This Old Life

Altered Knits: Mad About Plaid Part Deux!

2012-02-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

I made this dress for the Burns Supper that I hosted a few weeks ago, but I couldn't get a good picture of it until now.

My sister and I have hosted a Burns Supper for the past few years. I always ask everyone to wear plaid, although we don't have a completely traditional supper. I am a vegetarian, so we don't have haggis; we still do the "Address to a Haggis", though, if only so we can stab something. My sister and I are the only ones who are really serious about it, and the rest of the family just sort of humors us, so we have to keep them entertained! We do make everyone recite one poem, and sometimes we make up little tunes for them and have my cousin accompany on guitar. Pretty entertaining. Then we watch "So I Married An Axe Murderer"; you know, because Mike Myers plays a Scottish character who eats haggis. Robert Burns would probably roll over in his grave, but we have a good time!

Please forgive the funny pose; I was trying to ensure that the sleeves showed. I had to take these pictures myself using the timer on the camera, so if it looks as if I was jumping into position, it's because I was. I also cut off my feet; apparently the Lincoln Log tubs on which the camera was sitting weren't stacked quite right...The light inside my house is terrible, but it will have to do until Spring arrives! At least I'll get to show a little bit of my house, which never seems clean enough to photograph.
The plaid parts started out as a huge vest from Goodwill, and the equally large red sweater dress was an etsy find:

I knew that I wanted to do something to alter the sleeves, but my options were limited by the size and shape of the available vest material. In looking for inspiration, I spotted a lot of bell-sleeved dresses and sweaters with contrasting lower sleeves.

Ever since I saw this picture, I've been hunting for enough black fur to make this coat; I have some red wool that would be perfect! I think the orange striped one is actually a jacket over a bell-sleeved blouse.

I was afraid that using a different print for the lower sleeves would make them look too much like they were altered; like they were just stuck on the ends of the existing sleeves (which they were!) instead of appearing as if they were knitted all in one piece. I found quite a few examples, though, that were knitted that way, including these beautiful full-color ones!

This one looks like a knitted jumper over a coordinating sweater. Lovely!

I started by removing the sleeves in order to move the shoulders up and take in the sides. The sleeves were originally gathered at the shoulder, but I wanted the shoulders to lie flat for a smoother line down to the bell, so I put in a series of radiating darts. The sleeves were three-quarter length, so I cut off about six inches so I could add the bottom part. I reattached the sleeve band to the bottom, which I had gathered. I was very proud of the way these turned out; I had to do a lot of measuring (which is not my forte) and drafting, and they ended up exactly as I had planned, which is rare for me!

Luckily, it came with a tie belt, so I just cut it down and put a buckle on it. I used the extra red material from the sleeves to back the collar and the insert for my hat. The plaid collar comes from behind the shoulder and is stitched in place with a big vintage button.

This dress took me about three days to make, most of which was spent planning, measuring, and drafting the sleeves, and then procrastinating because I was afraid that my measurements were wrong. That's pretty much my M.O. on every project, although I have managed to get another sweater dress finished; I'll get some pictures of it if we ever see the sun again!

Flattering, Forgiving Sweater Dresses

2012-01-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! I apologize for the lack of outfit posts recently; the truth is that I gained eight pounds over the holidays (I told you they hit me hard)! That may not sound like much, but when you're five feet tall, it's enough to render all of your clothes too small. Especially when it all goes to your hips (Thanks, Mom)! Growing out of your clothes is always very unpleasant, but I think that when you sew your own clothes, when you invest your time and love into each garment, it is especially hard.

Perhaps it was the fact that I was in charge of Christmas dinner this year; of course, I had to test (eat) all of the recipes before I served them! Or it could have been the dozens of cookies that my mother-in-law baked and then left at my house; I mean, I couldn't let them go to waste...Anyway, since I will be working hard to shed those extra pounds, I haven't been too keen on sewing anything that might not fit in a month or two. My solution: knits! If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that altering knits is already one of my favorite things to do. They're stretchy, so they will still fit me after I (hopefully) lose a few inches, and it's the perfect time of year for them. Since I currently have almost nothing to wear, and since my husband gave me a serger for Christmas this year (so exciting!), I've been furiously working on some '30s-style knits. Here are some pictures that have been inspiring me. All of these photos come from reproduction knitting books available at Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions. I could look at the pictures on her site for hours; so much inspiration!

A knitted pantsuit! I don't think that I could pull this off.

If you want to see that amazing dress on the lower right in person, check out this post from A Cat Among the Pigeons. Beautiful!

Knickers! I think that, traditionally, Henry is really too young to be in knickers. It seems that in most of the old pictures I've seen, boys his age are in shorts year-round, and the boys wearing knickers are older. I just can't put him in shorts in the middle of winter! And the knickers are so cute. If only I could find those socks!

Speaking of knickers and Henry, at least I can share an outfit post of him:

These are the same shoes and knickers that he was wearing in the last post. The shoe paint has held up pretty well; however, there was an incident when he tried to jump into a swimming pool (indoor!) fully clothed. The paint sort of sloughed right off. I'm not sure if it was the water, the chlorine, or something else, but just keep that in mind if you plan to try this technique. The hat is vintage; I found it in a flea market last summer, and he has been wearing it nonstop ever since. I made the shirt a while ago, and the vest is from Carter's. He is obsessed with pockets right now, so I have just finished another pair of knickers for him, with pockets this time. Looking at these pictures, I decided that he needs some little ties!

I finished my evening dress, and it was a hit at the wedding, as was Henry's outfit. We just got a new camera, so as soon as we figure out how to use it, I will share pictures!

Aviatrix Costume: The Coat

2012-01-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Boy, the holidays really hit me hard this year; I haven't done much sewing, blogging, or really much of anything since Thanksgiving! I almost didn't post this one since it has been so long since Hallowe'en, but I had it mostly written and decided that I really wanted a log of the entire costume. If you're tired of seeing the same pictures that you've been seeing for the past two months, scroll down; I finally managed to post a few photos of my little one!

As I used real leather to make the coat, I really wanted to be able to wear it again. I used the leftovers from a huge thrift store coat that I had cut up to recover a chair cushion, so most of it was in pieces.

I used parts of several different patterns to make it. I had to do a bit of improvising, as I needed to use the largest pieces for the sleeves, hence the panels in the bodice. I didn't take as many pictures of the process as I had thought, so I hope that you can see how it all went together . I was finally forced to do bound buttonholes; seven of them! I was terrified to do these in leather, as I don't have much practice with them in the first place, but I found that the stiffness of the material actually helped a lot.

I had originally planned for the coat to have four buttons, but then I found these amazing vintage buttons on etsy, and I decided that I wanted to use more of them! Luckily, it worked out that I could put another buttonhole between each one that I had already done; I had to lengthen the coat slightly to make the spacing right, but I think it still looks fine. And yes, I did use one of my son's blue crayons to do all of the markings. It worked like a charm and wiped right off!

Putting on the waistband. Have you ever tried to gather leather before? I hadn't, and I hope that I never have to again! It does make the back look pretty, though. Here you can see how the waistband is pieced together, and how I couldn't quite make the seams on the bodice and the waistband match up. They match in the front, though, and it's really not noticeable when I'm wearing it. I still think that it turned out better than it would have if I had used a vinyl or some other cheaper material.

To make the coat more versatile, I wanted to make the sheepskin collar removable. I had this big piece of faux sheepskin that came home with us from the hospital when I had Henry and which has been sitting in my stash ever since.

I cut out a piece the size and shape that I wanted it, and lined it with some brown satin.

You can see how bad the bound buttonholes look from the inside in this picture. Don't look! Allow yourself to be distracted by the clever way the collar buttons onto the jacket!

The lining was a pre-quilted acetate that I got on sale from my local fabric store. I was so proud of how the lining came out; I don't line things very often, and I really struggled to figure out how to put it all together. Especially the sleeves. Success!

Here's what it looks like without the collar. Sorry for the quality of the photo; our camera broke last month, so it will be more of those old camera phone pictures for a while! This was an unseasonably warm day, so we decided to do some outdoor activities.

I was inspired by the jacket illustrations at the lower left of this advertisement. I'd love to have these sporty skirts and blouses, too, and especially that plaid sweater!

I made this little scarf and hat using a regular-sized scarf from Target. Making the sweater-covered buttons was a nightmare, but I think it was worth it.

Here we are getting ready to go on a little hike.

I made Henry's knickers using brown corduroy, and he loves them! He won't even wear regular pants anymore, especially since we attended a showing of "A Christmas Carol". When he saw Tiny Tim, he decided that he would "be that little boy when he gets bigger". I'm so proud of my husband for letting me put girls' tights on him. (On Henry; not on my husband. Although there was that year that I convinced him to be John Adams for Hallowe'en....)

The hat is an adult hat that I found at Goodwill; I just put a seam up the back to make it fit his head. It does look a little big, but I think it works! The sweater came from a resale shop, and the scarf is mine. The shoes were white; I painted them brown using these Angelus Leather Paints. Worked like a charm!

