hoarding house sneek-peek!

so, here it is after WEEKS of cleaning, organizing and sorting.

weeks.

so here is wall one:

here you can find every sewing notion ever created

wall two

every color of the rainbow represented in thread

wall three

magazines from the 80's on

wall three continued

more magazines, needlework, ribbons and more

and in the livingroom

we have elastic and serger thread mountain!

now keep in mind, there is still a patio and barn full of fabrics! plus, pretty much all of those drawers in all of those dressers are totally packed with fabric! so, again, if you need ANYTHING i am selling these all for cheap! shoot me an email at
crissy_baker (at) yahoo (dot) com

photo shoot pictures!

i got some of the photos back from the magazine shoot this week! i dont look like a melty tornado at all! hot damn!
im pretty excited so here is the one i think is going in my article:

and here is a great photo of me and tyler

and of us and our 'baby' which was totally delicious!

well done josh huskin, well done indeed.

tagged by clare!

the lovely clare tagged me in the 8-questions to answer chain letter thing yesterday. im pretty sure i know how this works. if i dont answer and forward it to 100 friends by midnight, the ghost of a 12 year old girl who was killed by a train will sneek through my window and suck my soul out of my nose and eat my eyeballs and i will never find true love, but if i DO, i will win the lottery, someone i care about will reveal something totally important to me in 5 hours and my clothes wont shrink in the dryer or something like that.
so, here goes!
1. Have you ever had a sewing-related injury? Give gory details! If not, any irrational fears?! if i had a nickle for every time i have slipped my finger into the moving needle on my sewing machine, or sliced into my own leg with a rotary cutter, i would have at least $10. the rotary cutters are the worst, they just bleed and bleed and bleeeeeeed! i also have burnt myself with the iron about a billion times. i seriously have some sort of non-sexual (i swear) iron fetish or something where i HAVE to iron every pattern piece, inch of fabric, bias tape-- everything!

2. What would be in your perfect picnic basket?
a bunch of cheeses, but none from cows (allergies), fruits and berries, this really good peach and chicken salad my sister makes and a bottle of wine. but i would like with my basket, tyler, my doggies, a big hat and a croquet set

3. If you had to spend 3 consecutive days on the same train, who would you want with you and why?
definitly tyler! we are equal assholes and can have a good time anywhere we go. plus a train sounds like it would be awesome to go on!

4. What garment/accessory do you wear the most?
easily, my crinoline. i wear it probably 2-3 times a week! i love it soooo much! i got it super cheap on etsy from this fine woman and it has been one of my best vintage purchases so far!

5. What’s your “desert island” book/movie and why could you read/watch it over and over?
the book i choose is easily the little prince. i am *obsessed* with this book. i even have a tattoo on my arm of the little buckaroo!

my pasty-ness keeps it lookin' new!

my movie would be metropolis. there is nothing about that movie that isn't absolutely amazing. last year tyler and i saw it with a live orchestra, it was amazing!

6. Which pattern/vintage style have you been thinking about lately?

tap shorts. they are all i want to wear- if not a skirt or dress! this morning actually i finished up these pretty little shorts for my etsy shop!

from one old pillowcase!

7. What’s your sewing threshold? As in, what will you let go, what must you absolutely fix?
anything that still has life in it. right now i am putting a 1930s/1940s evening gown together again. all of the thread dried out and the dress fell to pieces, but the pieces are still fine so its going to be brought back to life! thats also why i use almost exclusively old linens to sew from. as i see it, there are enough beautiful fabrics and materials in the world already, so why not use those up before we make new ones?

8. What are your favourite / least favourite words? These can be connected to sewing or not!
i call people 'buster' and 'buckaroo' a lot... tyler is always greeted as 'handsome' and my sister and i make that weird noise master pain makes in 'kung pow' all the time... you know, the one that goes, "meeeeeggggghhhhheeeeeeerrreeeeeee!"

ok, so girl from the ring, back the fuck off! im passing this on to:

molly at molly's sewing and garage sale adventures
debi at my happy sewing place
vivian at vivian von dimples
tilly at tilly and the buttons
and
sarah at rhinestones and telephones

so ladies, if you ever want to go on a date or kiss a boy or win the lottery or get both socks out of the dryer ever again, answer 4 of those questions and these 4 below!

