1940's Picnic for Mother's Day and Birthday 2013

My blog was the inspiration

for the ideas my kids came up with

for this celebration...

from my favorite recipes to

vintage clothes to picnics to hikes...

They did a wonderful job of all

of it and it was a glorious perfect day

with the sun pouring through the trees

onto our picnic place.

My family including spouses and grand kids

 They are truly wonderful adults who love me

and support me and make sure I know 

that I'm special...

I am blessed!

It's A Mystery!

I have loved the mystery genre since I read

my first Nancy Drew!

It's still my favorite especially if it is combined

with a previous era.

For my birthday this year I asked my kids

to give me a mystery evening...

they were very obliging and came all

dressed for the 1930's and with their 

best deduction caps on.

It was kind of like the game Clue

but acted out in conversations and questions.

I was the housekeeper/maid

so I got to watch and serve.

Setting the Stage

English Mansion 1930

Menu

Traditional English Dinner

Appetizers

Oyster Stew

Sorbet (palette cleanser)

Roast Beef and Gravy

Potatoes

Creamed Carrots

Green Beans

Raspberry Meringue

Characters

 

Cast and Crew

Watersdown Mansion

May 1930

Vintage Coat

I found a wonderful vintage

Pendleton coat at a sale yesterday.

It fits me perfectly, the color is fabulous

and the lining is like brand new. 

I'm not sure what year it is but I do know I got 

an excellent deal on it as I saw a vintage 60's

Pendleton Dress in a magazine for over $200

and I paid under $50 for this.

 

It was a happy find :)

How to Create a Vintage Look

The 50's style outfits that we 

modeled on our beach trip were

ideas taken directly from 50's sewing 

patterns that I found on Etsy.

I didn't buy the patterns but it's

a great way to get a look that's authentic

because that is what ordinary people were 

sewing and wearing in that era.

 

The only real vintage thing is the middle dress 

all the rest were thrift shop finds, or from

items I already had available.

I figured they could be used in the dress up

box later so it wouldn't be a total

waste of money:)

Tea for One

This may be a concept that some of you will

find strange, but if I want to have a

tea party, I can't walk into a cute tea shop

with friends and settle in for a lovely time.

That's because there are no tea shops that

are gluten-free!

So If I want to have an elegant and tasty

tea party I have to do it myself...

While I was at the beach alone

I enjoyed a very nice tea for one,

the conversation was somewhat one-sided:)

but there was no arguing at least!

I had scones, sandwiches, and "sweeties"

as the English say and many cups of

hot tea...

I felt very vintage in my dress, pearls, and shoes.
(Oh, and by the way, all the lovely dishes
I have are Goodwill finds:)

A Funny Thing Happened ...Albany #3

The Saturday I spent touring Albany was

the first time I purposely dressed in "vintage".

I'm not sure if I was quite ready for the reaction

I received! I must have had 50 people comment

on one or more parts of my outfit and

many more were watching me everywhere

I went...! For a person who likes to just

"be alone doing my own thing"

it was a bit overwhelming and

a little embarrassing too.

At the end of the day a photographer

from the Visitors Association asked

to take and publish my picture!

This is the photo he took and may use.

I had to laugh, especially as all

the pieces of my "outfit"

were modern, and none were

truly vintage:)

Not sure if I will dare to ever "dress up" again!

1940's style Jeans

I have finally finished my pair of jeans

that are made to look like the

high waisted pants of the 1940s era.

The original pattern is Butterick 5250

but I modified it so the front fastens with buttons not a zipper.

The pattern fit me perfectly and they

are so comfy they feel like pajamas!

The length is a little short for the trends

today, but I mostly plan to wear them with

flats or a small heel.

I am so glad not to have to worry

about muffin tops or anything else

hanging out, these cover everything up!!

Retro Play Suit

I found this adorable vintage pattern

at the junk store for 50 cents.

It is a size 8! I really could

not imagine a 7 or 8 year old in our day and age

wearing this. I decided to take the idea

and use it for a little girl.

I used a size 1 pattern I had and altered it a bit to come up with a similar look but using
bolder colors. See the retro lawn chairs
on the top fabric though? That's a Moda Fabric. It looks so cute on Brielle that I think I
might use the idea again in a new line
of clothes I'm designing ideas for.

Now we just need some sunny weather!

Vintage Patterns

I had a few minutes today to run into the Treasure Barn and came out with 15 vintage sewing patterns for .25 each! I really bought them to use their covers in future projects. Because I have so many allergies I can't have the patterns in my craft room so I used my color copier and printed them on card stock. The pattern on the right was so cute and in such nice shape that I did save the actual pattern pieces and plan to make a dress with them sometime:)

I found my granny shoes!

The other day I was remembering back about 15 years to a pair of shoes I had bought and worn for church. They reminded me of some of the vintage shoes I've seen on line and I thought "why did I get rid of them?" Although at the time I owned them they were not something your average young lady would wear! Then on Monday I was digging around in the dress up box that I keep for entertaining kids who visit and THERE were my granny shoes! Lookin' just as vintage as I remembered and suitably aged:) So guess what? They're back in my closet..hows that for thrift shopping and finding a bargain! Also in the bin I found a hat I had bought for a 4oth birthday party...I put it on and asked my boys "Didn't they wish women still wore hats like in the past?" and you should've seen the look on their faces!! I guess I won't cause any embarrassment to my family and wear THIS to church..but I just might wear my granny shoes!

vintage fashion, retro dreams

Vintage fashion has become a new interest for me. Probably it always has been, but I really started studying up on it this past few years. I think what I love about the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s is that there was no doubt that you were a woman by what you wore. The sillouettes were soft and accented the waist and there was no trying to show off anything inappropriate. If that makes me old fashioned oh well! Anyway in one of the books I read on 50s fashion I saw a dress that had the top of patterned fabric and the A-line skirt from plain. Then when I browsed through Anthropologie (Favorite store in the whole world, but too expensive!) I got the idea to do a contrast belt. So heres my retro creation, with a modern twist. I know when I wear it I will feel like a true lady and I love that feeling.