The Opposite of Dress Down Fridays

Just a quick post before I head off to work to show you an example of the bounty the amazing thrift store offered me last weekend. Observe:

Amazing Skirt!

I’ve been searching high and low for a good brown wool skirt and finally I’ve found one. I call it a consolation prize for the loss of the amazing Singer sewing machine (sob!). This skirt does wonders for the ol’ waist as it’s slightly wider than the average waist band. The skirt’s original belt thankfully came with it as well. It’s a self fabric buckle and the band is half self fabric and half leather. The skirt also has lovely pockets and a stiff lining which makes the most satisfying swish sound when walking. I can’t quite date the skirt- I think it’s home made (though certainly doesn’t look it) and the shape makes me think 50s, but how nice it looks and knowing this silhouette was also popular in the ’70s makes me think it may be later. Either way, I love it!

Details

As the title suggests, I’ve decided to wear this outfit to work today (with modern hair of course!). Take that dress down Fridays!

I hope you all have fun things planned for the weekend. I’m amazingly busy tomorrow- Farmer’s market, gardening class and a paper marbling ladies get-together with my neighbors. I’m hoping to squeeze some craftiness in there somewhere!

Until next time

Eileen

Our Sunny Cemetery Stroll

Yesterday found me and the family with the day off and again more unseasonably “warm” weather. We decided the only thing to do was go outside! When I was visiting the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning, they’d had a volunteer there from the Woodland Cemetery.  The photos in the brochures he was passing out made it look like a nice place (depending on how you feel about cemeteries!) for a family stroll.

Woodland Cemetery is one of those lovely old garden cemeteries with paths and greenery. It’s also listed as an arboretum and I’m sure if we’d gone in a season other than deep winter we’d have marveled at the lovely trees as well. As it is, for us, the headstones and mausoleums were our main source of awe. There were some amazing works of funereal art at this cemetery- truly and we really enjoyed strolling for the better part of three hours!

Please allow me to share with you some photos from yesterday’s trip.

The Chapel

This chapel graces the entrance of the cemetery. I loved the stone and if you look up at the top left under the tower you can spy the resident gargoyle!

Mourning Woman

I have a particular soft spot for those headstones that are in the shape of a mourning woman. Something about their lovely pitifulness strikes a chord within me.

I was sad to see that the topper to this one had fallen off over the course of the years. The arch is supposed to be atop the bust in the back and reads “To my Dear Wife” awww.

My son’s favorite was this polished granite orb. You can spy one of the breathtaking mausoleums in the back there.

Art Deco!

This one was my personal favorite. I adore Art Deco in all its forms and this stylized headstone is no exception. This outfit is my “go-to” vintage winter outfit. I’m wearing my 1940s jeans, a 1950s cardigan underneath my 1950s Pendleton and my saddle shoes. My hair is just two braids wrapped up and around my head (for days I don’t feel like doing anything elaborate).

Followed by my second favorite, this amazingly carved Irish cross.

My husband enjoyed this life sized dapper gent. We were told that he’s been known to give guards a fright at night and it’s no wonder!

And this one sort of looked like she was doing the Tebow! All joking aside, this is another beautiful example of a mourning woman.

Our trip also included stops to visit several local dignitaries

We searched high and low for this one. She was a famous actress in the 1900s and apparently had a scandalous divorce! My word!

Finally, I leave you with a picture of the amazing, original Tiffany & Co stained glass window that is housed inside the chapel. Isn’t it breathtaking?

We are looking forward to going back again in the Spring and Fall to note the changes of the seasons.

Hope you enjoyed our stroll through the cemetery!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #16

Hullo folks! Are you enjoying your weekend? I know I sure am. I just love holiday weekends; there’s nothing better than enjoying your two days off knowing that another day off still awaits!

Yesterday found me very busy. I took a trip to the local Farmer’s Market to introduce three new people to it which is always a fun thing to do. They had a lovely band playing as well- I can’t remember their name but they featured a guitarist, slide guitarist, mandolin player and, my personal favorite, a banjo player. They played songs that were new to me and did fun bluegrass spins on Beatle’s classics which I thoroughly enjoyed.

After that, I took my daughter to her sewing lesson. Yes, I know, I know, I’m a sewer, shouldn’t I teach her? I’m afraid my friends, that I have very little patience (it’s terrible and I work on it!) but I knew for something like this that I definitely want her to want to do only someone else could teach her. While she was busy learning to sew, I took advantage of the time to hit up my favorite local thrift store. Goodness were the thrift gods smiling down on me yesterday! I’ll have to show you all my loot in another post. I did lament the fact that a woman pulled from the “as is” bin a GORGEOUS vintage Singer that looked not unlike my Norma for the low, low price of $10 a mere SECONDS before I made it over there. I *might* have stalked her around the store a bit to see if she would put it back but alas! she did not. Oh well. Then home and a lovely night eating homemade mac n’ cheese and watching movies and knitting.

Today we’re planning something outdoorsy as the weather has been (I’m told) unseasonably warm lately. I laugh to think how much I’ve changed that I feel temps in the high 40s are “warm” but there it is. This warm weather turns my thoughts to, what else!?, but spring sewing.

