༺ Stitching Stories: Looking for Land Girls ༻

Yay!! I made pants! I actually did it!! 

Last year I participated in the Vintage Pattern Pledge and managed to get all my makes completed by the skin of my teeth. And while I’ve been super slow starting with my sewing this year, I did sign up to do it all again.

I, Bonita Vear of Lavender & Twill, pledge to sew at least five vintage or vintage reproduction patterns in 2016 ~ these must include one pair of pants! I also pledge to finish one knitted garment from a vintage or vintage reproduction pattern.

This time, I was also invited to share my make as part of the Vintage Pattern Pledge roundup on Kestrel Makes {and you can check out my guest post interview over here}. It’s taken me a whole six months to get cracking, I think I’ve been dragging my heels after all the sewing disasters I had faced last year. But I finally sat down at my machine and I’m really happy that the first pattern I sewed up this year was my first pair of long anticipated trousers!

I’ve seen Simplicity’s Retro re-release of a 1940’s four-piece suit pattern floating around on sewing blogs/vintage blogs for a good several years now. It’s a great pattern, everyone seems to like sewing it up. Every time I saw the pants I was like: “They look great! I should make those!…But pants are so hard… Eh, I’ll just sew a dress instead.”. This year, however, I put on my brave face, made my pledge to actually give it a go, and whadda you know… It wasn’t that scary at all! (•̀o•́)ง✧

Okay, so they are not exactly the most challenging kind of pants to sew {I’m looking at you jeans…} but any kind of pants have been on my “OhboyIcan’tsewthattooscary” list ever since I started sewing. So I didn’t have to face a fly, any sort of thigh/hip/butt/crotch adjustments ~ thank goodness! ~ or twin top stitching, but I’m taking baby steps towards it, and that’s enough for me at the moment.

The ease of construction and the loose, vintage style of these pants means that this pattern is a fantastic beginner’s introduction to sewing trousers. It went together really smoothly {I only had to unpick a couple of seams when I got the front and back pieces confused, but when I figured out that I’d sewn it front-front and back-back instead of front-back, front-back it was a very easy fix}, and there aren’t any difficult techniques you need to know to make them up.

I did switch out the standard waistband interfacing for Grosgrain ribbon to create the waistband. I like using this couture technique for building the waistband because I feel like the finished result is far more sturdier, actually stands up better instead of folding over or creasing down {like a lot of my skirt waistbands used to do before I started doing this}, and doesn’t stretch out of shape. Plus, I think it makes button holes easier as well! But on that note, yes, my button tab is too long… Whoops!

I also added a pocket into the side seam opposite the zipper, because who likes pants without pockets?? I mean, really…. But I do that with all my skirts and dresses too. I find if it doesn’t have pockets, I’m much less likely to wear it!

I handpicked the zipper and the hem for the pants ~ and while I adore hemming by hand, zippers still elude me when it comes to a perfectly neat finish, so I think I need to keep practising my zipper insertion for sure.

I am so happy with the finished trousers though; I can’t even say. This winter I’ve really been into swing pants ~ I kind of feel like they are the vintage girl’s version of trakkie-daks…. Or pyjamas… Have I mentioned that these things are darn comfortable? (~￣▽￣)~

I’m definitely leaning towards 1940’s land girl inspiration for styling options rather than glamourous Hollywood slacks ~ those ladies had to work hard, and had to have outfits that were not only durable, but also easy to move in. These pants definitely fit that bill, and are a wardrobe staple for me right now. I’m just wondering how many more pairs I should make! I definitely need a navy pair in twill or gabardine, and possibly a pair in chocolate Ponte knit??!

Or maybe I should try my hand at a pair of jeans? If anyone has any recommendations for an easy 1940’s -1950’s vintage or vintage reproduction pattern for jeans; I’m all ears! ( ^ _ ^)∠☆

~ Project Details ~

• Year: Retro re-release of a Simplicity 1940’s suit pattern  
• Pattern: Simplicity 3688
• Fabric: Unknown length of undetermined stretch hounds tooth knit fabric. This fabric came from my Grandmother’s stash. It was passed on from her to my Mom, and then to me before it was finally made up!  
• Notions: Two buttons, Grosgrain ribbon for the waistband, and one metal zipper 
• Time to complete: Two weeks
• Make again? Yes. No doubt. I’m already trying to figure out which fabric I should use next…
• Wear again? Considering that I’ve worn them every day since I finished them up, and I’m wearing them right now as I write this post ~ I’d say so! Haha!!
• Total Cost:  $2.60 for the zipper, the fabric was from the stash, as were the buttons. Not bad, but then I have to count $16.50 for repurchasing the pattern after Miss Three decided to jump on the lounge chair where I had put the pattern tissue and tore it to shreds... So, $19.10 in total.

