In Which I Finally Wear my Perfect Christmas Dress

I know, I know, Christmas is over and many of you are glad to see it go. Due to being at the hospital over the holidays I didn’t get  a chance to post too much about our holiday and I hope you’ll bear with me while I catch up some.

A dear friend of mine hosted her annual Christmas ornament exchange and I thought it would be the perfect time to finally wear a dress that I bought ages ago. You see, when I was living in Florida, I modeled vintage clothing for the BEST vintage shop I’ve had the pleasure to frequent; Sherry’s Yeserdaze. Her etsy shop is here. It was so much fun to go and pick out clothes and basically play grown up dress up. Sherry often admonished me not to pick things I was in love with since they had to go on the site to sell. A tough thing for this vintage loving gal. And so it happened that I modeled and fell in love with this dress.

The original modeling picture

It’s a lovely 1950′s velveteen that has been well loved over the years. There are several tucks in the bodice that are not original, as well as lines where the hem has been raised and then lowered again. Oh, if this dress could talk! It also has glorious, hefty pockets; a must when all you have is a little clutch.

This is how I wore it to my friends party:

The jaunty little fur capelet was a gift to me from my Mom’s cousin. The cape was her mother’s and let me just say, it is WARM! It was at least 40 degrees out when I wore this and I didn’t need anything else. The interior has the cutest little pocket.

Showing the interior and my brooch

The cute little brooch was a gift to me from none other than Casey herself! It garnered many compliments and many thought it was part of the dress they were so perfect together.

Pocket evidence

And here is me showing you the spaciousness of the pockets! They are perfect for parties when you don’t know what else to do with your hands as I often feel.

Finally, here is a picture of how I did my hair. I set the sides back with combs and then rolled the back up using a rat and pinning it into place. Simple, easy vintage updo for those times you don’t feel like setting your hair!

And that’s all folks! I had a great time at the party and I think a large part of that was not only the wonderful company, but the fact that I felt like I looked pretty fabulous!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season as well.

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #45

Well folks, I thought I was back when I last posted a few weeks ago. Turns out, my brother wasn’t quite out of the woods like we’d hoped and my family and I made the long trek back to Kansas to visit him for the Christmas holiday. Needless to say, this doesn’t lend itself well to blogging!

We drove back the day after Christmas in a terrible snowstorm. This was very interesting as I’d only ever driven on icy roads once before, and my husband, never. We learned that slow and steady wins the race and thankfully made it home safe and sound, though a little shaken by the experience. We got the much wished for snow, and here is what the house looks like now:

My first time shoveling snow!

Picturesque, no? In this picture I’m wearing my 1940s jeans and the cool red field jacket I thrifted recently. Does anyone else struggle with dressing vintage in the winter? I think coming from Florida spoiled me; most of my vintage items are for fair weather and I’m looking more and more towards sewing warm separates in the coming year.

With weather like this, I think I’d love to make a cool vintage ski/snowsuit like the one recently featured on the Unsung Sewing Patterns blog.

Fashionable AND warm?! Sign me up please! Unfortunately there’s a dearth of children’s ski suit sewing patterns from this era available but the women’s ones seem harder to find. I think this would look great in a hunter green wool like the image on the right. I also think it would be nice in a chocolate brown colorway.

Fellow vintage gals, how do YOU dress for cold weather? Or do you, like me, sort of slack in the vintage department when the weather is chilly?

Until next time, whenever that may be,

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #44

Hello! Is anyone still out there? Wow, what a crazy couple of months I’ve been having here at the ol’ homestead.

First, we moved in a week early. Let me tell you, I’m so GRATEFUL that we were able to because we got the keys on the 2nd, moved on the 4th and spent that entire week shuffling from the old place to the new. Let me just say that I felt all thirty of my years and I’m very glad that I don’t ever intend to move again if I can help it!

Next we had our housewarming party which took place on the 10th. Did this bad blogger take any photographs of the night? NO! Ugh. It was a great time; we had over thirty friends arrive and plenty of food and beverages for all. We ended up eating the leftovers for a week!

Then, it took nearly a month for internet service to be hooked up. There is approximately ONE internet service that actually has lines to our house and let’s just say they act like it. Ha ha. Once we got the internet, my laptop decided it doesn’t like being wireless anymore which means I have to physically plug it in my daughter’s room. Not fun. Anyhow, this month long break meant that I sort of weaned myself off of all the time I was spending on the internet so for that I’m grateful.

