Playing Cards

Just to keep things interesting, here are some leftover photos from John's last visit, when my mom and sister were here and we were all playing with cards. These are some really old cards that belong to my granny, and they are very photogenic.

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!