Pretty bits

Whenever I see my Grandmother she always gives me little gifts and almost always they are related to sewing. I know I may be alone in getting excited over vintage buttons, old seam bindings and the like, but when they are packaged in a vintage Max Factor powder pot, how can I resist? It's a shame modern cosmetics aren't packaged this way anymore. Of these little treasures, I especially love the apple buttons and the little lace motifs - apparently they are meant for handkerchiefs. To add to these pretty things - some pretty flowers. Also a note to say I am going away for the bank holiday weekend so probably won't be posting again until the middle of next week. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hazy

I took these photos on a lovely sunny day. The dress is from the late 1970s and was handmade by my mum. The belt is charity shop vintage and the hat was 20p from a jumble sale. As for the bag, it is my new favourite, I had been thinking I'd like a basket type of bag, when this one pops up in a local charity shop. I think I will be using it a lot over the summer.

Liliput

In April I came across some copies of Lilliput magazine. Lilliput's slogan was 'the magazine for everyone' and the copies I have were all published during WW2.  Also every cover had to contain a man, a woman and a scottie dog, not usre why... It's a funny little magazine, containing articles, funny illustrations, facts, stories, and lots of photos. The photos are what made me decide to buy them. Each issue has various photo pages, which seem to have no bearing on any of the other content. They also have double page spreads of funny photo comparisons, such as a hippo and a hot air balloon. However they also feature collections of images by various photographers, or on a particular theme. The above images are my favourite of all of them, especially the one with the jumping girl and turtle! One of the most interesting things about Lilliput is the fact of when it was published and a lot of the content was clearly aimed at soldiers far from home. I also find it fascinating that someone has kept these little magazines for over 70 years, and they are in perfect condition. I will post more of the scans in the future.

Eye, eye

 
So clearly the nautical obsession continues. I spied this little top in Topshop sale and knew it would be mine. I am going to remove the gold buttons though, they are just too bright and shiny for me. Give me pewter, copper or brass any day. The little canvas wedges are from a charity shop and were unworn, a bargain £2. The silly headband comprises of a plain old headband plus a 1980s bow tie that was once my mothers. The ring is ancient, I think I've had it since I was about 12.  The skirt I made myself. I searched all over for a simple red A-line skirt to no avail. So I  decided to make one and here it is. Not sure I am satisfied with it, but sewing my own clothes is an endless learning curve.

The Daffodil Girl

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago. I got this dress last summer in Paris at free p store, a crazy vintage shop in the Marais district (I think). The shop is quite small but totally crammed with vintage, all the dresses were about 20 euros and there was a bargain 3 euro box too. When I got there a guy was just filling up the dress rack with piles of dresses, and I found this one. It's handmade, and although I wouldn't normally wear yellow, I couldn't resit the sweet pattern of roses, with tiny ladybirds and little labels, written in french. I wanted to take some photos wearing it near some daffodils, and I happened to drive past this churchyard full of them, and also those strange leafless trees. A perfect location.

Shades of Grey

Chambray dress with  collar details, from eBay Here
Canvas check shoes, from Lisa zain at Etsy Here

Nautical print 1950's dress, from Ollie Otson at Etsy Here
Dark red sandals, from Anthropologie Here
Sailor knot necklace, from The Vamoose at Etsy Here
Blue Seagull dress, mine from Primark a few years ago 

 

Grey Linen dress, from Ninth Avenue Vintage at Etsy Here
Cream oxfords with checked laces, from Verhext at Etsy Here
Blueberry oatmeal dress, from Modcloth Here
Peach, Plum, Pear dress, from Modcloth Here


I have realised a few interesting (to me at least) things as regards my personal style since starting this blog. For example, I didn't realised quite how drawn I was to plaid/checks. Yet whenever I catch sight of a sweet checked dress/top I always want it.  Even back in January I was thinking of checks for summer, with the Rachel Comey inspired dress I posted about, which  I'm still planning to make.

Another thing I am consistently drawn to is chambray. I just think it looks good in any combination, as a dress, skirt, top, shorts... even shoes. In shades of blue/grey particularly. I have already made a couple of things for myself using chambray, one of which I will post about soon. However I think I should try something different next, maybe making something in linen.

Another inspiration at the moment is anything seaside, boating, nautical related. I think my recent trip to the seaside has made me long for the sea. I really love all the items in these little collages, especially the first dress with the collar details, it's a shame it's too big for me. And I just love the anthroplogie sandals, which are greatly out of my price range. I'm hoping to find some good summer snadals and  get myself a little chambray seaside themed dress soon.

The Bluebird

* If any of these images belong to someone and you'd like them taken down, please let me know, I can't remember where they came from.

I may have said this before, but I am generally always thinking about my next sewing project and that is almost always a dress. I recently re-watched 500 days of summer and was really inspired by all the pretty blue dresses Summer wears throughout the film. I also loved the wallpaper in her apartment, which is certainly an obscure inspiration but there you go. Then a couple of days ago I found the pattern (shown above) and then the lovely vintage looking fabric and decided to go ahead with it. I put together a little mood board as well. Unfortunately I started it yesterday and I am not happy with it so far, mainly because I decided to make the top part cream and add piping, and while it looks OK, it's not quite what I had in mind. I think this is a lesson in considering a project a little before jumping in. Does this ever happen to anyone else? Hopefully I can still save the dress since I still like the idea of it. We will see.

To the Sea

A couple of weeks ago we went to the beach in Brighton, it was glorious. For once there was a perfectly clear blue sky. I do like to visit the seaside.

A little birdie said to me

I do like bank holiday weekends, it's so nice to have an extra long weekend. I've had a lovely one, seeing friends, drinking cider in the sun, visitng antique shops and sewing this little birdie. I like to make people's presents, I think it is more personal and interesting. I tend to get into making one type of thing at a time, and all my friends will recieve one for that birthday year. For a while it was cushions, and right now it is little birds. I really like turquoise with softer colours right now, makes me think of spring and sunny days.