Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Some Things I Want to Sew ....

There are lots of things I wanted to work on this summer but with wedding plans and moving into a new house, pretty much everything non wedding/packing related was moved to the back burner. I'm still working on setting up my sewing room so I don't know how much I'll be doing until I have a good working space. But that doesn't mean I have to stop planning projects does it? ;) In no particular order, here are some of the projects I've been dreaming about lately.

A matching hat and purse. Maybe red and white? I've always love this image from Vogue!




THIS outfit for a Christmas party!! I've always adored this image. OK, so this one might actually happen sooner then the rest. Anyone know a good source for blouse weight black and white polka dot fabric?


Pajamas!!! Butterick 7153 will be perfect. I used the pattern to make a pair of beach pajamas this summer. (seen here) Now I just need to wait for Renaissance Fabrics to restock their silk-faced satin in Marine Blue. Still looking for a pair of those Daniel Green slippers in my size. The shoes below sold on Etsy for only $45.00!! And of course they were my size and of course I only saw them AFTER they sold. :( If anyone finds a pair like theses please, please let me know!!!

The blue pjs were listed for sale on one of the Facebook vintage market pages. The shoes sold on Ets.

More vintage separates! Specifically blouses and pants. I love making dresses but I find I don't wear them as much as I would like to. Separates are more versatile and allow for mixing and matching. I will certainly use Hollywood 1530 and Simplicity 1306 again but I'd like to give the Simplicity pattern below a try too.  


I have two 1920s dress in my collection that someday I'd like to reproduce. The originals are so frail they are really only good for study. One of my blogging goals for next year is to create a series of posts showing some of my vintage and antique garments. I've shown a few things here and there but I'd like to make this a regular addition to my blog. The plan is to take detailed photos and maybe create a few sketches to show what pattern pieces might look like. I'm no artist but hopefully they are be useful to someone. My 1920s dresses will be the easiest of the group to draw but mainly because dresses from that decade tend to be created from squares and rectangles. :)


And speaking of the 1920s, at some point I really need to make a decent 1920s dress. I've been going to more events that require a good day dress that can be worn outside. I've used the pattern below to make a blouse (seen here) but a dress made in a nice light weight cotton or even in linen would be wonderful for summer.


So what sewing projects have you been dreaming about?

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Traveling Vintage Dress, a Stop in New England

Thank you all for your wonderful and sweet comments on my wedding photos post. I'm astonished at the amount of feedback I have received here and on Facebook. Over night my blog post has become my number 2 most viewed post ever!! I just can't believe it. :) I'm really happy to have been able to share a little bit of my special day with all of you and will be sharing more soon. Thank you all again for being such an amazing, encouraging, and supportive online community! You guys rock! :)

Today I have something special as well.

When Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments first announced her idea for a traveling vintage dress, I knew this was something I wanted to take part in. I think this is such a fantastic way to get to know other bloggers and to see each lovely lady's unique take on vintage fashion. Clothing is such a personal thing and is one of the best ways to express yourself. This beautiful 1940s dress will continue to travel around the United States and Canada before crossing the ocean to Australia. It's already visited few places here in the States so be sure to check out the links below.


I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to style this dress. Did I want to style it in an authentic 1940s way? Or mix and match with modern items? I really couldn't decide but finally opted to let the dress  - and the weather - tell me what to do. :) We recently moved into our new house and are still very much in the process of unpacking and settling in. So some of the items I thought I might use have yet to surface. (Some words of wisdom, don't buy and move into a new house two weeks before your wedding!! So much extra stress lol!) I did find my shell belts though which made me really happy. They are from the 70s but are a perfect match for the dress. I wore one with the dress itself and the other over my sweater.

As you can see, the dress is a little big for me. It's also I bit longer then what I would normally like for a dress. Fortunately though, this dress is constructed in a way that allows it to be worn and styled to suit a variety of body types. :)



The sunshine didn't last very long! It was also rather windy and getting chilly the day we took these photos so some extra layers were needed. That's often the case during this time of year in New England. My plum colored wool sweater seemed just the thing! It was a nice complement to the purple and gold print of the dress.


To complete my outfit I wore a small crinoline to add a bit of fluff to the skirt, some tights, (I can remember the last time I wore tights!) and my depression era leather lace up boots. I LOVE these boots!! They are incredibly comfortable and so much fun to wear. (You've seen them once before as part of my aviatrix costume.) I think every gal needs a pair.


Our property, like many places in New England, is bordered by stone walls. They make a great backdrop don't you think?

This beautiful stone marks part of the boarder on our property. It makes a great backdrop for photos. :)
A fall photo shoot in New England would not be complete without stone walls, old cemeteries, and a covered bridge. After taking pictures at home, Cori and I hoped in the car for a short road trip. I can think of at least a dozen covered bridges and old cemeteries within a 30 minute drive of our house but by the time we finished taking pictures at the cemetery I was too cold to do any more. So the covered bridges will have to wait for another day.

The building seen below was constructed in the 1780s and was originally used for both Congregational church meetings as well as civic and governmental meetings. Church services ceased in 1839 but town meetings continued to be held in it until 1869. The building and cemetery were added to the list of National Historic Landmarks in 2000. Today visitors can tour the historic building during the spring and summer months. The grounds are open during daylight hours. Some of the headstones in the cemetery date to the 1770s or earlier and are extremely beautiful. I should really do a blog post about early headstones because they really are fascinating.

Sitting on the steps of the old meeting house.
 I had to jump in the leaves!


To keep warm I added a jacket over the dress and sweater. The jacket is modern, something I picked up at a second hand shop, but has a nice vintage feel to it and is something I wear on a regular basis.



A year or so ago I started wearing pins on my fall and winter jackets and I'm still amazed at the amount of complements I get. Lately I've been wearing this kitty pin.



So there you have it. Way more picture then you needed, I'm sure. ;)

Outfit details
Jacket, sweater, crinoline, and kitty pin - Thrift store finds
Tights - Gift
Scarf - Vermont Country Store
Belts - Yards sale finds
Boots - Ebay (I have a very similar pair for sale.
Please feel free to contact me for pictures and details.)
Lipstick - Chocolate Kiss by Bésame Cosmetics

Below, from left to right are Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments, Kristen of Verity Vintage Studio, Whitney of LittleHeapVintage, Stephanie of The Girl With A Star- Spangled Heart, and Laura of Paper Mothball Vintage.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Wedding Photos Soon, But First...

Hello all, I'm back! So much blogging to catch up on! And so many wedding photos to look through! :) But neither of those are bad things.

Everything went smoothly for the big day last Friday with only a few minor hiccups, which of course, in the grander scheme of things are hardly worth mentioning. I would like to say for the record that although we started 10 minutes late, it was not my fault! The girls and I were ready to go with plenty of time to spare. But the guys lined up without their boutonnieres and had to send someone to get them from the car. Anyway, pictures soon I promise. And there are lots of them!

So Friday was the wedding, Saturday was spent with family and friends. But on Sunday we managed to escape for the day and drive to the Collings Foundation for their annual WWII event, Battle for the Airfield. (We went last year as well, you can find that post here.) Due to a lack of funds and vacation time, we are not going on a honeymoon until sometime next spring/summer.


I like my airplanes and tanks to color coordinate with my outfits. :) I actually didn't plan that. We just thought it was funny the yellow matched my sweater.







Outfit details:
Skirt - US Navy WAVE uniform skirt from ebay 
Shoes and stockings - Etsy
Sweater - Fab Gabs
Hair Flowers - Made by my friend Monica at Cutie Clips (and more)
Lipstick color - Red Velvet by Bésame

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

1920s Bachelorette Party on Star Island

This will likely be my last post for a couple weeks. As some of you may know, Cori and I closed on our new house and are in the process of moving in. Also our wedding is coming up in two weeks and I need to get my act together and make sure everything is in order. Last minute things to coordinate and lots of stuff to pack for decorating the reception area. I'm looking forward to the day itself but I'll be glad to have all the planning, coordinating, stress, etc. behind me. I'm ready to move on to other things.