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

DIY Vintage Hair Tie | Me Made, 2015
Cherry Pointe Knit Top {old} | Collectif
Land Girl Slacks | Me Made, 2016
Tan Prairie Style Boots {old} | Cotton On

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ Sí, Señorita ༻

Am I anywhere with this much sunshine at the moment?

Alas, no, I am not… However, this is a flash back to my amazing trip to the Gold Coast! I hope you are not sick of these yet, because I still have another post to come after this one… ( ˃̗εू˂ ) 

I have been hoarding this glorious Daisy Jean Floral Designs tiki-inspired floral hair piece for just the right outfit to wear it with. I needed something bright, something colourful and something slightly crazy…

When Harlow Darling told me about the amazing cactus garden at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, and asked if I was planning to dress to a Mexican theme, I went ~ “No, I don’t have anything to we…!! Hang on!” Instantly this sequined circle skirt {yes, another one… What can I say? This girl adores sparkle!!} popped into mind.

The skirt is not 1950’s vintage, more like 80’s, or perhaps 90’s retro, but it does the job so well. The rest of the outfit practically pulled itself together without any extra planning ~ it just danced into my head like some sort of animated thought sequence.

Not a Mexican theme, but a Spanish one! 

Recently I have really been getting into the equestrian discipline of Working Equitation with my horse Copper. It has quite a fascinating history, which I enjoy as part of the sport. WE started in Italy in 1986, where it grew as a way for farmers to pass on the traditional methods of training their horses for useful ranch work after the advent of machinery taking over the job. It quickly spread to surrounding European countries where it is practised to this day, and Portugal have remained the world champions of the competition.

Because I have been learning so much about the discipline’s history and competition rules {the competitors wear their countries traditional ranchero attire when competing} I have had traditional European ranch wear floating around in my head. Now, this outfit isn’t even a smidge bit close to what you would wear while riding, being neither culturally or historically accurate, so my inspiration fell more along the lines of a 1950’s ensemble for a fashionable señorita la casa de rancho.  

I have had this vintage silk blouse in my wardrobe ever since I started collecting and wearing vintage. I picked it up at the thrift shop when I was hunting for some pieces to start my new style journey, and it’s one of the few pieces that have lasted through all the wardrobe purges. I’m only kicking myself that I didn’t pick the exact same one up in grey, I thought that one would be enough… Silly me.

The pink blouse was the perfect pairing with this skirt however, and even better I could add my deadstock 1950s celluloid pony brooch that was a recent purchase. It goes without saying that I’m obsessed with anything equine, and those pastel pink galloping horses just HAD to be mine!

I really do think that the finishing touch to this ensemble has to go to the amazing DJF hair flowers though, and also; the red glitter earrings!

Yes, DJF has launched their own line of resin glitter jewellery, and it’s so pretty. There are a ton of different colours and designs to pick from ~ and while I went for red {for some reason I don’t have any red vintage earrings? Weird!} it was a very difficult choice between these ones or the gold glitter pair. Also, they’ve recently release some new brooch designs, which is exciting. Me being the obsessive brooch nut that I am can feel an imminent purchase coming on. *(~ ‿ •)

Now, I did change from this outfit into the one I posted about earlier with forget-me-nots and toile, but that’s the best thing about hanging out with bloggers! Harlow helped me out with the different photo shoots by helping to pick the locations, and taking some behind the scene snaps and everything. It’s just so great to spend time with people who have the same hobbies as you. They understand exactly what kind of work goes it to it, and what you need to do, rather than looking at you like you are crazy when you have to go change in the ladies public rest room so that you can go shoot a second ensemble… Haha!  Thank you Harlow for being so cool!

xox,

bonita

Disclosure |  Daisy Jean Floral Designs and Lavender & Twill have partnered up this year to bring to you some amazing floral hair accessories! I bought the DJF hair flowers because I really like them, but I’m also excited to feature this wonderful Australian small business, and the pieces I buy are discounted as part of our agreement. (✿◠‿◠)

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage Straw Sailor Hat | Thrifted
Tiki Rose and Hibiscus Floral Hair Piece | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Cherry Agatha’s Orb Earrings | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Celluloid 1950’s Galloping Pink Pony Brooch | Oh La La
Vintage Pink Petal Silk Blouse | Thrifted
Spanish Senorita Circle Skirt | Oh La La
Fair Pink Jeanine Sandal | B.A.I.T.

