The Politics of Swing Dancing

Los Angeles has a very large swing dance 'scene'. You have championship dancers mingling with upper level dancers, amateur competition dancers dancing with beginners, and casual learners all mixed in. It's a very diverse group with lots of venues, bands, and events that happen in the area.

I've been in the 'scene' for a little over a year. I enjoy the dancing and trust it takes to partner dance with a stranger. I also enjoy the times I dance with my friends. I love learning the dances from my teachers (those championship dancers that I mentioned) and I'm often told I'm good at it and 'one of the best' in the classes I take.

The joy I get from dancing, when I'm able to really get into it is great for me, but it's the social dancing that often makes me want to give it all up.

Bluntly, leads don't want to dance with a fat follow. Leads don't want to dance with a follow that isn't attractive enough to them.  I mean, I can't change their mind, you're attract to who you are attracted to. What frustrates me is that should not apply in something as simple as social dancing. That is my consensus. How did I come to it? Observation and conversation.

Couch cushions 100% complete!


Don't they look great?! Well, hold on. I'm sure most of you by now are noticing my 30 second photoshop job, and realizing that this is just the first finished couch turned sideways.

But THIS is the arrangement I want...I'm hoping for. Because, you see, MY OTHER COUCH FRAME IS MIA!!!

Wednesday Update

Good morning lovely people.

Just an update for the week, since I don't have anything to really report.
I got a package in the mail yesterday, some Fireking ovenwear bowls I order arrived. 


My couch is finished!

FYI: I won't be posting anymore to SewRetro. I'm sure it's run by swell people, but since the switch to wordpress, it's become more 'vintagey' than actual vintage, and that's just not my deal. My last post of vintage furniture was not in their 'guidelines' so they took it down even though I've been doing Catalog Sunday for years on the site (with other furniture posts I might add). I wish them luck, and it's not like I did much contributing in recent months anyway :) So be sure to mark your own calendars for my Catalog Sunday posts which will be about whatever the fuck I want them to be about! :D

Okay! Onto the couch. It's finished! And I love it.


Ten yards of fabric, FORTY yards of piping, eight 30" zippers, 
and four broken needles later, I have a finished sofa.

Catalog Sunday

Because I have a great thing to show you all tomorrow, I thought I'd post some 30s home furnishing inspirations to whet your palette :)

Enjoy!!

Etsy Updates: Dresses for sale!

I've decided to let go of some of my more labored projects and list them in my etsy store.

A lot of these you have seen me create on the blog. They are too large now and I thought another stout lady would love a nice gown in her wardrobe!


I'm also going to list some day dresses too. I need to make room for some new clothes.


A friend asked me how could I let go of some of these clothes, and I see it as giving someone else a chance to wear a nice vintage styled garment. 


As usual, all my garments are finished with vintage notions and hand sewn finishes that give it that extra polished look.

In Memoriam


Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012

Which should be my new summer blouse?

Good morning everyone!
Have you ever felt like a change? I mean, you have looked in your wardrobe and discovered that you no long have the affection for some things that you cleaved to not two months before? That is where I am now.

It's not because I don't like my clothes, I do! It's more I need to advance my vintage style. If you saw what I wear to work all the time (pants and a big sweater) you would know why.

I need new blouses. The ones I adapted from my previous 30's pattern were great, but I need a change, a new fit, more style.

I offer up these styles.

Vintage Homemaking: Covering the unsightly.

Happy Monday one and all. I hope you had a great weekend. I actually had a rather mild weekend. I traveled down to the fabric district on Saturday (I'll take pictures of that place soon, I promise) and got some extra yardage for the couch cushions. Now I know I have enough fabric to finish them.

I'm still waiting on the second frame. I'm going to call about it today and hopefully, if it has arrived, get it tomorrow.

But this weekend was actually rather mild. I did go dancing, rather discouragingly (I'll do a post on that later in the week) and on Sunday I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned! It was amusing, I cleaned my 20s apt while wearing my 30s kitchen pajamas all day.

Catalog Sunday

As I'm waiting for my freshly mopped kitchen floor to dry, I give you Shoes! These are the summer footwear fashions from Sears '43.

Enjoy!

Would Ella Fitzgerald be famous today?

I have often thought about this and not because 
I don't really listen to modern music.


I don't.

Day Project: Kumquat preserves!

A co-worker and I were talking about fruit. More our love of fresh foods in any capacity. I've never been a big fruit eater (I prefer veggies), but with the juicing and my CSA, I'm just a yacking machine about this kind of stuff.

"My Grandmother has a kumquat tree in her yard. I'll bring you some," my co-worker said. I walk into the office that Friday morning to a ten pound bag of fresh kumquats! Wow, I said. Thanks!

What the hell was I gonna do with all this freggin' fruit!? Yeah, I asked for it, but truth be told, I'd never really had much experience with kumquats. 

Full bowl of cleaned 'quats.

Royalchrome Restoration pt 4

I blew off a night out to work on these! I couldn't stop thinking about them! Then I completed my first one, and I saw this project was indeed possible!

April Pattern Showcase!!!!

Happy May, everyone! It's time for another showcase of my gets this past month.


The above 30s blouse and jumper set is awesome.
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