And now that the new year is here and I have finally finished talking about my Hallowe'en costume, on to other things! I've been working on my very first evening dress, which I plan to wear to a cousin's wedding in a few weeks. Since I can't seem to concentrate on just one project at a time, I've also been sewing a vest for my husband, a few more dresses for myself, and the cutest outfit for Henry to wear to the wedding, which I can't wait to share!

A Duchie Award For Me, and A Coupon For You!

2011-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Some time ago (okay, over a month ago; ack; so sorry!), I received the Duchie Award from the lovely Lauren of Wearing History! I am always so honored to receive blog awards, but it feels extra special to receive one from someone whose style, skills, and creativity I admire so much!

“When you receive a Duchie Award, post on your blog (in any order)":

Five things you love about historical costuming/wearing vintage clothing
Three (or more) blogs to pass the Duchie Award onto
A link back to the blog who awarded you the Duchie”

Five things I love about historical costuming/wearing vintage clothing:

1. The details. Vintage patterns have beautiful details that most modern patterns just don't have. A sleeve from the '30s can have more features than an entire modern dress, and don't even get me started on all of the wonderful seaming and pleating!

2. As Lauren said, learning new skills is a huge part of making vintage clothing. Most of my '30s patterns have very limited instructions, and I am amazed at how far I have come since I began sewing with them. I remember saying things like, "It says to put the bodice together, but it doesn't say how!" In fact, I just purchased an early '30s pattern very cheaply because its instructions are missing, and I can't wait to get started on it!

3. Dressing my little one. While finding pretty dresses for little girls is not difficult, finding nice clothes for little boys is a different story. They can be had for a price, but even these stop being available after about age 2. If you don't want your little one going around in t-shirts that say something inane like "You Bug Me!" or "Macho Man!", you must either buy expensive clothes or make them yourself. I haven't been posting any pictures of my little vintage boy, but I have been taking them, so I will remedy that soon!

4. The Accessories. Hats, gloves, collars, cuffs, beautiful jewelry; there is so much opportunity for creativity with accessories.

5.The limitless possibilities. Almost all of my patterns have one or two variations, and I've found that I can make up the same dress using different materials, and it looks like a completely different dress. I can't see myself ever getting tired of '30s fashions!

And now to pass this award on to three more blogs! I always have such a hard time with this, because there are so many wonderful blogs out there, but here are three that I just love:

Lilacs & Lace- I first found Laura Mae through Sew Retro, and she makes the most beautiful vintage clothing! I'll never know how she manages to make so many wonderful garments so quickly!

Time Traveling in Costume-I love all of her beautiful creations! Plus, according to her latest post, she is getting ready to make some dresses from my favorite era; I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

My Happy Sewing Place-Debi just celebrated her blogiversery and re-posted photos of many of her lovely creations, which reminded me of all the beautiful outfits she has made over the past year!

Thanks again for the award, Lauren!

Also, Rhiannon of the lovely etsy shop Garb-oh Vintage has graciously offered my readers a 20% off coupon for Black Friday! Just use coupon code "SHOPFRIDAY" at checkout to save on some beautiful vintage clothing.

There you have it: an award and a coupon; plus, someone at Walmart told me that I look 25 yesterday...Christmas has come early for me this year! Ha ha

Aviatrix Costume: The Jodhpurs

2011-11-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

Whenever I make anything, even a costume, I always try to think of ways that I can wear or use it again. When I made these jodhpurs, I tried not to rush or to think of them as being "just a costume". It is SO easy for me to fall into this trap, especially when I have a deadline. That's not to say that I wasn't rushed at the end of the project; I always seem to finish everything at the last minute, and there were a few things that I would have redone if I'd had the time.

Here are some images from the '20s and '30s. The first two are of real women wearing breeches (for some great pictures of a few Hollywood starlets in action wearing jodhpurs, check out this post from Baroness Von Vintage), and below them, an image of a pattern envelope and an advertisement.

The description on this pattern calls them knickers and says that they are "suitable for General Sports Wear, Motoring, Riding, Motoring, Hiking, etc".

This ad is one of my favorites; she looks so glamorous in her riding clothes! And the men in their work clothes, with their shirts buttoned all the way up and tucked in; most men nowadays (mine included!) don't look half this nice when they go out to dinner!

My jodhpurs were made using this pattern, which I have been dying to make up:

I used the same fabric and vintage buttons as I used for my knickers. I am intending to make a vest to match someday, and I wanted to be able to wear it with both of them. I did make a few alterations to the original pattern. The pattern called for side pockets, which I eliminated; those kinds of pockets are never flattering on me anyway, and I thought that they would ruin the lines of the pants. I should have used some spray starch to stiffen up the sides a little; I think that if I had used wool or some heavier material, as the pattern called for, this wouldn't have been an issue. Please ignore my Peter Pan-pose here; according to my husband, I stand like this when I'm wearing pants. Weird.

I did put in the back pockets; I love doing these kinds of pockets, and I rarely get the chance to do them. My husband has let me make a few vests for him, but that's pretty much my only opportunity. I took a LOT of fabric out of the seat; as usual, I should have made a muslin, but, well, I didn't, and when I started putting it together, I realized that it pretty much looked like I was wearing a parachute behind me. I imagine that all that material is for ease of movement when riding, but as I will probably not have an opportunity to use them for that purpose, I was really going more for looks here. :)

It was really nice to sew something completely unlike what I normally make. Here's a picture showing how the front flap works. It is supposed to be lined so that the buttons slide between a casing created between the lining and the fabric, I assume to prevent them from catching on anything. Again, though, as I most likely will not be riding a horse nor flying a plane in these, I wanted my vintage buttons to show.

I love these jodhpurs, and as much as I dislike camping, I am really hoping for another chance to wear them!

Up next: the coat!

My Hallowe'en Costume! Part One

2011-10-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! I promise that I have not abandoned this blog; I had a sick little boy, which sort of put everything else out of my head. He's fine now; in fact, it didn't seem to slow him down much at all, although I can't say the same for myself! After that little episode, I was kept very busy planning and executing (and cleaning up after!) my annual Hallowe'en bash. I'll share those pictures later, but I'm so excited about my costume that I just had to show it first! I decided to divide this into three separate posts; one to show the finished costume, and two subsequent posts to show the details of the coat and the jodhpurs. I actually stopped to take pictures while making the coat (don't get too excited; I took the pictures with my phone, so they're not great)! Here it is:

If only the Vintage Baroness and I could have attended the same party; take a look at her ridiculously awesome costume...wouldn't we have made a great pair?

Everyone thought that I was Amelia Earhart, although my original intention was to be Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The fact that a huge number of people had never heard of either woman and had no idea what my costume was supposed to represent was very disheartening. Darned American educational system! There were quite a few children, though, who yelled "Amelia Earhart!" at me, so they must still study her in school (and then forget all about her when they become adults)! Of course, my ever-complimentary husband decided that I looked like the creepy kid in "A Christmas Story"who stands beside Ralphie in line to see Santa.

I found the hat and the vintage welding goggles at a flea market a few weeks before Hallowe'en. I had been planning to make my own hat, but since I found this one, I took the faux leather that I had bought for the purpose and used it on the pants instead. It turned out to be a luckier find than I thought; the coat and jodhpurs took much longer than I had anticipated, so I wouldn't have had time to make the hat anyway!

The boots were a lucky ebay find; I had been looking for boots like these for months, and I finally found this pair, reasonably priced and only a little bit too big for me, a few weeks before I needed them. Fate! The scarf is made from white crepe, and the shirt is from Banana Republic via Goodwill.

And a good time was had by all! It just about killed me to get a store-bought costume for Henry; I actually have a child's pattern for jodhpurs and a little bomber jacket, and I was planning for us to be Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Alas, I ran out of time...maybe next year! He's really into Mickey Mouse right now, though, so he was pretty excited to wear this, as you can see!

Here is a photo of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In addition to being a pioneer of women's aviation, she was also a well-published author.

Stay tuned for the details on the coat and jodhpurs, and for some pictures of my party!

Altered Knits: Easy Miss Lemon-Inspired Sweater, And A Blog Award!

2011-10-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

I found this pretty sweater at Goodwill for a few dollars and knew that it just needed some embellishment. I had been watching Poirot recently (as usual), and thought that a big knitted bow à la Miss Lemon would be perfect!

I know we've all coveted this cardigan worn by Miss Lemon in the Poirot episode "The Adventures of the Clapham Crook". It was worn again by another character, Ann Shapland, in a later episode, "A Cat Among the Pigeons". Gemma of Bake Do and Mend put her knitting skills to good use by making her own lovely version of the Miss Lemon sweater. Isn't that brilliant?

This one was very easy to make. I don't have a picture of the sweater before I cut into it, but it basically looked the same as it does now, just MUCH larger and without the bow. To give you an idea of how much I took in on the sides, it was actually sleeveless before. I also shortened it by about 5 inches by cutting off the bottom band, taking it in, and reattaching it. As I mentioned in a previous post, if you don't have a serger, make sure you use the zigzag stitch for this, or you will be in big trouble when you try to put it over your head! As with everything else, I learned this the hard way :) For the bow, I took a sleeve from another sweater whose weave was identical to the bottom section of this sweater. I basically made a tube the size that I wanted the bow to be, turned it right side out, and slipped it through the holes that were already in the sweater, tacking the ends of the bow to the sweater on the inside to finish it. Quick and easy!

