DIY: Vintage 911, Black Velvet Bleed

Yeah, so, I started a blog post series called Vintage 911 way back in 2012. That's also where it ended. Howevers, when I was uprooting my summer duds and closet-swapping them for my winter ones (which took hours as I have entirely too much clothing and vow not to purchase another stinkin' thing for at least 1.5 days), I came upon some vintage dresses that were in desperate need of help. Case in point: this now-lilac-y number.

My fave flowers in the whole wide world are lilacs. When I was a kid growing up in Illinois, there was a huge hedge of them just outside my bedroom window. On summer nights, with the window open, the smell was heavenly. It seems Tennessee is just too hot to host these lovelies. This dress can serve as my little reminder.

But it wasn't always lilac flowers and their sweet scent, ya see. Oh no, this vintage dress began it's life a buttery cream color. I wore it once on a hot summer night and sweated my way through it. I dropped it at the dry cleaners thinking I was leaving it in good hands....only to find this upon my pickup: a black velvet bleed.

What?! I was so bummed when this happened last summer that I promptly stuck it in the back of my closet and tried to forget about it. When I recently uprooted it, I decided to put my new found dying skillz to use. 

Now, normally, I'm all about the Procion dye. I've used it to dip dye a shirt, dresses and even another vintage dress bled. However, I didn't have any lilac dye on hand...and I just didn't think any other color would successfully mask this bloody nightmare.

And so that's when I found myself at the local craft store. I totally bypassed the Rit Dye because I've not had the best success with the stuff. When I noticed this dye packet said "Jacquard", the makers of Procion Dyes, I knew this was the one to go with. Because my dress has an insanely large circle skirt, I picked up two dye packets in case one wouldn't be enough.

Because I'm a lazy rule breaker, I opted not to follow the stove top directions. I wasn't about to spend my Saturday standing over smelly boiling water stirring purple soup. Instead I set my washing machine to the hottest of temps and filled the tub with the dye. Once it started to agitate, I added the damped dress to the mix. Because it's meant to be agitated for something like an hour, I set my alarm for every 12 minutes to reset the agitation. I didn't want my precious dye going down the drain!

I was right to pick up two packets as I ended up dying this dress twice. The first go was a little too light of a lilac for me. It came out looking faded. I'm much happier with the second go round. I'm sure you can see in the before photo that this dress had a white silhouette of foliage throughout. This pattern is now much more subtle and I'm a little bummed that it's kind of disappeared. Other than that, I'm happy with this new lilac-y addition to my closet.

What the Art Teacher Wore #62

California Dreamin' Monday: Still had my mind in Cali what with all the bright colors and sunshine. I tried to make the most of it on this dreary weather Monday. sweater: Awesome, isn't it? And on the cheap too at Forever 21; skirt, turquoise tights: Target; glitter fishnets: TJMaxx; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Okay, I dunno what the weather is doin' where you are, but here it's finally divine. After a week of dreary and rainy days, I am just thrilled. So much so that I've even (foolishly) started packin' up my winter clothes and bustin' out the summer duds. However, there are some things in my disturbingly overcrowded closet that qualify as "spring wear." You know, like a pink wool dress or a long sleeved Easter-Sunday-esque frock. The kind of stuff that only works in April. So I decided to don those little numbers while there was just enough chill in the air for me to do so.

As for the artist I'm sharing with you this week, I have a confession: I've been feeling a little uninspired (read: lazy). When this happens, I like to flip through my art books that have pretty much been collecting dust since I discovered (read some more: became addicted to) pinterest. One of my faves has always been my book on the Finnish design company Marimekko. I thought I'd share my favorite designer from that company with you: Annika Rimala.

Annika Rimala: Can I just confess my secret girl crush on this amazing designer? I mean, everything about her just speaks coolness: from her bobbed hair to that awesome dress created from her designs. Annika Rimala worked her way up in the Marimekko company and was chief fashion designer for 20 years. By the way, if you aren't familiar with Marimekko, go here and be prepared to be slapped-in-the-face amazed. Image here.

Those Shoes with that Dress, What the What?!: Sorry, big hurry means big ugly. Don't get me wrong, I like the shoes, just not with that, that and that. In fact, when I walked into my principal's office to ask her a questions she screamed, " Ugh! Get out! Too much color, it's hurting my eyes!" Some people. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: Talbots, thrifted; tights: Target; shoes and belt: thrifted...wow! Almost entirely thrifted outfit!

