Sewing bows

I was feeling pretty tired this weekend, but I still managed  to get a reasonable amount done.
First was gardening, and some fun gardening too. We paid a trip to the local garden centre and spent a happy (me; boring as hell, Tom) afternoon looking at plants and having coffee and cake.
Once we came home I got to plant the seeds (my favourite gardening job) and plant up my hanging basket (second favourite job) but didn't have to do any real work like digging. Success!
Later that day I sewed up a top I cut out earlier in the week, It's my second time making the EvaDress 650 blouse (first one is here) and I thought I'd make some changes. I've been hankering after a pussybow blouse for some time and so I thought I'd have a got at altering this blouse, since the pattern is so simple. All I did was to extend the collar pieces by about 50cm past where their normal end would be, and it's worked pretty well.

When tied low down, the faced edges of the slashed neckline do fold up and stick out a bit, but fortunately the fabric, a linen mix, has enough drape that this is well hidden, and I have the option to tie it higher up at the collar if I want.

I decided that I liked the blouse sleeveless so I finished the armholes by facing them with some bias strips, et voila!

I wore it to work today with my old faithful work trousers and a cardigan. I'm really happy with how it's turned out for such an experimental item!

Thanks to Rebecca Jean for the lesson on how to tie a bow this week - it's amazing how something simple can be tough to work out on your own!

You may also be able to see curly hair in the picture. I set my hair last night and the front turned out really well. Sadly, the back had several pins escape and I ended up with a few straight bits, making the back look rubbish. In the end I couldn't find a style to hide the back and show off the front, so I threw the whole lot up in a clip. I'll get the pin curls right sometime!

I managed to spend some money on Friday, the first since I started my 'lent' thriftyness. It didn't feel as good as I thought it might, which is a nice revelation. Possibly. I realised, though, that I needed fabric (and no, there was nothing suitable in my stash, honestly, I did look!) for the Horrockses dress which I'm making for an event in May. If I'd waited till the end of the no spend period to buy it, I'd only have had a few days to make the dress up, so it was now or never really! Still, I got what I needed and nothing more, which is quite a change for me!

It's a lightweight viscose and the drape is lovely, hopefully it'll work ok on the rather structured bodice section.

I've also cut out the final pattern for my trousers, so I might finally take the plunge and cut up the real fabric this week...

In the garden

I spent most of the weekend in the garden trimming, sweeping, tidying and pruning.
I'm still aching today but it feels great to have been outside in the sun after all these months. I've even lost my grey hue I've been cultivating from too much strip-lighting.

Flowers and line-dried washing. Could it be any more perfect?

 Planting seeds is so satisfying and exciting. I'll be checking back every day till they sprout.



Deryn and Meg love the sunshine, this is Deryn watching Meg discover the outside for the first time. She alternated between concerned supervision, and jumping on her while she was distracted. Meg discovered bee stings with her paw.

On Saturday night Meg fell fast asleep on the sofa with her paws and whiskers twitching away. Such big adventures for a little cat!

My dress is nearly finished!



Despite cutting the wrong size out on the front pieces, I managed to
get the pieces to fit together and I think it's turned out fine

I just
need to do the button holes and sew on the buttons now! I'll post a
picture of me in it (if it fits!).



I'm also going to make a dirndl skirt
from cute strawberry pattern fabric I have. Hoping it'll turn out ok
because I'm not using a pattern!





My white 40s trousers from Vivien of Holloway arrived the other day,
they're snug but hopefully on my salad and exercise regime that should
be resolved pretty soon. I wore them to a car boot on Sunday with a
straw hat I picked up at a flea market a few months ago and they were fab. Will get a pic up asap.