For all of you talented knitters out there, I found a pattern in a reproduction knitting book, which you can purchase here, that is very similar to Miss Lemon's sweater. Isn't it pretty? If anyone makes this, please let me know; I want to see pictures!

I've been thinking that I might embellish the bow somehow; either by embroidering my initials, one on each side, or by making some stripes like in the original sweater. The sweater is a coral/salmon color, so I was considering perhaps a turquoise-colored yarn for the accents. What do you think? Any other suggestions?

Also, I'm so honored to have been given two blog awards! Okay, it was really one blog award from two separate people, but my ego wants to call it two :) Thank you to Beth from V is for Vintage and to Susan of Susan's Diary-Vintage Style meets Heavy Music for giving me the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!

It seems that along with this award I must share seven random facts about myself, but I could only think of six things that were different from the ones I listed last time. I guess I'm not that interesting :) So here goes!

1. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, but I have to try really hard to eat my vegetables; I'm more of a carb-etarian.

2. My favorite cartoon character is Jerry Mouse, but I'm fairly certain it's because he dances with Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh". I grew up watching musicals, not cartoons. Plus, anything that involves Gene Kelly is automatically my favorite. Except Xanadu.

3. My second-favorite period in history is the American Revolution. I am named after Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, and chose my screen name of "Nabby" after their nickname for their daughter, who was also named Abigail.

4. I love gardens, but not gardening. I have the blackest black thumb around, but I keep trying every spring!

5. Hallowe'en is my favorite holiday! I always host a big Hallowe'en party, and ever since I bought my beautiful old house, the setting has been perfect! Of course, it's not as creepy as it was the first year we lived here, when the holes in the ceiling and the crumbing plaster really added to the ambience, but we make do :)

6. I hate to cook and am terrible at it, but I have a few easy-yet-impressive dishes that I can make very well. I basically alternate these three dishes each time I am asked to bring food to an event, and in this way I have convinced people that I am an awesome cook!

And now my favorite part of receiving an award: passing it on to some very deserving blogs! Here are some more blogs that I think are wonderful:

Lady By Choice

Rueby Retro

Sweetheart of the Rodeo

As usual, if you decide to participate in passing along this award (I know that some people don't really do them, and that's okay! I still like to give them.), you just need to acknowledge the giver, list seven random facts about your self, and pass it along to some other blogs you love. And thanks again, Beth and Susan, for my award!

Mad About Plaid!

2011-09-08T22:25:00.001-07:00

Yipes! It's been so long since I have been able to post, but I actually have a non-baby related reason this time: our nine year-old modem finally crashed, so we took the opportunity to switch from DSL to cable. Of course, we had to wait forever for the cable company to come out, so we were without internet for about three weeks (the horror!) Luckily, I had been working on this post before we lost all connection to the outside world.

Here is a dress that I finished some time ago. I had a terrible time getting a good picture of it; I don't know if it was because of its dark color or if the conditions were just wrong every time, but I tried on four separate occasions, and these pictures were the best out of about fifty. I had to lighten them considerably in order to show the details, so just try to ignore how washed out the background (and my face!) looks.

I made it with navy and plaid cotton using this pattern from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library. If you haven't already been to this site, you should head over there and do some browsing; they have some really beautiful patterns at very reasonable prices.

I LOVE this pattern so much that I just want to make it over and over, and this is actually the second time that I have made it. The first time was immediately after I had my baby; it was for his christening. I made his christening outfit as well and had almost no time to make my own dress. This pattern came together very quickly and easily for me, which was a lifesaver at the time. I made it again for two reasons. One, I was about thirty pounds heavier and *ahem* much bustier when I made it the first time, and it was just too big to take in. Two, I was so rushed when I originally made it that I didn't have time to worry about plaid matching, putting the zipper in correctly, etc. Basically, it was just not made well. So, I salvaged the sleeves and some of the fabric and used them to make this dress, and then I destroyed the rest of the poorly-sewn evidence :)

I made a few alterations from the pattern instructions this time around. The original dress unbuttons to the waist with the yoke being completely sewn down. Instead of using the facing piece provided for the bodice, I completely lined the inside with plaid and made it open down to the point of the yoke. I did this because I really wanted to add some extra buttons there for aesthetic purposes anyway, so I figured that they may as well be functional. Also, I had a bit of trouble getting in and out of the first dress, so this helped with that as well.

Here is a close-up of the sleeve and some more covered buttons. You know I do love my covered buttons.

And of the bodice. I love that the tie can be styled in many different ways.

You may also notice that I am sporting a new hairstyle (sort of). I have been on a mad Poirot re-watching spree, and I fell in love with Gerda's hairstyle in "The Hollow". Here are some pictures of her hair (my very first attempt at screen captures!):

My hair looked similar to that already, except that I added one more wave at the jaw to cover the ear. I also did a center part instead of the side part that I had previously always done. Also, the truth is that I only ever did waves on one side, as the other side was always covered by my hat; the rest I had always just put up in rollers. I really love it; although it doesn't look very different from the (left) side, it looks dramatically different overall. What do you think?

Tattoos?!

2011-08-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate all of your wonderful comments on my last post. I apologize for taking so long to respond to those of you who asked me questions; it seems that life (or as I call him, Henry) sometimes conspires to keep me away from the computer for a while! I want you to know, though, that I always read every one of your comments; I appreciate them so much! It's nice to get compliments from strangers on the street as well, but even when they are very positive, you can see them thinking, "Neat-but how strange!" This leads me into my subject today. A funny thing recently happened to me at the doctor's office. One of the receptionists approached me and commented on how she liked my look. This happens frequently, and it always makes me feel warm and fuzzy! People often ask me questions as well, which I am always happy to answer. However, this time, the questioning culminated in "Can I see your tattoos?!" I wasn't in a hospital gown; I was fully clothed in a sleeveless dress, so I'm not sure where she thought my tattoos were, or if she expected me to hike up my dress to show them to her.

I want to point out that I have no problem with tattoos, in the vintage community or otherwise; I think that they can be a beautiful way for people to express themselves and their individuality and creativity. It's just not something that I am interested in having for myself. I've read some posts from bloggers in which they have been made to feel "less vintage" because they did have tattoos, which I think is sad; the vintage community is extremely varied, and that's what makes it great! Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that complete authenticity is every vintage lover's goal, and I don't think that it needs to be. As we know, people certainly did have tattoos in the '30s and before (just for fun, there are some pictures below), but the average housewife, which is the image with which I most closely associate myself, most likely did not; if she did have one, she certainly wouldn't have been talking about (or showing!) it in public! :)

I get all sorts of questions, but this was a new situation for me; because of the way that I was dressed, the receptionist seemed genuinely surprised to hear that I did not have any tattoos. She also told me that she had attended a "1920s style party" where everyone had "Bettie Page waves", so her knowledge of vintage was obviously pretty limited. I try hard not to be a vintage snob, because I learn something new every day, but my annoyance wasn't about her lack of knowledge; it was about her lack of courtesy, or maybe tact. I told myself that she must know a person who wears vintage and has tattoos, and so that is the image of vintage with which she is familiar. Even considering this, I think that her asking to see them was impolite. It's like the question that I sometimes get: "Why are you dressed like that?" Even if it is asked in a friendly manner, which is usually is, I just think that there are much more polite ways to ask.

I realize that when you dress or act outside of the norm, you must be prepared for some stares, questions, outright gawking, etc., all of which I am quite accustomed to and normally view with slight amusement. However, I think that certain questions, such as ones pertaining to undergarments, possible hidden tattoos, etc, are simply not polite questions for a stranger to be asking anyone. Now, if I had a visible tattoo, I would probably have been happy to show it to her. In the same vein, I get slightly annoyed when someone asks me if my hair is a wig, which happens on a semi-regular basis, and when someone takes my picture without asking me. I think that most of the people who have approached me in this manner would never have said the same things to the "average" person on the street.

As much as we try to avoid it, we all infer things about people based on the way they are dressed. I know that I am guilty of it. I'm not sure what I expect people to infer about me...actually, I can think of a few adjectives that I would love to have attributed to me: creative, ladylike, old-fashioned, elegant, etc. :) I'm just not sure that there is anything about my look that screams "Ask me about my tattoos!!"

I hope that no one is offended by this post; its purpose is definitely not to criticize tattoos or anything else; I'd certainly be the last person to attempt to make anyone conform to any certain standard of dress! I'd like to hear your opinions; do you think that dressing outside of the norm invites people to behave towards you in a way that they would not behave towards others? What sorts of questions do you get, and do you think that people sometimes feel that they can cross certain lines with you because of the way you are dressed?

Sorry for the long post; I just had to vent a little, and I wanted to hear some other opinions. I have another outfit post coming up in a few days!

Another Outfit Post!

2011-08-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe one post per week was a bit too ambitious for me... Anyway, I do have a newly completed dress to share! It is made from some cheap cotton fabric from my stash ($1.00 per yard-thank you, Wal-Mart!) The fabric is beautiful, though; soft and thin, sort of gauzy, not at all stiff or cheap-feeling. It drapes and moves beautifully!

On a side note: my husband took all of these pictures and "didn't notice" that my collar was folded up in the back on one side...! They turned out so well otherwise (and I was having such a good hair day! hee hee) that I didn't really want to retake them, so just try to ignore the fold! Here is the dress:

Once again, I made it to match a beautiful pair of crocheted gloves that I got from ebay. At my local fabric store, I found the perfect striped accent fabric to match the colors in the gloves. The buttons are vintage, although I have no idea what era they are from. They looked deco enough to me, and they matched perfectly, so I used them!

I made it using this vintage pattern:

I took about 14 inches total out of the circumference of the hem; it was a bit too A-line for my taste. I also added 2 inches to the length. When it was finished, I topstitched all of the seams with light brown thread. I did it with a lighter color because I wanted the beautiful seaming to show; I love the way the yoke and the pleats look on this dress, and they weren't really visible on the dark fabric.

Don't you just love these sunglasses?! I don't own very much actual vintage; aside from my vintage collar collection (which I must show you someday!), I have a few pairs of shoes, some gloves, and one dress. I just don't really trust myself (or my two year-old) with irreplaceable things that are 80 years old. But I saw these '30s beauties on ebay last year and just couldn't resist them!

This dress is sort of a wearable muslin; I had always planned to wear it, but I also used it as practice for the fabric that I had really intended for this pattern. I've just finished cutting it out, and I can't wait to get started on it. I suppose that this one should really be called a "first try"; I just hope that the next one turns out as well as this one did!

Here is the way the collar looks from the back. I tried very hard to match the stripes, both in the back and in the front, and I was pleased with the result. I am not very good at pattern-matching, so the fact that it came so close made me very happy!

Altered Knits: Sailor Dress

2011-07-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I am shooting for one post per week, so I'm only a little bit behind! Once again, welcome to all of my new followers; I'm so glad that you've joined my blog, and I'm very thankful for all of your lovely comments on my last post!

This is my favorite knit project so far! I love to look at all of those beautiful '30s knitted and crocheted dresses, but since I don't know how to make either, I had resigned myself to the idea that winning the lottery (or *ahem* finally learning to knit!) would be the only way that I would get my hands on one of these lovelies. But then I remembered: Hey, they made knitted and crocheted dresses in the '70s and '80s too! I found this great knitted dress on etsy:

Not exactly sure what I was going to do with it, I removed the turquoise trim and starfish embroidery, but there were some marks underneath that I could not get out. So, I turned it around so that the marks would be in the back, and after looking at MANY images of '30s knit dresses, I finally came up with the solution: a sailor collar! I have read some great posts about the popularity of sailor collars in the 1930s; here is one with a wealth of information (and a lot of beautiful pictures!) from Charlotte at Tuppence Ha'Penny. I've been wanting to make a sailor dress for so long, and this was the perfect opportunity, since I needed to cover the marks from the embroidery! Here is the result:

Here is the back. The collar is made from the same cut-up sweater as the hat that I am wearing in the photo below, which I blogged about making in this post. Luckily, it was a rather large sweater, and I used it to make the belt as well!

The striped knit is from yet another sweater redo (to be photographed later)! These were actually the scraps from that project, and I was able to make the bow and 4 covered buttons; two for the belt, and two to add onto these beautiful crocheted gauntlet gloves that I got on etsy.

Hopefully you can see the jewelry in this picture. It is a Navy sweetheart pin and earrings set, which belonged to my grandmother. She and my grandfather were married in 1943 when he was serving in the Navy. A little bit later than my chosen era, but I don't care; I think they're perfect!

The hat is another alteration, on which I used the same basic technique as my last one. It was a basic men's fedora with a small brim, the kind that they sell everywhere lately, brand new from Wal-Mart. It basically looked like this:

I wanted a white straw hat and couldn't find one at the thrift store, so I had to shell out for a new one. It was still under ten dollars, though! I separated the crown from the brim, cut about three inches off of the height of the crown, wet it and rounded it out, and sewed some tucks down the length to make it smaller and to add interest. This time, though, instead of putting a wire in the brim to change its shape, I wet it as well, and shaped it by weighing parts of it down with books. I wanted to make it look like the brim in this picture, and also as far away from a fedora as possible.

I am very happy with the way that it turned out.

I stood on a rock for this one (you wouldn't think that grass would grow so well in 100+ degree weather, but you'd be wrong!) so you could see my great navy leather/mesh oxfords! I switched out the original navy laces with white for this dress; the white "laces" are actually made from white cord. Trying to make them look like those beautiful vintage laces, I wrapped them with scotch tape about a half-inch from the ends and then unraveled them.

I sort of look like a giant in these pictures; since we don't have a tripod, my husband was experimenting with other objects on which to set the camera...this one was obviously a little bit too low!

All Buttoned Up

2011-07-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post; I am truly overwhelmed! And welcome to all of my new followers; I usually do like to welcome people by name, but as the number of followers to my little blog has basically doubled in the last two weeks, I will just have to extend a heartfelt, "Welcome, all!"

And now, on to what I've been working on. Well, one of the things that I've been working on; I am one of those people who has a huge pile of garments in various stages of completion. It's terrible, I know, but I just can't seem to stop myself! I made this dress with some beautiful burgundy crepe (okay, crepe-like fabric; I have no idea what it is made out of...but it was $1.00 per yard!) accented with a satin floral.

I made it specifically to match these beautiful gloves, which I got from ebay. The burgundy trim around the top of one of the gloves was missing, and there were a few other issues with them; of course, even though I have no knowledge of knitting, crocheting, or tatting (I think the trim was tatted, but I'm not too familiar with it), I was SURE that I could fix them. Someday, this over-confidence in my crafting abilities will be my downfall, but I've been lucky so far! I basically just tied a series of tiny knots with embroidery thread, trying to make it look as similar as possible to the existing trim on the other glove.

I made the dress using this pattern, with a few alterations, of course!

I made it with detachable long sleeves, because anytime I have an opportunity to make something wearable year-round, I'm all over it! Since it has been 100+ degrees here lately, you'll just have to wait until it cools off a little bit to see the sleeves! I also wanted to incorporate the scarf into the dress a bit more. Since this is one of those dresses in which one side of buttons is simply sewn on (no buttonholes), I sewed the scarf under the buttons, draped it around the back, and brought it back through the dress, letting it hang at the side.

Here's the back. I let the scarf drape down and then tacked it in place on the shoulders.

I don't have a huge collection of vintage buttons, so the ones that I used on this dress were chosen solely for the fact that I had twelve of them. They started out a lovely shade of yellow-green, and I spray-painted them cream to match the scarf. Since they are metal, I hoped that it would work; I cleaned them, painted them, and sealed them. So far, so good...no chips!

These are the same shoes from my last post, but in brown; I love them so much that I am basically just alternating between the two pairs! And, of course, my new favorite hat.

I really like the way that it turned out, especially the way the scarf mimics a cap sleeve on one side. What do you think?

P.S. If you liked that altered sweater from my last post, you will love what is coming up next!!

Knits, Part One

2011-06-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm always so jealous when I see those lovely 1930s knits that I have, so far, not been able to get my hands on. Baroness Von Vintage seems to have an unending collection of beautiful vintage knits, including this one, which makes me especially covetous. I'm also ridiculously envious of those who know how to knit and can make themselves reproduction garments from vintage patterns. Here is a wonderful sweater recently knitted by Jennie of "The Life and Times of a Vintage Obsessive", and here is another one expertly made by Tickety Boo Tupney. I would love to learn how to knit and crochet, but even "Knitting For Dummies" is apparently too advanced for me! Since I haven't been able to learn yet, I have been putting my sewing skills to good use by altering. I have found that '80s knits are often good candidates for this, as many of the style features are similar to '30s knits: pointelle and crochet accents, chevrons, colorblock, leg o'mutton sleeves, etc. The fit is usually way off, though, as everything was so blousy during that time (how well I remember it). Here is a sweater that I recently altered:

Here's how it started out. I originally removed the sleeves intending to move up the shoulders a few inches, but once I had them off, I really liked the way they looked on their own. Of course, I made another sweater using the sleeves, as they were the feature that prompted me to purchase the original in the first place. It's just too darn hot to get any pictures of that one now!

The jabot is made from the ends of some old crochet gloves. The fingers and palm sections were filled with holes, but the ends were still intact, so I just cut them off, sewed them together, and wove them through the holes in the top of the sweater.

I took it in by about 6 inches around. I also shortened it by cutting off the waistband, trimming off about 5 inches, and sewing the waistband back on. I don't have a serger, so I use the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine to alter knits. The gloves are vintage from ebay, and I blogged about making the skirt here. The shoes are brand new; I have them in brown, too. Sorry they're not very visible; it's been so hot here that my husband has not been in the mood to mow the lawn as often as he should!

This is my new favorite hat. I found the original at Goodwill for $2.00. It was huge; my husband tried it on, and it was even too big for his large head. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it before I started cutting it up, but here is one that I took after I cut the crown off.

It was originally a fedora of sorts; you can see how the crown was shaped. After I cut off the crown, I shaved about two inches off of the bottom. I then got it wet and shaped it so that it would be more rounded on the top. After it had dried, I sewed two tucks lengthwise across the top of the crown. Since the hat was so big to begin with, I was able to put three pleats in the brim. I then sewed the crown and brim back together, trimmed it with some vintage ribbon and a vintage mother-of-pearl buckle, and finished it off with grosgrain ribbon on the inside.

I love it so much! When I wore it to the Farmer's Market, an elderly man approached me and said, "My mother had a hat just like that in 1934." How great is that?!

I've got many more altered knits to show, so stay tuned!

I'm Back, And A Blog Award!!

2011-06-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, as terrible as I am about blogging regularly (has it really been a month?!), I am even worse when it comes to reading and commenting on my favorite blogs. It seems that I was given a Liebster Blog award, which is for blogs with fewer than 300 followers, by Lauren Hairston a few months ago, and I've just discovered it! Check out her blog; one of my favorite regular features is her "Dinner and a Movie" posts, in which she summarizes and reviews a classic movie, and then cooks up a yummy-looking dish to accompany it! Thanks so much for the award, Lauren, and I'm sorry that it took me so long to acknowledge it! I have also been tagged by her to list 10 of my favorite things, so here we go:

1. Favorite food: Although handfuls of Almond M&Ms are what get me through the day with my sanity intact (taking care of a two year-old is stressful, okay?!), I'd say that my favorite food is Thai food, specifically Pad Thai.

2. Favorite Movie: I have so many, mostly because I think that comparing films from different genres is like comparing apples to oranges, so I have a favorite from each! I'll just list a few: favorite classic movie: "Bringing Up Baby"; favorite musical: "1776"; favorite romantic comedy: "French Kiss". My all-time favorite is probably "Far and Away". Any movie that has the words "epic romance" in the trailer is on my list.

3. Favorite TV show: My favorite TV show is a little-known Canadian-made western from the early '90s called "Lonesome Dove: The Series". It's based on the Larry McMurtry characters but not on the books, and was canceled after only two seasons. The first season (my favorite) is a little cheesy and Hallmark-channelish, and the second season is much more gritty; it's like an early version of "Deadwood", but without all of the profanity. My favorite character is Col. Clay Mosby, a transplanted Virginian scarred by the war, who is played by a pre-"Will&Grace" Eric McCormack. Here's a clip from YouTube (he's the one kneeling behind the bar). You can also spot Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet) being used as a human shield:

4. Favorite Architectural Style: Craftsman. Luckily, I live in my dream house! This is the only picture that I can find of the inside right now, and it's from Christmas (ignore the baby).

5. Favorite Book: Jane Eyre. I also have a secret fondness for trashy romance novels (only the historical ones; that makes them historical fiction, right?! Let's say yes).

6. Favorite. Post. Ever. This Easter one from Debi of my Happy Sewing Place. This might be the funniest thing that I have ever seen.

7. Favorite Author: Oscar Wilde

8. Favorite Singer: Annette Hanshaw. Also Sebastian Bach (Skid Row). I mean, he was on Broadway too, so I don't need to be embarrassed about this one, right?!

9. Favorite Flower: Hydrangea

10. Favorite Song: "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins. Any song that could be classified as a "power ballad" will definitely be on one of my mix tapes. Oh yes, I still listen to my mix tapes.

So, now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, I will pass this award on to some other bloggers! There are so many great blogs out there with fewer than 300 followers; way too many to list here. At first, I tried to omit the blogs to which I have given an award previously, but in the process of going over them again, I decided that I just couldn't do it; all of these blogs are great!

The Deco Devotee
Sailing Over a Cardboard Sea
The Life and Times of a Vintage Obsessive
The Vintage Knitter
The Ziegfeld Boudoir
My Pretty Baby Cried She Was A Bird
The Swing of Things
Tickety Boo Tupney
Porcelina's World
Vintage in a Modern World
A Passion for Vintage Textiles
The Butterfly Balcony

Thanks again for the award, Lauren! And thanks to all of you for your lovely comments on my (infrequent) posts! I have so many things to show, but I just can't seem to get any good photos of them. I've borrowed my mother's good camera, so if the temperature outside would just fall below 95 degrees, I should be able to get something to show you!

Also, welcome to my newest followers: Dakota, The Vintage Knitter, Katia, Spinnakersu, Living Vintage, Linda, Chelsea, Carol, WanderlustPixieDust, Evie Graham, TwilaTee, Jess, Andrea, Lauren, Charlotte, Lisa, Diary of a Vintage Modiste, Anne Toft, GreenPea, Black Opal, K Boulton, Teresa Liao, Temporary Cat, and Chris Simich. Whew!!

Edited to add: I just noticed that I have given this award to a few blogs that Lauren had already passed it along to. Gah!! Please don't feel that you have to acknowledge it twice (or at all, if awards aren't your thing!); sorry about that, Lauren! This is what happens when you take three weeks to write a post; you stay up really late one night determined to finally get it finished, and you make a lot of mistakes! Maybe I'll just stick to outfit posts from now on...

...and Summer is Back!

2011-05-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

Even though I was wearing my coat again last Saturday, it was in the 80s today ...but since I finished this nice, cool summer dress just in time, I didn't mind one bit! Again, the pictures are not good; my sister is in Florida for the week (lucky!), so I convinced my husband to take a few photos. I also loaned her my camera for her trip, so these are some more camera phone shots...sorry about that!
I made this one out of some sheer red and white polka-dot fabric accented with some sheer cream. I sort of flew blind on this one, using pieces of different patterns and just sort of draping and adding things until I got what I wanted. I can definitely tell the difference in fit as opposed to dresses that I've made with actual patterns; I'm probably not quite skilled enough to do this yet...but I think that it turned out all right!

I gave it an asymmetrical ruffled collar to accentuate the asymmetrical closing, although looking at it now I wonder if I shouldn't have reversed the long and short sides of the collar. It's sort of visually heavy all on that one side, but I wanted to be sure that the collar didn't cover up any of those great buttons! The hat is the same one that I made to match this skirt, I just took out the brown feather and added a red one. I love this hat pattern; being able to switch out the accent pieces makes it so versatile, and I just love the way it looks. This one and the navy one made from the same pattern get almost constant wear.

The buttons and buckle are a vintage set; hopefully you can see how beautifully designed they are in this picture:

I really need to start doing bound buttonholes; they add so much, but I just can't seem to make myself take the time do do them! By the time I get to that point in a project, I am already eyeing the next one on the list, and have probably even started cutting out some pattern pieces. Terrible!

It's Winter Again!

2011-05-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, after over a month of 70-80 degree weather, the past two days have inexplicably been in the 40s and 50s! I'm not too upset about it, though; it means that I can wear the coat that I have just finished!

Sorry about the blurry photos; my husband was taking them as we were both attempting to keep our toddler corralled on the porch! The coat was another huge piece of clothing that I found at the Salvation Army. It was monstrous, but it is a beautiful color of green, and you can't buy wool fabric as cheaply as you can buy a discarded wool coat! Of course, I didn't take a picture of it before I started cutting it up; I'm just too impatient! It was so large that it required extensive alterations: I moved the shoulders up three inches on each side, and ended up taking seven inches out of the body of the coat. I made the belt out of some of that extra fabric, and found the perfect vintage green and tan buckle in my stash to go with it. I also put three parallel tucks down the length of each sleeve; hopefully you can see them in the pictures. I found the tan faux fur at a local fabric shop and made the collar and cuffs.

I used some more extra fabric to embellish the hat, which is not quite finished; I started working on it this winter, but I put it away because the weather turned warm. I still need to put a wire in the brim and finish the edges, but I made it to match the coat, so I wanted to wear it while I had the chance!

I made the covered buttons from some green satin that was left over from a dress that I made a few months ago. It just happened to be the exact same color of green, and I am actually wearing it under the coat in these pictures, but it was just too cold and rainy to get any pictures of it. They're coming, though!

I have been wanting a coat like this for as long as I can remember; I'm just sad that I won't get to really wear it until next year!

More fun with editing!!

Another Outfit Post!

2011-04-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much, everyone, for your wonderful comments on my last post! I was so disappointed in the quality of the photos when I was posting them, because they looked so good small on the phone display! Unfortunately, the next few posts will be the same; my sister was here for a while, so I did a couple of costume changes! Here is the next one (the quality in these is even worse; I had to lighten them up quite a bit so that the pleats would be visible):

It is made from a thick navy material that has a subtle herringbone pattern. It is actually a dark navy; hence the lightening-up. The shirt is a bright yellow pointelle shirt that I bought a long time ago; I love the scalloped collar and sleeves. Here is a shot of the side, and also of my awesome vintage navy oxfords!

The material is so thick that I stitched the fronts and the backs of the pleats so that they would lie flat. It looked like a mermaid skirt for a while! I was inspired by this pattern, which broke my heart when it got away from me:

I made it by altering this '80s pattern (view B), in order to make the side-skirt come to a point instead of being strait across above the pleats:

I made the hat using this pattern again. Since I can't knit, I made it using a navy sweater. I just cut the pattern pieces out of the sweater and sewed it up. It really worked wonderfully; I have basically been wearing it nonstop, and since the bow is interchangeable, I can wear it with many different things.