Linjavitta dress, 1967 So my girl Annika is all about the bold patterns. Everything is big, bright and in your face. But in a happy way. She began at Marimekko in the children's department and I wonder if that influenced her design aesthetic. I also love that her design is a departure from the flowery and paisley patterns of the late 1960s. Her work looks modern even today. Image here.

Spring Coat Wednesday: I love this Anthro coat but it has such a small window of wear-time. It makes me super happy so I had to share it. pink dress: vintage, St. Louis; fishnets: Target; shoes: Fluevog

Everything about this photo makes me long for summer. Except the barefoot part. I've tender-bottomed feet. Image here.

Flowery Thursday: Have you planted any yet? I'm too afraid to. I just know we'll have one last freeze before the summer hits. dress: vintage, thrifted; jacket: Forever 21; tights: Target; shoes: Softt

 Gioia - Annika Rimala's Petrooli Pattern, 1963 How can you improve polka dots? By placing dots within dots. Genius. Check out this blog for an indepth account of Marimekko and Annika.

Favorite Color Friday: This color makes me happy. The color of a sunny day sky, a clear blue ocean, a fresh breeze, the super sour part of one of those red, white and blue popsicles you can only get from the ice cream man. dress: vintage, antique shop in TN; tights: Target; belt: Forever 21; shoes: Indigo by Clarks; poodle pin: ebay

Dress, 1963 Can I please have a golden yellow Vespa with an Annika Rimala vintage dress to match? Is that really too much to ask? Although the minute I'd try that no-hands, I'm-King-of-the-World pose, I'd slide off the tail end and wind up with a bruised bum. So forget it, bad idea. Just the dress please and thank you.

Oh! And by the way, thank you so much for all of your positive feedback on my last post! It was fun to try a different approach to my usual "In the Art Room" updates. I truly appreciated your kind words, they meant a lot.

In the Art Room: Winter Wonderland

A grouping of kindergarten landscapes.

For the last three years, when my kindergarteners painted these snowy scenes, the following day was a snow day. I kid you not. This year was no different. Despite the fact that snow wasn't even in the forecast, it fell steadily from midnight on to the following day. The kindergarteners are convinced they made this happen. I'm beginning to believe them and I'm plotting more snowy projects for the very near future.

I love that this tree has outgrown the frame.

I don't usually repeat projects from year to year cuz I get bored easily. But I often struggle with kindergarten project ideas. This is one of my ole standbys because it's got it all: a little painting, a little collaging and a whole lotta landscaping all in one.

After looking at several landscapes (with a big focus on Grandma Moses because she's awesome and so kid-friendly), we began our own paintings. During our first half an hour together, the students were given the following directions:

• Paint any kind of line that would be good for a hill. Paint that in blue from one side of your paper to another.
• Blend white paint into the blue line to create light blue or a tint of blue. 
• Repeat the first two steps with a hilly line below the first.
• Put that masterpiece on the drying rack, paint brush in the sink, clean that table and you're done for the day!

• The following day we chatted all about shades. We were creating an evening sky so we used black and blue this time. Some students chose to use the back of their paint brush to draw wind and stars into the sky (Vincent van Gogh much?) while other dabbed on snow or just left it black.

• On this day we looked at Grandma Moses' landscapes again and chatted about the three parts to a landscape: fore, middle and background. After eyeing her work, we noticed she showed space my painting her trees, houses, people, everything smaller in the background. 
• Each artist chose their own house from a stash of die cuts. Snow and icicles were added with white oil pastels. We learned how to cut out triangles and rectangles for our trees. 
• As you can see above, most of the wee ones understood that to create space in their landscape, their trees needed to decrease in size. Just don't ask them what "decrease" means. We're not there yet.

• Students were given metallic gold and silver oil pastels to add wind and stars to their evening skies. Looks like this artist opted to just stick with white snow and asteroids.

• Finally, we chatted snowflakes, added them in white oil pastel to our frames along with our signatures.

In all, I'd say these turned out pretty stinkin' cute. Even if some of us still refer to them as our "landscrapes." Call it what you wanna, if it brings us a Snow Day, I'll take it!

On a super happy side note, I came home from school today to find my art room in the back of SchoolArts magazine! I'm so excited. I hardly recognize that super clean room as it currently looks like someone turned it upside down, gave it a couple hard shakes, squirted same paint and threw some glitter inside before slamming it back down again. Small correction: my school is Johnson Elementary. Gotta give the best school to work at props!

Until we chitty-chat again, enjoy the rest of your week!

