Look what I won!

Show and tell time again. Just snagged this fabulous 1930s knitting and crochet pattern book off ebay. A wonderful find at under $10.00 including shipping. I do not have it in my possession yet (still on route), but I snagged some photos off the ebay page to share. I was so excited I just couldn't hold it in anymore!

The book includes all sorts of fun patterns included a fabulous coat, matching sports outfit, knitted suit, Men's Sweaters and best of all a pattern for a knit bathing suit! All and all it has over 20 1930s knitting patterns. Awesome!

Really loving that coat and hat combo. Could you imagine it in a soft ivory or better yet a bold red? So stylish. Also, I want her shoes! If only I had a magical time machine that took me back to 1933 so I could swipe some killer 1930s shoes. I think my favorite vintage shoes come from the 20s and 30s.

Knitted suit. Looks a bit heavy, but might not be so bad if it's made in a lighter weight yarn. KnitPicks has some fabulous cotton/linen blend fingerweights that would be fantastic for this. Of course I'd need to rework the pattern, but I do that with everything I knit anyways. Maybe it wouldn't be period correct knitting materials, but it would make it more reasonable to wear in Atlanta.

I don't think I need to tell you that this was the entire reason I bought this book. A 1930s swimsuit pattern in ENGLISH. Finally. Think this would count towards my Summer essentials if I made this? Definitely going to have to go historically correct on this one. For some strange reason I really want to try swimming in wool. I need to know why this was the preferred material for 50+ years. I'm thinking a soft yellow would be nice for this suit. Circa Murray perhaps?

This will be for Fiance. It's a really handsome sweater. I have to admit I haven't seen many Men's sweater patters from the era, so I was super excited to find this in the book. And so we're all clear,  I can knit him a sweater now that I've got the ring!!

So I know many of you Sew Vintage, but does anyone Knit Vintage? Leave me a comment and let me know!

PS. Look at what finally arrived in the mail today! Our 1930s cake topper! I took a closer look at the bride and she has a really sweet Bob hairstyle in fingerwaves. I just love it! 

I really do have 1930s on the brain right now, but can you really blame me? I'm trying to devise an Art Deco inspired wedding. Just have to figure out how to make it okay for the men to wear tails in the afternoon...

Vinspiration Tuesday: Fabric choices

The camera cords have yet to arrive. I was going to snap a few pictures with the cellphone this morning just so I would have something to show, but I decided to be more productive and try to rework the front waistband on my Rubys. I had a serious problem with puckering on the first go around so I did some serious seam-ripping and tried again. The result is something that looks better, but still has too much puckering for my tastes. I'm going to suppose this has something to do with the seam allowances that I used. I went with a 3/8 seam for the entire short, but had to do so serious finagling to get the waistband to line up somewhat properly with the front legs. The Pink Rubys look pretty amateur, but we'll call them the first try. For purple rubies I'll be adding half an inch or so to the front waistband to resolve these puckering problems or simply decrease each front leg width by a quarter of an inch or so.

So I've decided to go in a new direction for Vinspiration today. Picture this: You've got yourself a fabulous 1930s dress pattern, but you're not sure what type of fabric to choose. Fear not, $25V has got you covered. Here are color scans from several different 1930s clothing and pattern magazines to give you some idea of what to look for.

approx 1937, France 

approx 1937, France

approx 1938, France

1930s France. Loving the red and white plaid on the far left. 

1934 Swimsuit, USA, Cosmopolitan Magazine

1930s, USA. I am SO in love with the lace pockets on the dress on the far left. Frugal me says imagine taking a cheap old thrift store lace table cloth and using it for embellishments. 

Spring 1934, USA

Spring 1934, USA, Sears Catalogue

Spring 1934, USA, Sears Catalogue

1937, USA. 

1937, USA

1937, USA

Spring 1938, USA

Spring 1938, USA

For more color magazine scans from the 1930s, check out the Costumers Manifesto. They've got some great stuff over there for historical costume/vintage clothing design. 

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday Y'all! (I'm marring into a southern family. I have decided that qualifies me to use that word.)

Hoping you all had a great weekend! We finished some painting and attended a fun lunch meeting with friends. We also watched a few hours worth of 1954 Sherlock Holmes TV series featuring Ronald Howard.

I picked the complete series up at Target this past week. Best $5.00 I have ever spent. Besides being incredibly entertaining, there's some really hilarious moments between Watson and a few other characters as they try to describe the eccentric behavior of Mr. Holmes. My favorite line has to be "He was beating a corpse with a stick." To which Dr. Watson replies "I beg your pardon?"

