Vintage sewing...

Well, I've been at it again - sewing! My problem was a small one - what do you wear by way of "nice" (or even "business") clothes in warm or hot weather? The easiest of course is to pull on a nice, not too short/cut-out summer dress, at best in cotton. But if a dress is not in question? I have a heap of nice black capri pants, but the top options to go with them were always about the same, like this super 50s cotton blouse, or my trusty Vietnamese silk top:

So I decided to make something myself. Vintage patterns for tops and blouses abound, after all. In fact, read somewhere that they're the easiest to find of any kind vintage pattern! So I've been buying them, sifting through them, keeping some, putting others in my shop. And in the end, the best-looking patterns turned up in bigger lots that I acquired when not looking for blouses especially. Typical.

And now, here's what I made. First, from Butterick pattern 7024:

This is a very typical 1950s look, very chic and elegant, and actually quite quickly made from realtively few pattern pieces! I used a bright turquoise cotton that has just a small amount of elastic fibers, and some secondhand buttons from my stash that have little rhinestones on them. The fit of the pattern is good, just that the sleeves were a little wide for my taste, so I made them a bit tighter, like it looks in the drawing on the pattern sleeve. Also, it is a little tricky to make, because you have those seams going around corners. There are probably sewers out there who do this better than me - which is why it's now on sale in my shop (no worries - I always copy my patterns, I never use the original pieces!).

And now, next up is this super-versatile 60s Vogue pattern, 6706, which is a definite keeper! It's a a classic blouse, but with so many sleeve and collar options including a cute pussy bow, that this is staying in my pattern stash!

   
For this I used a polyester fabric that I've had in my stash for a couple of years already. I saw this by chance at Komolka in Vienna (a truly not-to-be-missed super fabric store!), it was on clearance and I just loved the big house façade print. Initially, I had thought I would just make a scarf from it, but then I decided differently. And this pattern seemed to be perfect, as there are not a lot of seams cutting through the motif. I chose the sleeveless, collarless version, to be worn over pants, with small side slits. I cut it with an eye on pattern matching, which meant though that's what's left of it isn't really usable anymore, but that was worth it I think. The buttons I used are vintage ones, also from my stash (I originally showed them in this post). I had exactly three of the green ones and two of the navy ones, so it seemed to make sense to use them here! This pattern too fitted just nicely, was easy to make and over all a joy to work with. I really love these American patterns that have the 5/8" seam allowance included - marking that extra before you get to cut it out, like Burda does, just takes so much extra time!

And that's not all of it... this amazing fabric also came in a differnt colorway - and I bought some of that as well! I haven't decided yet though what I'll make from this.

And now? Well, I'm onto the next one, made from a 40s pattern and a repurposed XXL 80s silk top! I hope it'll work as I planned it - keeping my fingers crossed...

 As usual, I have made it all on my trusty, also very vintage, Husqvarna 2000 machine:

This super machine is from the early 60s, and just runs like a little clockwork. She makes very little noise, has all the necessary stitches, plus an ingenious system for lots of fancy stitches and also a bevy of useful ones (overlock, elastic etc.) - and she makes beautiful buttonholes too with an almost fool-proof mechanism. And if there's anything that still creeps me out a little, it's sewing buttonholes! As in "you get only one chance"...

If you're looking for some great vintage blouse patterns now, have a look here at my shop, I have some great offerings!

Belle Epoque Week in Kandersteg

I already mentioned this in my last Belle Epoque blog post, and it's happening and here's more of it: the Belle Epoque Week in Kandersteg, Switzerland.

They do this every year in winter, for a full week, everybody dresses up in the style of the early 1900s, and there are balls, dinners, train journeys (in old carriages of course), sports like ice skating, ski races, curling and ice hockey - and much more, all done in the style of the time. Like many small mountain villages in Switzerland, Kandersteg grew as traveling became the thing to do, and has beautiful old hotels that are built in that period and that provide a perfect background for this event.

Here's a short film from a Swiss TV news magazine in which you can see a bit more: http://www.srf.ch/player/tv/videoembed?id=25f545be-21ee-4bff-989a-bfedf45181a6&width=640&height=360&mode=embed&autoplay=true (sorry, it's all in Swiss German ;-) ).

There's also a little more info on the event in general here: http://www.kandertal.travel/en/belle_epoque

Isn't this just amazing? I so admire all these people, who do this, and especially those who even make their own stylish outfits (like the lady in the white cape who is being interviewed in this film who happens to be a school friend of my mothers', and she sends here photos of the outfits she makes every year. They never cease to amaze me!).

