Lavender & Twill : April 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

༺ Stitching Stories: Going Dotty for Spotty Cotton ༻

Peplum details & box pleats from Simplicity 1590 | Lavender & Twill

Adore platform chunky heels & gloves for a perfect 1940's look | Lavender & Twill

Ohmygoodnessyouguys! All the crazy here is sending me just a leeetle dotty! I keep signing myself up for all these sewing challenges ~ and then I don’t know why I am doing this to myself! (> o <)’

First it was the insane Sewing All The Things idea, then I saw A Stitching Odyssey’s Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge and of course I was all “Oooh! That looks like fun!” so I put my name down:

“I, Bonita Vear of Lavender & Twill, pledge to sew at least five vintage or vintage reproduction patterns in 2015 ~ these MUST be patterns that I haven’t used before from my stash!”

Because that fits into my sewing schedule for 2015, right? But then I saw Rochelle’s Spring for Cotton group sew along annndddd ~ BAM! April’s plan for the Simplicity 2275 wrap dress flew out the window {also because I was in the middle of a top secret sewing project that took most of April to get done}. Hello quick project! This fit in with Brittany’s 40s Fashion Calender challenge for February which I was behind with: sew a 1940’s blouse and turban.

So last Monday I went to Spotlight with a handy Christmas gift card {thank you Mom!} and tried to find the perfect cotton fabric to use for Simplicity 1590, a retro re-release of this simple, but cute 1940’s blouse with a peplum.

~ I hadn’t made this one up yet, but I really liked View A and couldn’t wait to try it! ~

I found the perfect 100% cotton quilting fabric with a really nice ‘hand’ to it. It was soft, and it draped nicely, as well as having this fabulous vintage-looking print in the colours I wanted ~ navy and white. Well, okay, I wanted navy, white, and red, and ended up with navy, cream, orange, and pink! But it was the closest to what I had pictured in my head and I knew it would suit this project perfectly.

Disaster struck when I reached the cutting counter ~ I needed 1.7 metres of my magical fabric and there was only a little over 1 metre left on the bolt! Yikes!

The lady at the counter went to see if she could find some more of the fabric, or something similar, while I racked my brains to figure out how to make it work. I knew she wouldn’t find anything as I had already scoured the quilting fabric isle and sure enough, she came back empty handed. I quickly whipped out my pattern pieces {which I had traced out onto Polytrace so that I didn’t have to cut the pattern tissue} and proceeded to lay my pattern out on the cutting counter! It just fit ~ but I’d have to make something up for the peplum, which took about 70 centimetres of the 1.7m needed all by itself.

I decided to wing it because I had fallen for this spotty cotton ~ it was “The One” for this pattern ~ sewers, you know what I’m talking about!

It did work, although you’ll notice box pleats at the back of the peplum, rather than gathers. I had much less fabric in the peplum so there really wasn’t any way I was getting gathers out of it. And obviously, I had to nix the matching turban because that just wasn’t going to happen ~ but in the end, I did it!

I squeaked out a blouse that needed 1.7m of fabric from a piddley 1m and managed to fit in a matching vintage styled hair tie instead of the turban. Which I am calling the “Vintage Bow Hair Tie” pattern. Original. (ง •̀_•́)ง

I think I can hail this 40s Fashion Calender/Spring for Cotton/Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge project as success ~ one 100% cotton blouse, sewn with 100% cotton thread, and a matching 100% cotton hair tie, also sewn with 100% cotton thread. A little bit of tweaking here and there, and I couldn’t get 100% cotton buttons, but I’m okay with the ones I picked. : P Actually, more than okay, because I’m a little bit dotty over them too…. ❤ ❤ ❤ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

The result is that I adore this blouse! It will definitely be a staple in my wardrobe. All the stress is so worth it in that pivotal moment you see some gorgeous fabric slowly coming together then ~ POW! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ You have a new garment!

~ Project Details ~

Year: 2013 re-release of a 1940’s pattern
Pattern: Simplicity 1590
Fabric: 1 metre of DS Piccadilly Floral Spot 100% cotton quilting fabric in Navy, Cream, Orange and Pink ($11.89)
Notions: Five buttons with violet print on them ($5.00)
Time to complete: One week
Make again? Yes! I’m pretty sure I will. I love the neckline of this pattern, and it’s a really simple blouse to put together. It’s fun.
Wear again? 100%! I can see this blouse becoming quite a central piece to my 1940’s outfits. It’s easy to wear and I love the print, the colours, and the style. I’m so thrilled with how it turned out.
Total Cost: $16.89 AUD

Have any of you sewn up Simplicity 1590? Which version would you sew if you did?

xox,

bonita

P.S. ~ I took a leaf out of the lovely Jessica of Chronically Vintage’s book, and inspiration from this post ~ I loved that lying down shot and tried out my own!

