Vintage Patterns!

I recently purchased my first vintage sewing patterns!  I spent a few days scouring eBay and Craigslist, but didn't really find the perfect lot until a few days ago.  It found a sale of 30 patterns from the 1950s and 1960s.  I paid about $28, which is was a pretty good deal considering the patterns are actually in my size! I figured if I don't want all of them, I could sell them individually on eBay and possibly even turn a profit if I want.  I haven't been able to check them all for completeness, but I really hope to sew at least a few of these this year.

Here are a few of my favorites!

I want to make the version with sleeves, and I love the little bows! 

I love this illustration.  Separates!

The buttons on the back are one of my favorites.  I might have to learn to do covered buttons!

I haven't blogged much, but I had a great weekend!  I had a fun girls' night out at Jazz'd and Bar Bar on Saturday, and a great Sunday movie date to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (GREAT film!) and also some delicious Indian food.  Today is a lazier day, with a 1st birthday party on the agenda.  Then tomorrow I get to babysit that birthday boy while his parents pack up their house for a big move!  Busy busy busy, but that's the way I like it.  Doesn't it feel good at the end of the day to be all tuckered out and ready for an awesome night of sleep?  :)

What Would Don Draper Do?

I started watching Mad Men on Netflix recently, and I don't know why I never watched it before!  I've always loved the fashion, and I love Janie Bryant's book on the style inspiration... but this is some good drama.

Thanks to The Oatmeal for the most brilliant flowchart ever.

This is how I should solve all my future problems.

Book Report: The Fashion File by Janie Bryant

The Fashion File by Janie Bryant is glued to my hands as we speak. I don't even know how I am typing this. :::gush::: I've made it known before that I have an obsession with the fashion from the show "Mad Men" but now I have a beautiful hardcover book in my possession by the Emmy-winning costume designer herself. The sketches alone make it worth the purchase to me, and this book is going to live with my sewing patterns as inspiration.

The book is full of suggestions on how to take vintage style and use it to enhance your wardrobe, as well as important advice on how to fit your clothes. She talks about essentials for your wardrobe, but also goes decade by decade to show you her inspirations and how you can translate that into your style choices. I opened this book right before I was about to go to sleep, and I ended up poring over it from cover to cover before I could shut my eyes. It's just that beautiful.

Now all I see are 60s-era dresses dancing through my head, and every sewing pattern I buy gives me modification ideas on how I can make them even more vintage-looking.

Always,

Aubrey

Mad for Fashion!

I don't watch Mad Men, but I'm a little obsessed with the photos I've seen of the wardrobe! I am in love with the wiggle dresses, A-line skirts, and other looks from this 1960s period show. I think I was meant to wear clothing from another era...

So as I itch to learn to become my own seamstress, I've been searching the Simplicity website to find patterns similar to these dresses that I could hypothetically someday make... the options seem endless, when you think about choosing your own fabrics and tailoring the fit, right? Once again, my cart is before my horse. But a girl can dream, right?

Always,

Aubrey