Shiny & Bright

My favourite part of Christmas decorating is the pure cheer of retro Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments!

Looker

I was recently talking with a dance friend, swooning about how another dance friend just gave her a dress, and then the following weekend I had the same blissfully benevolent fashion experience. Check out this new-to-me Stop Staring dress. It fits perfectly, is a very flattering cut, the fabric has a nice stretch to it, and its circle skirt is light and twirly. It could pass for 1940s or '50s. I am so excited to wear it!

Josephine the Spy

Wow, I am intrigued to learn that Josephine Baker, that iconic '20s Charleston queen, worked as an Allied spy in France during WWII. Fascinating! Here's a bit of info on how she strategically used her fame.

November Bulletin 2019

Design vision, snapshots, wood

Bronze and Brass

I carried this purse at the wedding I recently attended. Finally, after a long childhood of it lurking in the dress up box, I put it to real use! It was my grandmother's, circa the '70s, though it could pass for the 1940s. I love its metallic beading and bronze satin interior.

Grey Goddess

Here's a detail shot of my latest sewing success! I'm wearing it to a wedding this weekend. This is one of those projects where I really wish I had remembered to take a before photo. This dress started as a voluminously large skirt from the local thrift (less than $1) that I chopped up and concocted, using every last scrap. As per my impulsively creative norm, I busted straight in to trial-and-error sewing, though that error was seemingly non-existent as this project was the most delightfully smooth, seam ripper-less sewing endeavour I have ever experienced. I just kept stitching along, chunk by chunk, and everything worked. The fabric was a dream to sew--it is the softest, flowiest, rayon-like cotton. I love the subtle sheen of the pattern over it. Creating that quilted bust panel, the puff sleeves, and the satin-meets-silk convertible sash were the highlights. In my mind I was imagining '30s/'40s glam meets Classical statue, and voilà, that's how it's sewn up.

Thriftmaster

Ok people...I have found my dream truck model while strolling through a recent vintage car show. How perfect would it be for me to drive a '40s/'50s "Thriftmaster" around to haul chairs on antiquing jaunts?! The name is too good. I love their iconic chunky shape. Plus, mine, of course, would be some sort of cheery aqua hue. 

'40s Military Dress

This past weekend I attended Swingfest and swing danced surrounded by tanks and planes! This is the WWII inspired dress I tweaked and wore for the event. I found the original dress in the summer for mere cents at the local thrift haunt. I love its military green cotton searsucker fabric with the bit of stretch. The original dress was basically sleeveless so I spent months keeping an eye out for similar coloured fabric whenever I was thrifting, so as to have some material to make sleeves out of. Nothing turned up. Then one day I was trying it on again, and while taking it off it flipped inside out and I realized it had a slip! Glorious discovery! So I promptly ripped that slip out and started chopping it up to make the sleeves and lapels you see here. I also swapped out the buttons for these brassy ones. Lesson: always look under the dress' skirt for extra fabric!

Floral Dishes

I found this sweet set of floral dishes for $9 at Value Village. It's 4 round plates and an oval platter and dish; that tiny oval dish is particularly charming. The set is marked Myott and is from England circa 1930s-1940s. 

Polka

With chillier weather I withdraw to my sewing machine, so lately I've been tending to my pile of clothing items to alter. At the top of the pile I have been tweaking and embellishing this dress. In the original condition it looked awkwardly short on me, so I am adding the black eyelet sleeves and coordinating trim on the hem to balance it out. I also removed the red sash from the back and added on the collar rickrack. Dances await!

Hot Fudge Cat Eye

Alas, my thrilling thrifty find, my $3 cat eye glasses have cracked. Their acetate frame was weakened by the cold winter so it was only a matter of time. Sad as that is, they have been replaced by these retro beauties!

They are vintage, made of tortoiseshell, and look like hot fudge.

They even have striped layered edges, a pearly pink undertone, and tiny Deco fan details on the tips.

Swoon!

Vintage Lemonade Dress

Yellow has always been my favourite colour, so my heart skipped a beat when I found this confection:

I took this pale lemon beauty home with me from a church rummage sale for a mere $3! $3!!! Take note of the double peter pan collar, the delicate pin tucks, the sleeve construction, the fine gathered waist, and the embroidered stripes on the skirt. Such charming attention to detail. Judging by the style it is from the 1950s.

I certainly hope the tiny lovely lady who wore it back in the day went to picnics and drank lemonade in it!

1940s Tulips

Housewife Rigmore Adamson photographed by Malak Karsh in the late 1940s at the Canadian Tulip Festival

Culottes Forever

I'm working on my outfit for going to a 1940s swing dance this weekend! The past weeks have been filled with tucking and hemming and dancing in trial outfits. Special mention is deserved for these culottes--not only do these culottes have pockets, they have secret pockets, as well as the best care tag I have ever seen:

"Give 'em hell!"

Swing Era Collections

I've been constantly listening to 1920s to 1940s jazz music...this is what happens when I do!

Pssst! Ebony and Ivory is already available for sale in my shop on Spoonflower as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, cut-and-sew patterns, and homewares. Decollect is soon to be for sale as well!

Vintage Floral Apron

This sweet Value Village find is from the 1930s or '40s. I love the cheery checkered floral on the airy cotton.

Canadian Feed Bag Book

I have some fascinating reading to do! Check out this awesome book I found at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum. It is full of domestic history, photos of different feed bags and companies, photos of quilts and crafts made with the vintage fabrics, and the memories behind it all. What a heartwarming and insightful resource.

Feed Bags from Fibrefest

Behold my Fibrefest find! I found this lot of feed bags for $5 at one of the vendor booths. I've been hoping to come across a few of these for a long time, and am pleased because these are specifically for products that I like, clover and oats. I love the the bold logos, the typography, the faded ink, the hole clean through the clover seed bag, the name Gold Standard, and reading the Ontario place names. 

Watercolour Paradise

These framed vintage Nicolas Markovitch, a.k.a. Marc watercolour prints are likely from the 1920s to 1940s. They left their Value Village lodgings and now radiate summery paradise sitting on my shelf!

Work Bag

I found this vintage sewing work bag at a fabric rummage sale for $0.25. It's probably from the 1940s. I wonder how many garments were tossed in here and lovingly stitched back together. Make do and mend!