I'm increasingly finding hats and headscarves are superb for dealing with
bad hair days, and are saving me hours in front of the mirror! My friend
Jamie (proprietor of the fabulous Gimme Shelter vintage shop in Bristol)
is picking me up some hair rats from the beauty wholesaler soon.
Looking forwards to my hair being long enough to do something with, I'm
just trying as hard as I can to grow it right now. Lots of long hair
thoughts! Resolved to use a Hollywood roll to solve my hair issues.
Curling it every morning is out of the question, so think that putting
it up in a roll, or plaits, is my best option. Just wish it would grow more quickly!


I've also found out why nothing's growing in one part of my garden... 8kg of cat!

Hey big spender

So, I bought a sofa, new. From a shop. I think it's the first time I bough anything new (other than shoes and underwear)!
The man in the sofa shop was more interested in my headscarf than in selling us the sofa, but we go there in the end.
The picture below is what I wore to the shop. Freddie's jeans, M&S top and my new sandals! :D The scarf is from a charity shop and saved me having to try to tackle my hair.

The new shoes are wonderful - they're comfy and easy to walk in, plus they're pretty stylish. They're the Vanilla Cream Clark's shoes I mentioned a while back. Even the box is retro!

Slumming it

I'm not feeling too good today - I've barely slept all week and it's caught up with me. As a result, I've spent the day in my (admittedly quite glam) PJs and only got dressed to visit my chiropractor.

Since I was off work, I had time today to do some more work on my 40s house dress. I just need to put the sleeves in and then hems and facing. I might even be able to wear it this weekend!


Here's my not-very-vintage-but-I'm-feeling-yucky outfit for today. I was going for a 50s casual look. Not saure if I got there but it'll do! My trousers are Marks and Spencer, from their 'Roma' fit range. They're cut to be more generous in the hip and slimmer in the waist, which means they're very flattering to curves! The cardi is a charity shop job and ancient.



Next to me is my favourite piece of furniture, my hallstand. It's seen better days, but I think it has character and it was free! An old lady a few streets away was throwing it away and said I could have it. I love free things!
I also threw on a fun union flag scarf I found recently in a pound shop. Saved me having to do my hair!

Dig for Victory

Thought I'd show off my vegetable beds today - they're full of plants which are growing - just like they're supposed to.



This is my first attempt at growing anything, so I'm very pleased with the results of my hard work! The soil hasn't been worked in years, so it's been back breaking work but all the more satisfying for it. Next job is fixing the fence and then I'll have a presentable garden.

Here's me, digging for victory in my Freddies of Pinewood dungarees. I realised that my fork was probably made in the 1940s too. It weighs about 2 tons...

Cross stitch Crazy

I've fallen in love with Moira Blackburn's cross stitch designs. She uses her knowledge of real antique samplers to create new designs, which she then sells in kit format from her website. The kits are detailed but pretty easy to follow. I just love the colours and the look of them. Just beautiful. Any more cross stitchers out there?

A blog is born

I received the greatest compliment I've ever had last week, when a friend suggested I should start a style diary.
While I can't promise to be hugely inspiring, I'm hoping that this mild ego trip / exercise in self indulgence might at least give me justification for my obsessive clothes shopping! So here I am, with a blog of my very own!

It's all about me...
I'm 26, live in Bristol in the South West of England, and I love vintage clothes. I'm also a spendaholic and don't earn nearly enough money to support my vintage habit.
I love the 1940 - music, fashion, cinema - it's all a wonder to me. I hope to share some of my favourite outfits with you, and to shout about the great purchases of vintage-style pieces from modern shops (one of my greatest pleasures). My wardrobe is quite eclectic and, although my main focus is the 40s (the shape suits me best), I have clothes from and inspired by the 1920s through to the 1950s.
I also do quite a bit of sewing and am working my way through my extensive vintage pattern collection at the moment, starting with a house dress from 'Past Patterns'. I really enjoy crafty projects and I have an antique style cross stitch sampler on the go at the moment too. I'll post pictures as I progress!
Gardening is my final passion of the moment and I have my first vegetable patch dug and planted. I'm just watching out for my first ever veggies now!

Here is my cat Deryn helping me cut my pattern out.