Monday, March 25, 2013

A basket, a couple of bags, and a hat


I don't know why I look sad
It seems I am incapable of seeing any sort of cane, straw or wooden bag without buying it. I suppose it's not really a big problem when most of the six or so I have were under $10. My most recent purchase was this wooden clutch bag from the Sumner Street Fair last weekend. I think they were popular in the 70s. 



The only bad thing is that you can see what's inside it so I'll have to try and stop my usual practice of shoving receipts, tissues and other random rubbish into my bag.  

Vintage dress: Trademe
Belt/ribbon: Craft shop
Vintage shoes: Op shopped
Tights: Primark
Hat: Vintage store in Saltaire
Bag: Sumner Street Fair



Also from the Sumner Street Fair is this old hairdryer case. It still had the hairdryer inside but I've taken it out so I can use it as a bag. I don't know what I'm going to do with the hairdryer though. I already have two other 60s hairdryers because they come in such cool cases. I op shopped the hat sitting on top recently. I think I might have a hat buying problem as well.  

The colour is darker and nicer than in the photo

This basket was op shopped at the same time as the hat. I'll probably use it as a handbag because it's a really good shape.  It's sort of deep but not too big.


Monday, March 18, 2013

Eva Dress Pattern Contest


I entered the dress I blogged about in the previous post in the Eva Dress Pattern Competition. You can find my entry here if you'd like to vote for me. I think there's only a couple of hours of voting left.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Eva Dress D40-5087

Even though I haven't been posting much, I've been sewing a lot. I have about 10 sewing projects that I haven't got around to blogging about. I thought I'd start with something I finished a couple of days ago. It's also my entry into the EvaDress Pattern Contest.


The pattern is EvaDress D40-5087, an afternoon dress from 1940. I'm not entirely sure what an afternoon dress is but regardless I wore this the whole day anyway.  

Trying not to squint just looks like I'm glaring
I liked the colour of the middle dress on the pattern envelope so I used a green wax print cotton. The pattern instructions were minimal (as most 40s patterns seem to be), but once I deciphered the diagrams it was pretty straightforward.  



You can see the gathering, shoulder yoke and puff sleeves a bit better in this picture. The instructions call for stiffening in the sleeves to make them stand up but I didn't use any because the wax print cotton stays up on its own. I'm not usually a massive fan of puff sleeves but I love these ones. Maybe it's because they are quite high, they look less little girl and more bomb girl.



I really like this dress. I'm already planning on making a more winter appropriate version with three quarter sleeves. 
Wonky seams

These stockings always seem to provoke a reaction from people. I usually get asked at least once when I wear them whether they are tattooed on.

Shoes: Brumby
Stockings: Online somewhere, I can't remember exactly where
Scarf: Op shopped
Belt: Op shopped
Dress: I made it