If you're also a fan of the 50s take on Holmes and you don't feel like making the drive to your local Target you are in luck! You don't have to spend $5.00 to enjoy some of these episodes, most are available for free online.

Other freebies this morning include these pictures of some fabulous late 70s-early 80s shoes compliments of my mother.

Modeled by my lovely younger sister Briana. I'm only slightly creeped out by the weird smilie faces painted on her toes. I would feel better about them if they didn't have whites around their eyes.

These were the shoes worn by my Mother when she married my Father in August of 1981. They've lived in her closet ever since and have held up remarkably well. The last time I remember seeing these shoes was when I wore them for some 1970s themed school spirit day back in Jr. High School. I'm thinking I might try to get her to send me these. They just might be able to finally fulfill my lust for white strappy pee-toed shoes for summer. Plus, they're already part of the family. And as we all know, the Rubys fit right in with that 1970s vibe. What do you think? Good frugal find from my stylish Mama or not so much?

Your Friday Vinspiration: 1937

Quick camera update: The cords have been found! And they are on their way down here from New York! Apparently I'm holding up Lisette's big Ruby post, so I hope they come soon. 

Lately I've been on a 1930s kick. More specifically the late 1930s to very early 1940s. The tailored looks, the lowered hemlines, the hats, the furs! There's something about it the glamor of it that just makes a girl swoon. So in honor of that I present to you "A Year in Vinspiration: 1937." No history lesson today, just real people wearing real clothing. Bring back this type of everyday fashion!

March 1937 from the collection of The State Library of New South Wales. It's important to note that this is a high class social event these women are attending. They're enjoying a day at the races. I'm not sure if I love or hate Lady on the Left's suit. That's a lot of print with that matching hat, but the cut of the suit is very fetching. I do love the way the print is worked on the diagonal. I love their gloves and I need Lady on the Right's hat. Need. May have to set about figuring out how to make something like it.

From the same set as above dated March 1937. Still a more formal social outing. I dare any of you to tell me that Lady on the Far Left's outfit isn't the greatest most wonderful piece of fashion EVER. I am so loving the buttons down the front of her dress, her little white gloves and of course that hat. Gentleman in the Center is looking very dapper in his pinstripe suit. I'm a big fan of how far the lapel crosses over in the front, how fitted the jacket is and his pocket square. Gotta love a sharp dressed man.

Teenagers of 1937. This is a 7th grade class from 1937. I noticed some of the boys are wearing pants and some knickers. This is a great snapshot of the halfway point of a major change over in boys clothing. 

This guy was just so cool I couldn't help but put him in my list. This is Dick Mooney of Jamestown, North Dakota, 1937. Honestly if this photo wasn't dated I would have no idea what era he was from, but lucky for me it is! I wouldn't say he was very fashionable per say.... but I love western shirts. I wanted to make one for Fiancé, but the idea was shot down rather quickly. Fiancé is a well dressed Southern Gentleman, not a cowboy. 

Above I featured society wear, here is some work wear. This is a photo of female workers at the Elektromekano; Helsingborg, a radio company in 1937. Most of these ladies are wearing smocks, which I love and totally have to have. I'm also smitten with their hairstyles. I love fingerwaves, I'm just incapable of setting them into my own hair. 

I love the shoes. Wow. I'm still completely hooked on white peep-toe summer shoes. I'm not sure what to think about the socks with open toes, but if it's good enough for 1937 it's good enough for me. Lady being Leapfrogged has another example of 1930s swimsuit and I'm thinking that the neck is pretty low. Oh you scandalous 1930ites you! I often wonder how the 50 somethings of the 1930s thought about the 20 somethings. After all when they had been their age beach suits were knee length dresses made of black wool. 

And finally Christmas Eve 1937. I'm digging Lady on the Left's shoes and belted combo. I've seen similar shoes in stores recently. The tweedy tan and black combo has been pretty popular in the last few years. I seem to remember seeing something similar in a Marshall's recently. To note: This is a picture from the Southern Hemisphere so we can all understand the short sleeved dresses. 

Have a good weekend everyone! Stay pumped for the Ruby's come Monday! 

The Camera Saga Continues!

And now for another installment of Nancy's Camera Replacement Saga!