What the Art Teacher Wore #54

 Valentine's Monday: This week I decided to get into the Valentine's Day spirit. Which for me meant I wore just a pinch more red and pink that usual. This was a little DIY dress and collar I crafted last year. You can check it out here if you wanna. dress, collar: vintage dress, DIY'ed by me; tights, red shirt: Target; boots, belt: Anthropologie

Hey, dudes. I hope this Sunday evening finds you relaxed and ready to start the new week. I've got the relaxed thing down...it's going back into the art room that concerns me. I've got so many big plans for upcoming art adventures I just hope I can keep up!

Somehow, while spending entirely too much time online, I stumbled upon the photo below. I think every art teacher needs a little Dior palette hat in their lives, don't you? This hat reminded me of how much I love Christian Dior and his New Look which took fashion by storm in 1947. I thought I'd share just a few photos from that era with you this week. 

Until then, I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day week!

Stephen Jones for Christian Dior Haute Couture, Autumn Winter 2007–08 I love that this model is not only meant to look like she is from the New Look era but she is also painted black and white. Genius. I've loved and collected vintage fashion since high school. Back then I was really into the hippie look, complete with giant bell bottoms and platform shoes. I even painted daisies and the Beatles on the bottom of a pair of my dad's old jeans. Wore 'em, like, every day. But I always picked up dresses from the 50s when I found them at the thrift store. I wasn't interested in wearing them at the time, but I knew they were special.

Candy Cane Tuesday: None of the kids were getting the Valentine's reference with this outfit. They just old me I looked like a candy cane. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: Germany; tights: Target; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Softt; flower: H&M

Renee, The New Look of Dior, Place de la Concorde, Paris, August 1947 by Richard Avedon Not until The Golden Age of Couture exhibit at the Frist Center for Visual Arts did I find out just how special these dresses were. Not only did the exhibit showcase photos like the one above but there were also dresses galore from the New Look collection. I went to that exhibit at least four times. I just couldn't get enough. It was then that I really began wearing my, at the time, small collection of dresses from the 1950s. That collection is now beginning to look like an episode of hoarders but we'll address that another time (read: never).

Richard Avedon Self-Portrait, 1963 Oh man, can I just take a time out from Dior and tell you how much I love the photography of Richard Avedon? Dude, I mean, seriously. Google his name and some of the most amazing images you'll ever see will pop up. I think I need a coffee table book of his work, stat.

Lame Hair Wednesday: Seriously. I've been slacking in the hair department of late. I'm enjoying my sleep more than I am a good 'do. When is bedhead gonna become stylish, anyway? I mean, this morning when I awoke, I was totally rockin' the Mel Gibson Braveheart hair look. Shoulda went with it. sweater, tights: Target; dress: Buffalo Exchange, Anthro tags; belt: Anthropologie; shoes: Dolls by Nina; necklace: created by a friend

Left: Christian Dior {New Look 1947} in front of the Eiffel Tower ~ Paris, France; Right:  Christian Dior measuring a hemline. Dior's New Look line dramatically increased the length of women's skirts. During World War II, regulations were issued by the U.S. government to set skirt lengths at 17 inches above the floor in an effort to conserve textiles. Women were entering the work force more than ever and this length seemed to suit them and their ability to work comfortably. After the war and the regulations ended, Christian Dior lengthened hemlines again. This infuriated many who saw this not only as a set back for women but also as wastefulness. 

Thursday: After a bumpy class, I received the sweetest email from a mom who said that although her kindergartener was out sick, the little one was still able to teach her mom all about tints and shades with a landscape painting lesson. The photo that was attached to my email immediately cheered me up and was just what I needed to readjust my mood. sweater: vintage, gift from MIL; dress: Anthropologie ($19, yo!); tights: Target; shoes: Indigo by Clarks

Male students protest against longer hemlines at Michigan State University, circa 1947

 Yeah, leave it to a bunch of guys to protest longer hemlines. If it's one thing I learned in college, never trust the dudes who claim to be feminists. But I digress. Is it just me or isn't the idea of people protesting over clothing being too long just fascinating? If you search the internet, you'll find images of women wearing the New Look and other women ripping their clothing off or throwing water at them. It's amazing that a hemline the goes down could cause such an uproar.

Women protesting Dior’s long skirts. Chicago, Illinois - September 22, 1947 Despite the protests, women everywhere fell in love with the designs of Dior (even if one unfortunate lass in Cali got her hemline caught in the door of a bus as she exited. Poor thing had to run along side the bus until the driver noticed and set her free). For this reason, Dior became an overnight sensation and was able to help revive the fashion industry in Paris. 

Do you Dior, Friday? My wanna-be Dior inspired look. I am completely in love with wearing a crinoline under my dresses now. Not only is it warm but it's so full and fun. This one I am wearing is just some cheapo thing. I think I'm going to put a temporary halt to my dress-buying-disease and save up for a real crinoline. Any suggestions from you crinoline wear-ers out there? sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress, belt: Anthro (dress, $29! Seriously, if you don't get there and scoop up some of those sales, I'm going to end up buying everything!); tights: Target; shoes: Softt

 New Look, Christian Dior, 1947 On one of the occasions when I went to the Golden Couture exhibit, I had the chance to hear one of the curator's speak. She told us the story of how she went to an auction and saw a lump of red fabric with a Dior label. Despite the fact that the dress was a mess, she bid up to $3000 of the museum's money on the dress, thinking she was getting the bargain of a lifetime. Turns out the museum had to spend about $8000 just to repair the dress. However, if it's a Dior, than it's worth it, right? You just can't pay enough for that much glamor.

 A Typical Weekend: Speaking of glamor, would you take a look at this little Dior-inspired number. Hubs, who has to deal with me looking like this more often than not, insisted on snapping these photos of me today. I cannot believe I'm actually sharing these photos with you...I mean, there are strings hanging off my butt! I have tape stuck to my jacket and my socks don't even match. But, since I'm all about full disclosure, here you go. If you "accidentally" stop following my blog, I completely understand. jacket: Mountain Hardware: sweats: borrowed from hubs; mismatched socks: Thorlos

 Sigh. Only on this blog will I take you on a trip from Christian Dior to linty sweats. You're welcome.

In the Art Room: Wait, Where Were We Again?

We were collage landscaping: My fantastic fourth grade students completed these landscapes just before winter break which was a kind of miracle. Thus far, this project involved painting the sky, oil pastel texturing paper for land and collaging. But the real excitement of constructing toilet paper tube castles began this week. I can honestly say I've never seen kids have more fun with ole tp tubes. You can see our inspiration here.

 Have you ever had one of those deep sleeps that when you wake up, you've no idea who/what/when/where you are? Kinda like that time during spring break when you took that trip down to that place and drank too much of that one stuff and you hung out with someone whose name you can't remember and you might have done somethings that probably aren't legal in most states...or maybe that's just me.

 Regardless, that's how going back to school this past week has been. No matter how organized I left my classroom (granted, my idea of organization being that stuff is stuffed into random cabinets and...shooooved...clooooosed...there! Whew!) I still come back in a fog. Thankfully, I snapped these photos right before we left so I'd remember what we'd been up to. And so I could share them with you. See how nice I am? 

If you are a teacher, I hope your return trip back this week has been a good one. If you aren't a teacher, say a little prayer for the rest of us, would you? Particularly that the kiddos don't open any of my cabinets and become buried underneath all of my "hey! I've been looking for that!"

We were surprising our art teacher: With their awesomeness. Seriously. I am so impressed by my students. I love their landscapes and cannot wait to see the end result. I'll be certain to share it with you.

We were cardboard printing: Ack! Would some responsible art teacher get this second grade kid an apron!? These prints were made with gold paint (sadly the metallic doesn't photograph well) and will be used as the background for our cuckoo clocks. You might have heard me mention those here and here.

We were printing patterns: You might notice that I tri-folded the construction paper. As they were printing, the kids were instructed to create one pattern in a column and then repeat that in the other two columns. Then, boom, you got a pattern. These folded lines really helped them keep their patterns in place and not just stamp randomly all over the paper. Although there was some of that.

We were cuckoo clocking: So the printed background will be the wall for us to hang our cuckoo clocks on. This project has been so much fun since we've learned how to write in Roman numeral and create a clock. Do you see the brown paper underneath? That is our wooden clock crafted from textured brown paper that we cut and wove. 

We were munching: We might have had some quasi German treats as our intro to all things Deutscheland-ish. The kids were required to say, "Brezel und gummibarchen, bitte. Danke!" Don't worry, I had some gluten free pretzels and the like for my friends with allergies. I'd hate to see them miss out. 

We were collaging: The first grade has been creating the Black Forest as a home for their gnome. We just started crafting our gnomes this week and they couldn't be more excited. In fact, I wore my gnome dress today because it was requested by one of my classes. So cute!

And some of us were seriously collaging trees: I mean, wow. First grade? Dude. Luckily she finished the other two off this week.

We were (and still are) asking about Jes: Silly guy is lost in the mail. He'll make it to his next destination. In the meantime, a concerned second grader created this Lost Jes poster with a pretty handsome reward.

 I'll share with you the complete lessons and the end result when(ever!) we get 'em done.

Chat soon!