The Rubys!

Tada! I'm so happy to get to present these! What is it they say? The victory you work the hardest for tastes the sweetest? And I worked for these photos lemmi tell you. Someday I might tell you about the 3 hour downloading ordeal, but not today. Love my shorts, and sooooo perfect for the beach. Actually Fiance's office is having a fun summer boating trip in August... can you guess what I will be wearing? Loving the fit around the waist and the hips.

 I'm digging these rubies un-folded. I like the longer shorts feel. Yes, big floppy hat is mandatory.

Think they look anything like my 1947 Vinspiration?

They definitely have a good flair out to the sides.

And if I'm not feeling super retro-esque I can wear them the way they're supposed to be worn. Here's the traditional Ruby fold, but as you can see I did not iron these into a crease. Also cute, but not really loving them as much as I do when they are long.

First summer essentials done and posted. Sew-a-long completed. Phew.

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...

The Challenge

As I mentioned in the last post. A challenge has been thrown down by my Beau. We were sitting at the dinner table discussing my recently doubled stash of vintage dress patterns. I was talking about fabrics, patterns, and zippers when this question was posed. Is it possible to have a completely vintage wardrobe? And what's more is it possible to do it an affordable cost? Back in the day my Mother and Grandmother made all of their clothing. Fabric was inexpensive and store bought clothing was out of their price range. Now with a yard of cotton sometimes exceeding $10.00 making your own clothing is more a labor of love and a hobby. It really isn't cost efficient with places like Target, Charlotte Russe, and Kohls around.

So it was with this thought that my Beau issued the challenge. My task? To make a vintage inspired wardrobe. This means tops, bottoms, slips, camis and most especially vintage dresses. There are very few rules, but they are going to be very strict.

Rule 1: The total cost of the garment must not exceed $25.00 US Dollars.

This includes fabric, lining fabric, buttons, zippers and anything else that is part of the finished garment. I make this distinction because these are vintage patterns and I'm a bit of a strange size. I may need to do some editing at some point or another. We decided that the muslin or tissue paper needed for this will not count in the final price. Why? Those are sewing notions that are used to produce a finished project. I wouldn't factor in pins and scissors, so muslin will not need to be totaled into the final price.

Rule 2: All dresses must be made from vintage patterns or vintage inspired patterns.

Some patterns will be vintage, some may be reprints. Whatever pattern I choose the dress must be a vintage design. The goal is to end up with a complete vintage wardrobe.


So some changes are going to be made around here. First the title of this blog. I figure it's time to let go of my college blog and move onto the doings of my professional life. I already removed another blog I had attached to this account that displayed parts of my college portfolio. So in with the new out with the old. I want the title to reflect this project since I'm planning to completely convert the focus to my sewing challenge.

A few names I am considering.

"25 Dollar Vintage"
"Sew it for 25"
"The Vintage Wardrobe Challenge"
"Nancy's New Wardrobe"

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Stay tuned for big changes and an exciting new blog name!!!