I got my new camera in the mail!! And by new I mean old. This was the digital camera my parents bought me as a Christmas present my senior year of high school. It takes a few seconds to start up and get going, but it works. That's more than I can say for the newer camera and this one was free. Does it get any better than that? No, I don't think so. Well okay... it might have been better if my mother sent my photographer sister's profession camera, but then there might have been some trouble between me and my Maid of Honor you see.

So I charged New Old Camera up and went off to click myself some fine pictures. And click I did. The Rubys (which I have been dying to unveil to you all), the knitting, my ring, all sorts of good stuff. Oh yes, I loaded up that memory card. Then as I went to the computer to upload these pictures I noticed a small problem. You see my camera dock did not work with New Old Camera. Neither I nor my Mother foresaw this problem. Yes, my cords were too small for it. So now I'm waiting for my mother to track down and send the old cords. She's awesome.

Technology and I don't get along well.You may recall the incident where both my sewing machines decided to die at the same time. Isn't that why you have more than one machine? For just such occasions? Not in Nancyland, my friends. In Nancyland you need a minimum of three of any electronic device.

Other than that things are starting to calm down around here. We've finished calling all our friends and we're finally able to enjoy our engagement time together. I guess it's started to sink in just this week. We went to get the ring sized and Fiance had us look at the wedding bands. I finally started to feel like this isn't a dream. This is real. This is happening. I'm marrying the love of my life. I'm definitely a lucky one. (And I have a nice rock too.)

I missed Vinspiration Tuesday so I hope you will all settle for a Vinspiration Friday. I'm still tracking down a few photos. In the meantime I hope you all are well.

Survey says....

Happy Monday all! I hope you had a great weekend! We went out to meet some friends Saturday afternoon and attended a great get together Saturday night. Sunday evening we spent with my Fiance's father. He is now officially the first parent to see the ring. My dad lives in New York so I didn't get to see him this weekend, but I did call him up while he was cleaning the pool. Yup, my Dad cleaned the pool for Father's day. He doesn't want much, but Mom did make him her famous meatloaf so he had a great day.

I made a comment on Friday about not posting so much about my wedding. Apparently you all are actually interested in the wedding! Cool. So, while I'll be trying to tone down the wedding posts a little (this is supposed to be a vintage sewing blog after all) I will continue to update you on our wedding goings ons.

The tentative date for the event is October 8, 2011. We're praying that this date does not fall on a UGA home game. If it does I'll have to find a way to stream football coverage into the reception. We don't want to be inconsiderate to our guests of course.

I also purchased two cake toppers over the weekend. I say I, but it was actually my Fiance who footed the bill. We couldn't decide which one we liked better so he bought me both. These are officially our first wedding purchases! Oh. Em. Gee.

1930s cake topper. The listing said 1920s or 1930s cake topper, but judging by her dress I'm leaning towards 1930s being the real date for this. The Bride is missing her original bouquet so I want to give her some fresh flowers if we use her for the ceremony. We purchased these two for about $20.00. They need a good cleaning.

This is a 1960s cake topper we believe. I just thought this couple was too cute to pass up. I love the flowers on her dress and the gold details. Plus these two are in awesome condition. Fiancé doesn't think so, but I think the groom here looks a lot like him. Their style of dress doesn't fit with our theme as much, but right now the theme is very tentative. If we don't use them for our ceremony I'll try to sneak them onto the shower's cake. We snagged this topper for $10.00. Vintage is fun!

A few weeks ago I was tagged by Ali at The Wardrobe, Reimagined to answer 8 questions. Ali, I'm sorry I didn't get around to them until now, but here goes.

And eight questions. 

1. What song never fails to move you?
While I don't think there is only one song that never fails to move me, one that I can think of right off the top of my head is Nancy Wilson's "Never Let me Go". Amy Adam's rendition of "If I Didn't Care"from Mrs. Pettigrew gets me choked up as well. 




2. What's your sewing threshold? As in, what will you let go, what must you absolutely fix?
This is pretty fluid and flexible for me. Depends on how I'm feeling that day. If I want to finish something and the garment is for myself I'll let a lot of things slide. I'm much more likely to jury rig something for myself. As long as the overall look is polished I don't mind a few mistakes. If the garment is for someone else you can be sure I'll be ripping out seams left and right to make sure everything is perfect. 


3. What's your "desert island" book/movie and why could you read/watch it over and over?
Why the Pride and Prejudice Movie of course. The costumes! The camera work! The locations! They did such a fantastic job on that film. Plus the story is Jane Austin so it's not something I could get tired of easily!