I actually made that particular bow to match another dress that we also photographed that day, so you'll see it again in my next post! You'll also see the skirt paired with some tops that I have recently finished, and hopefully we will get some better-quality pictures of it next time, when we will use a real camera!

Finally, I would like to welcome my newest followers: Andrea, Gabriella, Fran, Iz bakinog ormara, The Ziegfeld Boudoir, Nuranar, and Sewn_Seabee ( I hope that I haven't missed anyone)! Wow, I never thought that 30 people would actually be interested in seeing my small corner of the world!

New Skirt and New Look!

2011-04-05T06:37:00.002-07:00

I decided that I needed to do something about the (poor) quality of my pictures. After studying many vintage advertisements and pattern envelopes, I came to the conclusion that the main issue with my photos is that they look too pose-y. In most, if not all, of the images I saw, the models were not looking at the camera, and almost never were they smiling. They were usually holding books or golf clubs or looking at something in the distance; in other words, the photos had the look of stylized candid shots. Or more accurately, candid shots in which the models seemed to be saying, "Oh, you just captured a perfect image of my outfit, but I was so busy looking at this tennis racket that I didn't even notice." Ha ha! My favorites featured interesting camera angles and stark contrast of shadows and light. Here are some examples:

When I started this blog, my main goal with the pictures was to simply get an image of my outfits. But as I have looked at more and more vintage pictures, and also at other bloggers' lovely images, I have wanted to not only show the clothes, but also to show them in a visually pleasing way . To that end, I decided that I needed a different photographer. My husband has the ability to take good-quality pictures, but he doesn't have the patience to do so while watching a 22 month-old at the same time. He also doesn't see the need for anything other than a good, plain, serviceable, picture...he's an engineer; what else can I say? :) So, I asked my sister to come over and take some pictures. She was a drama major...perfect! Unfortunately, the battery in the camera was dead when she arrived, so we used my camera phone. Poor planning on my part, with the result that the quality of the pictures may not have improved much (that's why the tweed looks funny and the lighting is bad)! Still, I think that it's an improvement, at least. Let me know what you think; about the outfit and the photos!

Here are our attempts to capture my latest project: a green flannel and tweed skirt:

I didn't make the blouse, but I altered it. I cut a strip off the bottom to make some covered buttons, and I added three buttonholes at the top. Three! Everything is so low-cut nowadays...

I made the skirt using this pattern:

The pattern is very interesting; the back and sides are made in one piece, so that there is no side seam below the hip. It is supposed to close with snaps, but I hate sewing snaps, so I added buttons (fabric-covered, of course!) instead.

It looks great with the cape that I made for this outfit, too:

I even have enough tweed left to make a blazer, but I'm too excited about summer clothes right now, so that will have to be first on the list for fall! I also played around with editing the pictures for the first time, and I think that this one is my favorite:

In this one, the model seems to be saying, "Oh, you just captured a perfect image of my outfit, but I was so busy looking at this baby that I didn't even notice." Hee hee

EvaDress Contest Entry!

2011-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, of course it came down to the wire, but I finally finished my outfit for the EvaDress Sewing Contest. At least, I hope that I submitted it in time; after having problems with my email and having to find out how to compress pictures by reading about it on the internet, I'm pretty sure that I got the email in with 30 minutes to spare (and that's if I converted the time zones correctly)! I've been working on it since I found out about the contest. Here are the pictures (note to self: take Christmas wreath down!):

Of course, I made a lot of extra work for myself by making some changes to the pattern.On the shirt, I didn't want the opening to be visible in the front below the scarf, so I put the closure in the back instead of in the side, put a row of stitching down the front to match, and eliminated the opening in the front. In the pattern, there are buttonholes in the scarf, which is attached to the shirt in the back, and in the cape. I wanted to make the cape reversible and I also wanted to be able to wear it with other outfits, so I made the scarf detachable, put buttons on both sides of the cape (instead of the buttonholes called for in the pattern) as well as on the shirt. That way, I can wear the scarf and cape with anything and on either side. On the skirt, I reversed the direction of the pleats, only because they looked backwards to me on my muslin. I found the perfect buckle and button set on Etsy, but the buttons turned out to be too small, so I'm thinking about turning them into earrings.
I see that some of my favorite bloggers, like Debi from My Happy Sewing Place and Lauren from Wearing History, have also entered the contest; check out their beautiful creations! Also, welcome to my newest followers: Kir, Nicole Needles, Brittany_Va-VoomVintage, Lauren Hairston, Miss Rosie Beau, Raymondedn, and Curvy Kitty; so happy to have you here! And Jennie, I'm so sorry that I spelled your name wrong when I welcomed you in my last post; some kind of welcome, eh?!

Little Inconveniences

2011-03-08T14:37:00.001-08:00

I love old houses. I love everything about them; the woodwork, the wavy glass, the craftsmanship, the history. We live in a Craftsman-style house that was built in 1918, and in my opinion, there is really nothing that can match the beauty and history of an old house. Of course, there are also other characteristics of old houses that some people may consider to be drawbacks; the creaky floorboards, the drafty windows, the knocking radiators, the uneven floors, the cracking plaster, etc...with what some would call my "rose-colored glasses", I find these things charming! I grew up in a 1920s house and I suppose that I am simply used to these things. I have fond memories of my mother sitting on top of a radiator drinking her hot tea on winter mornings, and of sleeping on the floor of my parents' room in the summers because it had a window unit. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in a '70s ranch house and considered himself to be an old-house lover until we actually moved into ours. Here is an example of a recent exchange:

Him: "Is that ice on the inside of the window?!"
Me: "Ice? I don't see any ice...just look at that beautiful woodwork!"

So proud!

2011-02-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, one post per week; that's an improvement, at least! Although, I'm sorry to say, the quality of my pictures has not improved...still working on it! Here is a skirt that I have just finished, and I am so proud of myself because I made it completely without using a pattern. I have altered patterns and cobbled different patterns together before, but I've never made anything just by draping and cutting until now. Here it is:

The shirt is vintage, and the only thing that I did to the sweater was to take it in a little and add vintage buttons. The fabric is the most beautiful cream knit, and was maybe the most challenging fabric that I have ever worked with. It's really heavy, but stretchy, and really ravel-y. So of course, I had to make it extra difficult by doing it without a pattern! Really, the reason that I did it was because I loved the fabric so much, but I only had bits and pieces of it. I used it to make a dress years ago, and since I no longer wanted to wear the dress (alright, I could no longer fit into the dress after having a baby!), I decided to cut it up and make something else. It was so frustrating, and I almost gave up many times, but I'm so glad that I persevered!

It really hangs nicely (better than in the pictures; I think that I must have been popping my right knee out or something!), and when I wear it with a cream sweater, it almost looks like one of those '30s knit suits that I covet so much. I also had enough fabric to make a hat:

I made it using this pattern (view 4):

I love this pattern so much that I have made it twice more; pictures of those to come!
Also, I want to say hello to my four new followers: Jenny, Jan (fabriquefantastique; what a great screen name!), Kate, and Kate! Welcome!

Outfit post!

2011-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

So, first I would like to welcome my newest followers; hello Garofit and Wendy! I like your blogs, too! I would also like to apologize to Hattie_vintage; somehow I missed you when you joined. Welcome, all! If you like blogs that are only updated every month or so and which feature horrible, blurry photos, then this is the blog for you! Really, I am going to try to do a better job in the future; both with the posts and with the photos!
Here are some long-promised pictures of an outfit that I recently completed. Please ignore the fact that it really needs to be pressed; I caught my husband in an accommodating mood and didn't have time to iron it for the pictures!

And yes, I do still have my Christmas wreath on the front door; I'm calling it a "winter wreath" now to avoid having to take it down! I made the dress out of some cheap flannel-like material ($1.00 per yard at Wal-mart; surprise!) and some nice tweed that I got very much on sale at Hancock. I made it from this great pattern:

In the pattern, the dress is sleeveless; I added the sleeves in order to make it winter-worthy. The pattern also calls for the cape to be sewn onto the dress, but I wanted to make it detachable, so I added some buttonholes to the cape and sewed some buttons underneath the collar.

I also changed the back. The pattern calls for the back to be open except for a clasp at the neck. Maybe as a summertime dress, which this was obviously designed to be, this would be desirable, but it doesn't seem practical to me at all; I mean, I like my undergarments, but I don't want anyone else to see them! I suppose that if the cape were sewn on according to the pattern directions, though, it wouldn't really matter what the back looked like. I added covered buttons all the way down. I love covered buttons, but covering them with this thick tweed was a nightmare, especially those small ones on the sleeves!

This dress really makes me want to watch Gosford Park again; I would want to wear it in that scene when they all have lunch outside in the gazebo after the men go hunting!

Here it is in action; we went on a hike at the park because the weather was so nice. Although there is still snow on the ground from the massive storm we had last week, it was about 55 degrees outside; perfect cape weather!

I am planning to make this again as a summer dress; I have some green crepe and some awesome plaid linen all ready for when it warms up. I think that when I make it, I will just make the back all one piece and change it to fasten in the front instead. What do you think?