1. What wouldn’t you be caught dead in?
2. What is your favorite holiday?
3. How do you relax?
4. What is one place that you really want to visit that you haven’t been to before?

freebies and not-so-freebies!

so in the last week or so, i have continued accumulating more crap that i do not need...
b u t . . .
it is all totally awesome so check this out! here are some treats from the hoarding house:

i did need more tracing paper, and i am a total sucker for packaging...


and this cool-tool for marking patterns without destroying them with a tracing wheel!


a button spacer (awesome!) and button holder


seriously- its like they invented this for carpal tunnel. if you have it, you need this tool!


and the best. apron. ever.

and then i went estate/garage sale-ing and to the flea market with tyler and i snagged up these treats and more:

$10 for all these hats!


tons of new brooches and pins and sweater clips... even though it is currently 100 degrees outside with a heat index of 4,000, they were all maybe $15 total!

and i also got 4 skirts from the 1940s, an evening gown from the 1930s, a party dress from the 1950s, a robe from the 1940s, a fonzi puzzle, some necklaces and a chef hat!
now, here is the BEST FREEBIE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE:

i KNOW! its friggin' awesome!!!!!

the woman who i am cleaning the hoarding house for *gave* this to me this weekend! pretty much made. my. life.

just wanted to brag....

sewing helper

god damn adorable.

how did i forget this?

i had probably the most productive day ever last week! i mean, usually i can get a lot done in a day, but i even surprised myself! so friday i came home from tyler's in the morning and started sewing and i did. not. stop.
well, i stopped for a little while to make a wedding gift but thats in a second....
i made a shirt, shorts, sewed button holes and buttons on a skirt that i made in november, and then i made a bad ass dress! WTF???
the shirt i made for my sister kathy. she bought this fabric ages ago and picked out a pattern and i kept putting it off and putting it off... and then one day we saw the *exact* same shirt on modcloth for $107! WTF???

theirs vs. mine:

mine is from simplicity 7896, suckas

and i made these cute little 'tap-shorts':

simplicity 6973- you better believe my ass hangs out the bottom!

and this friggin' awesome dress:

anne adams 4769

and, AND i did a glass etching on a champagne bottle and glasses for a wedding we went to the next day!

im just gonna out the design from the bottle here because they never show up in photos.

clearly, someone spiked my coffee.

its like... atlantis or something!

you know how some people look like things... and you cant put your finger on what it is they look like but then when you finally realize what it is its like the universe makes sense?

exhibit a

i really wish i could remember who i described as looking like a melting wolf the other day. its been bothering me nonstop.

anywho... so ive been over at the hoarder house a lot lately and i hope you ladies are ready for some goodies! last week i organized *all* of her books. all 200+ of them. several duplicates but there are books about everything crafty!
this week ive been going through all of her dressers in there and ive been finding things that i didnt even know existed! amazing things! its like treasure island or atlantis! magical goodies around every corner! haazaaaah!
i also am bracing myself for the 40+ boxes of fabric in the garage. ive brought home some fabrics already and made myself some nice things- like this! but there is still soooooo much more!

and on another side note, next month i am going to be in a local magazine for my vintage sewing and collecting! tyler is writing the article and on monday our friend josh is coming out to take some photos. i hope he understands that this is a challenge because i just so happen to be the most un-photogenic person of all time.
pretty much every picture of me includes at least one of the following:
- crazy eye
- crazy hair
- a look like i need to poop or something
- a look like i am pooping or something
- weird contorting that makes me look like a tornado
- sudden disappearance of upper lip, eye brows, and/or all feminine qualities
so either he will be like, the best photographer ever and get a good photo, or ill go in the magazine looking like this:

how do i even have a boyfriend?

i feel like i should note that in the photo we were at my humid out-door camping birthday party... things were tough.

guadalajara

we got hit by a SUPER storm last night and lightning struck the transformer for our house, leaving us without power for about 13 hours. what with this being south texas and all, it was both hot-as-balls, and humid.
so! to pass the time my beautiful baby girl guadalajara and i had a photo shoot outside!

