Rise up this mornin'

I was going to show you the dress I made that I posted a peek of in my last post but then I got a cold and the weather got cold. I'm currently in my pajamas dosed up on codral so I don't much feel like putting on a dress and taking pictures. Instead this is something I wore to work last week when I was feeling fine and the weather was still sunny.  

This vintage dress isn't my usual style but there's something about it I really like. The stripes in the fabric look almost like ribbons. I got it off trademe and someone had taken the hem down leaving a raw edge. The crease line was still there so I hand stitched it back in place while I watched an episode of Justified. Easy as!  

 Dress: Trademe
Shoes: Golden Ponies

Red and blue

I had four days off work last week so I was actually able to fit in some op shopping. It was a pretty successful trip but I'll show you what I found another day. Instead, I'm showing you what I wore when I went op shopping.

I bought this vintage makeup bag on Trademe recently for $3.50. I know. $3.50. I was bidding on it while on my break at work (thank the flying spaghetti monster for smartphones), and I was sure that I would be outbid but she was all mine. There's a little mirror and pocket inside. 

Vintage dress: Trademe
Vintage shoes: Hunters and collectors
Vintage makeup bag: Trademe
Cardigan: Op shopped
Belt: Op shopped
Bakelite bangles: Etsy and Ebay
Tights: Probably the supermarket

Sixties Stripes

I'm not really into Christmas shopping or Christmas sales, but I did make a point to go to my favourite Salvation Army's Christmas Sale last Friday evening. A sale at an op shop is my kind of sale. For $9.50 I got the dress and bangle I'm wearing below and two tops.

 The dress is modern but it looks really 60's. I took the hem up about an inch because the proportions just looked slightly wrong with it longer.  

Pockets!

Dress: Op shopped
Bangle: Op shopped
Tights: Kmart
Shoes: Op shopped

Vintage at the Office

This is what I wore to work today. When I first started I did try and tone it down a bit, but I don't feel like me unless I'm wearing multiple floral prints. I did wear a blazer over the top to make it marginally more corporate.

The pleating on the bodice is what made my buy this dress. I'm a sucker for drapey bits. It goes around the back and has a couple of hooks and eyes to close it over the zip.

Don't know what I'm giving the side eye to there

Vintage dress: Trademe
Tights: Kmart, maybe?
Shoes: Tony Bianco

Me and my Bobbie Brooks

I bought this late 50s/early 60s cropped jacket when I was in Nelson a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those things that I didn't know I'd been missing until I saw it. It's getting hotter here, but there are still days when you need something against the wind. It's perfect because it's light enough for the warmer weather and it's a good length to wear with full skirts.

The colour looks greyish here but it's an apple green

 
It isn't lined but all the seams are finished with bias binding. Bobbie Brooks is an American clothing manufacturer that started in 1939. The label in my jacket is similar to some of the ones on Vintage Fashion Guild that are from the 1950's and early 1960's. It came with a belt. I assume there was a matching dress at some point because the belt can't really be worn over the top of the jacket.

Jacket: Eclectic Antiques Centre, Nelson
Skirt: I made it
Bangles: Etsy and Ebay
Shoes: the Warehouse

Mash-up

I bought this blossom patterned quilting cotton on sale a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to stop buying new fabric, but I couldn't resist the print. I knew I wanted to make a slim skirted dress that I could wear to work but also just wear generally.
 

I've made both these patterns before so I knew they fitted reasonably well. I used the bodice from the pattern on the right and the skirt from the pattern on the left. 

I cut the bodice out on Thursday and then didn't do anything else until about 3 in the afternoon yesterday. It was quick and easy to sew up and I finished it in time to wear it to work today. 

This was my attempt to take a picture of the zip. I used an op shopped vintage metal zipper. I have a huge stash of op shopped zips. They're mostly still in their original packaging. I hardly ever use them though because I never have the right colour or size. I was excited to finally use one.  