So, "posthaste" is a relative term, right?!

2011-02-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, all; so sorry (again!) to have been away for so long. We have just completed a nightmarish ordeal which took up all of my time and energy: refinancing our house. If you haven't attempted to do something like this during the current economic downturn, don't do it! Unfortunately, we couldn't wait, as we had a short-term loan that was expiring and we were in danger of losing our home. But, it all (finally!) worked out, and with that behind me, I should be able to devote more attention to other things! The first thing on my blog to-do list is to pass on the award that I received from Bruce of Eclectic Ephemera. Thank you again, Bruce!

Here is a list of some of my favorite blogs:

Wearing History
My Happy Sewing Place
The Swing of Things
Tea With the Vintage Baroness
A Cat Among the Pigeons
New Vintage Lady
Tickety Boo Tupney
Sailing Over a Cardboard Sea
Pattern Junkie
Unsung Sewing Patterns
Clothed Minds
The Butterfly Balcony

The rules for this award are: acknowledge the bestower, post the award on your blog (which I will do...just as soon as I figure out how!), and then pass it on to 15 other blogs. I didn't quite make it there, so let's just say up to 15 other blogs!

Next up: the outfit post that I promised over a month ago. Really; I already have the pictures taken and everything!

Wow!

2010-12-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

It seems that most of my previous posts open with me apologizing for the lack of them, and now I am doing it again! I spent the last month preparing for vacation, going on vacation, and then recovering from said vacation; ditto for Christmas. How nice to come back to three new followers (hello Ginger, superheidi, and Bruce! I love your respective blogs)! And thanks so much to Bruce Partington-Plans of Eclectic Ephemera for giving me my very first blog award! It certainly is nice to know that someone (aside from my mother) is reading this! And now I see that I need to pass the award on to 15 other bloggers, which I will do posthaste! In the meantime, I have completed quite a few projects, but I am having a difficult time getting photographs of them. I have no tripod for my camera, no sunlight-filled rooms in my house, and no one here to help me during the daylight hours except a baby. I'm working on it, though! Until then, the only thing I have to show is a horrible picture of my coat. It was taken inside, at night, with a camera phone...less than ideal conditions, but here it is:

It was originally a huge, double-breasted monstrosity that I got at the Salvation Army for $10.00. But it was 100% cashmere, a lovely cream color, and the right length, so I just knew that I couldn't pass up a deal like that! Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it before I started cutting it up. Since it was so big and I could lap it over so far, I decided to model it after a picture of a '30s coat that I saw somewhere with an asymmetrical closing. I added the buttonholes and vintage buttons, shortened the sleeves, and made the belt out of the extra material. I also changed the collar. I really want to add some fur cuffs and a fur collar, but I haven't been able to find any fake fur in the right color of brown. I'm very pleased with it; what do you think? Or maybe you should reserve your judgment until I get a better photo of it...it really looks much nicer in person!

p.s. Spellcheck corrected my spelling of "judgement" to "judgment", and upon further research I have discovered that many sources say that "judgment" is the American version and that "judgement" is used in the UK. Here is a quote from Common Errors in English Usage:

"In Great Britain and many of its former colonies, “judgement” is still the correct spelling; but ever since Noah Webster decreed the first E superfluous, Americans have omitted it. Many of Webster’s crotchets have faded away (each year fewer people use the spelling “theater,” for instance); but even the producers of Terminator 2: Judgment Day chose the traditional American spelling. If you write “judgement” you should also write “colour.”

I grew up in the US and have always spelled judgement with two "e"s and never spelled color with a "u". Where are you from, and how do you spell it?

Power-sewing, but not power-blogging...

2010-12-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately (something new and different for this blog, eh?); we are going on vacation in a little more than a week, and I have been spending all of my free time (not much with a one year-old) frantically sewing a new wardrobe for the occasion. I have serious lack of winter clothes, so when I was making my packing list, I decided that I really only had one or two appropriate outfits and would need to make 5 or 6 more! Of course, my husband's comment of "Can't you just wear the same thing twice?" was met with stony silence. I have completed one outfit so far, which means that I should have at least...one to show you when the week is up. Teaser: it has a detachable cape!

Knickers!

2010-11-20T06:08:00.000-08:00

First of all, I apologize again for the terrible quality of these photos. I even used a real camera this time! Apparently, even with all of the advances in technology, it still takes some skill that neither my husband nor I possess to take a quality picture. Oh well!

Here are my finished knickers:

For once, I did cut off my head on purpose; after a weekend of camping, my hair was not at its best. The knickers still looked good, though, if a little wrinkly!
I did make some changes to the original pattern. I removed the pleats in the front and added darts in the back, and I added a lining. I also omitted the belt loops and the pockets, but these omissions were more out of necessity, as I was in a serious time crunch. I made the ends of the waist and leg bands pointed, just because I like the way it looks. :)
Here is a detail of the waist and leg bands. I topstitched every seam and edge, because (as usual) I used $1.00-a-yard fabric from Wal-mart, and it did not press very well. I'm glad that I had to do this, though, because it really made them look more finished. I thought the material would end up looking cheap, but it really doesn't. Please try to ignore the horrible topstiching (again, as usual, I was frantically finishing these 10 minutes before I was supposed to be walking out the door) and just focus on the cute vintage buttons!

You can't tell from the picture, but my tights have a nice thick cable-knit. I looked all over for these, and all I could find outside of very expensive catalogs were thin patterned pantyhose, not the thick tights that I wanted. I remembered wearing these as a child, so I checked the children's section, and there they were! Cheap! One advantage of being short is that I can wear large children's sizes (my sweater is also a child's vintage sweater), so I got a pair in every color!

I hate to admit this, but I did not use my best sewing skills when making these, mostly because I was in a big hurry, but also because I knew that I would not be wearing them very often. I'm not really an outdoorsy kind of person, so I'm not sure what opportunities I will have to wear them. What do you think? Where would you wear them?

Okay, So I Lied...

2010-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I am obviously not so much for power-blogging. Hey, you know, when you are taking care of a one year-old and a dog who will both eat whatever comes across their paths, there is a new crisis every day! (Side note: be sure to keep corncobs away from dogs and babies...) Also, I know that I promised photos of my new knickers, but the awful truth is that I have no idea how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer, which is why I usually take pictures with my camera phone (hence the terrible quality). So, I will have to wait until my husband has a chance to do it for me.

In the meantime, I have discovered the reason that the hair salon/consignment shop (or as I like to call it, "Ye Olde Grammar Mangler") needs a side business. Here is an example of a haircut being offered at said shop:

It's hard to tell from the photo, but those are pink and purple frosted tips.

Now, these guys

might be thinking, "Yes! I thought they stopped offering that style in 1998!", but the rest of us will probably want to stay on the consignment shop side. Unless, of course, you care about the preservation of the English language, in which case, you may just want to say "Bye Bye Bye" to the whole shop.

Hallowe'en...a week later

2010-11-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

Yikes! Two whole weeks without a post; I will need to power-blog for the next few days to make up for it! I do have a semi-excuse: I spent much of that time setting up for, hosting, and cleaning up after my annual Hallowe'en bash. I am a HUGE fan of Hallowe'en (especially spelled with an apostrophe)! I moved all of the furniture out of my living room and set up a long table for 20. Here are some pictures:

This was the next morning; it was much spookier by candlelight. The birds also look much better at night, and there are many more than can be seen in the photos. I wanted crows en masse, but they are so expensive. A few years ago, I was at Wal-Mart and I saw these plastic hunting dove decoys (our fabric section is inexplicably right next to the hunting section). They are $1.00 each, and spray-painted black and viewed in semi-darkness, they do a good imitation of a flock of crows. Bonus: they also come with a clip glued to the bottom, so I can just clip them onto branches, lamps, etc. I buy and paint a few more every year, so I have quite a flock going!

Here is a terrible picture of my costume:

I made this dress four years ago and decided that to justify the time it took to make (two months!) and the price of the fabric, I would need to wear it for at least five years! I made it using Simplicity3782 and some beautiful upholstery fabric from Hancock. I then spent about two weeks just sewing the beads and pearls on by hand. It was definitely more hand-sewing than I ever want to do again!
Here is a detail of the bodice:

And one of the sleeve showing the hand-sewn pearls. Ridiculous!

The headpiece was made from a headband, a bent wire hanger, and pantyhose. I bent the hanger over the headband to make the shape, and then stretched the pantyhose over it. I painted the hose, which gave it some color and also stiffened it. I then trimmed it and added some beads, et voila! A headpiece worthy of Queen Elizabeth (especially in the dark)!

I was really just happy that it finally fit like it was supposed to again; I was pregnant on Hallowe'en two years ago, so I had to make a cape to cover up the fact that the back wouldn't lace closed! Last year, I hadn't lost much baby weight four months after my son was born, so the cape made another appearance. This year I was able to finally retire the cape; hooray!

Tune in tomorrow for Day Two of my power-blogging: Knickers!

