eBay Loss of the Month

I was saddened to watch this one go. I had been scoping it for the entire week, thinking I could get it for less than $15. HA! Shows what I know about vintage glass! Its a cool darning egg. The bottom unscrews and thread and needles can be stored inside. I had *no* idea there was such a darning egg collecting syndicate out there!

It went for $53.
Man.

Make due and Mending

This has been a week of mending and finishing past projects.

I repaired 6 pairs of pants that I had made. Contrary to popular belief, yes, you still need to maintain clothing you make.


The 40s corduroy slacks that I made had a rather loose weave and well, kept pulling. At first I paid no mind, and then it got noticeable. Crud.


To make it easy on myself (and not have to take off the waist band) I opened the damaged area, and using a modern cheat, I applied stitch witchery over the damaged area, and covered that with a strip of thin cotton.

I then resewed the seam, about 1/5" in. To adjust for the loss of size, I redid (or on once case completely opened) the front darts. This is a fine fix for me, besides, these paints might become a skirt some day anyway.

Another project I completed was the second of my varied run of three of my blackface series "Happy Bellboy with Towel and Smiling Mammy in a Flower Dress". Ive always had an obsession with blackface content, or the more PC term used now, 'black americana'. Yeah, whatever.

These are more crafty in that their bodies are sewn like dolls. I made the pattern for them, then sewed them as well. I like the process of hand sewing, which I had to do to put them together.

The bodies are sewn to the paper with thread and backing buttons so the rag paper wouldnt tear. They are rather time consuming, but seeing as how I finished my first pair in '06, its kind of interesting to see how I have improved sewing wise as I finished these. I have one more pair to do. Perhaps they will get me back into sewing.

Ive been in a bit of a sewing rut lately. I have great fabric, and cool patterns but I dont *need* anymore clothes right now. So, not much sewing. I do have an upcoming project in the works.


Ive been invited to a 'depression era' picnic near the end of February, and I dont have a ting to wear. I want something nice, light and very dust bowl. Im going to use this pattern and make a linen cloche. I think that would work. Anyway, Im excited about it, and will post progress!

Now its on to an evening of darning socks. Dont be jealous.

Cool little Nite

A gal friend of mine whom I met via The Fedora Lounge and I went to Amoeba music tonight to see a very cool modern country singer, Wayne Hancock.

He has a very Hank Williams vibe, and if you love old sweet country, youll like his work.

He and his band which had a cool slide rule player, played about half a set before they went to their gig. It was a great little time, and free!


.

Hooch, Hems, and Hoot! a Cocktail Party

I love a good cocktail, hell, LOVE a good cocktail, but I rarely drink on my own. Aside from a glass of win e now and then, I have to say Im a true neophyte in the art of spirits. Cocktails are an American tradition, they really are. From the founding fathers there has always been some sort of mixture of the spirits into a delicious an d complex beverage that is simply delicious.

I have found that expressed no better than in the city of San Francisco. Sure, there are bars on ever corner where you can drink to get drunk, but there are places I have been where the art of the cocktail is alive and well in a new generation of young bartenders.

Moving from that atmosphere to where I am now (Los Angeles), I find people seem so afraid to drink. Weather its because people have to drive everywhere here, or they just dont know a watered down cocktail at a high falootin' bar from a really good cocktail remains to be seen to me. But imagine how happy I was to find sole other SF transplants and their mission to bring sophisticated drinking to the LA area.

Last Saturday I went to church, the Church of Frank Sinatra. No its not a cult. Its a group of cocktail enthusiasts who gather once a month and dawning appropriate vintage cocktail attire, we enjoy each others company over a nice mixed drink. A very welcoming crowd. Ive been to a few and I always have way more fun than I should.


Being curious about apple spirits, I decided to invest in a bottle of Laird's Apple Jack. I asked the host if this was an okay spirit to bring, he just said he already had two bottles, one from their 1976 batch and a new batch, so just bring myself. Well okay, I can do that!

But this time, I didn't know what I was going to wear. I dont have many after five dresses, and I didn't feel like making anything new. So I revisited a war time dress that I made and I liked, but I never wore.



There was nothing wrong with this dress, sans the hem. I felt the design was a bit out of my comfort zone. I dont know why, but I just didnt think it worked on me. Maybe it was my initial pictures, or, the hem. Im convinced. a bad hem can ruin your take on a dress. So I got out my hem-o-matic and did a chalk marking of the hem again. Hand tacked it, gave the brick wool crape (squeeeee!) a good steam pressing, and I was good to go!


Below is a picture of my lovely friend Jen and me at the cocktail party.
So I guess the lesson learned here is when you drink cocktails make sure your hem is good so you can enjoy them in the presence of good company.


The End.
.

My repro patterns Yay!

