Past Patterns #400 and our "Engagement Photoshoot"

As wedding planning and sewing is now in full swing, there has been little to no time for personal projects.

But, before everything was so hectic I threw together this blouse from Past Patterns 400.

It goes works really well with the skirt from "Western Emporium" that I was wearing in my engagement photos, not to mention, anything else I pair it with.

These photos were taken a few weeks after our engagement. We took a Sunday trip to my grandparent's farm to make introductions. My Handsome Fiancé seems to have made a lasting impression on my Grandmother, who has Alzheimer's. Every week since then, when my parents visit, she reminds them that if she were a bit younger she would give me a "Run for my money." lol!!


I consider this to be our "Engagement shoot" so do please enjoy the pictures!!

But What Was She Wearing?

Well now that we have the "Introductions" out of the way, I thought I would show off a few of our Engagement photos and talk a bit about my outfit. (Any questions about his attire, and I'm afraid you'll have to ask the man himself. ;)

Moments after we were "Official"

First off, I must explain that having started dating a fellow "Edwardian-at-Heart" I brought all of my early 20th century clothing back out to the front of my closet. I sadly found that some of my pieces had worn out, and some were just way too big, as I had lost quite a bit of weight.

I made the "Mistake" of lamenting that fact to Joshua, and that cunning devil went to one of his favorite online "Edwardian" stores and bought several outfits to update my wardrobe. (I was quite humbled to sat the least...) You'll have to ask him what store he went to, I don't think he ever told me..

Anyhoo! Back to the story...

When he first asked me to go on this "Photoshoot" I knew I would have to come up with something fancy and "New." I decided, as I only had a couple weeks, that I would simply put together a new shirtwaist. I had two options in mind, one of which would mean buying a pattern, the other I already had.  I did end up ordering the pattern, but as it didn't arrive until a few days before we went, my choice was made for me.

 

 

My second choice was Folkwear's "Gibson Girl" blouse. I had made it up several times before, so it was a breeze to put together. It ended up being the better option with it's 3/4 sleeves as the day ended up being quite a scorcher...

 

To switch it up a bit from the other times I had made it, I decided to add a wide ruffle to the cuff. I forgot to compensate for that and did end up having to cut the sleeve down a few inches and re-set it.

I then added some simple "Cornflower" blue embroidery to the yoke. It's from an original period design, but as I can't remember where online I found it, I won't be posting the picture.

The skirt is from a company called "Frontier Classics" and though I don't know where you could find that brand name, I will highly recommend it! The skirt is extremely well made from a sturdy cotton. I'm sure it will last me for years!

 

I think the hat is my favorite part of this ensemble. It was also part of the aforementioned "Gift" but it was vintage from Etsy. Though I would say it is certainly "Mid- century" being a basic "Boater" it works. Sadly, it was in rather "Vintage" condition, and was dull and dirty. The original sad velvet band was completely worn out.

 

Once it was cleaned and set back into shape, it quickly re-gained it's sparkle. I took inspiration, when it came to the décor, from original fashion plate images.  Though I didn't follow any one in particular, I did remember this "Layered bow" effect from one image. The flowers came from Joann's. I had used the "Ranunculus" on another hat project I had done several years ago, so I went back on purpose for more. Once I saw the cornflowers though, I couldn't pass them up! ("Cornflower" just so happens to be Joshua's nickname for me.... long story) I then added the "Baby's breath" as an accent. I think it almost has a "Mary Poppins" feel to it now.


From here I think I'll just let you enjoy the rest of our engagement pictures. (If you are visiting from Facebook, there are plenty here that didn't end up getting posted... oops..)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until Next time!

Meggie 

Reason for Radio Silence

I have been trying for almost two months now, to put into words the joys that have been bestowed upon me this summer.


I had almost given up. It's just beyond words! 

Earlier this year, Through my Etsy shop, I was introduced to the son of one of my schoolteachers. A fellow Edwardian, and a former navy officer, among many other things. As much as I was trying to avoid talking to a "Stranger" online, I couldn't help it, He was so interesting! We talked about the Edwardian house he had just bought in a nearby town, The research involved in the novel he was writing about the last Czar of Russia, OH! And Sherlock Holmes.