A New Outfit and a Milestone

2010-10-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a horribly blurry photo of an outfit that I have recently completed:

I'm always so embarrassed when I see other bloggers' wonderful photos (I'm talking to you, Baroness Von Vintage)! The lack of quality in my pictures probably has something to do with the fact that my husband is always holding a squirming baby who is trying to grab the camera...at least, that's what he blames it on! Anyway, hopefully you can see the outfit, if not the details. The skirt looked simple when I planned it, but matching up those stripes was no picnic! You'll notice that I chose not to show the back....
I made the shirt to match the now-shrunken and much-lamented white skirt. The sweater vest was purchased, but it was huge; I took in the sides, cut about 6 inches off of the bottom, and used that to make the belt. I then re-hemmed it by hand. I have done this many times to give a modern sweater a more vintage silhouette. As long as the weave on the sweater is small enough, I have had no problems altering it using my sewing machine; if the weave is large, I just hand-sew it. The secret: lots of Fray-Check and tiny stitches!

And now the milestone: my blog has a new follower (Hi, Debi; I love your blog!) who is not related to me by blood or marriage, which makes the number of family and non-family members equal! Perhaps sometime in the future, non-relatives will make up the majority...

Failure to Communicate

2010-10-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

This sign is posted by the door of a shop near my house:

This is why I'm planning to homeschool my children.

The best part is that by the side door, in the same handwriting and on the same blue paper, is another sign on which the apostrophe is correctly omitted. It's as if the owner of the shop wasn't sure which usage was correct, decided to hedge her bets, and just used both. Hopefully, all of the grammarians who frequent this beauty salon/consignment shop (?!) will use the side entrance.

To add insult to injury, I made an appointment for my husband to have a physical, which is required for his new job (hooray!). The receptionist informed me that the physical would be performed by a female doctor, but that I shouldn't worry because there would be "nothing evasive involved". What a relief! I'd hate to think that a medical professional would beat around the bush while performing an examination...

Plus Fours, revisited

2010-10-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

After my last post about plus fours, someone suggested to me that women would not have worn knickers in the 1930s, and that their appearance in Cold Comfort Farm was due to Hollywood taking liberties, which we know they often do. So I decided to do some more research to see if I could find any evidence of actual '30s women wearing knickers, and did I ever! Most of the useful information and photos in this post come from this Sportswear Workshop written by the very knowledgeable FuzzyLizzie on the Vintage Fashion Guild forum. She also has many more pictures like these, among other interesting subjects, on her website.
It appears that women have been wearing short pants for activities such as hiking, camping, riding, sports, etc, since the late 1800s-early 1900s when they appeared as long bloomers:

It looks like they really caught on in the '20s, as I was able to find quite a few examples of women wearing them:

Some illustrations and patterns (if only I had this first one!):

And even some real-life examples:

I found fewer examples from the 1930s. It appears that as the 1930s progressed, and as shorts and slacks became more acceptable and popular, knickers for women were largely abandoned. Here is an ad from the early '30s showing both options, and another illustrating riding breeches:

I wonder if another factor could be the preference for more feminine fashions in the 1930s, compared to the more boyish styles of the 1920s. In any case, it appears that wearing knickers in the '30s was certainly acceptable, perhaps just not quite as fashionable. Since Cold Comfort Farm is set in the early '30s, and as that happens to be my favorite part of the decade as well, I will certainly feel no qualms wearing my plus fours camping, hiking, and even (miniature) golfing!

Plus Fours!

2010-10-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

After re-reading this post over at The Painted Woman, I was inspired to watch one of my favorite movies, Cold Comfort Farm, again. The movie is wonderful, and the early 1930s clothes are amazing. I know next to nothing about screencaps, and in addition to the one referenced above, I know of at least two very nice blog posts with this film as their subjects: this post from the Vintage Baroness, and this one from Penny Dreadful Vintage, so check them out to see more lovely outfits from the movie.

While watching this scene,

I thought about how much I would love to have a pair of these wonderful plus fours in which to, you know, relax on a hillside. I was just getting ready to attempt to create a pattern for them, when lo and behold, what do I come across on ebay but this pattern:

It is now on its way to my house. Obviously, I will need to make a few alterations to transform the *lovely* '70s styling into '30s styling, but still; hooray! My mother convinces me to go camping, one of my least favorite activities (the appeal of freezing to death on the rock-hard ground while waiting for a wild animal to attack just seems to escape me), once a year for her birthday. Wouldn't these be perfect? Now if I only had time to make a vest to match...

Swiss dot

2010-10-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I found about 5 yards of yellow and about 2 yards of white swiss dot fabric, all for $1.00 a yard at Wal-Mart. It's been in my stash for a few years, but I finally decided to use it. Here is the result:

I wore it the other day on a last-grasp-at-summer trip to the zoo with my family. I had planned to put sleeves on it, but it looked so right sleeveless that I left them off and just finished them with some bias tape. The belt buckle is one of my recent etsy finds, which I covered in the yellow swiss dot. I made this one without a formal pattern, cobbling together pieces from various patterns to make it look like I wanted it to. Please ignore the dead plant beside me in the photo on the right; although I try very hard, gardening is one skill that I have not mastered.

In other news, I am mourning the loss of this skirt:

It was made of some $1.00 a yard mystery fabric from Wal-Mart, and my husband washed it. If I lose about 20 pounds and shrink 3 inches, it will fit me again, but as that is not likely, I suppose a new white skirt is first on the to-do list for next spring. I guess that's what I get for not doing my own laundry; no wonder I failed the 1930s Housewife Quiz!

Recovering + Etsy score!

2010-10-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately; an especially nasty virus laid my family low for about a week. Taking care of a sick baby when you're also sick is no picnic! Thankfully, my husband did not catch it, so he was able to watch the baby for one full day by himself while I was still contagious. He then spent the next day "recovering" (sleeping and drinking beer). Apparently, being "Mr. Mom" did not agree with him.

The only thing that I accomplished this week was a series of lucky finds on Etsy: all of these vintage belt buckles are now mine!

I already have plans for some of them, and the rest I'll save for a rainy day. The blue and orange ones are wooden, and I've already covered one with fabric to match the afore-mentioned yellow swiss dot skirt, which I finally finished, along with its matching shirt. I'll post a photo of that outfit tomorrow.

New Jabot

2010-09-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

I made this jabot from an old moth-eaten yellow sweater last night. I see that I really need to work on my photography skills; it looks much cuter in person!

The flowers are made from the sweater material. To make the backing, I just cut two triangles out of some yellow swiss dot, ironed on some interfacing, and sewed them together. I left the corners open for turning and so that I could thread some grosgrain ribbon through. I stitched the flowers to the backing, and voila! A new jabot!

It looks nice with a skirt that I just finished out of the same yellow swiss dot. Well, it's almost finished; somehow I made the waistband a bit too small (oops...wishful thinking, I suppose), so I will post a photo of that one soon!

Grammar fail(ure)

2010-09-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

We were at PetSmart yesterday, and I happened to spy one of my least favorite grammatical errors: the use of a plural where a possessive is called for and vice versa.

To be fair, this appeared in a tag engraving machine, so it really wasn't PetSmart's mistake. However, some well-meaning but semi-literate PetSmart employee, obviously attempting to follow the Law of Conservation of Apostrophes ( "For every apostrophe omitted from an "it's'' there is an extra one put into an "its"), hung this sign about three feet away:

When I see mistakes like these, made by adults who have, presumably, completed elementary school, I can't help but echo the sentiments of Lynne Truss in her wonderful book Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: "Why did the Apostrophe Protection Society not have a militant wing? Could I start one? Where do you get balaclavas?"

Hair today, gone tomorrow

2010-09-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so that's an old joke...but since this is a new blog, I'm using it anyway!

I put this picture of Bette Davis here at the top of my blog because this photo represents my hair ideal. If I had the skill, I would spend as much time as it took to make my hair look exactly like this! Sadly, my style falls far short of the lovely Bette's, but all the same, I am rather proud of it. My nighttime routine goes like this: I shower, spray in setting lotion, and make the fingerwaves using these clips that I got from Sally:

I then roll the back in small foam rollers and go to sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I just take the clips and rollers out, spray all over with hairspray, and I'm good to go! I've seen this done much better on various online tutorials, but this is as good as it gets for me! Here is a what it looks like:

Newest wardrobe addition

2010-09-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would start out by posting some photos of my latest projects. I do like to dress in the style of the 1930s all the time, and I learned to sew so that I could make my own clothes. Any vintage clothes that I do happen to find are not usually in my size, and I really wouldn't trust myself to wear them if they were (I do have a 15 month-old baby, after all)! That's the nice thing about reproductions: those little hand prints just wash right out, and I don't feel like I've ruined a piece of history if something worse happens.

Here is a two-piece sports dress I just completed:

I'm not wearing them together because it is still much too hot for September and the material is rather heavy. I made them with this pattern from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library:

It's interesting to see how different these dresses look on real people versus the pattern envelope illustrations. I also don't know how anyone could wear the dress open in the back as is shown in the small drawing (I tried it; it's alright as long as you don't lean over)! Maybe she's just wearing it that way to cool off after a rousing game of tennis, hmm?

First post!

2010-09-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

As I am not very computer-savvy and have spent all evening getting this blog in some semblance of order, I only have time for one short "hello" before it's off to bed. Must sleep when baby sleeps!