Wednesday Wonderfuls #78

Hello there my lovely readers, happy Wednesday to you all!

Images, each line from left to right:
1. Red is definitely my colour :) 2. The view from my window at night 3. It's official, I have a cookbook addiction,
4. Wellies in July, *sigh* 5. Chocolate and orange scones, 6. Pretty shoes...
7. Crocheting whilst watching Wimbledon! 8. Beautiful buildings in Plymouth, 9. I love my new sweater :)

It's been rather an all-over-the-place kind of week for me, what with the weather not being able to decide what it wants to do (seriously, how do you dress for blazing hot sunshine AND torrencial rain?!) and the fact that I've gone almost two weeks without being home with my family and my Sweetheart. But it's not all bad! I've had a lot of fun this week too, particular highlights being Wimbledon, baking the most incredible scones not once but twice, getting some serious crocheting done, getting to wear my new sweater out and feeling like a princess in my Marie Antoinette style bedroom.

Unfortunately for me though I have currently run out of yarn, so both the crochet project and the cardigan I have been working on have been sadly neglected. I'm getting serious craft-withdrawal symptoms, so much so that I've even started tackling my taxes in order to distract myself! I know, shock horror. But if there's one thing that's always guaranteed to brighten up my week it's some Wednesday Wonderfuls, so here are my picks from the blogosphere this week!

• Gertie shows us how to add a rick rack trim to a dress, perfect for summer (if it ever gets to the UK!)
• I need some of this frozen chocolate peanut butter pie in my life...
• These tips for single women from the 30s over at the Dear Golden blog made me laugh. I think many of us could learn a lesson from them :)
• I am very excited about this new pattern from Sew Vera Venus, I need to get back into sewing lingerie!
• These painted mason jars should be made by everyone, bring some colour to you home :)
• This post over at the Coletterie has reminded me how much I love a good monogram...

That's it for another week of Wonderfuls, I hope that the rest of your weeks are wonderful!

Katie xxx

My newly completed Fair Isle Sweater!

Project: Knitted Fair Isle Sweater

Pattern: Fair Isle Jumper, by Susan Crawford, from "A Stitch of Time, Volume 2"

Stash Buster? no, I'm very naughty!

Items From Stash: ...

Date Started: May 2012

Date Finished: July 2012

New Techniques Used: none

Wear Again? yes as it seems the Summer is never going to come!

Well you could tell from my Me-Made-Monday post yesterday that I'm partial to a Fair Isle sweater, so say hello to the newest addition to my knitted wardrobe! It's the second piece that I have knitted from the tremendous book "A Stitch in Time, Volume 2" (the first being my mustard cardigan) and I think I'm going to love wearing it just as much as the first!

The original design and colour scheme

I changed the colour scheme from the original pattern completely because I was feeling a lot more girly when I went yarn shopping, so this pink heavy combination was born. I also used Rowan Cashsoft 4 ply yarn rather than the suggested Excelana wool, I love the Rowan Cashsoft, it's so soft and snuggly I can't get enough of it!

I paired the sweater with my New Girl dress

It's just as cute from the back!

This sweater was surprisingly quick to knit up, it took me just under two months from beginning to end, and it was a pleasure to work on, I just love watching a fair isle pattern grow as you work, it's incredibly satisfying! I'm also very happy with how to colour scheme turned out, I can see lots of future sewing projects in pink, blue and green to go with this sweater!

This project yet again affirms my love of the "Stitch in Time" knitting books, they really are the best source for stunning vintage patterns, everything that I have ever knitted from either Volume 1 or 2 has been a pleasure to work on and has turned out perfectly. Once again I am a very happy knitting bunny!

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off out to show off this sweater on the streets of Plymouth. I think it deserves to be seen!

Bye for now,

Katie xxx

Me-Made-Monday #2

Hello lovely readers, welcome to another addition of Me-Made-Monday! Here is my favourite Me-Made ensemble of this week:

Sweater: Made by Me, Skirt: Made by Me

This is one of my go-to outfits, and it actually contains a lot of firsts. The sweater was my first ever project from "A Stitch in Time" which is now one of my favourite knitting books, both it's first and second volumes. It was also the first handmade sweater that I have ever worn regularly as a key part of my wardrobe. As for the skirt, it was made using my first ever vintage sewing pattern, so it marks the start of a beautiful relationship!

What Me-Made beauties have you been showing off this week?

Katie xxx

What I learnt from Me-Made-May...

Now, I know it's been a while since I completed my first ever Me-Made-May, but I just wanted to take a look back at the challenge and what it has taught me about my Me-Made clothes. So here's what I've learnt through Me-Made-May...

I basically live in dresses and skirts! 

Out of 31 different outfits only one of them involved a pair of trousers. Now I don't really see this changing any time soon, I love the feminine look, but a few more pairs of trousers in rotation in my wardrobe might be fun :)

Knitwear was a winner during this Me-Made-May!

The type of clothing I wear the most is knitwear!

I hadn't quite realised how many pieces of knitted clothing I have made over the past year and a bit, but almost everyday of my challenge featured a piece of my handmade knitted goodies. As far as I'm concerned that means more knitting as I clearly can't get enough of it, so happy days!

It's red as far as the eye can see!

Red was definitely my favourite colour in May.

I wore more red clothes or red featured items than any other colour in May. This really doesn't surprise me as red has always been my go to colour, I treat it like a neutral and am convinced it goes with anything! But yellow and blue were also quite well represented, so clearly I'm a primary colours girl! A few more different colours in my wardrobe might be nice in the future :)

I wore twenty-two Me-Made items during the challenge!

