The best way to obtain these types of garments is to haunt thrift stores and charity shops - I found one of my best reference skirts at a church-run charity shop in my husband's tiny hometown, for a whopping $4. The skirt is a 6-gore yoked wool skirt, by Liz Claiborne. I would say it dates to the late 80s, but the look is much more vintage, I'd say 1940s. The wool is very lightweight, and the skirt is fully lined, and has flat-felled seams on the yoke and each gore. There is a hidden zip in back with a tab closure (3 buttons). The quality is very good, and I would say the skirt probably cost around $100 new. I have learned SO MUCH from this skirt - the biggest lesson being the waistband assembly and the process of finishing off the tab closure properly. I really struggled with patterning my waistbands until I took a closer look at the Claiborne skirt, and it really cleared up the operation for me - what a godsend! Even a quick trip to your local Goodwill will likely result in 1 or 2 garments that can be very useful.

In the case of my Claiborne skirt, I didn't rip it apart as it fits me so well and I love wearing it; but buying well-made garments to purposely rip apart and examine how they're assembled is something I do recommend. Thrift shops always seem to have a large quantity of well-made coats and blazers, not to mention men's dress pants and women's skirts. Careful disassembly and attention to detail will reveal a whole new world of operations, seam classes and processes - just look carefully and examine thoroughly.

OK, I think that's about enough geek talk for the day. In final news, I'm going to be attending SPESA in Atlanta next month, please do let me know if you're planning on going as well! There are quite a few people from Fashion-Incubator attending, and it will be a wonderful chance to learn about machines and operations, as well as attachments and automated processes (that's what I'm looking forward to!)  I'm going to be sharing a hotel room with Valerie of Yellowcake, she's an AMAZING designer based in Ohio and I'm just thrilled to be meeting her. Check out her shop on Etsy, prepare to be amazed.

I will be posting pics of my newest skirt sample, hopefully this evening - if I can persuade Ryan to help me out with taking those for me. Here's a quick picture of our newest family member, Fritz. He's a standard poodle, full of sweetness and smart as a whip. He really likes squirrels.

Halloween Costume Final Results

'm finally getting around to posting the results of my massive Halloween crafting surge - my costume turned out so well it's scary... no pun intended. I spent about 2.5-3 hours on my hair and makeup, which really paid off. Unfortunately I don't have a better photo of my garment, but it looked really nice. Let me just say - three cheers for eyelash glue - it was practically holding my face together.

I've decided to save this costume for next year, as I didn't get much of an outing with it this year. Husband was out of town, and many of my friends weren't participating in festivities. I did look good sitting on the couch though!

Harvest Muertos!

lease see this previous post for more info about my costume inspiration. I had a lot of fun with this project, and I hope to use this costume for various activities in the coming year. Why don't people have masquerade balls/dances anymore? It's not an activity that's confined strictly to the Halloween season, and I suppose I could be the one to host a masquerade event... but that probably won't be happening anytime soon.