Finally, and most importantly of all. My brother was hospitalized at the end of November to the middle of December. I spent two weeks with him, my lovely sis in law and nephew. It was touch and go for a while there but thankfully he is going to be fine. So you can see that this has been a pretty atypical couple of months for me!

With all that said, let’s see a pretty pattern shall we?

I’m really wanting to make this dress. I’ve probably posted it before, as it’s one of my favorites, but I can’t be bothered to go back and look. If I have, my apologies.

 

When I was still living in Florida I scored a lovely and unexpected length of sage green wool jersey. It’s got a lovely hand and would be just perfect for this pattern. Does anyone have experience working with this fabric? Do share any tricks or tips if you have. Unfortunately, this fabric, and all my other sewing stuff are still sitting in boxes in my basement (did you hear that, I actually HAVE a basement now!) waiting to be unpacked. I shall have to remedy this.

Wow, it’s so nice to return to relative normalcy after a hectic few months. I say that now but I’m planning to brave the holiday shoppers and finish up some last minute holiday shopping today. I hope to be back soon to share with you an outfit I wore to a recent holiday party and some family Christmas cookie recipes.

Ta ta for now!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #44

Hi folks! Just a short little note today. I’m debating making this:

Specifically, I have a burnt-orange length of linen in the stash that I think would look really cute in view A. Here’s the kicker; I need to make it by the 5th. Here’s why. We get the keys to the Farm on the 5th, we move in on the 8th (though all that week after work we’re going to be trucking boxes and clothes over and save the big stuff for the truck on the 8th) and I want the dress to wear to a party we’re throwing at the Farm on the 10th! What do you think? Will this be crazy making what with packing and all that? Or can I get it done by the 5th?

I think it’s so cute though. The sweetheart neckline, the swag at the hips . . . . The theme of the party is “Fall/Harvest” so the color will suit my theme. Hmm. Conundrum. What say you readers?

Eileen

In Which I go Thrifting Again (and Come Home With Some Very Nice Things)

Oops, I did it again; I’ve gone thrifting. And, as per usual here in the wilds of Ohio, I found some great stuff. Shall we jump right in? Probably my most favorite find of the day is this great knitted cape.

Isn’t it cool? I think the color combination is striking. The buttons are gold painted wood. I can’t decide if the motif looks South American or slightly Tyrolean (wishful thinking?). It’s definitely vintage, check out its tag.

I guess the only downside to it is that it is an acrylic. The older I get, the more snobby I get about synthetic fibers. After washing, this came out very soft and not scratchy and since it’s made to be worn over clothes I’m not too terribly worried about the fiber content. I also appreciate that it was a product of Montgomery Ward’s which, incidentally, is my very first place of employment. That was a loooong time ago

I actually found, not one cape, but two capes, can you believe my luck? This one is a modern wool one from Coldwater Creek. I like it because I think it’s a neat twist on the lumberjack shirt.

Isn’t it cute? When I first spotted it on the rack, I snapped it up like a madwoman thinking it might just be a Pendleton.

Another item that leaped out at me (I actually reached OVER the rack I was looking at to snatch this one up) was this great vintage cotton skirt. Is it too small? Yes. Do I care? Not one whit! Look how amazing!

Sorry for the wonky picture folks, I draped the skirt over Martha (why yes, I do name my dress form [and sewing machines, and cars] why do you ask?) so that you could see the great chevron stripe detail using the rick-rack print fabric. Oh how I wish I had a 26″ waist so that I could wear this skirt!

Speaking of skirts, I was very excited to find an ACTUAL KILT which has been something on my list to find for a very, very long time. This one is a teeny tiny bit too small but the waistband utilizes hooks and eyes so as soon as I get around to it (read: two years hence and then I’ll kick myself for not doing it sooner!) I will fix it and wear it. I will wear it with boots, tights and a turtleneck. Oh yes.

The colors came out WAY brighter than they actually are. It’s darker and more subtle than it looks here. It’s navy, hunter green, deep red and has shots of yellow.

I came across this great vintage heavy red wool coat; perfect for those mornings when I’m up and at ‘em on the farm and heading out to feed the animals!

It has a great tag:

See? It’s even meant to be worn in “American Fields!” I think it’s awesome to find items that were made right here in, not only the USA, but local in Ohio. This one was made in Toledo.

I find that I’m buying a lot of items that can be worn “on the farm” that I wouldn’t necessarily wear to work or out and about on the weekends, although I suspect that “out and about on the weekends” is going to change drastically once I actually start farming! Case in point is that I bought this amazing cabled wool cardigan. It’s slightly big on me, but I just know that on those cold mornings when I head out to milk the goats this will be just the ticket under the red jacket featured above to keep the chill away.