I love clothes, I love vintage clothes, but being NOT a size 4 made them fairly hard to find. That's one reason why I decided to begin sewing my own clothes. Because of that I now have a fairly kick ass stash of large size patterns.

Don't be fooled by the myth 'people were smaller back then'. Yes, more people were smaller, but you still had a fair amount of over 6", shoe size 14, bust size 46 folks walking around. I bring up the examples from my 1910ish patterns. We are talking 44", 46" 48" busts here! And these patterns survived!


But having all these patterns to myself didn't feel right. I wanted to share. So I picked my rarest, and also most versatile patterns and under my New Vintage Lady moniker, I started a line of repro patterns for my etsy shoppe.

Here are a couple that I'm really proud of.
I have been looking for a tappants and bra pattern for ages, and when I found a mid '40s one (well, two but thats a different story) knew I couldn't keep it to myself. Its a 46" bust 50" hips. Wow wee!


This is what I call the ideal '40s blouse. I know straight size gals who are still on the look out for a great '40s blouse. There is no better way to get the look right than with a few great iconic separates.


This mid '30s dress is one of my favorite patterns. Ive made it up several times and have it available in two sizes, 42" bust and a 50" bust.


I gotta say, sharing these patterns makes me smile, and I hope the gals who use them feel they are carrying on a little part of fashion history.

New pattern today

Got some patterns in the mail today, and I just took a liking to this one.



Cant you envision yourself at an afternoon brunch, or park picnic, playing cricket and having your shoes off. Im normally not a gal who likes dresses with girdles, but this one is an acceptation.

Id wear a different hat, though.
.

First Post!

Whoo hoo!
Bloggie goodness. I thought I should start, or rather flush out some of my progress stuff via the blog, and post the final on NewVintageLady.

Right now Im working on a mail order pattern that I thought was post war 40's. Looking at the envelope, I saw written all over it "November 1942" I thought that was just a scribble until I saw the header of the instructions page.

We all gotta conserve for Uncle Sam.

So I took the patten our and started to iron the pieces for tracing. The lady who originally had it wrote out all the instructions on each piece. She even made a separate piece for the short sleeve option instead of cutting the long sleeve. Clever lady.

I love finding patterns like this, ones that have been used. This one even had its button card (sadly empty) folded between the pieces. I Have some big plans for this pattern. I want to make it an after five dress, floor length. Squeee, it will be my first.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labels