Jewel colours light up gloomy days!

For my first Etsy treasury I chose something that I love for gloomy November days like today - a bright dress or some accessories in bright, strong jewel colours to lighten my mood! And here you'll find some gorgeous vintage things just right for this purpose!

Why I've been absent for a bit...

I know, I'm way behind on blogging my vintage magazines. No worries - I will be back with the next issue next weekend! It's been a busy few weeks! It started with my deciding to get a new PC - finally. And then also wanting to replace my old desk, which had a laptop-unfriendly format. Weeeell... I got a few things more than just a new PC and a new desk! And after finally managing to get a really big frame for my big new poster, the room is finished, and the new PC is running, never mind the new TV mediabox that my TV company finally foisted on me, after I never tried to get my by-now obsolete model exchanged for a newer one. Ok, it was free and has HD, but it's also a lot less user-friendly and the old one.

So after weekends of shopping at Ikea, getting rid of old stuff, putting things together and moving furniture around like in a giant game of Sokoban, the place actually like I had always imagined I should. Now I could kick myself that I took so long to get it together, as I like it so much!

 New desk & chair, new chairs, new curtain, new poster... and so on! Sorry for the dark photos, it gets dark here so early now...

 

 

Just right for watching TV!

My little kitsch corner!

Vintage and retro touches galore...

This is an original, they used to hang these out in cinema foyers. Classic... Bond schmooozing Miss Moneypenny! I always thought the original Dr. No poster was fantastic - so colorful! This is a modern copy though.

My grandpa's ice cube holder - now holds paper clips etc.

 Vintage 50s kitsch!

 Print of a Byron Birdsall painting of Creek Street in Ketchikan, from a charity shop. Hand numbered and signed by the artist.

 

 

These two are new, but fabulously vintage looking! Lots of good storage space!

And here.... is the pièce de résistance! Now, how fabulous is this?

 And... it actually works! Radio, alarm clock and light. The light is a rarity though. The seller added three more bulbs to fit into it - and that I think will be it, that kind of bulb is certainly not available here anymore!

Sew retro - and some scarf ideas

As you may have noticed, I've been posting lots of sewing patterns on my Etsy shop lately. Most of them are Vintage Vogue sewing pattern re-issues. Ca. 1999 Vogue started re-issuing sewing patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s roughly. In case you ever wondered if they really were the "real deal" - meaning actual re-issues, yes, they definitely are! For example, Vintage Vogue V1043:

Now, check out the original at the Vintage Pattern Wiki - it was originally Vogue Special Design S-4382 from 1953: http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Vogue_S-4382

Vogue did obviously not reproduce the exact illustrations one to one, but kept the poses, colors and fabric prints from the original illustrations. Going back a little further, there is Vintage Vogue 2495:

Originally: Vogue 6111 from 1947: http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Vogue_6111. Again, they "fleshed out" the drawn models a bit more, but kept the other details "as is", even down to the accessories. The drawing of the back view seems to be the exact same.

One of the first Vintage Vogue re-issues to appear must have been a particular favourite of whoever decides which patterns they choose. Before the "real" re-issues, way back when Gene doll ruled the world of 16" fashion dolls, Vogue started issuing sewing patterns for Gene and her pals (or enemies... as if Madra would ever accept anything but her own sewing patterns, which she did get from Vogue!). Some of them were quite intricate and not too easy to execute. They were not simple "doll clothing" but really miniature versions of real clothing, and made in that way. One of the first patterns issued was Vogue Craft 7106:

 

A long evening dress, in two versions, the main one having an Asian-inspired look about it, with a long self-shawl thrown over one shoulder. Pattern's copyright year is 1998, so it came out that year or in '99 latest. Soon after that, Vogue started with their "real" vintage re-issues, and lo and behold, one of the first ones was Vintage Vogue 2494:

It's identical to View A of Gene's outfit (sorry, these are not for sale...)! The cut is exactly the same, down to the darts. I guess they invented the second version for Gene's pattern to give people a little more "value for money". Gene's pattern also includes the bag, snood and gloves, so that one could make a complete outfit. And now, for the original: that was Vogue Special Design S-4765 from 1947: http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Vogue_S-4765

Fascinating, isn't it? The Vintage Patterns Wiki certainly holds many treasures, it's a little hard though to find something without knowing the original pattern number. Being a bit of a nerd, I would generally have appreciated it, if Vogue would have mentioned the original pattern number somewhere on the envelope of the re-issues. It would also make searching easier for those who, say, maybe have a vintage one or seen it somewhere and wonder if there's a modern re-issue. The advantage of the modern ones of course is that the instructions are probably a bit more detailed, the instruction sheets aren't crumbling, the patterns are printed - and they come in several sizes. Vogue seems to issue most of them in size ranges 6-8-10, 12-14-16, 18-20-22, which of course offers more possibilities to modern-day sewers.

