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

Not a knitter

So I said in my last post that I would show you what I got when I went op shopping the other week. 

I got this knitting booklet even though I can't knit (well not properly anyway) because I really like the cardigan in the bottom left. Maybe I'll have to learn to knit just so I can make a cardigan.

I bought this booklet for the pretty 1940's pictures. I love the dress on the left.

The nightie and peasant top on the back are great too. I don't really much care for the kid's clothes. The inside of the booklet just shows you how to smock so those pictures aren't that exciting.

This 1960's smock type top (which er...needs an iron) is not really in my colours but I like the style. It's homemade and has a wee metal zip at the back neck. I might take in the darts a bit because it's a little big.

This dress isn't from an op shop (I wish I could find things dresses like it in op shops). I got it from the Vintage Cupboard, a vintage store. The owner very generously gave me a discount because it had been in the shop for a while and it fitted me well.

I love the cornflower print.

Here's a sneak peek of a dress I just finished. This is the back neckline. I made my own bias binding to use around the neckline and armholes because I couldn't find a matching colour. The print looks black when you put navy blue near it but when you put black next to it, it looks navy blue. 

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

Vintage fabric and a resolution

I don't normally make New Year's resolutions because if you want to do something you may as well just do it. That said, I went on a bit of a fabric spree after the New Year and have made a resolution not to buy any more fabric for at least six months. These are the last pieces of fabric I'm going to buy for a while. 

All of the fabric pieces are vintage from the Last Chintz. This cotton is probably going to be turned into a wiggle dress. 

 I love the mod pattern on this one. It will be perfect for a 1960's style mini dress.

There's only about a metre of this one. I can probably squeeze a wee blouse out of it. Maybe a back button one because, even though they are a pain to get done up, I love them. 

I wasn't 100% sure about this one. At first I thought it was kind of 40's, but then I thought it might be a bit too 80's. I'm still not really sold on it but it was only $5 for 3 metres. It will probably be turned into a dress because I really only sew and wear dresses.

Recent Finds

I haven't been op shopping much lately but I managed to get in a quick fix one lunchtime a couple of weeks ago.

I found this old necklace with glass chillies on it.. I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to eating chilli so maybe it's false advertising to wear them around my neck, but I don't care because I really like it.

I also picked up a few patterns. I will probably never make the pattern on the right, but I couldn't not buy it.  

I didn't op shop this one, but it's too awesome not to share. I bought this 1940's jacket on Trademe for $5.50. It was described as a linen/cotton blend but it's wool (I'm not sure how you get those two confused). It had a few of what looked like rust stains when I got it and was pretty scungy. I washed it three times. The water turned brown and then dark purple, but it came out clean in the end. The stains are gone and it looks way better. Of course, I won't be able to wear it for ages because it's too hot but, in the meantime, I'll just stare lovingly at it and hope for cold weather.  

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

Dizzy like a Daisy

Remember this top I made? Well, before I made it in the broderie anglaise fabric I did a muslin. Since I semi-drafted the pattern myself, I wanted to check that it would fit alright.

I used some flower printed cotton leftover from this dress. The fit was okay so I decided to finish it off and call it a wearable muslin. I bound the seams with bias tape and used some buttons from my stash. When I made the final version I did make some changes. I took in the neckline a bit and cut some excess fabric off the armholes. 

 I also bought some Freddies of Pinewood jeans. I was going to sew some more jeans because I wear the ones that I made quite a bit. I have the fabric and everything. I was going to make them with proper pockets and topstitching, but then I realised that it was so much easier just to buy a pair. I hate doing topstitching and jeans require an awful lot of it. I'm happy with my Freddies. They fit well and I like the way they look.
 

Top: I made it
Jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Belt: Op shopped
Bangles: Etsy and ebay
Shoes: The Warehouse