
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Fall...
I've said it before, but I am so ready for fall! I don't know whether it's the fact that Simplicity has updated their website with fall patterns, that I've become obsessed with the fall and Christmas fabrics at Hobby Lobby, that I had hot cream of chicken soup for supper, or that I've been overcome with the strange desire to wear a warm jacket. I'm just ready for fall. I'm sick of humid, sticky 85-90 degree weather. I long for cool weather!
I also long for some free time to sew. I'll admit, I did have some extra time today. But I've been in the process of switching my iTunes library from my parents' computer to my new laptop (a long process that didn't go exactly as planned). And I listen to my iPod when I'm sewing, and all of the songs were temporarily off of my iPod. So I couldn't really sew this afternoon. It wouldn't have been the same. So I spent the whole afternoon adding CD's that didn't go through. I haven't sewn hardly anything in a week now, and it's driving me crazy. I seriously want to make that vintage Butterick dress and attempt a winter coat, not to mention wallets and totes that people want.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Awake and alive...
I've already seen ways that God is working and helping me through this experience. And it's only my third day (tomorrow I have classes, but then I've made it through my first week of college!). I've already been pushed out of my comfort zone a lot. I've had to accept more responsibility and become much more independent. I've been having to drive by myself to town (which I didn't do much of before this week) and learn how to deal with new places and crazy drivers (I had someone blowing the horn at me today because I was being cautious at an intersection) and unfamiliar situations (like where to park when every parking lot is full). I've had to meet new people and talk to them and start to get to know them, and I've had to reacquaint myself with old friends. I've had to get up in front of 30 people and introduce myself and tell about myself. I've had to ask for help. These may all seem like minor things, but to me they're pretty huge. And then tonight in our teen class at church, we watched a sermon from Jentzen Franklin about fighting fear. About risking looking stupid or being rejected or failing because we need to fight our fears and take opportunities that God gives us. He said that often our scariest moments are our biggest opportunities (he even mentioned the fear of public speaking). I need God to help me fight my fears, because I have oh-so-many of them.
I got the new Skillet CD, "Awake," today. It came out Monday, I believe. I was a little anxious, because the reviews I had read (from Jesus Freak Hideout) weren't that great. But I actually really like it so far. Some of the songs sound a little similar, but most of the time they do on CD's until you really listen to them a lot. I just love Skillet.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Monday, August 24, 2009
First day...
I like the personal, secluded feeling of the children's center. I like having classes with all girls who are in the child care program (and of course it's all girls...the unnecessary boys' bathroom in the class has become a storage room). Tomorrow and Wednesday, I'm afraid, I'll be thrown out into the real world, with all sorts of students in my classes (they're more basic classes). I got spoiled today, and I can't help but feel that the rest of my week won't go nearly as happily or smoothly as today did. Anyway, besides parking, I guess today was a good first day of college.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Let's try this again...
Closeups of the fabrics used and the decorative stitching.
Well, tomorrow is my first day of community college. I'm actually not nervous at this exact moment, which is amazing. I can't guarantee how I'll feel in the morning, though. But tomorrow shouldn't be bad at all. Only two classes, with a big gap in between, and Mom's coming to town later, too. So me and her are going to run errands between classes. I'll just be glad when I figure out how things are going to be and get in the routine. This suspense and not knowing what to expect is what kills me. Everyone please pray for me this week, that God will give me peace and bless my first week and that this will be a great experience for me. I guess I'll probably write about my first day after I get home tomorrow...
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Patchwork and movies...
Second of all, I was going to have pictures of my new patchwork bag, hence the title of the post, but I'm having technical difficulties. I'll try again tomorrow.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Freshman Preview and strange musicals...
