· Venturing into the late 1930s ·

Oh goodness.  I hate coming up with post titles.  How can such a simple thing be so difficult?  Consequently... here we are with yet another un-inspired title.  Let's just say that it's a good thing I have photos- no one would click on my posts without other inducements.  Maybe I should take a page out of BuzzFeed's book.

On the other hand, this dress was such a delightful project to work on!  Sewing garments is so much simpler than inventing post titles.

This dress is the result of my collaboration with Penny Rose Fabrics and you can read my guest post with my inspiration for this dress on their blog today!

I've liked the looks of Simplicity 8050 since it was first released, and this seemed like a great opportunity to use it!  I raised the neckline a fair bit and ended up shortening the sleeves by about 2" so they'd be a more flattering length- I liked them on the cover, but either my arm length or my fabric rendered them rather awkward looking....

Also, since this is a late 1930s dress, shoulder pads were a must!  My little sloping shoulders definitely need a bit of help to look proportional. ;-)  It's kind of funny what a difference just a bit will do to the overall look, though! (yay for not looking dumpy anymore!)

A huge thank you goes to my mom for her help in fitting this!  I truly avoid set-in sleeves because of fitting issues, but she helped me through the rough bits!  I took a hint from this video and raised the bottom of the bodice armhole by 5/8" and bottom of the sleeve armhole by 1" to add range of motion.  It worked well and I'll definitely keep using that method. :-)

"Woohoo! Let's pick an extremely acute angle to accent with ric-rac! That would be brilliant and so fun!"

Sometimes I truly do wonder if I am conspiring for my own ruin when I come up with grand ideas.  It's a good thing I love a challenge! (and it's a good thing it worked so well. that's all that really matters. ;-))

I used a lapped seam method to attach the princess seam/waistline seam since the acute angle rendered that a highly-historically-probable method of construction.  Aaaand, since there was ric-rac application involved as well, I jumped on the chance. ;-)  Sure-fire way to make sure the trim ends up exactly where I want it?  Sign me up!

Seamed stockings!!  Squee!  I know- I'm long overdue for getting these.... but now I no longer need to be ashamed of the backs of my legs in pre-1940s attire. ;-)

As an aside, there's a great article on seamed stockings on Tuppence Ha'penny's blog here.

I went through the process of writing about how I'm a bit conflicted with how off-center this method made my buttons and how I wasn't sure how to fix it.... but then apparently that's just what I needed to process the fact that I need to redo those loops to be the more "C" shaped loops.  I think.  That would end up bringing in the buttons closer to the true center.

Anyone have any advice?  I'm thinking the only issue I might run into would be gaping between the buttons- but would that really be a problem if it isn't already?

These buttons were a wonderfully timely find at an estate sale just a few days before I needed them!  We, ahem, may not *technically* need more buttons, but when there are matching vintage sets, how can you walk away?  There were 10 total in this set so I felt a little bad using only 8 of them, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the others. :-)

This purse is part of our growing hoard of vintage purses. ;-)  This would be one thing we've found in spades on our estate saling adventures!  This is a black "corde" style, frequently seen throughout the mid-20th century.

This is what I affectionately refer to as my Quirky Nurse hat.  It's just so ridiculously 30s!  I picked it up at an antique mall last spring- it was a very serendipitous trip that resulted in 2 1940s hats and this 1930s hat!  I rarely, rarely find hats earlier than the 1950s but somehow happened upon 3 hats at once!  Hooray!!

These gloves.  I just love them so much.

I used to think I had very average hands but I have more trouble finding gloves than I ever expected (apparently I have long fingers? who knew?), so my collection of gloves that are "passable" is rather smaller than I'd like.  My collection of gloves that are "comfortable" is only 1-2 pairs.  These are a nigh-perfect fit, and I couldn't be more thrilled that they just so happen to be the kid leather, amazing cutouts, gauntlet length pair. :-)

· Photos- the inimitable and amenable Kathryn! ·

Estate Sale Finds · Glassware

When I was home for Easter weekend, my mom and I were able to take advantage of several different estate sales/thrift stores.  Many goodies ensued!  And basically, I just realized yet again how much I love old stuff.  It's kind of a weird thing to enjoy when you think about it, but I'm glad there are so many others like me in the world and that we now have the internet to feel connected in our love of old. ;-)

It rekindled the desire to share this post- it's been floating around in the drafts folder for nigh onto a year, and it's high time it finally saw the light of day!

