Pretty Pattern Sunday #25

First off, Happy Mommies Day to those Moms out there! I’m currently awaiting breakfast and hoping that the baseball game we are supposed to go see today isn’t cancelled due to rain (fingers crossed!).

In honor of Mother’s Day I thought it would be fun to post a Mother/Daughter set of patterns from the 1940s. I’ve talked about the popularity of such styles before and I really enjoy them!

I think this is a sweet set of patterns and I especially like the blue version. The square neckline seems much more flattering than the unusually high sweetheart neckline of the other. I’m also a sucker for rick-rack and POCKETS!

True to form, when I do make this up, I fully intend to use blue linen and a profusion of white rick rack. I have a habit of falling in love with the color/fabric suggestions on the front of pattern envelopes and attempting to make my projects look similar.  I ought to do this soon though as my daughter is nearly ten and won’t go for dressing alike for much longer

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and don’t forget to enter the giveaway which closes tonight. I can’t wait to choose and announce the lucky winners!

Eileen

Thrifty Advice

It will come as no surprise to most of you that I love me some thrift store shopping. I don’t know what I love more, the thrill of the hunt or saving some major bucks. I love thrifting so much it’s come to the point that I hardly set foot in a mall anymore unless I have to and the only thing I really buy new is underthings, socks, and shoes. I’m so cheap thrifty that I even tend to scoff at thrift store prices higher than $5!

Now I’ve been thrifting since the time I could drive myself to thrift shops, some fifteen years ago (eep!), largely because my Mom refused to set foot in them. Growing up, she told me, she had to shop in them for clothes and that memory always put her off thrift shops. In the mid nineties, when I began going to thrift stores, it was not an uncommon occurrence for me to find great items from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. It’s hard to believe now, but I actually favored the ultra mod clothes of the ’60s and the hippie style of the ’70s over the feminine clothes of the ’50s. Ah if only I could talk to the me of then!

Nowadays, it’s not so easy to find great vintage items but it’s not impossible. I thought I would provide some tips for savvy thrifting. The pictures you’ll see in this post are a result of the amazing thrift store haul I had yesterday!

Tip#1 Take your time.

Stainless Steel “Little Brown Jug” Paid: $4 Retails for $60!

This may seem like common sense, but I’ve had a few occasions where I’ve taken friends thrifting only to be rushed by them to move on to something else when I still wanted to shop. I’d say at the very least, allot yourself an hour to really dig through the racks to find the hidden treasures. It’s not uncommon for me to spend at least two hours in a thrift store!

Tip #2 Be willing to dig

Sweet little cotton nightgown detail

This tip goes hand in hand with taking your time. Go to the rack of choice, and literally flip through all the items! Usually thrift store racks are pretty crowded with items and “the good stuff” can easily be buried in amongst the rabble.

Beautifully detailed slip

Yesterday I found a great haul of vintage slips and nightgowns that were hidden in the pyjamas rack with flannel nighties and the like. I actually ended up putting a few slips back for other folks to enjoy!

Detail of a sweet cotton and lace slip

Tip#3 Have a plan

Cool ’50s(?) apron

This tip has two parts: have a plan for how you’re going to tackle the store. For me, I always start in housewares. Not so long ago, I used to go to housewares last. Well this cost me an amazing $10 vintage Singer sewing machine, in its original wooden case! Ever since then, I head straight to the housewares. I then go to linens to search for fabric and other household linens.

Detail of a dishcloth find

From there I head to the dishes section and on to clothes starting with whatever rack suits what I’m particularly interested in that day.

Early 19th Century Ohio pottery maker plate. I’m still researching this find.

The second part of this tip is to have a plan for what you are interested in. If, like me, you don’t want to potentially miss amazing vintage sewing machines, you’ll head to housewares first. However, depending on what you’re searching for that day, and if you’re low on time, have a plan of attack to search for just those items that are at the top of your list. I usually have a running list in my head of things I want to find, though it usually seems like when I’m looking for something specific, I can’t find it!

Amazing Dritz sewing basket!

Tip#4 Educate yourself

Glorious scarves!

If you are interested in vintage clothing, head to your local library and check out books on vintage clothes! Read them, or at least look at the pictures to get an idea of the construction and silhouettes of differing time periods. If it’s glassware, furniture, early housewares or toys that have your fancy, check out books on that. Read blogs that are dedicated to the items you’re interested in. Learn about early construction techniques, vintage clothing labels, and early textiles. This will help you identify the real vintage items from those that are vintage throwbacks . . . though you may not care if you like the piece enough! Learn to identify quality fabrics, for example, I can spot wool on a rack from ten feet away! Buying quality items ensures that those pieces you do buy will last you for a long time with proper care and feeding.

