• The Latest Antique Haul •

I can't believe it's almost November!! Where has the year gone?! The time is passing awfully fast, but I'm actually really looking forward to winter. :)

In any case, here's our latest antique finds! We went antiquing last weekend, and boy did we have fun!! The first store we went to didn't have a whole lot of stuff we were interested in, but the next one was smashing! So smashing that we spent all our money. :) But that's why we went, right?!

It was a humongous antique store, and they had pretty much anything and everything you could possibly want. And it was all amazing! They had an 1830s couch (gorgeous, of course, and YES I wanted it), two different 1850s baby carriages, one of which was wooden, had "Baby" carved on the side, red velvet lining and a silk tasseled umbrella overhead. That's what I call riding in the lap of luxury. I wanted that too.

Another booth had 40-50 Sears, Montgomery Wards, etc catalogs from the 1940s-60s. It was just too amazing. I could go there and read clothing catalogs like it was a library. ;)

Then there was the especially sewing-oriented booth. Hehehe.

Zillions of buttons. Well, not zillions, but quite a few, and they're so neat! My particular favorite are the ones on the top right. They look just like marbles, but they are in fact buttons!! :) I already have a plan for them.

And....patterns!!!!! I'm pretty sure patterns are my favorite thing to shop for at antique stores. I just love them. We got a number of adorable kids' patterns, plus an apron and dress pattern that's our size.

Butterick 4420, McCall 5710 and Simplicity 1472 are all listed in the Etsy shop! The rest that aren't my size I'm just hoarding. Because vintage patterns are sometimes almost always too. amazing. to let go.

Ordinarily, we can't bear to buy an apron, however amazing it is. We just can't do it. The ever-prominent saying, "Oh, we could make one of those!" always prevails. Except this time.
This teapot/vase/sugarbowl/flower-laden beauty rendered itself irresistible. The fact that it is completely hand-sewn was a contributing factor! The print is seriously adorable, and it's just so pretty!! :)

*Sigh* 

So pretty!! :)

Here's where things get amazing. We bought 13 separate and distinct belt buckles!!!!! (!!)

All of them were either $1 or $2, which is a very decent price, if you ask me.

And would you just look at that red one?!! We have crowned it "The Most Amazing Buckle EVER." It really is. And it matches and fits so many of our dresses/belts we already have, it's just incredible. Eeek!!

And on a side note, the white buckle came with those four white buttons in the button photo. And....of course.....I already have a plan for them too. ;)

Since we didn't quite feel like dishing out $35 for a great big dress catalog, we bought this smaller "Midsummer Sale Book" for under $10. And it's surprisingly loaded with everything you can think of, up to and including typewriters, refrigerators, and dolls' bathtubs.

I was very excited to add this Deanna Durbin sheet music to my collection! Eventually I hope to collect all of them, but I've still got a long way to go.

Aaaannnd, a very large photo of a button hook! At least you can see it in detail! ;)

We only have a really small, short button hook, so it was great to find this nice, long, big one. I can't wait to try it out on my Renoirs!!

I couldn't help but throw in a couple pictures of our fabric haul as well! We stopped at Hancock Fabrics and found a couple of real treasures! First off is this wool-look fabric my mom got. It's the most gorgeous color of green! We are in desperate need of some wintry fabrics, so this was a good investment!!

And this is what I'm seriously excited about. Remember my green 1940s dress? This is the very same print, only in black. And I have wanted it for at least two years!!! When I bought the green, I had deliberated between it and this black, but went with the green because it was more practical. I saw it again on a later trip to Hancock, but once again passed it up. I just recently told my mom that if I ever saw the black fabric again, I was buying it for an 1800s dress of some sort! 

I searched all over the place at this Hancock store with no success, but then found it in the clearance section for $2.79 a yard. EEEK! Yes, I bought it all! Sadly there were only 6 3/4 yards, but I can still get a very decent dress out of that! It's the most wonderful fabric; it's very thick and stable, but at the same time it doesn't wrinkle one bit. AND, it's made in USA. So basically, it's a winner. ;)

It's destined to be an 1830s dress to wear to several mansions of that era when we go on vacation early next year. Speaking of which, we've got a whole week's worth of outfits to make! You just can't go on vacation in old clothes, you know! ;)

See you Monday!