after that, my mother found my diary from 1997 which was absolutely PHENOMENAL!
apparently i was a bit of a creep. the obsession i have for john and steven- whew! its a wonder i didnt grow up to be a total stalker (or did i???)
puberty also hit me pretty hard:

i would be lying if i didnt say i was confused about the 'length' of my boobs... which never did get all that big either. all i know is after tyler sees that i have made that photo my status on facebook and tagged him as the boob line, i might be single.

later blog,
crissy baker

ps
my boobs totally got bigger!!

pss
they are about
___________________ long

i enjoy being a girl

because i get to make and wear stuff like this:

and i totally have the perfect hat to go with it!

i have a wedding to attend this weekend so of course i had to make a new outfit! plus its tyler's family... and i believe they have all come to expect this sort of thing by now.
... as well they should.
i am in love with this dress though, totally serious. its made from simplicity 4637 from 1954.

AND this was a free pattern!

i started it last night about 7 and just finished the ol' girl up! yeehaw! i think i am allowed to be at maximum sass in this dress because thats what i was getting putting it together.
first, i didnt have all of the pattern pieces
second, i ran out of the thread i was using at the sleeves with exactly ONE FRIGGIN INCH LEFT.

its true, i measured!

then my iron, which i use on EVERYTHING when im sewing was getting all poopy-doody so i had to stop today and clean it up

'the fuck did this even come from???

and THEN i didnt have any more of the bias tape i was using for the trim so i went to that hoarders house because its a hell of a lot closer than any fabric stores and its the one color she DIDNT buy in bias tape so i came home all cranky- but not too much because i grabbed some patterns while i was there- and found the size/color i needed like, 3 feet from the sewing machine!

OHMYGODDDHGKNSKFHSODRSOELDFJSODSJDFZSLUJSDF!!!!

i was upset.

but then i finshed it up and twirled around and now i feel good because its so darn pretty!

just look at all those pleats!

everything i like about girlyness in one dress! pleats, petticoats, flowers, bows, matching hats! i might even have to get out some gloves!

i have enough fabric left over to make audrey a pretty bow or dress or shirt or something too!
not that she needs any help being fucking ADORABLE or anything. shes completely got that down.

beach weekend!

this weekend i joined tylers family for a lovely weekend beach trip! it was so nice :) the weather was perfect and the water, perfecto! we even had the opportunity to meet a bunch of parrots!

thats tyler in the back with the orange bird on his head and me in the front in the 2-piece. normally i dont think i look so uncomfortable in photos, but he totally gave me the bird named peepee. seriously dude? .... its just asking for trouble.

and BONUS: i didnt get burnt like last year when we went! this is a BIG accomplishment for me. i might be the whitest white girl out there, so the sun rays hunt me down and get me every time. last year, i ended up all red and blistered like this:

shits nasty, yall

we also passed up a shopping center that was clearly designed with me in mind:

thats right- fabric, donuts and booze!

so i also happened to have on the best beach outfit of all time while i was there! it is the one i have on in the bird photo

sorry for the awkwardness, i cant find my tripod so i have to take photos like a 15 year old on myspace.

the skirt is from butterick 9633 and the top is from view c on stretch & sew 1362.

i made the whole thing from one full sized fitted bed sheet. i was hoping there would be enough for some cute little bloomers but the stripes wouldnt fall together right. i really like the top, and will definetly be making another one in a more 'water-friendly' material.
so i had this amazing get up and then i also got a package in the mail just before we left. it was the shoes ive been waiting for all week long! the *perfect* shoes for this outfit- behold!

a.maz.ing.
i love these shoes so much! they are comfy, cute and have a wedge! i got theme here if anyone interested... which you should be! this also was the first time ive gotten to wear 2 shoes in a month! i got my foot x-rayed the other day (not broken, possibly a torn muscle or ligament) and they gave me a new air cast i can fit either in or over my shoes. thank goodness, i was getting really tired of hobbling around in one shoe all the time!

and speaking of, let me show you my skirt i made for that dr appointment!

hazaah! its TIME 2000!

i dont know what is the deal with this fabric, but i love it! it used to be a set of curtains (little ones) but i really needed something lazer-y to go with x-rays... right? its from simplicity 8126.

i decided against the pleat in the front, partly because it wasnt right for this fabric, partly because i didnt have enough of the fabric. it can out awesome though and tyler, who loves him some sci-fi, really like it a lot.
win.


*update-ish*
i found a photo sort of, of my awesome beach getup!