My DIY Wedding

Matt proposed to me along side crashing waves and under a full moon on Coco Beach in July of 2010. By the follwing morning I had already picked the date, location, and colors; we had dated 9 years so some of the details were easy. I knew I didnt want to get married in a church so my parents open yard was a perfect fit. As soon as we arived home I started sketching out how I wanted to arrange the yard.  I came up with: marry in the front yard, eat drink and be merry in the side yard, and party in the back yard with a bonfire. We planned on a 4:30 wedding so that the sun wouldnt be blareing on our guest during the wedding and by the time it was over we could watch the sunset as we ate. After the sun had set we had an area set up for a bonfire!

I am quite the seamstress so I knew that I would be making my own wedding dress. I drew out my design and found a similar pattern to my idea. You can find my designs on my etsy. I found just a simple halter dress pattern and altered the crap out of it! I shortened it and added tulle and  all the black lace and a layered bustle to the back. For every complement I got someone was asking why I chose black and red instead of the traditional white. Easy answer: I look terrible in white. Just awful on me. Plus I wanted to show off my tattoos. Total cost of the dress was $75. I know amazing right? AND it only took me two days from start to finish to make it. What can I say, I knew what I wanted!

The shoes are vintage. I interened at Venus & Mars the Showroom so I saw these heels before they went out and payed $35 for them. Something New: A red ruby and dimond set gifted from my Lewis Grandparents. Something Old doubled as my Something Borrowed: it was the dimond bracelet my Granny Lewis wore at her high school graduation and I painted my toes for my Something Blue.

 And everyone in the wedding party and the groom wore Converses!

I also made my "veil' which was a flower made from my dress scraps and netting that draped over part of my face that was on a head band. I made headbands with just the flower for my bridesmaids and flower girl. I had a pair for myself that I slipped on after the wedding! The girls also got cute little chandelier necklaces that I found on etsy from jHen Sunsine 

I bought goodies headbands from Walmart and wrapped them in a velvety ribbon. For the flower on the headaband I cut out circles of all the fabric used in my dress. I put a dab of hot glue in the center of each of the circles and attached them into the headband. I made 4 for the bridemaids, one on a clip for the flower girl. I made pins for our mothers and grandmothers. Our fathers and grandfathers got the same boutonneiers as the groomsmen.

For the Matt and his groomsmen I made boutonnieres from shells of bullets that he had shot and torn pages shaped and glued around a cork with a little tulle wrapped around it.

I folded books and added a rose and a black feather to the center with some white fillers that I found at Hobby Lobby.

We collected wine bottles that I covered with music sheets and glued down with modge podge.

Instead of buying a set for the unity candles I found candles and holders I would enjoy using after the wedding. We used one of our old tredle sewing machines for the table to hold the unity candles.

Total: $15 I bough on sale from Hobby Lobby

To decorate the front porch and the alter area I bought old windows and painted them black with a white stencil that mached my theme. I spent $70 on 7 windows and $10 on the paint and stencil.

We used quilts to cover the gift table and guest sign in table. My Great Grandmother gave us a Double Wedding Ring quilt that covered the gift table and a white and red cross stitched quilt covered the other table. We handed out matchbooks with out names and wedding date on it.

I seperated yard with what looks like sails. I draped red sheer fabric over pvc pipe my dad had laying acound the barn and it was held up by metal poles that he also found. They closed in the area were the guest sat and also divided it from the dining area. We borrowed tables and chairs from our church. Because we were limited to the amount we politely asked the guest and groomsmen to move the chiars from the wedding area to the dining area.

For the food dad made his famous BBQ with homemade sause and mom made the beans and corn. Our cakes were made by my best friend Samantha! She did such a great job! She was also  kind enought to do all our make up!

We use christmas ortaments for our topper because we didnt like any of the traditional toppers and plus they matched our tatoos! We love The Nighmare Before Christmas!

 For the dance floor we strung up a ton of lights that came from the top of the house and surounded the dance floor. By the time everyone was done eating it was tine to turn on the lights and get the afterparty started!

We played our music from borrowed speakers and my co-workers supprised us with singing "500 Miles!"

All in all it was a great wedding and im glad everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!

I Don't need no Stinkin' Pattern

This should be my life's motto, but I would like to think I'm a little more sophisticated than that! I spend Sundays at my mother's house talking and sewing. Sense my last post we have also lost my Great Granny Carathers (Frances' Mother) who was 97ish.. This loss was a little easier to take seeing as how we were all expecting it, but still none the less difficult. All of her belongings have been divided between the families and my mother is in possession of all of her scraps.. Yes all of them! Bags, barrels, and boxes of scraps! We have yet to sort through all of them, but we are finding many uses for these finger length pieces of her history. It is s neat to be able to pick out a print that I see in our quilts or barbie clothes.

While sitting with mom I just started picking up scraps and sewing them together. I have seen her do this type of piecing before, but am unaware of the process I am beginning to follow. After I completed a block of sewn together scraps I decided to start yet another quilt! And yes that means I have unfinished quilts... I am in fact my Granny Carathers!

 Now that I have finished  some of these mom asks me what am I going to call this pattern.... and I say "I don't need no stinkin' pattern!" When all along I have  in fact been following a pattern called Crazy Quilting! Now this is the part of the blog where I relate this patternless-pattern to my life.... boringggg Which I could totally do but, I'm just gonna tell you how to do it and hopefully later on I can show you the complete quilt!

First you start out by gathering scraps and strips of fabric, size or type really doesn't matter, now IRON them!

Start by sewing a small square scrap to a similar sized scrap (about 2"), this forms a rectangle. Now iron again... pushing the seam in one direction. If you look at the block at the top of the picture, the blue/yellow is my center.

