For the first time ever I’m planning out my sewing projects for the next season in advance so that they will complement each other.  It’s fun in a sewing/fashion-nerd sort of way.  I’ve reorganized my fabric stash into fall/winter and spring/summer instead of fabric-type to make it easier to pick out things that work together.  As usual I’ve gotten pretty ambitious with what I’d like to make up but at least I’m getting a head start.  (I’ve already finished one quick project this weekend and have started another.)

I’m showing you two palettes.  There are a lot of browns; no surprise there.  The first one consists of pale muted blues and greens and ivory.  Toile and houndstooth and dots and cotton velvet.

The second palette is warmer although there is some black in there too.  Rust and mauve and mustard yellow brighten up this set.  Faux fur and florals here.  All of it, naturally, very vintage-inspired.  Pretty, faded, old-fashioned prints and textures.  I’ve got some ’30s patterns picked out, some from the ’60s (for basic shapes) as well as modern ones too.

Have you started planning or even working on projects for next season yet?  Do you like to plan in advance and to what degree?

4″x6″ recipe card

3″x5″ recipe card

Enjoy my free to print and share pumpkin-y recipes cards from last fall.  Just in time to swap those yummy recipes for Thanksgiving!

One of the best things about our little house is the lighting in the kitchen.  This main window faces the north/northwest and the light does not change much the whole day.  Even on the grayest of days there is plenty of light and I’m ever so grateful for this; I’ve lived in places that were dark and, really, I found it depressing.   This is the light in our kitchen right now: very bright and soft and white.  Yes, some of the doors are hanging off their hinges, the 80+ year old sink has seen better days but it’s really quite cozy, especially now.

My parents got us this Kitchen-Aid mixer as a wedding gift.   I know, I’m super fancy now.   I mean WE are super fancy.  So far I’ve made rapid rise bread with it (from the recipe book that came in the box;  pretty good but I’d like to try others) and some super fluffy cake frosting.   You know what would be really cool?  The pasta attachment.  Then I could make homemade pasta to go with my homemade lamb ragu (a household favorite).

And right now the weather in L.A. is perfect.  Very comfortable in the high 60s, bright and sunny, but not too hot to turn up the oven.  I’ve been brewing up all kinds of things lately which inspired me to make some fall-ish recipe cards.  I decided to post them as PDFs for free because, you know, I like you that much!

We’ve got a 4″x6″ recipe card:

And a 3″x5″ one too:

(Click images or links below to download.)  Just print them on your color printer, no border, “best” setting, cut and go.

» Download: 4″x6″ Recipe Card

» Download: 3″x5″ Recipe Card

Oh, by the way, THANK YOU for the swan-love!  I’m so pleased you liked her.   She’ll have some friends soon.

Have a lovely fall-ish weekend!

Speaking of being tired, I’m feeling a little under the weather.  Besides lack of sleep, it must have something to do with the constant supply of chocolate chip and yellow cake, plus rum and sugar cane coke (in other words, sugar!) this past weekend.  Oh well.  My husband took me out for dinner since I didn’t feel like cooking and I had a nice, large bowl of tubu chigae which is spicy Korean tofu soup.  Despite my lack of desire to cook, I managed to make a trip to the grocery store after work when I was feeling ambitious in terms of what’s for dinner this week: grilled steak and arugula, French onion soup, roasted vegetables.  Oh, maybe some mushroom chicken too.   At the very least I can pop the vegies in the oven in the morning since they are not too much effort.

Anyway, on to sewing. Casey posted some wonderful vintage pieces she hopes to work on; my favorite being the 1930s jumper.  I love jumpers!  There is something very sweet and girlish about them, yet decidedly practical too.  I was inspired to look through my pattern stash and find some jumper patterns that I might want to work on.  I won’t commit at the moment, since you know how that goes!  I think it’s better if I practically finish something before I announce its inception on this blog, therefore we can all be pleasantly surprised by the finished product.

The pattern above is 1950s and the full-skirted version is pretty fabulous.  I’ve decided that I look good in this silhouette.  I wonder, though, if I could possibly have enough fabric?

I love this early 1940s jumper, on the right:

The blouse is pretty sweet too!

This early ’80s style reminds me of something my mom might have made and worn.  I even like that floral print.  It would be especially nostalgic in a fine wale corduroy.

I’m throwing in this non-jumper pattern because it’s another thing I find inspiring right now:

Oh my goodness, can you imagine me traipsing around L.A., sporting a bonnet??  But, really, too cute, yes?  Which one is your favorite?