༺ ♡ ༻

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༺ High Times at the QVB ༻

Um, too many photos. Too much good foods. Too many giggles! And gelatine…. Wayyyy too much gelatine…!

I want to leave the giant pile of pictures to do most of the talking, but the gist of the story is that we had high tea at the Queen Victoria Building on George St, in Sydney. The lovely Ellen from A Wild Tea Party hosted the event and we were a small, but definitely glamorous, party at the Tea Room in the stunning, historic QVB.

It was such a dazzling venue, there were pink crystal chandeliers on the ceiling! All the gold gilt and embossed features reminded me of the glittering palaces in Europe… We were even treated to dainty fine china ~ the Royal Albert Old Country Roses collection. A timeless tea set covered in roses and gold, which of course, I adored.  ﾟ:*✧❀❁❀✧*:ﾟ

~ All of the ladies around the table: AWildTeaParty, MissHarlowDarling, LadyLauraBell, CurveCreation, EmmaAime, LilaJeanVintage, Rozelle_Rose ~


~ The gluten free scones were the best I’ve ever tasted… Total food melt down here!  ~


~ A behind the scenes snap of our little walk that landed us at a church a block from the QVB; after we had finished up at the Tea Room. It was blogger chaos, dozen of pictures being taken, chatter and loads of selfies… Hilarious to see I’m sure!! #bloggerlife… : P ~

Everyone looked perfectly fabulous! We had a range of decades represented; from 1930’s elegance to early 1960’s Audrey Hepburn inspiration, and then of course, some gals were dressed in the ever popular 1940s and 1950s fashions.

~ All of our group together! There was definitely an unofficial red & black theme going on here, but somehow Ellen and I missed the memo! Haha! ~

I went for a 1950’s cocktail inspired look myself, as I had a very special piece of vintage that I’d been dying to wear out. ヾ(≧∇≦)ゞ Sometime ago an extraordinary hand painted, hand sequined, novelty print circle skirt arrived in the mail for me {that was a red-letter day I can tell you! Even my non-vintage friends who were over for coffee at the time could see that it was a unique piece of vintage; judging from my excited squeals over the parcel and how I simply had to try the skirt on straight away!!}, and I knew I needed a extraordinary occasion to wear it.

Skirts are one of those odd clothing designs that can look casual, even when they aren’t. This skirt definitely falls into the tricky spot of being a daytime special event piece. With all the bling, it’s definitely dressy, but being a separate tones down the special effect of the sequins…. If you can tone down sequins that is!

I could style it with a casual vibe to rock it to a vintage fair or something, but for it’s first official outing I was dying to glam it up. Therefore, it was an easy choice to pair it with the Collectif gold lurex top I’d purchased a while back, and once I added some more gold, beading, and rhinestones in the form of accessories, it really gave this ensemble the elegant feel I wanted for this amazing meetup.

My clear rhinestone decorated clutch, gold lurex gloves, beaded bow fascinator and burgundy fur shawl were all vintage finds that brought the perfect finishing touches to the outfit. The shoes were Betty Page, and arrived in the mail two days before the trip! Lucky last minute… Whew!  So between the breath-taking outfits on everyone, and the melting delicacies of the table, it’s a wonder we had anything to say at all…

Haha! Just kidding! I think we just about gabbed the whole time away without a second to spare!! In between the giggles, there were multitudes of pictures taken, as you can tell, but I’m going to pop in some more… Sorry, not sorry!

Let’s finish with the fun "polaroid" pictures, because every time Ellen and I try to take a serious photo together it usually dissolves into a fit of silliness.... So there’s also a gif of goofiness, brought to you by our fabulousness. You're welcome!  ₍^·͈༝·͈^₎◞♡

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Vintage Marigold Beaded Bow Fascinator | eBay
Vintage Fur Shawl | Round She Goes Market, 2015
Gold Lurex Top | Collectif
Vintage Gold Lurex Gloves | eBay
1950s Clear Clutch with Rhinestones | Oh La La
Glitter, Gleam & Glamour 1950s Novelty Circle Skirt | Oh La La
Gold Ruffle & Rhinestone Sling Backs | Betty Page

༺ ♡ ༻

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