Week-End Roundup: Birthday Dinner, Rest, Organization and Urban Sugar Shack Goodness

This week-end was exactly what I needed. After a hectic birthday week-end, last week, that involved too little sleep and pee in my suitcase (don't ask! ...and no, it wasn't mine), I was craving tranquility and good vibes by the time Friday rolled around. And that is exactly what I got!

Two friends of mine invited me and another friend over for birthday dinner at their Griffintown loft. We had seared tuna steaks in a sesame crust with a delicious quinoa salad and another equally tasty papaya, mango, cucumber, lettuce salad with a yummy Thai dressing. Everything was topped with coconut and coriander and I was in heaven! My other friend brought a dozen deluxe donuts from a great shop in St-Henri, too.

The kids and I were all feeling a bit wonky come Saturday and so the day was spent drinking ginger lemon broth, watching movies and going through my fabrics, deciding what I will work on first for the shop. I'm a few weeks behind schedule but not really stressing about any of it.

Some fabrics that will be seen within the first week Pandemonium opens online are these nautical print cottons: 

And this great, Mexican inspired, Alexander Henry printed cotton called "Ojo des Dios":

I started pressing and cutting and getting everything ready so I can just start sewing this week.

Today we did more of the same but we went out for a walk. My daughter wore a headband she made from fabric scraps:

We decided to head over to the canal to Verdun, where there was an urban sugar shack of sorts set up on Wellington Street, between Galt and de l'Église.

Chalkboard cow, anyone?

The best part of this event, after the food and maple syrup on snow (for those of you who live across the pond, we poor hot maple syrup on snow and then twirl a wooden stick in it as it congeals. It makes for quite the tasty treat!) was this wall. Verdun wants to know what its people want to inhabit this vacant space. Everyone was invited to share their ideas on this wall:

Here's a photo one of my chums took when we were out of town and on the Lower East Side for a few days, last week. You can't see it but I'm wearing an awesome, pleated, mullet skirt from Top Shop that I got for an amazing $13. The biker boots were a gift from my ex and the coat is vintage and was purchased at Frip Prix Renaissance, in Verdun. The scarf is my daughter's and I bought it for her at H & M.

And now for some writing and sketching but nothing too exciting, as I have a long week ahead of me!

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Thrift Store Haul. $15.50

last week-end, my mother and i were getting a few errands done in my neighbourhood, when we noticed that the goodwill that opened up a few months ago was actually open on a saturday. we attempted to simply duck in and check things out, seeing as i had brought bags of clothing to donate and had intended on leaving them on the step, anyway.

to our surprise, everything in the store was marked at 50% off for the day. we tried to leave three times but something caught my eye each time and we rounded back into the shop and back to the cash. together, we spent $15.50 and got a gracy boat and dish, a roots mesenger bag, a nike top for 
my son's upcoming boxing lessons, and, the pièces de resistance, were these eleven (i know. i guess one of them broke somewhere on the way to the store), blue glass goblets:

for some time now, i've been thinking about collection mixed, vintage, glass dishes, thanks to this photo (i've had it for so long i don't recall where i found it so please excuse the lack of photo credit).

thanks to it, i'd been thinking that i would like to hunt down pieces in different shades of pink and purple but these glasses have steered me in another direction and blue and, perhaps, green they shall now be!

i also scored some sewing notions and buttons:

this crucifix to add to my collection of religious iconography:

a roll of this green fabric i photographed the other items on, whose fibers are unknown to me. notice the yellow flecks throughout:

for a chance to score incredibly cheap, vintage and/or useful finds, check out "deuxième vie" at 6030 rue monk, in ville-émard.

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Ink and Lace

for a few years now, i have loved the look of lace on tattooed skin, if done right. i may still be tweaking my winter wardrobe, as per my wardrobe challenge but spring is not too far ahead and soon i'll be focusing on what i'll be wearing then. i've been envisioning lace, cap sleeves for a while and so, when i came across this gorgeous lace trim on etsy, i promptly purchased two yards of it. 

i placed some across my shoulder to see what a cap sleeve made from this will look like and i love it!

more of the trim:

i'll have to start thinking about the dress i'll make to go with this and maybe head back to that shop to see about other lace trims, in light colours!

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Wardrobe Challenge Update: Fabric Store Mini-Haul

thanks to my holiday gift guide, my current hunt for employment, the process of redecorating three rooms in my flat and a side-project i'm working on, i'm a little behind on my wardrobe challenge. i'll probably end up with four dresses, 3 skirts, 4 pairs of pants and few blouses and tops. hrm. well, that's not so bad, given that i started when it was already autumn... right, then!

i'm not really into the madness that is black friday and i already look forward to no longer having to hear about it for about eleven months so, instead of going to fabricville today, waiting in line for hours, having to be crowded by the woman who wants to get a hold of my fabric roll next, etc., i went out to the one in lasalle yesterday evening, when they were offering up great discounts, anyway. all vogue patterns were $5.99, burda were 25% off and, as usual, i found some fabric in the discount section, this time for only $3/meter. 

i already have all the skirt patterns i need and i can draft my own patterns if i want anymore so, as far as bottoms go, i've moved on to pants. i keep finding the same, matronly, wide-legged polyester pant in thrift stores and so i'm going to make my own. do i think making pants is a huge pain? yes! but it'll be worth it. check out the patterns i scored for this purpose:

i can't wait to rock the shorter version this spring, with a nice pair of loafers or ballet flats. they'll also look great with my chucks. in the meantime, style b will be perfect. i have two tuxedo jackets that need partners in crime, anyway. 

and, speaking of tuxedo jackets needing matching bottoms, i love these pants! they will look great with so many things i already own and i can wear them to an office, for sure. i won't make the jacket, seeing as three tuxedo jackets is a bit overkill for me and, unless i find a designer one on sale, my ben sherman one is perfect. 

the third and last pants pattern i purchased was the vogie 8859. i have a pair that is similar to these now and i know that i love the fit. 

it's so important for women to wear pants that fit and that compliment our bodies. the wide-legged trouser mom wears is not okay, especially if you're short and curvy, like i am. wide-legged only really works when they're high-waisted and have a 1940's or 1950's design to them. 

i have to admit that flipping through the vogue pattern catalog left me feeling a tad disappointed and the feeling only lifted one i started searching through burda's selection. this has never happened before but, for some reason, i feel like most of vogue's new collection is dated and drab and features over-rouched, ill-fitting garments. a look at the vintage section is always nice but, seeing as i already own most of the ones in this season's catalog, i decided to go with on of the few dress patterns i like from their newer ones, the vogue 8825:

this sleeve always draws attention away from the upper arm and accentuates small wrists, a great combination for my shape. the waistline is also flattering and, although it can easily be changed, i love this length because it hugs my curves but shows off my calves. thanks to this image, i want to make it in green, too!

and here is the houndstooth fabric i found for $3.00 CAD per meter. i bought four meters so i can make a pencil skirt and some pants like the ones in the first pattern. if i don't make the pants, i will use it to line a warm, winter coat. 

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