I have a few different collections that I purposefully keep an eye open for (luggage, globes, cake plates, attractive books...) and- glassware!

I've admired pink depression glass for years, and it's always been a secret desire of mine to have a set.  I must admit that its current extreme popularity in the antiques community has made my pocketbook reluctant to comply with my desires, so I've been on a mission to bide my time and wait for super great deals.

Last spring, I came across 2 cups at an antique mall severely discounted due to their lack of matching saucers.  I realized how dumb that idea was after bringing them home.  The chance of finding the saucers for sale separately is like finding a needle in a haystack.  There are SO. MANY. styles of depression glass!  A few weeks later, our town was having town-wide garage sales; we never go, but with our new-found love of estate-saling, I thought it might be fun!  A crunched time schedule and threatening rain meant that we only hit 5 or so sales, but as it would happen.... one of them had pink depression glass!  The prices were amazing.  I picked up 3 cups and saucers, a platter, and.... they had 2 cups and 4 saucers in the same pattern I had at home!  That means there were exactly as many loner saucers as I was in need of!  Amazing!!

 I'm beyond thrilled with how the whole situation worked out, but I have learned my lesson not to randomly add loners to my collection without *very* good reasons. ;-)

I currently have "Queen Mary", ''Coronation", and "Old Cafe" in my collection.  I love the idea of a slightly mismatched set, but I'm hoping to contain my collection to just these 3 styles.  The hope is that this measure will keep my collection to a managable level. ;-)  One thing about estate-saling is that it exposes and encourages the dark side of hoarding, so I'm trying to only aquire (semi)wisely. ;-)



I suspect that these goblets aren't originals, but nevertheless, we couldn't really resist sipping out of pink goblets. ;-)

My very favorite style of china has long been china in the Royal Copenhagen design.  As far as I can discern, the design originated as "Blue Fluted" in the late 1700s with the, well, Royal Copenhagen manufactury.  The style has been picked up by several other china manufacturers, so there are lots of versions of it with slightly different variations!



I stumbled across a set of 7 cups and saucers and a creamer and sugar set last May in an antique store in Texas, so I am now commited to the Myott "Finlandia" style.  This is another set that I'm going to add to slowly and I'm open to getting less than a complete set.  I think it's a great set for mixing-and-matching with other blue-and-white or plain white china pieces. :-)

I am just so thrilled to finally be starting the 2 glassware collections I've admired so long, and since part of the enjoyment of the process is the thrill of the hunt, I'm excited about slowly adding in pieces!

Do you have any glass/china collections that you're always on the look-out for?  Have you ever come across fabulous deals you just couldn't pass up? (Ha! Who am I kidding?? We've all done that before.... ;-))

· A Practically Vintage Plaid Skirt ·

Several months ago, I posted about some fabric I found on our first-ever estate sale trip.  I'm pleased to report that I have indeed finally done justice to it!

The fabric originally came with some magazine clippings that were very inspiring, but it soon became apparent that the quantity of fabric was so limited that I would need to use very judicious cutting to even manage a skirt from it!

I had a few different options for the skirt style, but I wanted to be certain that whatever I chose would do justice to the fabric and be something I'd love. :-)  It was so fortunate that one of my tried-and-true skirt patterns fit perfectly!

To add interest to the skirt, I made decorative welt pockets.  Whew.  That single element was more work and stress than the rest of the skirt combined, but considering how simple the rest was- I think I could manage a bit of extra mind work. ;-)

My cute little brooch from Switzerland!  My mom has had a similar one for years, so when we went to Switzerland I knew a brooch like this would be on the top of my souvenir list!  One of the charms is inscribed with the town of Murren, which is where I purchased it.

My shoes are from Amerimark- an "old lady" store with a remarkably large amount of classic styles at affordable prices!  This style is almost sold out, but a few sizes are still remaining!