One day, in mid May, he stopped by our business. If you know me at all, you know I'm not a "Cliché" type person, and I try to avoid them at all costs, so when I say it was "Love at first sight" I mean it. Though at the time I had no idea.

Since then we've both come to realize that God has been working throughout our entire lives to prepare us for each other. We have walked side by side for many years, and how we were able to go that long and not meet I'll never know.

On September first we made a trip to "Biltmore Estate" in North Carolina for a "Photo Shoot" in full Edwardian style. We supposedly had a "Set Time" to get into the house and as we arrived a little early Joshua wanted to stop and "Look at the Horses."

I saw, but didn't take much notice that the attendants in the stable were hitching up a Victoria style carriage. A few minutes later as we were walking back towards the parking lot, one of the attendants stopped us. She informed us that the couple who had ordered the ride had not shown up, and they had been unable to contact them. She stated that it was a shame as they were now hitched up and had paid the driver. She said it was all already paid for, would we like to take the ride?

I gave Joshua a look and he readily agreed. For almost over an hour they had me fooled, for as we topped a hill overlooking the house, and paused for a "Photo op" this happened.

Of course I said, "YES!"


I am eagerly looking forward to this new "Epoch" in my life and will try to post more pictures and  things in the coming weeks. Though, things are really beginning to get busy as we have set a date for February. (Apparently one is supposed to take a year or more to plan an event such as this... go figure!)

Until next time!
Meggie

A New Endeavor

You may remember my Post at Christmastime about the medieval dress I made for Brianna. I recently posted those pictures onto an SCA garb for sale page and have started selling custom Tunic dresses. :D

Have a look!

 

What do you think?

 

They are mostly, if not completely hand sewn and are made of a linen blend material.

 

If you are interested, please comment here, or on my Facebook page!

You'll be the Grandest Lady...

...In the Easter Parade!

Easter has Now come and gone, and with it I my finished Sew for Victory Dress!! I used a 1940's Vintage Simplicity pattern #4102

It took me a while to finish because it spent a lot of time simply languishing on my dress form. lol!

In all I think I worked on it for a totally of two days.

 

That brings me to the only problem I had with this dress. I cut it out before lent making sure to add enough to the pattern for it to be my size.

 

My church does not participate in lent, but this year I decided to try it, for health and religious reasons. Before it began I tried to think what would be the hardest thing to give up. The obvious was processed sugar, the second was cheese. I get odd looks when I say cheese, what possible health purpose could that serve? Well that was more religious, in that it would be hardest to give up, as I put cheese on absolutely everything! My go- to snack was a quick cheese quesadilla, I put it on Baked potatoes, soups and chili, and yes, even my soup beans! So yes it was very hard to give up!

 

But anyways there is a point to this, I lost a total of 15 lbs over the course of this month and a half! So needless to say I didn't need those extra inches by the time I actually sewed this dress up.  

 

So it ended up being very fiddly in that regard, and I had to do several re-adjustments to get it to fit right, and even now it's a bit large in the bodice. 

 

So to create a bit of illusion with the bodice, I added this "V" of ric-rac down the front and back. Not to mention what's scattered in various places around the dress.  

 

I absolutely loved working with this pattern though, it went together perfectly! It was very straightforward and easy to follow. I would recommend that you have some sewing experience as this pattern is unprinted. 

 

Now for the fun bit! I love messing about with photos and making them look like they came from the era I'm dressed in. So here are some that I have transformed into old photos. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!!

 

PS. These photos were taken on my Grandparent's farm, isn't it gorgeous up there??

Oh How "Pinteresting"

Hi!

My name is Megan, and I am a Pinterest Addict.

Haha!

But it's true! How easy it is to wile away the hours searching for that next bit of inspiration.

Pinterest has become an important commodity for me, when looking for ideas that are historically correct, or trying to remember that recipe I saw the other day.

I'd like to start a weekly series on some of the things I've pinned. Starting today!

Here are a few things I've pinned this week!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605783426/

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605764679/

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605749111/

 

A trio of pink!

 

Top is a silk taffeta dress from 1915- 1917

 

Middle is a sumptuous Edwardian tea gown from around 1900

 

Bottom is a young girl's dress from 1904

 

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605742456/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605779339/

 

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605729849/

 

Next up a bit of vintage,

 

 Top is an adorable Sailor Dress by  Norman Norell from 1954 (I'm a sucker for the sailor style)

 

Next is a side button 1940's dress from Etsy.