I've never really stopped to think about how many pieces of Me-Made clothing I have made over the past year and a bit, but I'm really quite proud of how many I have, of how often I wear them and the quality in which they were made. And I didn't even wear every piece of Me-Made clothing either!

I love my cardigan soooo much!

My mustard cardigan was the most worn item during Me-Made-May.

Yes, I am addicted to this cardigan as you all know. I'm not surprised that I wore it more than any other piece of clothing, I love it to bits and it has definitely made mustard one of my favourite colours :)

So where do I go from here? How will this direct my future sewing projects and Me-<ade ventures...?

Sew more separates!

In particular trousers, they are sadly lacking in my wardrobe, and also some blouses would be nice.

Fill the gaps!

I will only make clothes that go with or compliment items that I have already made. Some of my Me-Made clothes are not worn as much because they don't really go with much, so I want to give them a hand :)

A few more colours!

I love red and always will, but this challenge has shown me a love for some new colours too. Instead of just imagining everything I make in red I would like to try out some over colours too.

More sewing!

I need to catch up with my knitting habit, so I definitely think that sewing will be my priority for the mean time, I don't want to neglect one hobby in favour of the other!

I really did love Me-Made-May and I cannot wait for the next challenge, but for now I'll just have to be happy with my Me-Made-Mondays :)

Bye for now!

Katie xxx

Wednesday Wonderfuls #77

Hello there lovely readers! Happy Wednesday to you all and also happy Independence Day to all my American readers :)

Images, each line left to right:
1. Hanging out the the wedding, 2. New styling for my hair :) 3. My Sweetheart at the Wedding,
4. The fireplace in my bedroom at the moment, swoon! 5. Wedding Cupcakes, 6. Love Is All You Need :)
7. Me at the start of the night, 8. I don't mind if I do! 9. Me at the end of the night!

I've had a brilliant week, filled with fun things including my beautiful friend Sara's wedding, which was a joy to attend. My Sweetheart and I had lots of fun in our 1950s style get ups, even if we were very differently dressed than all of the other guests! I am also now in Plymouth with the tour, which has been a bit grey and rainy so far, but as I type this the sun is definitely trying to come out, so maybe the summer is on it's way after all... :)

I have some great treats in store for you for this week's Wonderfuls, so without further ado here they are for your viewing pleasure:

• When the summer gets here I will most definitely want one of these picnic basket liners, the Coletterie shows you how to make one of your very own.
• An article about one of the many reasons that I'm thrilled I don't buy high street fashion any more. A brilliant piece from Advantage in Vintage.
• I would probably kill to get hair like Solanah of Vixen Vintage! Another fabulous hair tutorial from her.
• I dream about having as much style as this lovely lady :)
• Katie Cakes shows us how to make my favourite ice cream ever - Mint Choc Chip!
• The Dainty Squid is making me dream about my own beautiful bike at home. What an incredible makeover, why spend a fortune on a vintage-style bike when you can make over the one you have into something just stunning!
• And finally I just had to share these pugs in fashion pics with you, collected by Boo Boo Kitty Couture, who also owns one of the cutest pugs I have ever seen. I think you'll go gooey over them just like I did!

I hope you all have a great rest of the week, and let's hope the sun finally comes out so I can enjoy the beach!

Bye for now

Katie xxx

My 1950s Novelty Print Book Dress!

Project: 1950s Novelty Print Book Dress

Pattern: Simplicity 5124, bought here

Stash Buster? yes, this fabric has been waiting for some love for a while!

Items From Stash: actual 1950s novelty print dress fabric *swoon*, vintage belt buckle

Date Started: March 2012

Date Finished: June 2012

New Techniques Used: none

Wear Again? yes please and as soon as possible!

 Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my sneak peak of this dress, I think it's safe to say that you like it just as much as I do! But here she is in all her detailed glory for your viewing pleasure :)

This is my first time using a vintage shirt-waist dress pattern and I must admit that I was nervous at first. As I started cutting out the pieces I was worried that the finished dress would end up quite frumpy, after all it doesn't actually show much flesh, but it turns out that I couldn't have been more wrong! This dress is the perfect example of how a well made, figure hugging yet modest dress can feel super sexy - I definitely do when I'm wearing it! I feel like I'm channelling my inner Joan, so of course I couldn't be happier :)

I did very few alterations to this dress, apart from adding a couple of inches to the hips (for my ample posterior!) and taking a few inches from the length I left it just as it was, and it fits me like a glove. I'm particularly in love with the pleat details on the back and the little matching fabric belt I made with a vintage buckle that was a gift from a wonderful friend (thank you Harriet!).

I think you can safely say that I am a complete shirt dress convert and I definitely foresee lots more of these in my sewing future. They're a little bit more fiddly than your average dress, but my goodness they're gorgeous when they're done! And they're great for prancing around and posing in...

... which I think you can see I did!

Bye for now lovely readers!

Katie xxx

Me-Made-Monday #1

Welcome to a new feature of The Little Red Squirrel! I enjoyed my Me Made May experience so much, and I have missed sharing my Me Made outfits with you, so I have decided that once a week I will continue in the ways of the Me-Made Challenge and will share a picture of my outfit here. I hope you enjoy this as much as I know I will :) 

So for my first ever Me-Made-Monday here's a little something I've been working on for a while... My 1950s Novelty Print Book Dress!

Dress: Made By Me

Can I even begin to describe how much I am in love with this dress? I don't think so! You're looking at a girl who is well and truly smitten :) Consider this picture as a sneak preview, I will be giving you a much more in depth look at this fancy number tomorrow, but I hope you like what you see so far!