Lavender & Twill : September 2016

How quickly the spring brings blossoms to bud! All the trees are bursting with glorious colour, although our fickle Canberra weather likes to remind us every other day that winter is not quite ready to say goodbye just yet ~ we are still enjoying occasional days of glorious sun. I am also particularly enjoying the posies of dainty flowers peeping their shy heads up all over the place. They are welcoming the warmth of the sun, and so are we! (✿◡‿◡)੭✧*｡

It was fitting that the first weekend of September was a busy one of celebrations ~ I decided to sew up a celebrating~spring~and~blossoming~things skirt, and wear it to the parties we were attending, two in one afternoon. Whew!

I went with Butterick 5926, a vintage pattern I hadn’t sewn up before. I’m not actually sure what drew me to pick this pattern, but I think it was the slender, late1940’s look about about, and the patch pockets! {I found out later that it was from 1951 ~ so not actually 40s, but close enough for me. (⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)} This is my second make for the Vintage Pattern Pledge 2016, and I’m so glad it went smoothly.

~ See? The best ~ patch pockets!! Also, isn’t the blouse perfectly dreamy? The pattern for that wasn’t included, but I sure wish it was! ~

I was actually a little surprised that the skirt went together so easily, but it was a total relief to me as you might remember that my last Butterick make was an absolute disaster{I wanted to burn that dress for those that don’t know}!

I added extra inches to the pattern pieces when cutting it out, as my pattern was a touch too small. It was a lazy hack, and not very scientific to eyeball it like that, but it worked out beautifully. It’s a simple make, but one that made me so happy when I put it on that I think it’s become an instant favourite. My inner little girl gave a squee and a spin when I felt it fluttering delicately about. I just love that feeling, and bias cuts do it so well!

Then I got to give the skirt a perfect first outing, as we had a picnic lunch and after that, a birthday dance to attend. Let me tell you, it’s a lovely dancing skirt. We danced some fantastic historical dances {my favourite ~ along with Scottish and bush dances!} and it spun and twirled just like you want.

I kind of had this vision of pairing it with a white peasant blouse and large straw hat, only to find on the day that I didn’t really have the right white top to go with it. But this peach one worked perfectly, so I decided that would do. I’m glad it did go so well, as I feel the different tone adds an interesting dimension to the ensemble. Plus, I get to save the white top idea for another day, so you know… ✧٩(•́⌄ - ́๑)

~ Project Details ~

Year: 1951
Pattern: Vintage Butterick 5926 {there has since been a different release with this same number for a jacket pattern}
Fabric: 2 and a half-ish meters of thrifted poly-cotton sheet.
Notions: One pastel pink pearlescent button, and a pink zip
Time to complete: Two days-ish. I cut my fabric on Thursday afternoon, sewed it up Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon & evening, and finished handpicking the hem Sunday morning.
Make again? I definitely think so ~ this skirt is cut on the bias, and I really love how it moves. It’s not the fullest skirt ever, which means it’s economical on fabric, but the cut is fluttery enough to make my wanna-be princess self super happy. Plus, giant pockets forever. ❤︎꒰ ॢꈍ◡ꈍ ॢ *꒱.*˚‧
Wear again? For sure! I’m super sad that I managed to mark it on it’s first outing so it’s going in the wash asap, and I can’t wait to try out variations of looks with it.
Total Cost: All from the stash, so totally free right?? Haha, no ~ ‘coz I paid for most of the stash items at some point! I think the sheet set would have been about $10.00 and the zipper $2.50. Considering I still have over half of the sheet fabric left, we will say maybe $5.50 in total?

xox,

bonita

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You all probably know by now how obsessed I am with hats…

So when my friend Tanith of Tanith Rowan Designs, a fabulous lady with a gift for the art of millinery, concocted the idea of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Hat, I didn’t think twice ~ I was there!

Last year I participated in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress by taking the sister frock for a twirl at an old stonework church, and that was so much fun that I couldn’t wait for the chance to take out ‘Adelaide’ for a spin.

This stunning confection of a chapeau is a tilt style of felt and white winter-ish berries, and with the architectural design of the hat, I knew a structured suit would really compliment this piece. I had grand plans to sew up a navy 1940’s ensemble, but then I thought perhaps I would do something different.

I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try ~ *gasp* a pencil skirt. (ᵒ̤̑ ◁ ᵒ̤̑)৹ᵍᵎᵎ This skirt is often known as a “wiggle” style as apposed to a “swing” or full circle skirt cut. As you might guess from the nickname, pencil skirts can often end up on the more “sexy” side of styles.

I will say that a sexy look not really something I really like to go for ~ I personally much prefer a modest style of dress and will tend to stay far away from anything that ventures too close to a sexy pinup style. But in saying that, I think the looser fit of this suit helped to keep it more vintage and less pinup for me, so I quite enjoyed wearing it in the end!

Despite the fact that I am definitely still a firm full circle skirt fan, I was really happy with how this ensemble came together. Particularly when pairing the suit with a vintage 50’s blouse that has this really cute bow belt detail at the waist.

And while I know that a red, white and blue often comes across as a patriotic “themed” outfit, I honestly didn’t think of that at all when I was composing the look. What can I say, I really love navy and red and white, and sometimes you just have to throw it altogether! (*• ᴗ ᵕ*)

I guess accidentally coming across as dressing to a theme really isn’t out of my comfort zone at all these days. It’s a bit hard to be worried about a colour scheme when my whole entire ensemble has a vintage theme! Haha.

Have you tried going out of your comfort zone with your style recently? Was your experiment a success? I think mine was! Even though I can’t see pencil skirts becoming a huge part of my wardrobe, I am interested to try other wiggle styles in the future ~ so here’s to trying new things!
╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩

xox,

bonita

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‘Adelaide’ 1940’s Inspired Tilt Hat | by Tanith Rowan Designs
Vintage 1950s Bow & Poppy Blouse | Vintage Pop Up Fair
Red Stone Beads | Lady’s Market, Hong Kong ‘08
Vintage 1940’s Ruched Rust Gloves | eBay
Vintage 60s Navy Suit {altered by me to look 50s} | eBay
Cherry Pop Box Bag | Lola Von Rose
Red Alert Heels | Old

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Pages

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: Cherry Bloom ༻

Thursday, September 15, 2016

༺ Tip To The Traveling Hat ༻