Today’s pretty pattern is one I bought for myself for my birthday. I’ve long admired Swirl dresses so I could not pass up a dress pattern that looks remarkably like them!

Come Spring!

I can see making this up in all manner of combinations. I think a navy linen with white piping would be lovely. I like the idea of white dress with red trim as in view 3. I could also see a fun madras plaid with fun ric-rac trim!! Or how about a little gingham with ric-rac trim?? The possibilities are pretty endless with a dress such as this.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Eileen

Just in Time for Snow!

Right about the time I finished up my 1940s Jeans, I finished this little vintage cabled cardigan.

Mmm . . . mustardy

Ever since I first laid eyes on this sweater via Vintage Vixen, I knew I must have one of my own. She has worn hers with so many amazing outfits and I really admired the versatility of a sweater like this. I was especially suprised by how much the mustard color caught my imagination as it’s not a color I typically wear.

The pattern is free and courtesy of the Victoria Albert Museum. It’s entitled “A New Design in Cable Stitch” and can be found here should you want one of your own! I checked my Ravelry page and this little number took me about a month total to complete from start to finish. That’s with everything else I have going on! I used Knit Picks Palette in, you guessed it, the mustard colorway. It’s a fingering weight yarn but I find the more I knit these vintage patterns, the more I don’t mind knitting with such skinny yarns as they tend to avoid the “made at home” look.

Peek a Boo!

The only modifications that I made to this pattern were shortening the ribbing by 10 rows on both the body and the sleeves (which I sort of wish I had not done now, but oh well) and as I did the increases on the sleeves I continued to cable them once enough increases were made to enable that. Does that make sense?

All in all, I’m really, really pleased with this sweater and I foretell that it will get a lot of use here in the frozen wilds of Ohio

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to work on the shirt I’d wanted to a few weeks back. My best friend is having a baby in about ten weeks and I’ve decided to make her a baby quilt. I’ve been cutting triangles and other shapes like a madwoman and think I finally reached the point where I’m ready to sew it together now. I hope to be able to show at least some finished blocks some time this week. I’m using boy-ish 1930s prints for the quilt and using, what else, but a vintage quilting pattern for my inspiration! I can’t wait to show it to you all!

Until next time,

Eileen

Tags: cabled cardi

Ressurected from the Scrap Pile- My 1940s Jeans!

Last year I decided that once and for all I was going to sew some 1940s jeans! I researched the topic extensively (as I am wont to do with anything I want to do correctly). I pored over vintage inspiration from all over the internet and many of the books on my shelf. When I felt ready I armed myself with this fabulous pattern and some heavy non-stretch denim I felt I was ready. I took careful measurements of both myself and the pattern, cut it out and away I went.  When it came time to fit the jeans to myself however, I was crestfallen. I felt them to be WAY too baggy in the seat and upper thighs. Needless to say I was very disappointed by this failure simply due to the amount of work I put into them up to that point.

Fast forward to the third of this month; I was digging through my scrap bins looking for some hair canvas and I unearthed the jeans that had disappointed me so sorely. I pulled them out and vowed to attempt to make them work! Funnily enough as soon as I tried them on the following day I couldn’t believe that I’d tossed them away the way that I had. They fit pretty much perfectly and just needed to be finished.

Four hours of diligent work and here are the results:

Delighted with my Topstitching

From the Back

Looking at these pictures I’m really not sure WHAT my problem with them was. Honestly, when I pulled them out, all that remained was finishing the outer side seams, attaching the zipper and adding/finishing the waistband. Finally I topstitched the whole shebang and they were done and I couldn’t be happier with them!

I made some modifications to the pattern, unfortunately those are pretty much lost to time because I didn’t write down what they were in my sewing journal! I know that I narrowed the legs and slightly “pegged” the bottoms to be a bit more period correct. I self drafted the pocket shape based on a jeans picture that was in this book. I moved the zipper into the left side pocket and moved the button on that side as well.

Based on all the compliments I got on them at a luncheon party we attended on Saturday, I’d say these are a resounding success!

Finally, lest you think I’ve forgotten this auspicious day, take a look at these hilarious vintage Valentines brought to us by the Retronaut. My personal favorite is the man scrubbing the floors

Eileen

Tags: 40s jeans

Pretty Pattern Sunday #15

Folks, yesterday was a new kind of cold for me. When I awoke, I looked out the window to see snow covering everything in sight. It was very pretty and the sun was shining and the snow was sparkling- so deceptively enticing to this recent Ohio transplant from Florida!

We were invited to a luncheon party and I figured my wool socks, new sewn 40s jeans (more on those in another post), short sleeved shirt with new handknit sweater atop (more on that in another post as well!) were enough for the short trip from front door to car, from car to party and back again. I topped it all off with my nice, thick Pendleton 49er and away we went.

As we trundled out of the house Wow! The cold was so . . .stark it just sucked the breath right out of me. We all quickly scuttled to the car and cranked up the heat. We noticed that the car thermometer stated that it was 18 degrees out! Yikes.

