Vintage goodies

This past week I've found quite a few vintage gems, so I thought I'd like to share them with you:

Two handbags from the late 50s or early 60s, faux tortoise shell cateye sunglasses, two pairs of wedge sandals, some very old bobby pins on a card (I'm thinking late 20s or early 30s, judging from the hairstyle the girl in the drawing has), some hair pins still in their original paper wrapping and Mary Poppins in book form. I just love knick knacks like these, they create such a wonderful atmosphere. Along with these treasures I also found a whole box of 50s kitchenware at a flea market I attended last Saturday. Yesterday I found this great navy-colored skirt:

And this crinoline:

It's actually quite full, considering how little fabric was used.

Last Sunday I also went to a flea market and bought about 50 yards of fabric for $20! Really wonderful fabrics, straight off the bolt. Apparently this little flea market, which takes place once a year, always has a big section with fabric you can buy at extremely low prices. A true bargain :D
Here's what I bought:


I'm no good at naming fabric, but the grey fabric with darker grey dots is definately tafetta. The grey fabric with pink and black stripes is rather heavy and has some stretch, so that'll probably be made into pants. The pink fabric with white dots is very transparent, so I plan to use the pink fabric next to it to line the dress I plan to make from that. The black fabric at the top of the first picture is just classic black tulle. As for the last picture, the black fabric with pink dots feels like cotton. The black fabric with pink pin stripes seems very fit for pants and the fabric with the floral print is very transparent, kinda feels like it's the same material as the pink fabric with white dots.

Fabric sale findings

I know I should finish some of my sewing projects before I buy more fabric, but I found some gorgeous fabric on sale the other day and I just couldn't help myself. The price had been reduced drastically, and they are such gorgeous prints. I bought 5 yards altogether. There's a match placed on both fabrics for scale:


I do have an idea of what I'll use the fabrics for, but I really must finish some other projects first!

Inspiration

I tend to get a lot of inspiration for my sewing projects from movies, especially those set in my favourite periods. When I went to see Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds last year, I was thrilled by the few women in the movie and what they wore. I especially liked the suit Diane Kruger's character Bridget von Hammersmark was wearing during the bar scene:



Here's a close-up showing the different fabrics used for the jacket:



As usual I was mentally flicking through my pattern collection to see if I had anything that would be suitable for that kind of suit and I do happen to have a pattern that could work:



But I left it at that. Exams, Christmas and what have you got in the way and I didn't really think about it until last week. A friend had told me about a wonderful little shop in the heart of Aarhus, where a collector of vintage fashion was selling some of the dresses, hats, shoes, jewelry and other beautiful things from her collection. So we went to the shop to have a look (my friend was already addicted to the place) and I found a wonderful hat from the early 1940s (that's my guess, anyway). It was made in Aarhus by one of the best hat makers of the time, her label still in the hat. The felt is in great condition, there's no wear to it whatsoever. Unfortunately, the crisp colours of the hat weren't captured by my camera:



I didn't buy it right away, as I always try to not be too impulsive (I am a student, after all), but I couldn't stop thinking about it and I finally decided I had to buy it when I remembered I had these gloves:



The colour of the gloves is actually also more crisp in real life. How typical - damn mobile camera! Anywho, the colour of the gloves match the green of the hat alarmingly well and to make a long story short (too late), the hat and gloves sparked my imagination and I remembered the suit from Inglorious Basterds. I'm thinking about making the skirt of the suit in brown and the jacket in brown for the most part, with green details, should I still go with Simplicty 3688. I have also considered this pattern for the suit:



I think it would look rather nice with the majority of the jacket in brown and then the parts that are cut on the bias in the picture on the pattern envelope in green. Hmmm....

Introduction

I've been toying with the idea of a blog for quite some time and decided now was the time to start. I'm a full-time student and spend my sparetime hunting for vintage treasures of all sorts, especially vintage sewing patterns and other fashion-related vintage items. The eras that appeal to me the most are the 1940s and 1950s, both with regard to the styles associated with those decades, but also the resourcefulness of women during WWII and how sewing truly is a lost art.
My love of vintage fashion stretches back as far as I can remember and I've always found fashion history extremely interesting, as well as the craftmanship involved when creating a garment, which has made me very critical of the quality (or lack thereof) of today's off-the-rack clothes. This lead me to attend a sewing course when I was in high school and I haven't looked back since.
Other than sewing, I take 1950s-themed dance lessons with my fella and we're also starting lindy hop classes this week.
This blog will mainly focus on my adventures in sewing. I use vintage patterns most of the time, but I also use vintage reproduction patterns and occasionally new patterns with a vintage appeal.

Here's a sample of my work:


Thank you for reading, I hope you'll be back :)