Speaking of doll sewing patterns, you'll find some of those in my Etsy shop too under http://www.etsy.com/shop/willynillyart?section_id=10828918 , as well as some modern "real life" sewing patterns at http://www.etsy.com/shop/willynillyart?section_id=11912447 . All are uncut and have at best been used to copy a pattern. The thing is, if you are planning on using a pattern more than once, or may have to use a pattern piece more than once, you're always better off just copying it, which is what I do with all commercial sewing patterns. It also makes small variations in size easier, as you can first trace it and then make the changes before cutting out the copy.

Since I've been talking about scarves a lot here last year, for those looking for a way to make something out of that big scarf (or maybe two) , this blouse/top pattern is just the ticket:

I do have a lovely, sunny 1970s silk scarf on offer as well at the moment. It's top quality, beautiful heavier silk, made by Kreier - I would not suggest cutting this one up though!

Vienna, almost the last scarf... and Pan Am

Long time no write, I know... firstly, I've been on holiday, secondly I've been sort of bizzy work-wise...

I spent almost a week in Vienna, which was great - the weather wasn't too bad, we did some successful shopping and spent some crazy nights - amongs others at the fabulous Quentin's Kaffeebar. The music, the atmosphere and all else there are just great. It feels like a sort of extended living room, and it features a Hollywood swing and walls covered with a very eclectic mix of vintage LP sleeves (say hello to all the embarrassing stuff you ever found in your parents' LP collection...!). Vintage-wise it wasn't so much the thing though, though I did buy some fab new things. None of our usual haunts had any exciting vintage stuff, and the vintage shop that we visited because it had been advertised everywhere turned out to be over-priced (an unexciting late 60s poly dress for 120 Euros???) , overrated, badly sorted and generally not what I except of a vintage shop. Besides, the shop was also badly sorted, clothes were hanging on racks willy-nilly... which is one of my absolute pet peeves! Plus, the most fab piece in the shop by far, which I picked up of course, turned out to be private property - it had just been hanging on a rack because the owner needed to iron it! Next one and probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to vintage/antique shops or stalls... And why do so many people think they can charge any price for anything that's remotely vintage, but not even nice? I see this happening so much around here, and I just hate it. Takes the fun out of shopping vintage. In that case, I prefer shopping vintage online, though it's never as much fun as in an actual shop. Just check this new VFG Etsy treasury out - isn't it cool?!
However, on the way to the local Caritas, we came across a kids' secondhand, that had great adults stuff in their backroom for only 3 Euros a piece. Need I say more? A great happy coincidence ;-)!

I've also been working on some dolls and will be reporting more on them soon - some great stuff that I've wanted to have for some time, and some new dolls that somehow had eluded my radar so far... stay tuned!

It is already November, so it's time for the second last scarf for this year! This time it's a very 70s concoction of orange and brown:
On another note, BBC2 has started showing "Pan Am" which I couldn't wait for to catch it anywhere. After four episodes I have to admit, I had expected more... Perhaps my view is biased by Mad Men, which is extremely well made (yep, they made their mistakes too, but it just looks so much more believable). In comparison, Pan Am looks a little cheap somehow, if I'm honest. Some things just don't look "right" to me, and I wouldn't call myself a period specialst. It's just a feeling that I get. And Christina Ricci's hairstyle looks strange sometimes - you'd think by the high standards that flight attendants had to live up to at the time, they'd give her a better hairstyle in the series! The lead pilot is also way too young, I'm sorry, and the idea that you always get the same crew flying together on all flights is preposterous - an airline of that size would even in the early 60s have had rotating crews. Of course they didn't have so many employees as big international airlines have nowadays, so chance to end up with the same person again on the same flight were certainly higher, but this really is too much. I would love to see more flight attendants and more pilots & engineers join the story! But if people, as I read somewhere, are already confused by the simple flash-backs that have been shown so far, then no wonder they have to keep it simple....! Oh dear. Well, I will try to keep watching, but I don't know how much longer until it will completely annoy me. It's just a little too soap opera-ish in the storyline as well. I think that there's just so much more they could do with this premise. Just read any memoir of someone who was a flight attendant in the 50s/60s/70s.