This week I got some old movies from the library: "The Pajama Game," "Kiss Me, Kate," "Herbie Rides Again," and "West Side Story. The first two were alright, pretty good. I haven't got to watch Herbie yet, and they're due back tomorrow. "West Side Story" was weird. To say the least. I have very mixed feelings about it. I'm learning that "classic" movies, that are supposedly some of the best movies ever filmed, aren't always good (sometimes it's the obscure ones that are real treasures). Sometimes they're quite depressing and disappointing, such as "Gone With the Wind" (the most wasted four hours of my life, but that's another post entirely). "West Side Story" didn't quite live up the hype, for me at least. Okay, I love musicals. I don't care if they're not realistic. I don't care if people really don't dance in the rain or break out in song. That's just part of musicals...they were most famous during the war years when people needed an escape from reality and needed happy endings. But "West Side Story" was pushing it even for me. A tough inner-city neighborhood with two violent, rival gangs is not a good setting for a musical. Tough gang members in tight clothes carrying knives and guns do not dance down the street or sing in front of each other. It was strange. I liked some parts of the movie. I liked "America," the version of "Tonight" that everyone sings on the way to the rumble, and the very end. But other than that, I'm not too sure how I feel about it.
I made my patchwork bag, and it turned out very nice. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but maybe by tomorrow. I'm very anxious to start working on my dress. I'm using brown fabric with pink polka dots, the same I used on Mom's tote. Hopefully I'll have enough fabric left between the dress and her tote to make a clutch to match it. I love clutches; they're so 1930's...clutches and gloves and hats, all matching, LOL. It would be perfect with a retro dress. I might start on it tomorrow, but maybe not. I've got to make a few wallets, including one for my aunt.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
New projects and Elvis...
I'm going to make the bottom one, in black/turquoise colors.
I love this vintage-style dress. I'm going to make the one on the right. Of course it's exaggerated in the drawing, but I've seen pictures online of it that people have made, and it's beautiful. It has a lovely full, gathered skirt like you'd see on "I Love Lucy" or "The Andy Griffith Show." The bottom of the skirt is about 100 inches! I'm really excited. I might even try this one in muslin before I make it in the real fabric, since my dresses never seem to fit me exactly right. But maybe not...it takes almost 4 yards. Anyway, I'll probably start on the bag tomorrow.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Laptops and blankets...
It's so cute, and I'm happy with the way it turned out, especially since I just winged it. It's a little over two feet by three feet. One side is Fancy Nancy flannel material. The other side is pink broadcloth with a cut-out of the flannel appliqued in a corner, and there's a layer of fusible fleece in between (which made it a little too stiff, but I think it'll soften up after it's been washed). The corners are rounded and it's held together by pink bias tape around the edge.
And then just before lunch, I had a lovely surprise. I was thinking about ordering a new laptop, because of my poor dead 6 year-old one. But a few weeks ago, my parents told me that since we're supposed to get financial aid for school, that they would get me a laptop. So we ordered a new Dell Inspiron 14. It originally wasn't supposed to come until next week, but it was shipped early and got here yesterday! It's so lovely. Such a huge improvement over my old one! And I hope I'll be able to use it a lot with school stuff. I'm really impressed with it so far.

I've been watching some Elvis movies over the past few days. Poor Elvis. I've always read that he wanted to be a serious actor, like James Dean, but the only roles they would give him were ones to bring in a lot of money. So that means that he plays nearly the same character in all 30-some movies. He's always a tough, carefree, race car driving, say-one-wrong-thing-to-me-and-I'll-punch-your-nose, singing, guitar playing, karate chopping, chick magnet, nightclub singer. Always. Except in his last movie (I think "Change of Habit"-how ironic!), where I believe he plays a doctor who does not get the girl (because she's a nun), and in a few others where he might play a slight variation...like a pilot or scuba-diver. I'm not making fun of Elvis. I'm making fun of the people who came up with those scripts.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Gifts and spiders...
