Carnival Dress

After setting aside my dress project for awhile, my Granny and I finally picked it up again a few nights ago. We had a lot of adjusting to do, and a lot of learning on my part—such as the zipper and how to take in the skirt without skimping on the fullness of the bottom. Granted, it's nowhere near perfect, but I think it turned out extremely well. But I couldn't have done it without my Granny's help. 

I took these pictures today in Auburn when I went to visit John. I was wearing it when I went into a gas station and got a lot of funny looks. In Alabama, most of the girls walk around in short shorts and T-shirts, so my outfit was—needless to say—quite unusual. But I'll put up with the weird looks since I am excited to finally have it finished I couldn't wait to wear it. And with all the work I put into this dress, I am definitely wearing it. :) Even if it is 101 degrees outside.

The hardest part, I would say, was attaching the top and bottom pieces. the dress was a little big and it called for a lot of gathering, so it took us awhile to figure out how to trim it down. The ruffles weren't actually that hard to do, and the sleeves were easy once Granny explained to me how that seam works. The only thing I have left to do is sew down the button holes!

And this is a ring my granny gave me a long time ago. I thought it looked nice with the dress. She was really into turquoise so she will give me one from her collection every now and then. It's such a pretty color. This is one of my favorite rings. 

So there's my 1944 dress! I encourage anyone who likes vintage to take up sewing because not only will you get to customize it, but you get the satisfaction of knowing that you made it. Next project, here I come...   

:)

Stylin' Hair

My Granny's house is full of treasures. The other day her I just happened to be looking at the bookshelf when her cosmetology textbook caught my eye. She bought it back when she was going into hairdressing in 1949. It goes into all sorts of things like nails, massages, germs, muscles, pin-curls, finger waves, perms and a ton more. Here are a few images from the book. (Oh and I'm sorry for the terrible picture quality. I was forced to use my 1.3 megapixel phone, ew!)

Also, I was watching "The Company She Keeps" on TCM the other night and fell in love with Jane Greer's hairstyle. It was similar to the one she has in this picture. Oh and something funny Robert Osborne mentioned after the movie was that the infant from the train station scene was Jeff Bridges! I had to look it up to be sure; but for some reason it made me LOL! Anyway, Jeff Bridges aside, it was a cute movie! A good old fashioned classic.

Granny's Helping Hands

Here is the pattern I am working on with my Granny. It's a 1940s pattern, and much too complicated to do on my own--I couldn't have even gotten this far without her!

Seeing Spots

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been settling in to my grandma's house in Florida and didn't have a camera until John came to visit me today. I stopped by Sydney's Vintage Clothing before leaving Auburn and bought my first crinoline skirt! Since I don't really have any clothing that matches its bright pink color, I'm planning on knitting a cardigan to match, so we'll see how that goes. (It's been awhile since I've knitted anything.)

Also, my granny and I have been working on a 1944 dress pattern. I used a red and white striped material. And I didn't exactly choose the simplest one to start with either. Ruffles and buttons and gatherings oh my! I will post some pictures of our progress tomorrow :D

Retro-spect

Once again I have completely redone my blog...and I apologize for any confusion. I am constantly being inspired by new things and, as a designer, I seem to have this insatiable urge to continuously redesign.

The inspiration came from the BHG Cookbook that I bought yesterday. I loved the fonts, colors, and illustrations. Everything is so simple but playful at the same time. I used a typeface called Bodoni, which was a popular font in the 50s and 60s. Believe it or not but it has actually been around since about 1800! It was a favorite of graphic design legend Paul Rand, and is in fact much more accurate than a lot of those exaggerated retro fonts out there. They often would take something clean and simple like Bodoni and just ever-so-slightly rotate each letter to give it that classic 50s look. I followed that same technique and then added some hand-drawn flourishes based on one of the recipe titles. Finally, I created a sunburst pattern in the background and gave it a vintage look by adding the texture and vignette.

Anyway, just thought it might be worthwhile to share some of the knowledge I have about vintage graphic design for anyone interested...and to document my current/former design, since it's sure to change again at some point 0:)

What's Old in Newnan

So I'm finally back in the good ol' south...which means I have left a place that currently feels quite comfortable for weather so hot that makeup literally melts off your face... But it is all worth it, especially because I surprised John, my fiance, really well by making the drive a few days earlier than he expected.

Today we went to Newnan, Georgia which is an old southern town with lots of history. We stopped by a few antique stores and one of the things I found was the BHG Cookbook for Kids! It has the same adorable limited color illustrations as the original, but with simpler (and mostly sweeter) recipes that are more child-friendly. 

I also found this amazing purse. I love the colors, pattern, and texture. And there are metal hinges that keep it open or closed. It makes me think of Art Deco. The tag said that it was from Italy, but I don't know anything else about it. 

Also, John's sister is letting me use some of her vintage patterns as I am finally going to take up sewing! She had so many nice ones to choose from and I am extremely excited to start making them, with my Granny's help of course! 

I love this one because There is a detachable skirt with shorts underneath. I am definitely going to need some shorts. And the outfit overall is adorable. Also, I love pockets. 

And finally, this was my outfit today! 

Hot Stuff

As of two days ago, it finally feels like summer up here in Illinois, but down in Florida where I'm headed, it's a LOW of 75 degrees, so I figured I needed to be prepared! I have been eyeing this bathing suit from ModCloth for quite awhile and I think it's finally time for me to buy it. I'm nervous because I've never spent so much on a bathing suit before—and after reading all the reviews, which are mostly good and say that it fits like a dream, there are also quite a few that complain about the suits fading and falling apart after not much usage. But I think I'm going to risk it, since I'd much rather wear a faded retro suit than pretty much anything in our stores today. Anyway, here's a picture of what it looks like: