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!

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. 

Spring Forward

Check out these fab repro retro clock timers! Oh how I love beautifully done repro items. I ordered the three colours for the store, but the mint green one may have followed me home...

My, how good it looks with Olive Cart!

Sewing Patterns

Guess what? I don't know how to sew using a pattern. At least, I've yet to sew a project using one from start to finish without assistance...and quite frankly, I have no desire to! For whatever reason, instructions on how to be creative just don't fly in my brain. It's much easier for me to look at the final garment, and then start chopping up existing garments or fabric chunks and sewing them together, and seeing what happens. The results are usually pretty cool. So I have a nice collection of vintage sewing patterns, but admittedly it's more for inspiration and ephemera appreciation than for actual use! Though I do like to keep a variety around as a last resort sewing weapon in my back pocket, should my usual drape-and-stitch method flop, or demand precision.

Fibre Monday

These new designs in my shop are available as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, and homewares! 

Here's Chunky Knit

Nordic

Brass

Hot Daisy

Union Patch

Fab Eyes

Olive Cart

...P.S. here are some handy Christmas shipping deadlines! Happy ordering!

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!

Olive Cart

My Olive Cart design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Retro Bar Cart Tea Towel challenge!

Fab Eyes

My Fab Eyes design is up for voting in Spoonflower's 1950s design challenge!

What I Wore: Pink and Black

Here's the wedding outfit of the summer, featuring this bright pink moire dress and various black and gold accents. The best part is that the retro glam number was only $0.30 from a recent thrift haul plus a half hour of easy peasy tucking and sewing on the bodice! Amusing note on moire: that fabric thoroughly repulsed me until this dress came into my life. It is strangely, satisfyingly crisp and water-repellent, and rather makes me feel like I am wearing an umbrella. The main new positive association is that now moire has been mentally transformed from dated drapery to sashaying like Barbie. Much classier! Oh how I love whipping an outfit together!

Frankenstein Cat Eye

I have been looking for gold cat eye frames for a looong time. While trying on my other new pair of glasses at the local glasses shop I was lamenting that fact, and the ingenius optician proceeded to dig out three boxes of vintage glasses parts. Creative people unite! We rummaged through the boxes and found two arms, the body, and the tips to create my dream pair of pearly and golden tones. I affectionately call them my Frankensteins. 

While putting the tips on the frame there was an accidental hole punched, so we filled it with a rhinestone. Nothing like covering up a mistake with a little sparkle!

Pssst! You may have noticed that the arms cross in a funny way. That's because they are actually two of the same side of arm! A little bending fixed that problem, and now the glasses have some (inconspicuous) quirk.

I'm so thankful for this fellow outside-the-box thinker! Ta-da!

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!

Steadfast Thanksgiving

I'm off to a Thanksgiving meal and am so grateful for God's steadfastness! "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.'" --Lamentations 3: 22-24

Summer in the Shop

These summery designs are now available in my shop as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, cut-and-sew patterns, and homewares! Here's Peachy

Fruity '50s

Naiad

McCoy Strawberry Cookie Jar

I found this 1950s McCoy strawberry cookie jar #263 for $15 at a local thrift store! It is 9" wide by 11" tall of glossy red cheer! Guess what's going to be in my kitchen forever?

Limited Edition

My friend Anni gave me this oh-so-appropriate plaque. It's literary wit, 1950s atomic style, and quirkiness in a pleasantly coloured decorative accessory! It shall forever be on my bookshelf.

Grandma's Ship

 My grandma painted this delightfully nautical scene when she was a teenager.

 The sunlit sails and the texture of the waves and clouds are so summery.

Best of all--here's a snapshot my grandpa took of it as a brand new creation!

Fruity '50s

My Fruity '50s design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Mid-Century Hawaiian Village challenge!

Cat Eye Glasses

I found these fabulous cat eye frames at Value Village for (wait for it) $3, had my prescription lenses put in them, and may have also taken a brush full of gold paint to the tips...hello, bespectacled '50s secretary joy!