It’s an L.L. Bean sweater and while I’m not typically someone who jumps at name brands, I know this one to be a real sign of great quality so whenever I see it, I try to buy it if I can. At thrift store prices of course! Although I have had my eye on bean boots for quite some time. Santa, are you listening??

And then there is the somewhat fanciful gear I buy “for the farm.” Who am I kidding? I love vintage and I love Westerns so why wouldn’t I leap at this shirt?

I really love this traditional western shirt look. I’ve already worn this once, despite it’s missing pearl snap (another thing on the “to mend” list) with my 1940s jeans and man oh man, did it look cute! I got some odd stares that day which is how I gauge outfit success ’round these parts, haha!

Well that’s all for show and tell. I got a few other things, namely a vintage glass bowl and pie plate and a few books, but these garments represent for me the real highlights of my haul. I’m slated to go thrifting again today since I try to go day after payday, or every two weeks or so. This time I’ll be on the hunt for largely uninteresting cold weather exercise clothes. Fun.

What about you, found anything of note lately?

Eileen

P.S. In a little over a week we move into our house!!!!

Pretty Pattern Sunday #43

Hi all! This morning marks a momentous occasion; we have turned on the heat for the first time in our house. I was trying to hold out until November, I really was, but my son who refuses to wear more than underwear most mornings was the impetus for the heat. Oh well! I have to say it was nice coming into a warm house from walking the dog this morning

As such, my thoughts are turning to making clothes that suit this weather. Unfortunately, I’ve slacked on sewing my daughter’s Halloween costume (Marie Antoinette) so my machine is currently spoken for. Looking in my archives this morning I came across this cool Forties pattern:

Hollywood 1659

This militaristic styling is very typical of the era. View one is showing that this pattern can be made as separates which, if I were to make this, is exactly how I would sew it using a good wool. A jacket like this is very flattering on my dewdrop figure (haha, a more apt description I feel than “pear shaped”).  I like waist definition and the well defined shoulders of this jacket would make one’s waist look even smaller. Who doesn’t love clothes that flatter by illusion? Check out those cool pockets in the shoulder area. These kind of details are what I love most about vintage patterns.

Also of note is the adorable sailor-front skirt. I don’t particularly like it with the jacket, but on its own it would be a real stunner. I could see this made up in a Navy blue wool (what else?) with either brass or white nautical-themed buttons.

I’m going to attempt to write up some posts today for the coming  weeks, but don’t be surprised if I fall silent. Yesterday, thanks to our local Craigslist we were able to score all the boxes we need for the move which is a short two weeks away!! Squee!! I can’t wait to blog from the house It’s so much more picturesque!

Until next we meet,

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #41

If there is one thing I love, it’s a retro/vintage kitchen. I adore the tiny details, the little pops of color and the oh so charming accoutrements that go along with them. Ever since we closed on the farm house, I’ve been trolling my local Craigslist for deals on items for my future kitchen. I even have my “colors” picked out. Side note: I didn’t even have colors at my (courthouse) wedding so it’s pretty funny that I’ve got them for my kitchen- end side note. Anywho, the colors I’m looking for are red, white and jade-ite green. To that end, I’ve already picked up a few great pieces this week that I can’t wait to share with ya’ll!

“Wait, Eileen. What does this have to do with pretty patterns?”

Well I’ll tell you! I thought, how cute would it be to make up an apron in the colors of my future kitchen? And the answer, of course, is CRAZY CUTE!

This is definitely the pattern I would use to make this apron of dreams. However, I’m a little at odds with how I would incorporate all three colors. I was thinking white with red piping and then do the embroidery in the jade-ite green? Or I also like the base being jade-ite green with white piping and red embroidery. I just don’t want it to end up looking Christmassy. Hmm. This deserves a think.

I hope you are all having a fun weekend. Yesterday saw me heading to a friend of a friend’s antique shop and purchasing a perfect Sellers cabinet for the kitchen. Huzzah! This kitchen is really coming together already. Today I’m heading for another antiques town but I think I’ll do more browsing than anything else (famous last words?) I’m lucky enough to have tomorrow off and I’ll be spending that behind the sewing machine finishing up my Halloween costume and starting my daughter’s. Sounds pretty good to me!