Tip #5 Have Fun!

Detail of the apron fabric

This is the simplest tip of all. Just have fun with it. If you don’t expect too much, you won’t be let down and when you do find amazing things, you’ll be elated! Take a like-minded buddy with you as those are some of the most fun trips of all, even if you do end up trying to out-spot items from one another!

Well I hope you enjoyed reading my tips for thrifting. Did I not have an unusually amazing haul yesterday?! I’m still amazed!

One last thing, don’t forget to enter my giveaway, as there is still plenty of time!

Be thrifty friends,

Eileen

My First Giveaway!

Oh hai! Didn’t I say I’d put this post up yesterday? Well yesterday sort of got away from me there! Sorry!

So, in honor of my one hundredth post I thought it would be fun to do a little giveaway. I’ve got some great treats for you all. First up for grabs is The Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book.

This book is the same layout as the classic red and white checkered cookbook, only for sewing. It is spiral bound and tabbed for ease of use. It’s a charming sewing book that offers some of the best tips I’ve come across. Here are some scanned pages (I apologize for the wonkiness but the scanner is upstairs and I can’t be bothered to redo them!)

For many of us vintage sewists, cutting stripes just so is very important. This book offers some of the best visuals I’ve yet seen on how to do this properly to get the effect that you want. In this same section is also found great tips on working with plaids.

Also offered is a whole section on evening wear. I especially like this section as it gives all manner of visuals on lining lace and sheer tops and dresses all with a vintage spin.

The book also features a great section on accessorizing various standard costumes in both “country” and “town” variations. It provides the vintage dresser with a great view into how an outfit would be accessorized for the time period.

And that’s not all. I thought I’d include this very basic pattern that would lend itself well to all manner of embellishment with the aid of this book.

I find that lately I’m drawn more and more to basic patterns as they really play up all the fun prints that I tend to buy. This one is especially cute with its fitted bodice and gathered skirt. Even a beginning sewer could sew this up without much of a problem.

And because I like you all so much, I decided that it would be fun to have not one, but two giveaways! This one is a great sewing book from the Forties called The Complete Book of Sewing by Constance Talbot, and let me tell you, she ain’t kidding!

Now, I must warn you, this book does have a bit of mildew damage to the front pages. However, this isn’t something that detracts in any way from the book and it’s nothing that a nice airing in the sun won’t cure. If the sun would just cooperate here, I could do this before I send it out.

Like the Better Homes Sewing Book, this book is a neat snapshot in time for the vintage sewer.

There are a few great sections that are just FULL of projects that one could very easily make without using a pattern; for example the two hats you see above. Don’t you just love the turban?! This has been on my “to make” list for WAY too long!

The first few chapters of this book focus solely on choosing clothes that will work for you; for your height, weight, body shape and clothing preference. The scan above is examples of some of the “types” be it sophisticated or feminine.

Aside from providing the basics of sewing, this book is choc-a-bloc full of tips for trimming and “make do and mend” projects. The lucky winner will adore this book.

Like the other giveaway, I thought it would be fun to include a pattern from the era of this sewing book so up for grabs is this pretty little thing.

Again, this is s simple pattern that even a novice sewer could easily make up and would look great in anything from solids to prints. The scooped neckline is flattering to most folks and just look- it has pockets! What could be better?

So, how do you win one of these prizes? Simply comment below and let me know if you’d like the first giveaway or the second. You have until Sunday, 13 May to enter.  Winners will be chosen using a random number generator and will be announced on Monday the 14th of May. Please be sure to leave me your email so that I may contact you if you win! ETA: You can enter for both, but can only win one and, I will ship anywhere in the world! Good luck to you all and thanks for reading!

Eileen

Tags: giveaway

Pretty Pattern Sunday #24

Good Morning everyone!

As many of you know, yesterday was Cinco de Mayo! We celebrated by having back-to-back cookouts on Friday and yesterday, the second being held mostly to clear out much of the extra food left over from the first one! Us and our neighbors enjoyed Coronas with lime and had a great time.

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo is today’s pretty pattern.

Muy Caliente!

I flippin’ love this pattern. It’s one that I absolutely intend to make some day, but just haven’t got around to. I’m sure you can relate. I have several patterns like this; many of you may have noticed the profusion of Mexican and South American inspired designs from this period. What you may not know was that it was an intentional ploy to inspire goodwill between our country and countries to the South of us during World War II. It was known as “The Good Neighbor Program.”