This is what happens when I take pictures after work/around sunset

Dress: Butterick 8459 skirt and Vogue 4260 bodice

 Belt: Op shopped

Tights: Kmart

Shoes: Tony Bianco

Beware of the Leopard

I started a full time job this week and the dress code requires 'corporate' wear. I've been at uni for the last five years where I could wear whatever weird and wonderful things I liked. Somehow I don't think full skirted 50's dresses in novelty and floral prints would be considered appropriately corporate at my new job. This pretty much cuts out my whole wardrobe. I thought I better make some work clothes, still vintage style, of course. 

For my first piece of corporate attire, I used Simplicity 4987 from the early 60s. I made a full skirted version of this pattern pretty recently in a lemon print. I wanted to use a black stretch cotton that's been in my stash for ages but it seemed a bit boring by itself.  

Leopard print makes everything more exciting (in my opinion, at least) so I used it for the neckline trim. The leopard print fabric is the tiny scraps left over from this jacket. There wasn't much there but I'd always planned to make some cuffs or something out of it so I kept it.

I added a couple of patch pockets with leopard print trim to the front of the skirt too. 

I've seen vintage dresses with angled pocket welt pocket flaps and wanted to create a similar effect with the patch pockets by placing them on at an angle. 

I'm pleased with the way it turned out. It's appropriate for work but still fits in with my usual vintage style.

Dress: Simplicity 4987
Belt: Op shopped
Shoes (which you can't see): Mischief Shoes

Back in black, button back blouse

It's not really a blouse, but it sounded better than top. 

I've had this pattern for quite a while but had procrastinated about making it because it was a couple of inches too big for me. I don't mind grading patterns up, but grading them down is always painful.  In the end I cheated and didn't really use the pattern. I wanted to make the button back top on the right at the back. Rather than bothering to grade the pattern, I just redrafted one that already fitted me. I added the square neckline by laying the pattern pieces from this pattern over my other pattern and redrawing it. This is definitely not the mathematically correct way of doing things, but whatever, I'm lazy. Adding the button closure at the back was simple. I just added a few of inches to the pattern pieces for the placket and a self-facing.   

I'm not a massive fan of the heart print, but it was the only black 100% cotton broderie anglaise I could find. Weirdly, cut on the straight grain the hearts are sideways which is better for me I guess because they look less heart-like. 

 I used some vintage buttons I bought from a market for the back. They are really pretty and faceted, but it was hard to get a good picture. I got them on the original piece of card. Half the fun of buying old notions is the funny packaging.  Apparently, the buttons were plant-tested and approved by the Research Institute of Launderers, Dry Cleaners and Dyers of NZ. I wonder how they tested them. Put them through the wash loads of times, maybe? Hopefully this means they will withstand the spin cycle.  

I could probably do with making a couple more of these tops in different colours. I'm a bit lacking in plain(ish) tops to go with my patterned skirts. 

Yeah, the colours are weird in this one. I tried to edit it but probably just made it worse.

Skirt: Op shopped
Belt: Op shopped
Scarf: Op shopped by my mum
Top: Simplicity 3937
Shoes: The Warehouse
Sunglasses: The Yellow Brick Road

Circles in my skirt, circles in my hair

Another week, another skirt that I finished ages ago and never posted. This time it's a circle skirt. I used a self-drafted pattern that I've made at least a dozen times already. What can I say? Circle skirts are so easy to sew, and I love the way they look.

It's made of waxed cotton. It's the same fabric I used for this dress. I have a bunch of it because it drapes really well (and it was cheap).  

My hair looks kind of weird in the photos above because it has victory rolls in it. This is only the third time I've managed to do them (semi) successfully after an embarrassing amount of time spent trying.  

I look evil but you can see the victory rolls

Shoes: Op shopped
Cardigan: Op shopped
Top: K-mart

Skirt: I made it

Veggie wearing veggies

I have a quite a few skirts that I've made and never posted about. I wear them pretty frequently but never seem to get a picture when I am. Here's one I made ages ago.  

It's just a simple pleated skirt on a waistband. I didn't use a pattern. I just did one inch pleats until I got the right width to fit around my waist. 

The fabric is a quilting cotton. It was printed off-grain which always infuriates me. What is the point of printing fabric that isn't on grain? Because of this I cut it so the vegetables were lined up. If I'd cut it on the grain all the rows of vegetables would have been wonky. I didn't know if this would have an effect on the way the skirt sat, but it seems fine.
 