Indianapolis in Oerlikon

What a fun night! The old open racetrack in my part of the city, which was built for bike races (and is almost a 100 years old), needs friends! The city would like to pull it down, but so far, the people holding the weekly bike races there are holding up against ist.
To draw more spectators, they do what they can, and add special events to the bike races - like vintage car presentations or Harley-Davidson meetings. Yesterday, the vintage cars were on. Ok, it's loud, you don't want to know what or how much of it these cars consume, but it was fun - and fascinating to watch!

There were three presentations with four rounds: motorbikes, motorbikes with sidecars and three-wheeled race cars, vintage F1-racers and similar cars - and the "really" old race and sports cars.



An original vintage Sauber race car.

One of my favourites was this sky blue Citroën racer. Waaaay cool!







Karin

The plates on your wall...

The one thing that has caught my fancy lately are vintage souvenir plates (but then vintage souvenir pieces are often so über-cool anyway!). Now usually the term "souvenir plate" or "collector plate" would give me the shudders, and the image before my mind's eye would be of stacks of Albert Anker plates gathering dust at a thrift shop, or Ashton-Drake, Franklin Mint or whatever ads for Thomas Kinkade "art" plates or cheap souvenir plates that nobody would ever venture to display at home voluntarily.

However, two years ago, I happend to find two super cute vintage American souvenir plates, very 50s style, at a thrift shop here in Zurich. Resistance was pointless - I had to have 'em, even if I've never been to Iowa or Nebraska. Of course it would have been nice had there been more of them, but how do you find them, when there's not even a maker's mark on them?

Talk about finding a needle in a haystack! Well, something over a week ago, I had purchased a showcase spot for my sexy Isabelle Allard cocktail dress on Etsy. Not that it helped... but when I checked the spotlight at work (I don't usually do this kinda stuff at work, but honestly, I'm a curious person!), I spotted a collection of souvenir plates on the same showcase... and not just that, one plate looked just like the two I had! Now, how much luck is that? I was giddy to say the least, quickly logged in, dashed off a convo to the seller asking for the shipping costs to Europe and went back to my work. And yes, it did work! I have met another wonderful Etsy seller, who was very helpful.

Today I went to pick up the parcel at the post office. They all arrived undamaged - and nicely wrapped! And there was a surprise - two extra plates at no extra cost!


So here's the Vermont plate to match the other two (and after all, I have been to Vermont!). They're a nice dessert plate size, so I hope to find more to match them, even though I have have enough tableware already (yes, that can be addictive too!).

And here are the other ones:


Featuring Colorado, Williamsburg (note the funky pink buildings!), the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, Gettysburg, Connecticut, New Hampshire and the Niagara Falls. Most of them are transfer printed, and the Niagara plate is meant to be hung on a wall, it comes with a string attached for that purpose. Most of the plates have no mark, but the Vermont one has one, it was actually produced in Burlington VT - so I'm continuing my search. Two plates are marked "Japan" which probably dates them to anywhere from the 50s to 70s or so (I think later, "cheap" production moved to other countries - at least that's how it was with Barbie doll). Interestingly though, the Vancouver plate was produced in Germany! But my search for the mark has turned up nothing so far.

The New Hampshire plate, though produced in Japan, is they only one which *might* have been handpainted.

Maybe this was sold at Franconia Notch? It's not shown (which really is too bad), but was added in writing at the bottom like almost an afterthought.

I don't know yet what I will do with these other plates. The only kitchen wall that could be decorated is already decorated with things that I like a lot (and at least one is just as kitschy):

A friend pointed me to this site - some fun ideas how to display souvenirs. Great! That lead me here - a dish rack full of colorful souvenir plates might be fun, I think. Or one might go full monty like here. Oh, choices, choices... Of course, the ultimative thing would be a wall full of Marimekko plates! Now there I could get envious....!

I have one other plate (from the same friend), which I display in my "kitsch corner", and which features another very tacky piece of china.



Honestly, isn't this vase fab? No, it's not high quality, but it was just too much fun to not buy it. Ah, the glory days when our offices where in the city and I could venture a visit to the flea market on a Saturday morning, before going to work!

Well, going back to thinking what I'll do with all these plates now...

Karin