I have another pattern in my collection that fits today’s theme that I’ve actually made up. Here’s the pattern:

And here is my version of the pattern made up:

It was so much fun doing the embroidery on this pattern. I actually did the vast majority of it when I was on a week long trip for work, so this blouse always reminds me of my time in North Carolina. Do the things you make evoke memories of where you were, what you were watching/listening to while you were making them? Mine do, which I think makes it very hard to part with them when I do closet clean outs, whether I wear them often or not!

BAM! Double dose of pretty pattern goodness for you today!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend as I know I will. On the agenda is fitting the corset with bones and then cutting out and hopefully sewing the final version up using the coutil that arrived in the mail on Friday. I’m very glad I ordered it because it is leaps and bounds stiffer than the twill I’d originally purchased.

Until next we meet,

Eileen

ETA: As soon as I published this, WordPress let me know that this is my 100th post! I’ll be hosting a giveaway tomorrow to celebrate the occasion. Stay tuned because I have some great goodies for you!

They Grow So Fast

Peeps, not too long ago, I showed you a picture of my future garden. Well take a gander at these babies today!

What you’re seeing there is a couple of tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, jalapenos and some very tiny budding lavender! Huzzah!

This one is yet more peppers, and some delicious basil thrown in for good measure. I can’t wait until everything is big enough to eat! This weekend we’re going to start building a raised bed on the very small plot of earth that we do have next to our patio. I need to buy containers for the plants that will not be placed in the raised bed.

Other than that, I think I’ll be finishing the fitting on my corset as my coutil has just arrived in the mail. I still need to do first fitting sans bones and then second fitting with bones.

Anyone else out there doing some gardening this weekend? How about corset building?

Eileen

Pinafore Completed!

Hi Peeps! Are ya’ll enjoying your “hump” day? Mine’s going well thus far; however I have to get off the ‘ol tuchas and make something for dinner but I’m not sure what yet so I thought instead of doing that I’d post pictures of the finished pinafore!

So, the pinafore. It’s definitely a frivolous, silly thing, but I do love it.

I made the pinafore using a green and white striped cotton seersucker fabric. As you can see, it is liberally trimmed with frills and rick-rack. The back is pretty glorious; take a gander:

Ha ha, ignore the “bustle” look there, that’s the built in “skirt marker” on my dress form! As you can see, this dress is put on by buttoning up the back. I do so love a back button blouse, so why not a back button dress?

This was a pretty easy project to make up, that is, once I sourced a ruffle pattern piece off another pinafore pattern in my collection (see why it’s good to buy patterns of similar dresses?) I actually made no modifications to this pattern at all. I’ve discovered that if I cut a 1940s size 36″ bust for some reason it always fits like a dream. Whodda thunk?

I put this baby on shortly after completing her sans belt and it looked, well, oddly frumpy. However, once I threw the belt on and it cinched in the waist a bit, the whole effect was much better. I see wearing this to an outdoor festival or on a picnic of some kind. I’m bound and determined to wear PLENTY of vintage this summer as the locals seem to be a bit hostile about people who dress . . . differently.

Okay, guess I better go rustle up some grub!

Tchuss!

Eileen

Pretty Pattern Sunday #23

Good Morning everybody!

I knew this would happen. If you’ve been reading my recent posts about the gown I’m planning for the Victorian Ball, you’ll remember me saying that I thought I would make an 1870s ball gown rather than one from the 1890s, the period that the ball is set in. Well the more I mulled it over the more my perfectionist self took over and wouldn’t you know it, I’m leaning more and more to the giant puff sleeves, tiny waists and bell skirts of a proper 1890s ball gown!

But while I mull over what, exactly, I want my gown to look like, I’m going to begin working on the underclothes using today’s pretty pattern.

Simplicity 5726

This is Simplicity’s 5726, one of Martha McCann’s “The Fashion Historian” line. I’m only going to make the shift and the corset as the petticoat is definitely meant for fashions of the 1860s vice the 1890s.

I’ve got some gorgeous heirloom quality pink batiste that I think will be great to make the shift up in as well as plenty of lace in the stash to trim it with. Corset findings are wending their way to me via snail mail so I’m looking forward to getting that in and beginning the corset. I’m going to make the corset in a plain white coutil (why is that stuff so expensive??) but I plan to decorate the front with hand embroidery of some kind. Because I still want a semi-bustle at the back of the dress I ordered pattern #108 from Truly Victorian as well as the supplies to make it up in my size.

Peeps, can I just say that I’m so excited about making this dress? I’ve focused so much on making every day wearable vintage clothing that I think I forgot just how much joy costuming gives me. I’ll share a little fact about me with ya’ll; if I could have any job and money was no object, it would definitely be creating period costumes for film and TV. However, for now, I have to be a Responsible Adult, but you never know what the future holds.

What are ya’ll working on?

Talk to you soon,

Eileen

Tags: Victorian Ball