Sew on...

Elizabeth hosts a weekly 'sew along' over at her blog.  Go look there for more thready fun! 

 

Sew... I wanted to make a second pair of the 1947 shorts I have in my wardrobe.  They are truly the most comfortable shorts- and very flattering.  I love them! You can just about see them in this post.

This time I went a little more upmarket.  I bought some red twill, and cut them out.  After an afternoon of sewing (and several unpicking hours... and a few more unpickings to go) I have these:

I have no idea if you can see them properly.  My little laptop never has shown red properly.  So just in case:

Here is a blurry one with better details.

The book is Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest- Born of Silence.  It is one of the League Novels- a Sci-fi series.  Very enjoyable, but the books can be rather gritty.  If you don't like guts and gore or heavy romance scenes, you probably wont like it.  If, on the other hand, you are a fan, then please, go read them!  It was a great book, I only put it there because I finished it this week, and my book I am currently reading I posted yesterday!  And the other one I am reading is on my iPad (War of the Worlds).

In Memoriam 1921-2012

Nan on her 80th Birthday

My Nan passed away two weeks ago.  She was 91, and had lived a long and full life.  It was my Nan who taught me to knit.  I think she taught my Mum too- and Mum taught me to crochet.
Nan always said that she learned to knit on two matchsticks in school.  And I always had this image of all the little girls in her class, happily knitting away on matchsticks.

She lived in the centre of London for most of her life.  The last dozen years, she was in a home nearer family, but far away from the city she loved.  Nan was a Londoner through and through.  My siblings and I have fond memories of going to stay with her and Grandad.  Taking the train, riding the bus.  Walking the streets of London, standing on the crack at the centre of Tower Bridge.

The kids stood on the crack too.  Well DD did.

It is the reason I made the kids stand on the crack when we went to London a year and a half ago.

We took the kids to see my Nan.  She looked frail and old, and yet happy to see us.  My husband charmed her, he says she had stunning blue eyes.  I like to think my grandad thought so too!

Nan and Grandad, ages ago :)  Sometime in the 80s I think.

They were married almost 50 years.  Nan soldier on another 26 years after he died.  And never remarried.

There were things Nan did that I remember well.  She would pick up pensions for local elderly people who were not able to get it themselves.  I remember one old man had a budgie on his shoulder.
She would walk 'down the blue' to shop.  I never did understand why she called it 'the blue', and I could never quite figure out where it was in relation to Nan's house- because walking took us a totally different route from cars or buses!  There was a market there and some little shops.

I remember going with nan to help clean a building, and her taking me to a library where I got a cartoon book.
I remember 'cooking' with the copper fondue set on her glass table, and getting fingerprints over everything.  I remember watering the plants in the windowsills of the flat, getting locked into the bathroom - and grandad rescuing me.
I remember sleeping on the camp-bed in their bedroom- and it folding up on me ;)
I remember running down to the playground near their house (I loved the slide) and her taking us over the road to the BIG playground.

Nan lived in London during World War II.  While Grandad fought in India, Nan was raising their children.  She lived there through the blitz, and I am told, would go down into the underground for shelter.
Mum tells me she met grandad when he was a baker's boy.  They married when she was 17, and shortly afterwards World War II started and Grandad went off to fight.

She was part of that 'greatest generation', she and grandad both.
So today, my knitting and reading are in Memoriam.  I am knitting from a 1940s pattern.  I am reading about the 1940s.  And I am thinking about my Nan.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

1940's Pattern (copied to work from), Grandma's Wartime Kitchen by Joanne Lamb Hayes, and the back of the jumper- plus the sleeve, which I knitted as a gauge/tension 'square'.

Catch more yarn alongs over at Ginny's place and at Keep Calm and Craft on at the Frontier Dreams Blog.

A Button Back Blouse

 

Joining in with the bloggers and sewists over at Elizabeth's place for needle and thREAD.  You can catch the other sewist bloggers there - it is a new sew and read along that anyone can participate in :)

So I have been seeing all the lovely button-back blouses over the web, and I really wanted one too.  I was very fortunate to spot a lot of four patterns on Ebay- that included 2 button-back blouse patterns,  a normal blouse pattern and a skirt pattern, from the forties and fifties.

Butterick 3694, approximately 1947

So I chose to make this one.  I had been eyeing up view A anyway... I love that look :)  So when it arrived, I immediately sized it up one size and made it from an eyelet fabric I got in a sale from Fabric.com.  

And here it is.  It is not on me because it is rather sheer :)  It is teemed up with a 1939 book called 'Your Clothes and Personality' by Mildred Graves Ryan.  

First, the blouse.  Did you know that eyelet 4 1/2" wide is hard to find?  I had to fudge the sleeves a little because of it ;)  Also, with my recent issues regarding close fitting necks, I lowered the neckline slightly.

So... it looks really pretty, but it is very sheer.  I think I will need a camisole ;)  The eyelet is a pain to work with and frays terribly.  And I think I must have a fat back or something because all my vintage patterns seem to fit snugly across my back!

