Hangin' by the Wood Pile 40's Style.

My husband has a thing for wood, can you tell? We don't burn wood he just collects it in hopes of putting in a wood stove next year. (which would have been handy since while writing this we had a power outage and things got a bit cool for my liking) I have been checking out wood cookstoves. I think it would be interesting to learn to cook and bake with wood plus I think the wood makes kind of a neat background for pictures.

So these are my 1940's trousers made from this pattern and fabric picked up from a thrift store.

As you can see the pleats are missing. I took them out. To me they weren't flattering on me in the 80's and that hasn't changed now. If I had lived in the 40's I can't see me liking them much then either but I suppose the design was to mimic the men's trouser since women wearing pants was still a fairly new thing. 

You may be wondering why oh why I'd want to make a pair of 1940's pants but as I continue my journey of only wearing clothes I've made or thrifted a whole new world has opened back up for me.

 I've always adored the simplicity of 40's clothing and the 50's with it's petticoats and hat wearing styles. If you've known me for a really long time you'd know that wearing these eras is not really new for me. I've played with these styles since highschool.

 Yes thats me at prom with sweetheart and husband to be. My ensemble was not the same as every long gowned girl but more reminiscent of a 40's knee length style complete with hat and black lace gloves. 

I find today's clothes fairly generic and that's why I've found making my own clothes has begun to suit what I've been missing for so long... a reflection of me. It's not that I'm trying to stand out in the crowd by wearing vintage clothing but because I'm beginning to feel more at home in my clothes again.

These pants not only cover what today's jeans don't on my backside when bending over, ( think the old plumber's cliche and you get the picture) but they allow me to wear my beloved long johns underneath! 

I made the blouse from another 1940's pattern and the sweater came from a thrift store as did the shoes. 

I can tell you this is not my everyday wardrobe but its more of my going out to dinner or Sunday go to church look.

Right now if I took a picture of myself you'd see a yoga pant, sweatshirt clad girl and I intend to sew myself some new everyday clothes and share those with you too.

I also find that I can't call myself The Vintage Counterfeiter and not at least try and look the part. :)

Number 47

This past weekend I celebrated number 47 and right now I'm liking my age and everything that comes with it.  1 handsome husband, 3 girls married to wonderful boys, 1 boy who I get to on occasion hang at  home with, 4 grandbabies to play with and the feeling that I'm really only 25. I'm experimenting with new clothing styles and learning new sewing techniques right down to my undergarments. I've learned this past year that with patience that yes you can thrift, sew, knit and crochet your way into a new wardrobe and that I'm leaning towards a simpler style of decor and furniture.

Back to the celebration. Saturday was filled with cupcakes and cake because we sang not only for me but for the 7 birthdays that happen in the family all within the past and future couple of weeks to come. ( Leah had a cupcake and candle too. Her birthday is June but hey any time is a good time to celebrate your birthday right?)

Sunday Roger took me out for lunch and to one of my favourite places to poke around. They now have two stores to do just that. I found some vintage Christmas balls anndddd.........


this beautiful blue green picnic basket to add to my picnic basket collection aannnddd.....

this wonderful wicker purse to use with my summer wardrobe.

So what does one wear on such an outing?? ( I also wore this outfit at the sale last week)

A Christmas skirt that was thrifted.

And a sweater I bought at the thrift store years ago to make into mitts but didn't have the heart to because of its cute faux fur collar.

I like to make fun of these "hands on hips" poses but when standing alone your hands naturally gravitate towards your hips. Go figure.

The other great thing about Sunday was that yes it was just this warm and I didn't need a coat so I got to show off this great skirt. So whoever you are who happen to sew this cute skirt I had many, many complements.  :)

One done! So many more to go...

It's done! Well it still needs it's dust cover and that means a trip to the city but other then that it's done.

Let us look upon its original state. 

That was it almost a year and half ago. I brought it home, tore it apart, painted it and then let it sit in the back corner of my garage. ( you can kind of see why there is a no new furniture rule in place hehe)

It's been painted with my homemade chalk paint, sanded and buffed to a shine with my homemade beeswax polish.

Some pretty little braid ( gimp is it's proper name) has been added.

And for a surprise...