Eileen

Planning my Future Clothes

Ever since Gail so graciously offered to cart me around Chicago in search of beautiful fabrics, I’ve been planning what projects to get fabric for. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think planning is almost as fun as actually making. Am I alone in this? I think I’ve narrowed it down to a few as I really don’t want to overrun my budget!

Here’s what I’m thinking thus far.

I’ve had this pattern for a few years now, and every Fall/Winter I pull it out, look at it, sigh, and put it back. Why? Because I want to find the perfect hunter green wool to make view B. I’m reluctant to buy anything that I haven’t seen and felt in person. I already have a mink fur collar that I bought specifically for making this coat. How beautiful is it?

Next up is sort of predictable, but I really, really need to make some great Forties trousers in various lightweight wools. I’m thinking red for sure, and possibly a deep chocolate brown . . .

I’m actually not going to be using this pattern, but the Simplicity repro that has made the rounds in the blogosphere with many, many beautiful examples.

I’d also like to make this dress and all its cute variations. I’ll probably be boring an make it in black, but truth be told, I don’t really have an LBD!

I especially like the pocketed peplum and the fancy draped variations though it will be fun to try the collars as well.

Finally, I’d like to find some fabric to make this darling capelet.

I’m still thinking about what color I’d like to make it in. I’ve also got a few modern patterns that I’m thinking of buying fabric for, but those aren’t as fun and are more things that I can wear to the office. Boring!

I’m very excited about this trip; I’m looking forward to seeing and feeling quality apparel fabrics again as they seem to be a bit scarce in my immediate area! It’s good that I make a plan; otherwise I’m so disjointed and never know what to get or how much to get of any fabrics. Does anyone else experience this?

Well I’m off to enjoy the rest of my weekend and hope that you do the same!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #39

Folks, imagine my surprise when I rummaged through my pattern stash only to find that I did not own this beauty:

Not only is the dress cute, but I enjoy the cover for its little glimpse of how far women have come and how recently this has all happened. The gal on the left looks like she’s been dusting; don’t you dig her scarf and moccasins? And the one on the right is clearly baking, in heels no less! Sort of reminds me of my Fourth of July pie photo. Funnily enough, I’ve been reading a book from the early ’70s called Living on a Few Acres which surprise, surprise talks about just what the title implies. In this book I’ve read quotes to the effect of husbands need to think about how lonely their wives will be if they move them from the city to the country and also just who needs to be present at closing on a country property; the seller and his wife as well as the buyer and his wife. I was surprised to find this language as late as the Seventies! I find this hilarious as my husband is a full time student and as a result I am the buyer in our little house hunting adventure and we’ve been discussing home-schooling, which, if we do go that route, will be performed by him!

Anyway, back to the dress! Isn’t it darling? I’ve got quite a few sweet cotton prints in the stash that I would love to see made up into this dress and , yes, even the potholder. I do think that’s pretty practical though. If you look carefully you can see that this dress is a wrap style and the potholder has a loop on the end. When wrapping the dress, one slips the loop through the belt and viola! you have a potholder at the ready for when you need this. I think this would be eminently useful next year when I’m canning dozens upon dozens of my home grown veggies. I’ll have to be sure to make it in a cotton that I’m not too terribly attached to in the event of an unfortunate tomato sauce or jam accident.

Yesterday the family and I headed to a corn festival which was a fun family time and I ate entirely too much kettle corn and fresh-pulled taffy. My husband was a real sport and accompanied me to an “old fashioned bed turning” where ladies showed off their family heirloom quilts. It was very inspiring to say the least. So on that note, I’m going to finish up my last cup of coffee and do some quilting today. I love to think that maybe someday my quilts will be shown off proudly by my heirs and so well loved that they’ve been patched numerous times.  Hope ya’ll are having an inspired weekend too!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #38

I still have vintage overalls on the brain. I’m digging this pair by Decades of Style.

Aren’t they dah-ling? I think they would be great in a sturdy red cotton to putter about the garden in. I could also see these in a gorgeous lightweight fabric to wear as beach pyjamas . . . Anyway, if you want them click the picture above. I think they’re amazing.

I’m so glad it’s September. My kids are back in school and the mornings and evenings are cooling down some. The heat isn’t completely gone, but some of the kick has gone out of it lately. I’ve already purchased my first can o’ pumpkin (gasp! I know, but there aren’t any little sugar pumpkins from the farmer’s market yet) to make our first pumpkin pancakes of the season tomorrow. We even bought some stew beef and the necessary accoutrements to make a delicious beef stew one night this week. It’s September and we’ve decided it is fall.

Until next time,

Eileen