One thing is for sure though- I have no previous experience with stiletto heels!  I haven't quite reached the appropriate level of gracefulness yet. ;-) 

At an estate sale this past fall, we found a treasure trove of old metal zippers from the 1940s- this was one of them.  I never realized how wonderfully thin and garment-appropriate metal zippers used to be!  I always thought of them like the chunky versions for sale today, but these have a very low profile (less obtrusive than modern plastic "regular" zippers) and are so smooth!  I'm a fan. ;-)

This hat is among our collection of "rarely worn" hats.  Its demure little bow is charming, but not quite my usual, and the overall shape works much better now that I have shorter hair!  Time will tell whether it becomes a new favorite or whether this was just a good opportunity to give it a bit of love. ;-) 

Matchy, matchy!  This fabric was so obliging and willingly submitted to matching the plaid on the *first* time.

I'm enamored.

· Photos, as always, by the wonderful Kathryn! ·

· A Fern Green Skirt ·

In an amusing twist of fate, I'm posting a very St. Patrick's appropriate outfit, and it's even on the appropriate week!  Totally unplanned. :-)

Anyway, on to the outfit!  I've been a huge fan of pink and green for about a decade now, and early on I reached a point where I continually reverted to them whenever I'd be getting new clothes.  After a few years, I decided to make a conscious decision to branch out into other colors to see if I had other favorites.

Well, I do have lots of favorites now, but these particular shades of fern and coral are still the reigning favorites!  And what better place to showcase them than in the Fern Room of a conservatory?

This fabric was an impulse purchase from JoAnn's- I had never seen it before (or since), but since it was a unique twill AND in my favorite color.... I had to do it.

The fabric is 100% cotton with a satin-weave and woven dots.  I love how unique it is!  And apparently it wrinkles quite well, too.  You're seeing this outfit in a completely natural setting- I usually try to keep my outfits to the same standards I have on a day-to-day basis... but I also usually have them freshly ironed for photos. ;-)

This outfit has just been through a day's worth of city-traipsing, donut-eating, humid-conservatory-wandering (if my hair looks like it's drooping in some of these photos.... now you know), and a little bit of toddler-wrangling (not pictured: said toddler or the berry stains he bestowed upon my blouse moments before these photos).  It's a great season of life; it's been full of lots of new experiences, and this has proven to be a practical outfit at any rate!

The skirt is made from a vintage pattern- McCalls 3404 but altered to be a normal waistband instead of a raised waist with suspenders.  I love the style and the pockets are perfection!

I wanted to add a bit of interest to an otherwise rather plain skirt, so I chose to do 3 rows of decorative top-stitching along the pockets, hem, and waistband.

If you noticed a difference in my hair- that's because I recently got a new cut!  This time I went with a chin-length bob and I'm the happiest I've been so far!

My blouse is made from Simplicity 2154; I posted about it in more detail here.  The sweater is one I altered this year using this method.

A great perk of making a green skirt is that I finally have the perfect excuse to wear this vintage hat!  It's been sitting around for years just waiting for me to love it... and now it can finally get its time in the limelight. :-)

· Photos by Kathryn ·

Skirt · self-made from vintage McCalls 3404

Blouse · self-made from vintage repro Simplicity 2154

Cardigan ·Kohl's, altered by me

Hat · can't remember, but I think it was from the school play costumes sale we went to in 2009 where we got our first batch of vintage hats!

Shoes · Clarks

A Superfluity of Strawberries!

With some wonderful spring-like weather this past week, my thoughts have been turning towards cottons and warm-weather clothes!

While I was browsing Penny Rose Fabric to look for inspiration for a new project, I was struck by the number of different strawberry prints they offer and I got totally inspired to wander down the rabbit trail to look for vintage strawberry-themed clothing!

Here's a mini Vintage Strawberry Fashion Guide and a glimpse of what I found! :-)  Enjoy the inspiration!

source

source

source · source

source · source unknown · expired eBay auction · source unknown

source · Pinterest

object # P91.102.1 at FIT museum

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

Hollywood Pattern 1152 · Simplicity 3265 · Simplicity 3987 · Simplicity 4953
(don't miss that first pattern! personal favorite!!)


Penny Rose "Shabby Strawberry" fabric line


Penny Rose "Milk, Sugar, Flower" fabric line


Penny Rose "Shabby Strawberry" fabric line


Penny Rose "Strawberry Biscuit" fabric line


Penny Rose "Shabby Strawberry" fabric line

Check out more of my finds on my Pinterest board, and stay tuned for my strawberry dress later this year!  Are you inspired to do make something berry-themed now, too?? ;-)