Vintage Fabric Find: Woven Cotton Check

Well shoot, this blog is fast becoming more about my vintage fabric and sewing adventures than anything else. Ah well!

I have been looking for a specific fabric for AGES and I finally found something very similar to it while browsing Etsy today. Just a side note: I'm thinking it's time I either give up Etsy or get an account and start selling to support my habit. This is ridiculous. I am going to be broke.

Anyway:

Woven check cotton fabric is nearly impossible to find! I even posted about it in a blog post a few months ago, and on facebook, trying to find out if it had a specific name or if anyone knew where I could pick some up. Just by chance today I was stalking a vintage fabric seller on Etsy today after day dreaming about buying some other fabric from them and lo and behold! There it was! And only five dollars a yard, to boot! Anyway, I've immediately come up with a super-cute early 30's dress idea for it, but before I get too set on anything I want to have the fabric in my hand. If it's what I think it is, it'll be perfect!

Have you ever sought a nameless thing only to have it find you? 

(I am sounding super zen here, despite having disappointingly material intentions...)

Fashion (Blog) Envy: All the Pretty Dresses

It's a grumpy sort of morning. I have Pride and Prejudice playing on the television and am snugged up in nearly ten blankets on the couch with a puppy (I've yet to start the wood fire this morning). My DH is out of town this weekend, leaving me to my own devices (watching Jane Austen adaptations on DVD, napping and grumping around eating poorly) but I just happened to stumble across this blog this morning and so I had to share it.

All The Pretty Dresses is a blog detailing the internet findings of an antique fashion fan and there are nearly eight hundred posts! Each post documents a dress or piece of clothing that she has found on web sites other than museum sites (ebay, etsy, etc) and has the original photos and description, as well as her own input. I've been on this site for so long that I can barely see straight, and I've only nicked the surface!

This page has convinced me to post a few of my own vintage and antique dresses over the next few weeks as I get them cleaned up. Stay Tuned!

Fashion-Envy: Late 1910's House Dress

Here's another top-contender for dresses I'd love to remake. This one is actually almost within my budget, and it's already a reproduction, but there's just something so gosh-durned awesome about making a dress yourself, especially when I can taylor it to my exact fit.

I'd love to do this one with hand-embroidered detail at the cuffs, modesty-panel and hem. I wish I had a better photo of it. The neckline is my favorite. 

This one is a little more practical than the last one, but I'm still torn.

What do you think of this one? Rated on a scale from 1-5?

Fashion-Envy: 1920's Working Class

Lately I've been thinking about choosing a dress to recreate using modern fabrics. This one below is one of my current favorites. I found it on Etsy, and while I'd love to buy it, I'd love even more if I could own a sturdy, wearable reproduction of it. It's a mid-20's dress that would've been worn by a working class woman. Perhaps a factory worker? 

It's pin-tucked wool with a linen insert, cuffs and collar. I can't help but want to try it out, especially with the drawn-thread work in the linen. My main concern is that it would look kind of funky on my petite-yet-busty figure.

What do you think of it? I'd love to get readers' opinions on it before I start searching for fabric.

My Fashionable Ancestors (pt 2)

The second photo my mother emailed me this week was from the mid-to-late 1920s, judging by the drop waists. Probably more mid, since the older woman has a bit more of an earlier fashion about her, but it's possible she was just more conservative in her choices of clothing.

The shoes in this photo are making me insane with envy. Look at the cutouts on the lady on the right! You can probably click on the image above for a closer look. I'm also a serious sucker for cloche hats. 

Is there anything in historical fashion that you wish was more socially acceptable today? Bustles? Drop waists? Suits of armor? 

My Fashionable Ancestors

My mother recently emailed me some photos of my Edwardian era ancestors and I just can't stop ogling at them! 

The first photo has some great dresses. In fact, the dress second from the left (is it polka dots? floral?) is absolutely fantastic. I'd love to recreate it. I'm assuming this is right around 1918-1920 because the blouses are still deeply formal while there is some serious ankle peeking out. 

This era is definitely my favorite in historical fashion; it just screams modernization, and the influence of practical-lifestyle creeping in from wartime is such a fascinating catalyst in fashion. Women had to look great, but they also had to be able to actually function in their clothes. What a novel idea!

What's your favorite historical fashion era?

Vintage Sewing (an intro to mini-posts)

Well, I've obviously been absent to the blogging scene for a long while now. I think about it nearly every day, though, I promise! Blogging is a real commitment, and I've definitely dropped the ball lately.

In my defense, I've been suffering some pretty atrocious migraines and headaches and long sits in front of the computer screen tend to do-me-in for hours. So I have a solution. I'm going to attempt to start writing mini-posts on a more regular basis. It won't be the eloquently articulated mind-spout that my usual posts are, but it will allow me to share what I've been up to with you. Theoretically they'll just be a snapshot and a quick sentence or two... better than nothing, right?

That said, who loves vintage sewing?

I do.

I've been obsessing over all things vintage-fashion (picture me rolling around in piles of vintage cloth and patterns, laughing maniacally) and I want to share some of my recent projects and eye-candy.

Some vintage reproduction fabrics I picked up

a terrible photo of my intensely goofy (and awesome) plus fours aka knickerbockers

Did I mention my new-found adoration for vintage trims?

Yeah, I went a little crazy with the vintage trims...

I've been working on a 1930's shirtwaist dress with cap sleeve this week. More photos to come!