 

And lastly a vintage (style?) Embroidery pattern.

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605764663/

 

 

A bit of SCA life, this is (until this  past weekend.) The queen of Meridies, My Kingdom. I was tickled to see a picture of Queen Amber pop up on my dashboard. Not to mention the gorgeous detail on her Viking outfit.

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605595682/

 

Lastly, 14th century falconry, which I'm fascinated by. I like to take not of things like the belled sleeves on her surcote, and the train on her cotehardie. Rather fancy to be holding a dead duck, eh?

 

So there's a beginning of "My life on Pinterest"

 

What do you like to pin?

 

PS! there are only a few days left to enter the Giveaway! Please hurry and don't miss this opportunity!!

 

Disclaimer; I do not own any of these photos, they are simply something that I saw on pinterest. If you do not want me displaying them, please simply ask and I will take it down immediately. Also, I have linked back to my pin, if the link is broken, and you know where it belongs, I will fix it.

I Could Write a Sonnet GIVEAWAY!

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the Reveal of the Giveaway prize!

I can't believe it took me a week to get it together! You see, I had quite a few hick-ups in being able to get things together, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I have decided to give away this handmade vintage style Newborn Baby bonnet!

It didn't take me long to decide to make a bonnet, it's just everything that came up in between that was aggravating. Moments after I announced on my Facebook  page that I would be hosting this giveaway, my Mother became ill and ended up spending the weekend at the Hospital. All is well now, but it took a while for life to settle back to normal.

\

 

 

I started off by grabbing McCall's 4865 from my stash. You would think that, being McCall's, that everything would be straight forward and come together easily.... no...

 

I cut out a newborn size and gave it a large seam allowance.. and ended up with something big enough to fit my 2 year old Niece..  

 

I pondered for a day or so on what to do next, when I remembered I had Vintage Simplicity 2656 in my stash as well.

 

 

This pattern was a joy to work with! And it came together like a dream!

 

It is modeled here by my favourite baby doll when I was little, who's name was changed so many times I can't remember what it was. Chrissy, I think... She used to coo and cry, wake and sleep, but alas no more.. :(

 

 The dress she is wearing is one I made last year that won a blue ribbon in my local county fair. The dress is NOT part of the giveaway, just the bonnet.

The bonnet is mostly hand sewn with white hand embroidery across the band. The embroidery is based on a vintage pattern I found through Pinterest.

 It is made in Newborn size and gathers at the back in a sweet little padded "Button" There are ribbon ties that can be tied in a bow under the chin.

 To enter, simply follow the instruction in the "Widget" below!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sew for Victory Challenge

I have decided to join in on the "Sew for Victory" Challenge as can be found on Lucky Lucille's Blog. (Click the image below)

 



Basically I'm simply to sew something from the 1940's.

I have chosen this pattern and fabric. Now to just figure out which of the views to do! I bought it for the square neck, but I love the sweetheart too!

What do you think?

PS. For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, There will be a "50 Likes!" Giveaway coming up soon! I just have to get everything together and I've had a few hick-ups along the way, but will soon have them resolved and ready to go. So keep an eye out!!

Spring Has Sprung!

It's been rather a long time since I've been in the mood to sew for myself, but lately I've been watching a lot of Old movies and I just couldn't help but catch the bug again.

I wanted to put a little bit of spring in my wardrobe, so I went with this sleeveless number, a 50's  mail order pattern that I picked up on Etsy.

 

I had to expand the pattern quite a bit, as always, since I will never have a 28" waist... And while trying to save money I ended up buying only 2 1/2 yards  of fabric instead of 3. So I did make quite a few mistakes, but in the end they didn't even matter!

 

To dress things up a bit I put just a few lazy daisies on the collar. The greenery was done with satin and stem stitch, and the centers of the flowers are French knots.

 Hat: Vintage 50's - 60's , a gift from my sister.

Shoes: Payless, old standbys, I've had them for years.

Belt: Tractor supply

Necklace: Vintage 80's- 90's, costume pearls were my mom's.

This dress has to be one of my favourites that I've made. And I'll definitely be making this pattern again.