1940 (656) catalog Sunday (487) dress (408) 1930 (402) progress (216) suit (187) coat (168) repro (153) cotton (146) shoes (119) pattern (117) blouse (115) hat (112) day dress (110) 1950 (108) 1920 (104) Chicago Mail Order (99) jacket (97) etsy (94) Lane Bryant (89) WWII (87) personal (87) separates (81) butterick (78) foundation garments (75) skirt (75) gown (73) Wards (72) illustration (72) fabric (71) day project (67) cocktail dress (65) simplicity (65) vintageville (65) linen (63) nvl (63) McCall (62) pants (62) homemaking (59) sweater (57) cmo (56) music (55) accessories (54) event (54) rayon (54) dubarry (50) flower (48) house coat (48) 1930s (47) slip (47) stockings (47) playsuit (45) Sears (44) wool (44) purse (40) Spiegel (37) make and mend (37) pajamas (36) robe (36) 1960 (35) advertisement (33) apron (33) gloves (33) hollywood (33) holiday (32) catalog (31) showcase (31) buttons (30) National Bellas Hess. (28) 1940s (27) dance (27) denim (27) dust bowl (27) furniture (27) In Memoriam (26) dyeing (26) hats (26) Man Month (25) drawing (25) underpants (25) children (24) cloche (24) costume (24) overalls (24) NRA (23) navy (23) sewing (23) MnM11 (22) bra (22) men (22) sew-along (22) jewelry (20) girdle (19) giveaway (19) patterns (19) coats (18) hair (18) lace (18) nightgown (18) royalchrome (18) collar (17) craft (17) mnm12 (17) silk (17) stout (17) velvet (17) CVTotI (16) PPP (16) 1910 (15) bathing suit (15) cape (15) jacket in a week (15) lingerie (15) scarf (15) socks (15) Air Raid (14) beret (14) men's (14) quilt (14) swimsuit (14) MnM13 (13) Montgomery Wards (13) jimjams (13) loungewear (13) mail order (13) pictorial (13) repair (13) National Coat and Suit Company (12) advance (12) alteration (12) dress form (12) panties (12) rick rack (12) seersucker (12) sweaters (12) wardrobe (12) MnM14 (11) food (11) plaid (11) uniform (11) New York (10) border print (10) cicada (10) depression (10) evening gown (10) piping (10) redingote (10) the gardenia dress (10) tiki (10) 1970 (9) anne addams (9) bag (9) boots (9) cocktail (9) family (9) flapper (9) handkerchief (9) red (9) shirt (9) smock (9) underdress (9) belt (8) corduroy (8) embroidery (8) excella (8) garter (8) knitting (8) marian martin (8) pleats (8) sale (8) sleeve (8) slippers (8) toys (8) tweed (8) vogue (8) watches (8) bolero (7) brooch (7) crepe (7) design (7) halloween (7) just because (7) movie (7) novelty print (7) shopping (7) sleepwear (7) Phantom of the Opera (6) bargain (6) calico (6) classic (6) color (6) costuming (6) dicky (6) expo (6) glass (6) house dress (6) housewares (6) notions (6) restoration (6) shirtwaist (6) sick (6) ski suit (6) theater (6) zipper (6) applique (5) architecture (5) blackface (5) bloomers (5) body (5) book (5) cat (5) chambray (5) cosmetics (5) fashion (5) fur (5) furnishings (5) jacket in a week 2 (5) jumper (5) little things (5) maternity (5) mock-up (5) museum (5) necktie (5) party (5) photos (5) pimp (5) sweater dress (5) vest (5) vintage (5) winter (5) wrap dress (5) 1945 (4) 1980 (4) comments (4) dog (4) elastic (4) mary jane shoes (4) monogram (4) monster making (4) pattern making (4) pets (4) revolution (4) scallop (4) swing dress (4) tappants (4) wedding (4) 1800s (3) 1900 (3) VPP (3) WWI (3) beauty (3) books (3) bracelets (3) cookies (3) corset (3) cuff (3) darning (3) deco (3) doggie (3) ebay (3) groceries (3) lindy (3) nurse (3) outsize (3) retro (3) rings (3) sailor (3) satin (3) shirring (3) shorts (3) sporty (3) styling (3) summer (3) teaching (3) turban (3) upholstery (3) viva (3) 1990 (2) PDF (2) SAT (2) UK (2) adventure (2) beach pajamas (2) bedspread (2) beer (2) blue (2) caplet (2) cardigan (2) chair (2) cleaning (2) clock (2) comic (2) commission (2) cooking (2) couch (2) curtains (2) detail (2) diner (2) doll (2) feedsack (2) gowns (2) handmade (2) hiking (2) interview (2) kickstarter (2) lamp (2) learning (2) lucite (2) makeup (2) natural (2) nylon (2) pin-tucking (2) pique (2) playclothes friday (2) plus size (2) radio (2) raglan (2) ruffles (2) rugs (2) sequin (2) shawl (2) singer (2) slacks (2) snoods (2) stripes (2) sundries (2) superior (2) thrift (2) two-tone (2) umbrella (2) wearing history (2) woman (2) women (2) workwear (2) year (2) yellow (2) yoke (2) ADSLA (1) Brian (1) Casts of Color (1) Facebook (1) Hart Schaffner n Marx (1) Lady Day (1) Promotion (1) Rowman's (1) San Francisco (1) Steampunk (1) apple (1) articles (1) atomic (1) awards (1) baby (1) bakelite (1) baking (1) ball gown (1) bar (1) barettes (1) baseball (1) batman (1) bead (1) bed (1) berthas (1) bike (1) birthday (1) black people (1) blogs (1) bonnet (1) braces (1) breeches (1) brushes (1) burda (1) cameras (1) candy (1) canned goods (1) chiffons (1) christmas (1) closet (1) cloth (1) cosplay (1) custom (1) decorating (1) diamonds (1) disaster sewing (1) dishes (1) drawers (1) dressing gown (1) drinking (1) drop waist (1) fagoting (1) fat people (1) felt (1) flannel (1) flocking (1) flooring (1) fonts (1) footware (1) fruit (1) gadgets (1) glasses (1) godet (1) gold (1) grading (1) guest comments (1) gusset (1) halter (1) hints (1) history (1) hood (1) hosiery (1) household (1) hygiene (1) instructions (1) jewels (1) kitchen (1) landmark (1) lawn (1) masks (1) mensturation (1) mid-century modern (1) mirror (1) misses (1) muppet (1) necklace (1) needle (1) notches (1) office attire (1) oilcloth (1) pandemic (1) patternbook (1) pearls (1) pen (1) pictures (1) pins (1) plants (1) plus fours (1) pocket (1) portraits (1) puppet (1) raincoat (1) recreation (1) refashion (1) ric rac (1) sash (1) savings (1) sci-fi (1) serger (1) shades (1) sharkskin (1) sheets (1) silhouette (1) skit (1) standard (1) star trek (1) store (1) suspenders (1) swagger (1) swing (1) table (1) tablecloth (1) teen (1) textles (1) thermal underwear (1) thread (1) tips (1) toiletries (1) tools (1) tote (1) tour (1) travel (1) tv (1) twill (1) type (1) underware (1) veil (1) video (1) vintage outing (1) virginia (1) wallet (1) white (1) writing (1) yay (1)