I can't recall how much the fabric cost me, but it wasn't a huge amount, so perhaps my total costs are around $20 for the lot.  Less next time because I have already done the pattern!

I know, I know.  It is supposed to be ONE photo- but you couldn't see the back of it!

I shall definitely make this one again.  The oddest part of the construction, is the weird triangle that goes into the sleeves to prevent people seeing down them.  I did make a couple of boo-boos.  Mostly in the hems which kept getting messed up- so some things that were supposed to be pressed in ONE direction, were pressed in another instead.  Only one is noticeable, and I will have to go back and fix it.

And now... the book.

I picked it up in an antique shop... it is a book all about the styles and beauty tricks from 1937-1939 (the two years it mentions as print runs).  The cool things I saw in it... how to do your makeup, how to pick styles that suit you, how to take care of your hair... how to spot quality clothing.  From 1939.  Very cool stuff.  It fits right in with my vintage housekeeping books (and I actually referred to my vintage dressmaking book while making the top).

Keeping a Home

Yarning along with Ginny again this week, you can check the blog for all the other yarn alongers :)

I was torn between making a new yarn along post this week, or just linking to my Easter post from yesterday, in which I display my knitting for this week.  Instead I decided on a new post with a link to the old ;)

I blogged about this bolero I made my daughter yesterday. It is from a 1930's pattern, and totally went with the outfit I made her for Easter (also blogged yesterday).  I found the pattern online ages ago, and since it was made in a chunky yarn, I took the opportunity to make something quick while I took a small break from my very fine gauge cardigan.  Which I am still working on ;) I hope that link for the pattern works for you because it is playing up for me right now!
Anyway, I used a doubled worsted weight acrylic yarn.  Acrylic is important- I can attest to the fact that the dress from yesterday needed to be washed because of chocolate on it, and all children's wear suffers that same fate.  So... acrylic!

The book is an interesting story all its own.  The housekeeping book was one I saw mentioned on another blog- it is a wonderfully comprehensive guide to housekeeping, from 1941.  There are a great deal of good ideas contained inside, and it was not the easiest book to get hold of (probably because it had been mentioned on other blogs!).
The garden book is another story.  Just this weekend, while walking through an antique mall, I ran across the book.  I recognised the cover instantly- it was a dead ringer for my new housekeeping book!  A matched set, obviously.
I snatched it up ready to read once I finish its companion!  I might test the cover's claims to be washable too, since it is looking kind of grubby...

Happy Easter!

A very Happy Easter to you all!
I thought I would stop by with some Easter Dress fun ;)

Oh and some goodies :)  The hot cross buns came from this recipe over at the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day blog. The recipe is delicious, and makes a huge amount of dough, so you can eat these for a few days!  I served some homeschoolers who were here for an Easter Hunt (I found one of the missing eggs today, by the way, ladies ;)), AND for our breakfast on Saturday- with plenty left over for the next week!

I made my daughter's dress from 1939 DuBarry pattern 2325B.  It is a child's 2 piece dress.  The under dress is a skirt and camisole in one, with an over-blouse and contrast collar.  DD chose the short sleeved version for its 'puffy sleeves' and I insisted on adding the bow tie ;)

I used good old calico cotton for the blouse and cotton broadcloth for the skirt.  And blue is a tried and true colour that looks good on my little blue-eyed, strawberry blond :)

I had enough ribbon to create a hair clop to match for her too.  She loves the bow a LOT.  It is really easy to make too- I just hot glued a bow to a hair clip!
The kids were up early enough to get into their baskets before I could get photos.  My son is camera shy, so I made do with DD letting shoot photos of her.  This is after chocolate managed to get on the collar AND on her skirt!

 Bubbles were in the basket.  Bubbles were consequently blown ;)

I stayed up late Easter Saturday to finish this bolero for her.  It is from a 1930s pattern.  You can find it here in the Picasa web albums.  And you can see the embroidery below...

I finished THAT part this morning!

For as long as I can remember, Easter has been a time I associate with a new dress.  We always dressed up for Easter.  Mum has lovely memories of my grandad making her Easter bonnets.  My DD's bonnet was the Prairie one I posted about the other day.  She refused to wear it today because she wanted to show off her bow though ;)
But all this to say, she was not the only one dressed up.  Recognise it?

There is the collar, trim and belt I made the other week.  And my gloves- and the snood too... yes this is the dress they were intended for.  I love the skirt of this dress, but I have had such troubles with the bodice.  My collar and belt improved the look a lot... but the neckline rubbed my neck raw!

A shame.  I love the back especially- see my little buttons at the top.  Originally it was a zipper fastening.  I shall be cutting into the bodice to lower the neckline slightly so it will not rub against my neck.  You can also see in this picture my daughter's new basket- she really, really wanted a basket like mine!

But what a beautiful day it was today!  Our gardens are lovely this time of year, aren't they?  Of course, all you can really see is our lawn :)

Edited to add- there is now a SEW ALONG to go with the yarn along for those of us who love to sew :)
Many of you already know Elizabeth- go see the sewing!