Spiders really freak me out. I don't know if this comes from Aragog or the spider that nearly eats Frodo (can't remember its name...what is it with huge, man-eating spiders in books, anyway?) or what. The woods around here are infested with them, as are the brooder houses. This morning in the kitchen, I was in socks and stepped on something sort of soft that crunched. I looked down and was horrified to see that it was a spider-a big one, and even worse, it wasn't completely dead. Then I felt guilty because I didn't mean to crush it and my grandma had to put it out of its misery (I don't hate spiders, I'm just scared of them). That nearly scarred me for life. So where am I going with this gruesome spider talk? Well, the other week, me and Mom were going to the thrift store when a spider dropped down at me from the ceiling of my car. This is the second time this has happened ("You know why?" my dad said. "Because it's a Bug." Joke of the day.), and I handled it quite well as we were already in the parking lot. I tried to knock the spider into the floorboard, and thought I did, because I couldn't see it anywhere. So me and Mom went into the store and looked around for a few minutes. When we're walking toward the door to leave, I notice something on my shoulder. Guess what it is? The same spider from my car. Not a little spider either, and it's sitting on my shoulder for a free ride like it's my pet or something. I managed to brush it off without causing a scene. Maybe I'm like Spidergirl or something, because they're drawn to me.
I'm trying to remain calm about starting college in a few days. I'm okay until I realize how quickly the days are slipping away, and I don't feel so prepared. I need God to breathe some courage on me, like Aslan gives to Lucy.
Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.
"I'm sorry, Aslan," she said. "I'm ready now." -Prince Caspian
Monday, August 10, 2009
"Jane Eyre" and rewatched movies...


Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Monday, August 3, 2009
"Black" and school shopping...
Me and Mom have to go shopping for school clothes sometime pretty soon. It's been four years since I've been in public school, and I haven't had to have many clothes since then. That should give you an idea of what my closet looks like...quite a few things that I haven't worn in 4 years and that don't fit me anymore, and then a very few outfits that I love and wear all the time. I wish I had a quirky sense of style, sort of a mix of Luna Lovegood and Penelope. I see cute, unique clothes, but I'm not brave enough to wear them. Part of me keeps thinking, here's a new start. The majority of people at community college have never seen or met me before. I can choose what to wear and how to act to make people perceive me a certain way. But then I think of how fake that would be, and how exhausting it would be to keep up that act. Maybe I'm already putting on an act, in a small way. It would be so freeing to just be myself, be the genuine person God created me to be. And to tell the truth, I'm already quirky enough without acting or dressing like Luna. At least she isn't obsessed with what others think...she's not afraid to be herself. So while we're out shopping (probably unsuccessfully. Either I'm picky or there's some clothing company conspiracy to refuse to make clothes that fit me.) for jeans and shoes, I'll try to fight the temptation to worry what the world thinks of me and to fit their paperdoll (as Natalie would say) mold.
Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
New wallets...
I sold four of my wallets this week. =) One large one and three small. I've also (sort of) started working on a few surprises for Mom's birthday next weekend. In fact, that's what I should be doing now, instead of blogging. I've only got a week.
Here lately I've been looking around at laptop prices. My poor Dell has practically died, but since it's been mine since 2003, I guess it's about time. I think it has a virus (or more likely, several, by the looks of it). I'd really love to have a new laptop, especially since we have high speed internet now, and I have one of those wireless router things. But the Dell Inspiron 14 I'm looking at will drain the graduation money in my bank account, even with all the special deals they're offering now. It's so lovely, especially the purple color available. The thought of having to put all my pictures and everything on a new computer is sort of scary, though. And it's even worse when I realize how much fabric or sheet music or some of the other things I love I could buy with that much money.
I've realized that I'm tired of summer. I'm ready for my favorite season...fall. I'm tired of hot, sticky weather and flip-flops and mosquitoes and everyone going on vacation except us (farmers, unfortunately, can't go on vacation until the fall/winter) and shorts (I don't wear shorts. But I'm tired of seeing shorts, especially elderly people in shorts, which is usually not only immodest but also mentally disturbing.) I'm ready for fall, for cool mornings and fresh breezes and pumpkin-scented candles and colorful, dry leaves and boots and jeans and scarves and sweaters and apples and trips to the mountains. Doesn't it sound just lovely?
Kristin (missvintagegirl)