Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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??

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

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/215961744605783426/
 
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/215961744605764679/
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.