Cardigan: Op shopped
Top: Op shopped
Skirt: I made it
Bangles: Etsy and Ebay
Shoes: The Warehouse

Lost and Found

While looking through my fabric stash recently, I found a project that I started almost two years ago. I'd given up on it because one side of the front bodice would not fit properly. The other side fitted fine, and I had done a muslin so I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. I spent weeks pinning, sewing and unpicking. When I finally got the fit looking better I was so sick of the whole thing, I just put it away and forgot about it. Two years later, I've finally finished it.   

It didn't take long. All I needed to do was attach the skirt to the bodice, put in a zip, do the hem and sew on the buttons. I didn't line it because I'm lazy, and I wear slips all the time. 

The left side bulges where the zip is which really annoys me. I've tried steaming it but that makes no difference. An invisible zip would probably solve the problem, but I hate them with a passion. They break so easily. Maybe I'll take the zip out and put in some snaps instead. 

The button closure makes it look like a space uniform. The pattern is from 1963, so I'm guessing this was meant to be the 'tame' version of the space age fashion trend that was around at the time.

Hat: Op shopped

Belt: Op shopped

Dress: I made it

Shoes: Tony Bianco

  

Shiny, shiny, shiny

It's been raining here in the last couple of days which means that I've finally been able to wear the red vinyl raincoat I bought at a charity shop in the UK. I took these pictures quickly during a break in the rain. 

Beret: Op shopped
Raincoat: Sue Ryder charity shop, Haworth
Dress (peeking out under the coat): Trademe
Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

The weird expression on my face is because I'm overcome with excitement about the pockets, obviously

P.S. I'm having a stall at Anissa Victoria's Vintage on Saturday from 12pm to 3pm at the Sandridge Hotel, 30 Huxley St.

Black and Gold

After my last post complaining about how expensive the op shops have become, here I am wearing one of my favourite op shopping finds ever; a 1950s/60s beaded, lambswool cardigan. I bought it about three years ago for $5. I found another one at the same time (they must have belonged to the same person) with black beading. Sadly, that one is too big for me, so I gave it to my mum.  

Sunglasses: My grandma gave them to me.
Vintage Dress: Oh La La Vintage in Haworth
Vintage Cardigan: Op shopped
Bakelite Bangles: Etsy and Ebay
Bag: Two Squirrels Vintage
Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

I made jeans*

 Well, sort of. They're more like trousers made of denim. See, I was going to buy some Freddies of Pinewood 1940s style jeans, but after checking the measurements I wasn't sure that they would fit me properly. I didn't want to spend over $100 on something that might not fit so I decided to make a pair instead.

I used Eva Dress T40-3322 and some non-stretch denim. Since I hate doing flat fell seams and top stitching, these jeans don't have either. They also don't have pockets or a fly front. In other words, I didn't do lots of the time-consuming parts that making jeans normally entails. Because I skipped all the hard parts, they were really quick and easy to sew. 

I made a couple of changes to the pattern; I took in the sides an inch and added belt loops because I feel naked without a belt. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I still wear dresses most of the time, but it's nice to occasionally be more casual.   

Blouse: I made it
Cardigan: Op shopped
Belt: Op shopped
Jeans: I made them
Shoes: Op shopped

*...about six months ago. I just didn't get around to photographing them until now.

Petalhead

 This dress is one of the ones I bought when I was in England. It's homemade and has lots of lovely little details. It has bra holders on the shoulders. They are pieces of ribbon with snaps that fasten around your bra straps so they don't show. It also has two zips; one in the side and one at the back neck. I often forget to do the back one up because I'm not used to having two zips.

Dress: Saltaire Vintage Fair

Belt: Op shopped

Tights: K-mart

Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

Bag: Ménage a Trois Vintage

Headpiece: Op shopped

Cardigan: Op shopped

I love the bow and the bust gathers

 The vintage headpiece is one I op shopped recently for $2. It makes me feel a bit like a flower pot or something, but I like it.