Follow me on Instagram (or how I cut my cell phone bill AND got a smart phone)

Because I know you want to see blurry photos of me knitting baby sweaters on a bus.

For a long time I was a smartphone holdout simply because it just seemed anti-frugal. I already resented paying $95/month to Verizon for two flip phones on the cheapest plan available, and I wasn't about to let that dollar figure budge upwards.

But as part of my recent intense budgeting obsession I discovered we could switch to a no-contract provider, save $1,000+ over the next two years AND have smartphones. So my husband and I bought three-year-old refurbished Android phones on eBay and activated them with Ting (my $25 coupon referral code is here if you want it).

And now I can take pictures. Wherever. Whenever. And sort of pretend they are like Polaroids and put them on Instagram. Here are a few from the last few days...

A family history quilt my amazing mom sewed in 1974, focused on her grandparents from Pickwick, Tennessee. Note the sewing machine—of course:

A few of the baby shoes my mom has sewn for my niece-to-be:

My mom showing Z how she makes the slippers:

And non-sewing, but still making: baking allergy-free chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (no dairy, no eggs, no nuts):

So yes. Follow me on Instagram (and on my Facebook page, if you like).

P.S. Also: am I the last sewing blogger to get a smartphone? Are any of you other thrifty types still rocking flip phones or candy bars? As much as I love the camera and other capabilities, it still doesn't seem like a proper PHONE to me... but I'm sure I'll get use to it.

Mad Men: Joan Hair How To (+ How Done Up Do You Get for Garment Photos?)

Teased-up 1960s hair: Yay or nay? (P.S. Yes, no amount of bobby pins could keep my hair from escaping this French twist)(P.P.S. No, I didn't sew this--it's just a vaguely 60s-ish contemporary doubleknit dress I thrifted recently)

Fellow sewists, some questions for you:

• Does vintage sewing require vintage hairstyling? Do 60s hair and 60s dresses pair like a fine wine and cheese--or a Halloween costume?
• How done up do you get for finished garment photos? Do you fancy yourself up with coordinating hair, makeup and accessories before staging an elaborate photo shoot on a weather-beaten bridge? Or do you throw your garment on fresh from the sewing table and snap a few quick pix with your camera phone, styling and scenery be damned?
• Can you explain to me why what I thought was quite a chic and sophisticated vintage-style updo caused my husband to burst out laughing and use words like "outdated," "older" and "like my elementary school principal"? [Edited to add: Also, "Marge Simpson."]

Last time I attempted to learn to vintage up my hair, the underwhelming results (see "Wet Set Woes") so traumatized me that it took me two years to get up the courage to try again.

But I have finally regained my hair experimentation bravery, with the help of some of the Youtube video tutorials by Lisa Fremont-Street, Strawberry Koi Vintage and more that my readers so kindly recommended at the time.

I finally achieved curling success with a combo of LottaBody, water and overnight pillow curlers--I styled the results into a 1940s pageboy (which my husband LOVED, fyi) that lasted several days.

But I digress!

OK all you wiggly-dressed Mad Men Challenge-ers, here's...

How to Get a Joan Holloway-ish Updo Look:

The tools

1. Rat-tail comb.
2. Bobby pins in mind-boggling quantities.
3. Hair pins—a lifetime's supply.
4. Hair spray with a death grip hold.

The steps

1. Use rat-tail comb to tease all hair from ends to roots, starting at the crown of the head, and working in small sections--result should resemble demented hair haystack.
2. Smooth outside layer and begin shaping, pulling over to side back of head and securing with---
3. Oh who am I kidding?
4. Cry in frustration because you have no idea what you're doing, give up and ask an expert hairstylist for help.

Anyway, yeah. This was way beyond my rudimentary skill level. So I went to see Ricky at Avalon Salon on 112 Christopher St. He's awesome, and has been doing my hair (when I remember to drag myself into the salon every 3-4 months) since 2004.

He did show me how to do it step by step, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it right when I complete my dress.

As for me, re: getting done up or fancy.. I started out photographing my sewing projects for Pattern Review bathroom-mirror style, as you can see with this lovely wool skirt circa 2005...

And now I have a tripod and self-timer, and try to at least brush my hair and put on makeup and cute shoes and cheap costume jewelry. I'll admit that the exciting photographic antics of the Sew Weekly crowd (I'm looking at you, Oona and Kazzthespazz) sometimes make me feel ashamed of my boring apartment wall backgrounds.

But in my defense--I've got a toddler who can't be trusted not to run amuck while I'm messing with a tripod in a park.

So--what's your take? 60s hair yay or nay? Basic garment pix or fancy photo shoots?

P.S. To recap--here's the sketch:

Polka Dot Painting!

New York seems to have jumped directly from winter to summer--I hear it will be in the 80s today! So I'm hoping to start taking my tripod outside the apartment for occasional photo shoots.

But first, a word about that painting you've seen bits of in so many of my garment photos! (And yes, yes, I know it's best to show clothes against a plainer backdrop--but that is currently the only spot in my apartment with (a) natural light and (b) enough room to get full-length shots.) Here it is in full:

The painting was a wedding gift from my friend Cindy Procious, an amazing portrait painter, cartoonist and caricaturist now based out of Tennessee. She conspired before our September 2007 wedding with photographer extraordinaire Márta Fodor (who has been my BFF since we were 11 and was "Woman of Honor" at my wedding). Márta had taken this photo of us as part of a fun series of publicity shots for our cartoon collection book tour:

Márta is also an expert in framing artwork, so she had it framed for us in a beautiful dark wood with hand-cut joints.

Awesomest wedding present ever, huh? And now you know the real source--I didn't want you to give me credit for it, as I got some messages assuming I did it myself!

My style tends to be much more cartoony--I usually draw directly into the computer with a Wacom digital tablet. The last time I actually touched real paint and paintbrush was in 2008 when Masheka and I collaborated on a gigantic mural (with help from my mother, brother and sister-in-law) for the Detroit Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts. Here are some shots of the initial painting process, before we added the shadows and detailing:

But... Masheka and I are both terrified of heights. Being up on the scaffold actually made me cry... so my mother had to get up there and paint the very top for us. (Is there nothing she can't do?!) And thus ended any thoughts of further freelance mural painting.

And with that, back to our regularly scheduled sewing blogging...