Today's post will be short on text but full of pictures! Back in August my friends surprised me with tickets for Gatsby on the Isles for my bachelorette party. We joined some fellow vintage fans from the GBVS, hopped on a ferry boat and headed out to Star Island for a 1920s themed adventure.

The history of the island, the second largest of nine rocky islands ten miles southeast of the mouth of the Piscataqua River, goes back hundreds of years. The Star Island Corporation has owned and operated Star Island since 1916. The Oceanic House is the largest structure on Star Island and has long served as a place of retreat.

Jill looks said because we told her we ate all the chocolate. Don't worry, we saved her some! :)
After a 2 hour ferry ride which included a narrated history of Portsmouth harbor, the Isles of Shoals and the New Hampshire Seacoast, we arrived and were ready for lunch. The girls and I set up our picnic blanket, listened to some live music, and relaxed. Then we explored the island.





Warning. Silly things happen when these girls and I get together!





I wore the dress I made for the 1920s Downton Abby event last year. It's the dress I got engaged in so it seemed fitting to wear again for the bachelorette party.



Erin borrowed the same dress my friend Jen wore for the Roaring 20s Lawn Party.


At the end of the day we boarded the ferry once more. A few people stayed behind at the hotel but they came to the dock to see us off.


The ferry ride back. It was much warmer then the ride to the island in the morning!
After arriving back in Portsmouth we changed and went out for dinner. My hair was an absolute mess by the end of the day. But look, I got new sunglasses! Our waiter said that even though it wasn't my birthday it was a special occasion so he put a candle in our brownie sundae!



It was a wonderful day!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Back to the 18th Century

Despite the craziness of down to the wire wedding plans and buying a house (we close today!) I managed to escape for a few hours for a little time travel to the 1770s. This past weekend was the Revolutionary War event at the Fort at No. 4. It's a wonderful site, and although it suffers many of the same woes of other historic sites, it has a lot of offer. I dusted off my interpreter skills and talked with some of the visitors inside one of the reconstructed homes. I spoke with a gentleman who was an antique dealer/collector and a lady who was just starting to make some 18th century clothing for herself. I brought a few items for display including my blue and white cross-barred gown. She was very excited to look at it and see how it was constructed and I was happy to share a few tips and resources with her.


Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
It was rather chilly in the morning and I was happy to be wearing my extra petticoat! I typically wear two unless it's supper hot but that day I wore three - my under petticoat of white linen with a printed cotton border, a quilted petticoat, and finally my blue and white striped linen petticoat. And of course my shift, stays, stockings, shoes, pocket, cap, mitts, gown and apron. Yes, that's a lot of layers!

I've posted about my purple and white cotton gown before but this is only the second time I've worn it. It's first outing was to Old Sturbridge Village last summer. I forgot my camera, along with a few other things that day, so my friend Erin took these photos with her phone. Everything I'm wearing in these photos, except for my cap, stockings and shoes, was all hand sewn by me.

I attempted something new with my hair but by the time we took the pictures it looked a little funky so please forgive me! These first couple of photos were taken in the bed chamber of the Parker House.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
I love the cotton bed hangings. Note the painted floor cloth too, these kinds of floor coverings were fairly common in the mid to late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
The robings on my gown came unpinned so it looks a little strange in this photo. Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
These next two my favorite photos of the whole group. :) I really like the play of sunlight and shadows from the window. Erin's husband is a professional photographer and I think his skills are rubbing off on her.

Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
Photo credit - Erin Jarrett

We took a few pictures in the keeping room (kitchen) and office/study area. I look so studious, ha! My linen mitts were started in a Hive workshop back in 2012 (yikes, has it really been that long?!) and patterned off the black and yellow pair seen here. The points are backed with silk and they are embroidered with matching yellow silk thread.

Look, I finished my mitts!! Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
Time for tea! Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
Photo credit - Erin Jarrett
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