You then need to start adding scraps in a clockwise pattern gradually increasing the size and length of the scrap or strip of material. The pink was my next piece followed by the blue checkered, and then the blue plaid, and then the gray, and so on until I reached  about 10." Note: Iron away from the center so all your seams face out.

When I reached about 10" across both ways I squared it up and made it a perfect 10" by 10" block. I used a see though ruler and a rotary cutter. It makes this really easy and neat!

After I finished the block I just did a zig-zag stitch around the edge to prevent unraveling and fringes... I highly encourage doing this!

I have an entire laundry bag of scraps to sort though so wish me luck on finishing this as a quilt! So far I have 14 blocks complete and I want to have about  50 to make a nice sized quilt!

Ok so maybe now I will relate this patternless-pattern to my life.. Lets see, lately work has been getting to me. I have began to notice this pattern (which wasn't there a year ago) Of waking up feeling great, driving down peaceful back roads only to have my day squashed by mundane work that I feel is beneath me. And this would make sense because I graduated from an art school a year ago and I am still at a local bakery. I feel the need to leave and reach a higher level of work and life, but I am so scared. Right now I am those center blocks striving to go in a clockwise/forward motion; growing and learning as I add on to the core person I am. So in my strive for a new job I will continue one stitch at a time trying to figure out where God is leading me.

Frances Elizabeth Lewis

Today is the most beautiful day I have ever seen. I woke up and noticed it was sunny and looked out the window to see red robins and blue jays everywhere with the tiniest of snowflakes fluttering around them. My back yard seems to catches snow and blows it around like a snow globe, its a wonderful thing to watch.

Monday morning I woke in a panic; sweating and smelling something terrible. So I woke up Matt and he assured me it was a skunk and I fell back asleep. Soon after I awoke to my mother calling me and I knew what she was about to say. Granny had passed away around 6:15; not long after I had woken up earlier.

    I am thankful I got to see her Sunday, she wasn't able to talk or even open her eyes, but the movement in her eyebrows told me she knew I was there. I sat in the floor all day alongside my mother and we talked quietly. She quilted and I worked on making flowers with a flower loom her grandmother had given her. Granny got worse through out the day and I moved down into the sun room, which serves as their life's gallery. The walls are covered in her paintings, family work that was gifted to them, and kills that provided the family with meat for the winter. All of these things were a reminder to all the great memories Granny and Papa had together; wether it was the trips they took out west or just enjoying the land God had provided them with.

    Papa is the strongest of the family, he stood by her side and took care of her until the end. He is the first to tell you how much she loved her family and loved God. Their faith alone is a testament to what He can do. She believed that God wanted her to go through everything she did and that there was a reason beyond her knowledge for all her suffering and pain. Maybe what she went through was to show us, her family the power of God. If He can get her through such an experience He can get me/us through anything. One of my favorite Bible scriptures is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me" and I believe what Granny and Papa went through is a result of this.

    Today is her funeral, it will be held at First Baptist Church of Pinewood. They were part of the community that founded this church back when it was held in the back of a grocery store and stuck with it even when the congregation was going through hardships. She will actually be buried right behind my parents house in a cemetery that dates back to 1860. Her son took charge in cleaning it up and preparing it for growth when she decided she would be buried there. It is now called the Lewis-Dodd cemetery and I am sure that when our time comes that is where we-The Lewis'-will choose to be buried. I in fact had my graduation pictures taken there, it is quite beautiful.

    I have a very strong family and no doubt is is the work of the Lord. My mother is one of those, she sat by Granny's side though out the end and talked with her even when she wasn't in her right mind. Mother arranged what Granny wanted in every aspect. She quilted one last piece  for her and Papa, it has Proverbs 31:28 on it with beautiful appliqued flowers on it in red and green. Granny loved red.

   Pray that the Lord is with our family today as she is already with Him. Pray for peace, guidance, and, understanding. We will gather to remember her love and all that she has given us. She was an important role in all our lives and will never be forgotten.  Thank you Frances Elizabeth Lewis for being such a wonderful woman, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend, you will truly be missed.

How I Became

Hello All!

   I am starting this blog for my love of everything vintage! I hope to learn from other people as well as educate myself. I love fashion from the 1940's and 1950's, especially all the gowns!!! I have a few of my grandmother's and they are something I cherish. She is actually one of the reasons I love these kinds of things.
   I love all things fashion actually! I guess it just in my blood. It starts with my Great Grandmother Mildred Carathers. She learned to quilt when she was younger with the scraps of her mother's quilting and has sense made an abundance of beautiful quilts and gowns.  In 2010 at 97 she was published in the book Traditions which leads me to her daughter Frances.
   Frances my grandmother, learned from her mother all these crafts as well. She quilts, sews, crochets, paints, and even does stained glass. I admire her role in this world as she will soon be taken from it. She is kind, loving, caring, creative, loyal, hardworking, and so much more. She is currently battling  pancreatic cancer and I am so inspired by her faith in God.
   My mother Deborah is absolutely my hero! I look to her for strength and knowledge. She has always been the rock of our family. Like her mother and grandmother she too quilts, crochets, paints, and sews.... and also writes! She is a wonderful mother and I would change nothing about how she raised me. She has always encouraged me to be myself and to do my own thing!
   Last but not least I; Sally have began a new chapter of my life. Newly married and with a sewing room of my own I finally have a chance to indulge in the traditions passed down in this family of crafters and creators. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on Fashion Design and Merchandising.. mouthful I know! Inspired by my family I have taken a liking to creativity and use it daily! I love collecting vintage clothing and shoes especially! I started selling on etsy almost two years ago at  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sallymarie. I love showing pieces I have found to my mom and granny, I just love seeing their expression when they see something they remember or owned!!!

Creativity runs in our family and it is our job to keep it alive!

XO SallyMarie