4. What garment/accessory do you wear the most?
Currently it's my engagement ring! Love my round cut solitaire!


5. What wouldn't you be caught dead in?
This. 

No, maybe I changed my mind. This actually looks like a lot of fun to wear, plus you could really freak out the neighbors.

6. Your motto/mantra?

It'll all work out. I always try to tell myself that. Things may look ugly now, but it'll all work out in the end. 

7. A designer you consistently like and why?

I know it's not sewing, but I love Robyn Chachula. I love to crochet, but you have to be careful when looking for crochet patterns. There are so many patterns that are just stuck in the 1970s and not in a good way. Robyn is somehow always able to make crocheted garments that are modern, functional and so so cute. 

8. Something about you we wouldn't expect from reading your blog?

I'm a huge Western fan. Yes, I'll admit it. I have a western film collection larger than any woman should own. I've seen more western's than my Father and Fiance combined. Can't reasonably see making myself any outfits from those movies though. The 1880s just aren't my style I suppose. 

Vintage Etsy Wedding Finds under $25.00

I feel like this blog is taking a turn towards a wedding blog, so I solemnly swear to cut back on the wedding stuff after the new camera comes. Lucky for all of you it should be waiting for me at the P.O. box today.

Mostly life around here has been the continued hustle and bustle of engagement announcements and venue searching. I think we may have settled on a date. We've definitely found our dream location for the reception. I don't want to give it away until we secure the location, but I will say restored art-deco ballroom.

So after looking at that venue and after looking at the vintage wedding gown photos I've got a vintage inspired wedding on the brain. I looked for a few 1940s dress patterns, but saw little point in purchasing any. It is after all very bad luck to sew your own wedding dress. Still out of curiosity I went through some of my vintage patterns to see if I already had any wedding gown patterns. I have a few, but they are very 80s and way over the top. I keep them mostly for the pure enjoyment of owning them, not because I plan to ever reconstruct them. In fact one of my patterns showed up over at Male Pattern Boldness' Ugliest Pattern Contest. She lost to a much uglier and much more deserving ensemble.

Anyone want to wear this to your special event? Yikes. The 1980s were a bit of scary time for fashion, but they certainly had their own style. It's hard to look at an 80s dress and not know exactly what decade it came from.

After the pattern search I went on to search for some wedding accessories. Here's a few wedding themed vintage accessories that you can add to your vintage wardrobe. All for under $25.00 of course.

Beautiful Sheer 1950s Ladies Tea Gloves with lace cuff. Wow! If one of you doesn't snap these up I will. They're going for $8.00!

1960's Proxy Floral Pumps. Love love love! Waaaaaaay cute, and a great deal at $13.00. Very tempting for my own big day, but I think I should find the dress before I start picking up the matching accessories.

Gorgous Rhinestone Orchid Blossom Earrings. So cute. I just love these, but I have pierced ears so clip ons are not very comfortable for me to wear.

1980s Glass Pearl and Rhinestone necklace. I'm so in love with this. Sure it's a bit tacky 80s, but it's fun and very kitschy. It's selling for $17.00.

Great pair of 1940s Leather strap peep-toe pumps. Sure wish I was still looking for vintage white shoes to go with my Ruby short outfit. They're currently selling for $20.00, a great price for a pair of vintage shoes.

And to top it all off a Lovely White 1960s Hat with Bows. This is going for $7.99 which is an excellent deal for a hat. Someone better snatch this baby up. I'm trying so hard to resist from buying this. It does need a good dry cleaning and reshaping though, so take that into account if you're thinking of taking this baby home.

Have a good weekend! See you on Monday!

MADE at Whipstitch

Apparently the blogging world is also in wedding mode right now! Lucky me!

Couture Allure has a great post on stepping outside the box to find your own vintage wedding gown. She even explains the importance of finding the proper undergarments to wear under those gowns (a woman after my own heart).

I also wanted to post about something fun I did this weekend (before the big proposal). Saturday I headed up to Whipstitch in Atlanta (above photo from their blog) for a sewing demo by Dana of MADE. She makes the worlds cutest children's clothing and she was just the sweetest person ever.

Dana was so cute and so entertaining! I just adore her! And I only wish some of her creativity wore off on me during the demo. Look at some of these skirts from her blog!

Just darling!

Her demo was about drafting patterns and making up children's tee-shirts from old men's shirts. It was super fun and super easy. I almost wish I had a little kiddy to make clothing for, but one thing at a time. Her and I definitely shared a common love of thrift store fabric "harvesting." I felt a little silly taking pictures with a cellphone, but until my new camera comes from my Mother in the mail it's all I've got. It's gotten bad, friends. My Fiancé and I took our engagement night photos with a disposable camera.