༺ ♡ ༻

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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

༺ Currently: Time Flies ༻

‘Currently’ posts are a little snapshot of the events that are occurring in my day-to-day life. These episodes feature photos from my Instagram, do come and say “Hi!” if you are around. Also, if you would like to participate in this feature yourself, please feel free! I’d love to read your posts, so don’t forget to leave a link. ♡

READING:

Dressage in Harmony by Walter Zettl – Book Four in The Masters of Horsemanship Series. A technical book detailing the ‘Hows and Whys’ of dressage. I love it, but it’s certainly not a read for everyone!

WONDERING:

Not thinking about much of anything. Just taking it one day at a time over here.
ヾ(＾-＾)ノ

FEELING THANKFUL:

That I get to go riding again! And also that we have a warm house. It is currently a chilly 11°C with a max of 14°C… Brrr! (° ロ °)

EATING:

Stuffed green olives. Roasted and salted mixed nuts. Gluten free toast with peanut butter. Tyring to keep it healthy through all the nursing cravings ~ it’s hard.

WATCHING:

Cupcake Wars. Drop Dead Diva and, best of all, Agents of Shield! Ever since The Avengers came out I’ve been a total Marvel fangirl, and Agents of Shield has not disappointed. *squee* Coulson! ✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:* \(◕▽◕✿)/ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

WORKING ON:

All the sewing projects… (ô д ô) Why, oh why, did I sign myself up for sewing two garments a month??

LOVING:

Autumn leaves. Horse riding! Cups of tea. All the baby snuggles. Stuffed olives. Crafting. New fabric. Finishing projects. Charlotte’s smiles and giggles. Isabelle’s chatter and “I did it!s”. Theodore’s helpfulness and random things he says. Pretty buttons. Organizing all the things. Family time. Movies. Cute hats. Parcels in the mail. (• ‿ -)∠☆

ATTEMPTING:

To keep up with my sewing projects. To get back into the rhythm of housekeeping. To get out of the house more please!

WANTING:

To sleep more… ‘Nuff said. (￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ

DOING:

Small things. Lots of stuff around the house, and hopefully getting more and more into the regular swing of life.

(‘Currently’ post inspired by Danielle of Sometimes Sweet and Kaelah of The Clueless Girl's Guide!)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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Friday, April 17, 2015

༺ 2015 does 1950s: A Vintage Look via Modern Clothing ༻

Confession time!

Though I’m sure you have already guessed from the title what I am going to say, here it is.

Only one item in this entire outfit is vintage.

*le gasp!*

Can you guess which piece it is? And no peeking at the outfit details! (⌒ ▽⌒)

I hadn’t realized when I was putting together this outfit that most of it consisted of retail items ~ in fact, one third of the clothing is quite new, as in I bought it this season!

I think this makes an excellent point however ~ you don’t have to buy vintage to dress vintage.

I started with a simple A-line skirt, then channelled my inner Dita and popped a cropped t-shirt on to keep the outfit more ‘casual’ and less ‘business’ looking. I added a pastel pink cardigan to soften the effect of the black and white monochrome {a styling decision influenced by Briar Rose from this post.}, a carved clasp belt for interest, and gold sweater clips for sparkle. Then I tossed my faux fur swing coat on top for some extra warmth and texture.

What I really liked about the whole ensemble is that any of these items could pass for vintage, and by styling them in an era appropriate manner, you really can’t tell that they are new. Unless you happen to see the labels!

And that’s the great thing about vintage. So much of it is about the way you style it, not what you are actually wearing. It’s so easy to personalize ~ less vintage can be more with the addition of classic retail pieces, and it can be mixed up so that you look modern or like you stepped out of a photograph ~ you can really wear it any way you’d like too!

So tell me, do you have any favourite retail clothing that is “I can’t believe it’s not vintage!”? Which classic items do you buy from the shops rather than buying vintage? Mine are cardigans. I hardly ever buy vintage cardigans, and I have a box stuffed full, and overflowing, of cardigans of every shape and color. It seems to work well for me. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ

xox,

bonita

Fun note: I wore this outfit when going out for breakfast with friends and happened to have the most perfect hair day ever ~ right before I had to go get it cut at the hairdressers! ( ゜-゜)… Isn’t that always the way?!