• Broccoli and Gingham 1940s Dress •

Otherwise entitled, Make Do & Mend, Of Fruits and Vegetables, How to Get a Dress Out of Two and a Half Yards, or Historical Sew Monthly #2.

Now that all that's settled, I can continue. :)

This dress is indeed a tale "making do and mending." Making do because of a definite shortage of fabric, and mending because of some mistakes that I made.

I originally intended this fabric for a blouse, but I loved it so much that I really wanted a dress out of it. I laid out pattern after pattern, thinking that there had to be something that would work out of 2 1/2 yards. No. Nothing would, it seemed.

But, stubbornness prevailing, I had one last pattern to try laying out. Vogue 8728. It almost fit on the fabric, which gave me enormous hope. Determined to make it work, I decided that I could use a contrasting fabric for parts of it. Enter the famous blue gingham! That fabric has been used for so many things, it's just crazy! My mom has a 1950s dress that has a gingham belt and piping, I made a blouse out of it ages ago, and recently, a baby dress.

Obviously, after all of those projects, there was not much of it left, but there was just enough to get the front and back bodice bottom (on the bias) and seam binding! I never thought of the two fabrics matching before, but they really do go together beautifully. It's ironic, because the broccoli fabric itself is on a light diagonal gingham background. It seems they were made for each other!

I had to make several alterations to the pattern; since the pattern sleeves are awfully short and large, I extended them up and out into kimono-style sleeves. I also made the neck about 1 1/2" higher.

Through trying to remember to do all of these alterations, I managed to forget one very important one; making the neckline narrower! I was so mad at myself. I was beginning to detest this vegetable-laden dress! What would fix the very wide neckline? A neckband? Big bias binding? (Wouldn't that look just lovely....)

I finally decided to sew in a piece on each shoulder in order to make the neckline narrower. It seemed like a rather ludicrous idea at the time, but it actually worked quite well! It is not, perhaps the most desirable thing to have to do on a dress, but under the circumstances, I'm pretty happy with it!

We found this delicious green bakelite buckle at a local antique shop recently, and it adds the perfect touch! I just love it. And it's our first bakelite item of any kind, so it is definitely exciting.

I pieced the back of the bodice out of necessity, but I'm actually very glad it worked out that way. It makes it look like an intentional continuation of the contrasting bodice front. 

My mom decided to make a dress out of this pattern as well, using some gorgeous matching fabrics that she had in the stash. I just love those fabrics together! We affectionately named our dresses "Blueberry" and "Broccoli."

Oh, and did you see her shoes??!! They are too stinkin' cute! I realllllly want them. I'm not entirely jealous, however, because I actually have a little surprise of my own in the shoe department. But that will have to wait until next week when I have a matching dress to photograph them with. Bright orange somehow doesn't quite match this dress. *tear*

Yep. We're weird like this. Proud cow pose followed by Roman soldier. How delightful.

;)

And now, for the delightful HSM details!! I have been frightfully delinquent in participating in the HSM this year, so I am excited to be back into it! 

The Challenge: Colour Challenge Blue

Fabric: Cottons purchased at two different quilt shops. 2 1/2 yards of the broccoli, and leftover scraps of gingham.

Pattern: Vogue 8728

Year: 1943

Notions: Zipper, thread, belt buckle

How historically accurate is it? Mmmm...85-ish%. There is some serging, and the zipper may or may not be correct.

Hours to complete: 8(?) It would have been less if I had not taken some detours into mistake-land.

First worn: Last Sunday, to church. (And this past Sunday, to church.) I guess I like it. ;)

Total cost: $35

I'll be back on Friday with either another Excerpts From the Past post, or an apron!

Thank you all for the delightful comments on the magazine scans - it gives a girl the incentive to keep it up!