Some more of her creations that she let us pick up and play with after the demo. Totally digging that bag.

I had never been to Whipstitch before, but don't think I won't be there again! They had some of the cutest fabrics I had seen in a long time. Lots of retro patterns and some great deals on bolt leftovers. I saw a package of nearly 3 yards of bolt leftover for $8.50.

They also had a rack dedicated entirely to tea and coffee themed fabrics. I could barely resist. You can more than likely expect to see the tea pot fabric above in a vintage styled apron or belt sometime in the future. It was a bit pricey at nearly $9.00 a yard, but it would make a great accent fabric.

Vinspiration Tuesday! 1940s Wedding?

I haven't gotten anything done this week! The endless phone calls to family members, friends and soon to be in laws have taken up most of our nights. On top of that apparently when you get engaged everyone wants to see you which is awfully sweet. I feel like a princess with people asking me about how my Fiance (formally my Beau) proposed, asking to see the ring, and sending us their well wishes.

There's also the matter of planning a wedding! Holy cow! The engagement was a bit of a surprise for me and I'll admit I did not have one bit of my wedding planned in advance. My Mama and Maid of Honor (aka Sister) have got me thinking about colors, bridesmaid dresses and themes. I'm not sure on any of those things, but you can be sure I'll be pushing for a vintage feel like this.

Just kidding! Though my Southern Man Fiancé tells me he's been to three Gone with the Wind Weddings where the wedding party was in full regalia. He denies it, but I think he secretly wants this type of wedding. The man is descended from the first Governor of GA, two signers of the Confederate Constitution and many many Confederate officers. Me on the other hand? My ancestors were pretty much all poor farmers in the mountains of New York and Pennsylvania. I'm marring up in society!

I'm still in shock from the whole thing. I almost don't believe that this is really happening. So in honor of all the wedding craziness today I am posting some Wedding Vinspiration. As I browsed the historical photo archives I couldn't help but be drawn the gowns of the 1940s. They're so glamorous and so Hollywood. These are the gowns I really would like to emulate on my big day.

I love this dress from 1941. The lacy overlay and the long flowing train! It also has sleeves, which I love in a wedding dress. The strapless look just doesn't do it for me. The cascading bouquets are so elegant as well. The veil is a bit much for me, but perfect for her. She looks lovely!

This photo was shot in 1940, but the dress was actually originally worn for a wedding in 1928. The long simple veil with the lace edging is so pretty and delicate. It's definitely a formal gown, but it's not stuffy. The gown itself has a beautiful bodice and I love the simple long sleeves. I'm also in love with the delicate, but not overly done lace around the neck line.

A gown from 1943. Long veils really seem to the the style of this age. Hats on Bridesmaid's are also very popular. Does this dress remind you a bit of the 1990s? Designers of the 90s were certainly pulling from this time period. Again I love the cascading bouquet, but I much prefer the bouquets of Image #1. Still Image #1 was early in the war, this wedding happened mid-WWII. If you know the story behind the photo the look seems to make more sense. I pulled this bit of info from the Australian War Memorial Collection's Flickr Page.

"The wedding dress was purchased second hand by the bride's mother because the family could not assemble enough coupons under wartime rationing to buy a new one. The bridesmaid wore a dress that she had previously worn when bridesmaid to another bride pre-rationing restrictions." 

Nifty piece of history there.

This is totally my wedding day makeup look right here. I just love it! She looks so pretty, the perfect image of a blushing bride. This image is from a McCall cover circa 1942. It was shot by our good friend Nicholas Muray. I love her soft pink cheeks, her perfect red lips, and her chocolate eyeshadow. The fresh flower on the center of her head is a bit weird, but I'll let it go for now. You can also get a clear view of the nail polish style of the day in this photo. Only the center of the nail was painted leaving an unpainted crescent at the top of the nail and another unpainted crescent near the cuticle area. Loving the peachy pink shade of the polish.

Those shoes! This photo is only fueling my need for a pair of strappy white shoes! This dress is very different from the long flowing gowns, but a much better example of the post-war wedding gown. This image was taken in 1946. My grandmother's dress was tea length and similar to this one. I'm loving the lace sleeves.

So hope you enjoyed today's vintage goodness. I'm still gushing over Image #5's shoes. I also want to apologize for not commenting on all your blogs over the weekend. Everything should be getting back up to speed this week.