P.S. ~ It was the faux fur swing jacket. I bought it at a Canberra vintage fair, and though I don’t know the exact era, I peg it as late 1950’s to early 1960’s.

༺ ♡ ༻

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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

༺ The Dress & The Kirk Yard ༻

There’s a story behind every piece of vintage that finds its way into our lives, but today I wore a vintage dress that is creating it’s own tale ~ an memoir of adventure around the world as it is donned by vintage loving ladies of many different nationalities.

I am delighted to present to you ‘The Dress’ from the Sisterhood of the Vintage Dress.

Words cannot express how spectacular The Dress is. As soon as I slipped it on, its silky fabric settled on my frame, and I felt like it was made for me. The skirt swirls around you with a delicious satin swing, and the button detail on the bodice front works beautifully in conjunction with the dusty rose, goldenrod, and buttercup abstract floral print.

I paired it with pale pink accessories in shades of peach and cotton candy, and picked out my favourite wicker purse with woven pastel ribbons on the front to finish off my ensemble. We were ready for our own small part in this grand adventure! ( ^ _ ^)∠☆

I decided to take The Dress out on a road trip along an old, half forgotten highway to visit an equally old, but not forgotten Anglican church ~ St Paul’s.

The grounds to this charming building are immaculately kept, and the ancient oak trees that tower aloft keep watch over the little sanctuary that is hidden away. I am reminded of the churches all over the world that I visited on my very own once-in-a-lifetime adventure ~ a trip to Europe with my sister.

We often laugh over the memories of how we would be wandering around these magnificent and stately European cities that were a million worlds apart from where we had spent our lives growing up ~ cities with amazing sights and a thousand different places to explore, yet we’d most likely end up hanging out in some rare, venerable graveyard, or in the grounds of a silent, peaceful kirk {which is Scots Gaelic for church}.

I like to think that I’m passing on a tradition of my travels by visiting St Paul’s, because now The Dress has it’s own story of hanging out in a churchyard! ✿ ♡ ✿

Afterwards The Dress made an appearance at a local cafe for sushi, tea and a date with the Mister, then it was found nursing a seven week old baby girl, and then who knows ~ because The Dress will be off on the next leg of it’s adventure around the world!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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Friday, April 3, 2015

༺ Merry Frolic ༻

Leisurely strolls on the beach. Ice cream cones. Paddling in the foamy surf. Relaxing by the flickering fire at night. Building sand castles with the children. Spa baths with skylights above so you can gaze up at the star dusted sky. Drinking a morning tea on the veranda, while watching the surf pounding on the sand ~ all little snapshots that construct a delightful memory of our family holiday.

We had a wonderful mini vacation at Merry Beach this last weekend. It was so relaxing to get away to the surf and sand ~ we hadn’t been to the beach all summer! Which, in Australia, is considered pretty un-‘Stralian of you… (ಠ_ಠ) Lol.

Merry Beach is a quiet little cove, so the waves aren’t too big, but water is lovely and clean, a beautiful aqua hue that you can see right through. When we went swimming, the water wasn’t too warm, but although wasn’t icy either, I was still glad to be able to borrow a wetsuit from my mother to splash about in!

I also enjoyed the chance to take out my SunJellies ‘Alice’ handbag ~ it is the perfect beach bag. I used it for carrying my sketch book, shoes and lip gloss, and it was just the right size. ∩(︶▽︶)∩

My sketch book is one of my beach must-haves. I don’t have much of a chance to just sit down and draw during the week so whenever I go on holiday, it’s always by my side. I think that my Alice handbag will also be another beach must-have now. I just adore the pale pink colour and the cute lattice vintage style. Plus, being able to easily shake out the inevitable sand collection is a huge bonus!

And how about you ~ what’s been your most relaxing time away? Do you have any beach or holiday must-haves? Do you enjoy the beach or prefer to go away to the mountains, or maybe elsewhere?

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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Discloser | I am not affiliated with SunJellies in any way; I bought the ‘Alice’ handbag myself and reviewed it because I like it. (✿◠‿◠)

Pages

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

༺ Stitching Stories: Going Dotty for Spotty Cotton ༻

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

༺ Currently: Time Flies ༻

Friday, April 17, 2015

༺ 2015 does 1950s: A Vintage Look via Modern Clothing ༻

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

༺ The Dress & The Kirk Yard ༻

Friday, April 3, 2015

༺ Merry Frolic ༻