I can never seem to stick with just one fabric. Makes life a little more exciting don't you think. ;)

Link to elizabethandco
            Miss Mustard Seed

The Best Laid Schemes

The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry according to the poem " To a Mouse" by Robert Burns.  How so right he was!

My plan... To have an Etsy Shop up and running 2 months ago. 

The reality .... It takes a long time when you are making your own stock, adding a baby to the collection and doing everyday stuff. Then add spring to the mix and now your outside doing spring clean up, oh and you're finally getting serious about selling your house and revamping a vintage trailer. And then there's your daughters wedding this fall.....

My list keeps growing but I'm so close to having my shop open. It has pictures and descriptions already it just needs a bit more tweaking before I open the doors.

But I won't be selling just aprons now either. 

Pillow Covers have also been added to my inventory!

I'm really happy with these. I guess sometimes working slowly can have its advantages. :)

Coco

While watching the UKs Sewing bee last year, a couple of girls stood out for me. Lauren, who now owns and operates Guthrie and Ghani haberdashery and Tilly, who designs and sells her own patterns under the name Tilly and the Buttons. I've continued to follow these girls through Facebook and their blogs.

While I was out thrifting one day I came across some very 60/70s looking fabric, but not being a real fan of clothes from that era I stood with fabric in hand debating. It came home with me because after some thinking I knew what I wanted to make with it.

Enter one of Tilly's patterns named Coco. It has a 1960's feel to it and it caught my eye when she introduced it to the world and in my eyes the fabric and the pattern were made for each other.

Tilly had mentioned in one of her blog posts that she had whipped up a top one night for the next day so hoping I could do the same I spent this past Saturday afternoon doing just that.

Look it's sunny out!

The neat thing about this pattern is, it can be made into a dress too.

I'm hoping to add a few more of these to my wardrobe. By the way the cost not including the pattern was $2.00. :)

I've linked to Sewing Indie Month

Sew for Victory

 I wasn't sure I'd have the time but I picked something simple and sewed my little heart out to be part of the Sew for Victory. Then as luck would have it the deadline got extended, which was great because my camera battery died as I was taking pictures. So if you're a fast sewer you can still join, you've got till Monday night!
I made a 1948 Simplicity blouse from a pattern I bought last year.

Heres the trial run to see how the pattern fits.

A few minor changes and I was ready to go.

               A couple of months ago I thrifted this polka dot fabric and knew I wanted to make this blouse.

And here it is! It fits just like I thought it would..beautifully and I can't wait to wear it. Now you might be wondering why I'm not wearing it to show you. Its because I tried it on with a modern day skirt (which was what I was going to wear it with) and it looked horrible. I tried it on with a pair of pants and again I still wasn't pleased with the look, so I've got nothing to wear with it.

It looks like my hem is off, its not, just a little wacky picture taking on my behalf.

I like these cuffs with their homemade cufflinks.

This is what I'm hoping to pair it with in the near future.

This and a skirt for some summer fun.:)

Daisy, Daisy give me answer True..

It was the perfect Easter weekend. The weather was just right for little ones to hop outside and see what the Easter bunny had brought. It was also the perfect weather to wear my completed spring, (ode to Jenny Lee) outfit. The sweater and skirt you've seen pop up already but my Gertie's bow tied blouse has not. I really like this blouse, and it's exactly what I was looking for last Easter but couldn't find in stores.

Cherrios came to see what the hubbub was all about.

Since I was helping with Easter breakfast at our church I needed an apron. I was going to sew one, but I found this one while out thrifting one day. A little organza apron with hand painted flowers in yellow...it was meant to be.
So here is the breakdown of my ensemble.
Sweater- hand knitted -cost $15.00 for yarn
Blouse-thrifted fabric and sewn -$2.00
Skirt- thrifted vintage sheets and sewn-$ 4.00
Daisy pin-secondhand store- $6.00
Gloves- thrifted $1.00
Handbag- thrifted $1.50
Apron- thrifted  .75

The shoes I had, but I'm still on the hunt with something with a heal, in keeping with my " not buying anything new rule".:)

Easter Snippet #2

Found this little number for about $ 1.50.  It is the clasp that I think is the cutest.