Post party chowdown, several attendees decided to go for a walk in the lovely snow. I was apprehensive at best but again was shocked at just how positively chilling the weather really can get. By the time we got to the little park a mere block down the street, I could barely feel my ears and had my hands shoved WAY down in my pockets which was doing very little in the way of keeping them warm.

It was then that I wished I’d brought along these:

Mmm . . . Angora-y

Isn’t this a darling set? Nothing is quite so charmingly vintage Winter to me as a little angora set. This pattern can be found at this website. She also has an Etsy shop featuring affordably priced vintage knitting patterns should you be so interested.

Here’s a decidedly un-vintage me modeling mine shortly after I cast off the last mitten.

Stay warm friends!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #14

Sick. In a word, that has been me this past week. Annoyingly, I was unable to miss even one day of class and as I did not fancy repeating it, I forced myself awake every morning and made it to class, sniffling and grumbling all the way. It was telling too. After two weeks of As on the tests in the final week I was lucky to get a C. C’est la vie!

Thankfully, today I feel more like myself again and I’m thinking of doing a little sewing. Weirdly, temperatures here have been in the high 50s and low 60s this week so my suit is once again on hold and I’m dreaming of  clothes for Spring (as if I haven’t got enough already!)

Tops on my list are nice breezy blouses. I’m thinking of making up this one in a polka-dotted batiste from the stash. I plan to make the long sleeved version for a change.

Gotta Love Bows!

I’m thinking seriously of lengthening the ties for the bow in order to achieve a more voluminous effect. In addition to the long sleeved blouse, I also plan to use View 3 of this pattern to make a lemon-yellow dress.

Later this week I plan to showcase a massive fail in the sewing department, some recent thrift scores, and a finished knitting project.

Until next time,

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #13

Hullo folks!

Just a quick post today as I’m very busy studying for my last week of the class I’m taking for work. Since passing = Eileen gets to keep her job, studying is currently paramount!

Today’s Pretty Pattern Sunday is not one that I own. But you could if you so choose!

Cherries!

I love this pattern! I’m very inspired by the one on the left; I’ve never thought of combining three of my favorite colors, red, kelly green, and yellow in such a way! This pattern inspires me to create a similar color palette and soon! If you love this pattern, it is still available from lisaanne1960 on Etsy. Go get it before I change my mind

Eileen

In Which my Muslins do not Cooperate

So here I am; I’ve carefully traced my suit pattern onto sturdier paper (thus preserving the original pattern), I’ve made some preliminary adjustments and I cut out my muslin. I’m so good too because I then thread trace all my seam lines so that later, when I make adjustments I can see where, exactly, I’ve deviated from the original pattern. I sew it up and get this:

Blerg

Double Blerg

Wow, super baggy right? I bought my correct size- a 34″ bust but apparently the drafter had something else in mind! I also noticed that the shoulders are WAY too wide and also that the darts on the front are not pointing at the apex of my bust. Taking this into account, I made some changes and came up with this:

Hmm

Hrm?

I’m not entirely worried about the bagginess in the lower back. In this set of photos, I forgot to turn up the hem which is a generous 2″. In the first set of pictures, the hem is turned up effectively mitigating the bagginess factor.

So, the armholes are fitting a bit better and hitting more or less at the correct spot but what is up with that gape on the front left neckline? Is this something that one just pins right out? The bust points are more to where they should be though.

The back is still pretty loose and I attribute this to my narrow back and over-erect posture (I weirdly get a lot of compliments about my posture from men). Those blue lines you see on the back are me attempting to link the darts on the bottom to the darts at the top shoulder in an effort to narrow up the back later.

I’m not sure what to do at this point. I ordered this book, and I wish it would hurry up and arrive so I can figure out what the issue is! Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I’m thinking of scrapping it all and starting from scratch. I ordered some hair canvas which arrived the other day and I really would like to get cracking on the fun part of tailoring this suit!

Until next time,

Eileen

Tags: The Dressmaker's Suit

Pretty Pattern Sunday #12

Wow, sorry for the radio silence this week. I started a class for work in which passing means I get to stay in my internship program so most nights this week have been occupied by furious reading and studying. The first test is tomorrow (wish me luck!) so this is just a quick post for today.

Well unfortunately, my suit is on hold for now as I lack the necessary dough to procure hair canvas for tailoring. That, and I’m having some muslin fitting woes which I hope to post about this week and get your much needed help on! I’m finding out that my shoulders are usually 1/2″ shorter than most patterns and have also only recently realized that I have a narrow back, erect posture and possibly a sway back. Woe is me!

But instead of weeping over things I cannot change, I’m going to go try and figure them out while you look at this week’s pretty pattern.

A suit for sunny days

I realized in conversation with my husband yesterday that it’s been a few weeks since we last saw honest to goodness sunlight. In homage to that, I’m posting this little playsuit which I hope to whip up when the weather turns. I love the little details like the pleating on the shorts that is echoed in the top. This will be so nice to run around town doing errands in!

This pattern serves as a reminder to why I’ve also been exercising in earnest. This year I fully intend to wear shorts and shorter skirts! This hasn’t been done by me for a decade at least.

Back to studying for me and until next time,

Eileen