Plaid please!

I'm obsessed with plaid, which is no wonder considering how prevalent it has been in the past couple seasons. But I swear my love of plaid goes back farther than that. I'm still thinking of making a modern version of the cute little pinafore dress my mom wore as a kid in this photo. I haven't come up with the perfect pattern yet--if you have any ideas, let me know! I also love the idea of mixing bias and non-bias cut plaid to create different effects. Here's some inspiration:

Pintucks plaid bodice (so great!)
Felt Up design's school marm skirt
gretchenlohse's plaid dress (lovely vintage pattern)

Ok not plaid, but similar idea:
Pintucks 80's dress

Coat shopping

My trusty old winter coat is falling apart. It desperately needs a new lining. I've been thinking about finding a new, cute coat that I can wear if I spend June and July in Australia. It will be winter there, and although probably not as harsh as it is in the US at the moment, I'll still need a coat. I looked on ebay for vintage coats, and found a few very cute choices.


The coat above, being sold by vintagepixiechick is so dreamy. Not only is it yellow (my favorite), but is also has a great texture (also a favorite), and a great 60s collar (love!) Unfortunately, it would probably be about a size too small for me. If only!


Millstreetvintage has a couple really cute 3/4 length swing coats. The solid blue one above has some great details on the back, and very cool large buttons. The blue plaid one below has a fantastic collar that can be buttoned up in a number of ways. I'm oh-so-tempted, but wonder if these, too, might be a bit on the small size. That's the trouble with being tall--sleeves are invariably too short. Though I'm starting to think that I just need to make long gloves a staple of my winter wardrobe.