September 2nd, 2010
September is one of my favorite months: the seasons change, weather (hopefully!) starts to cool off, and the slightly shorter days turns my thoughts to the myriad of new outfits and projects that come with autumn. So what better time to check out the array of wares my returning sponsors are offering right now? A warm welcome to all returning (and new–be sure to check out the sidebar for their ads!) sponsors this month!
[ alice in wonderland bunny belt + black lace bird buckle. ]
As you already know, I am a fan of Cassie’s wonderfully imaginative and whimsical belt buckles. She has quite a few in autumnal hues that would be gorgeous belting a comfy cabled sweater or tweed suit jacket, or maybe over top a plaid dress! Be sure to check out her shop for more equally adorable buckles!
[ te amo charm necklace + gray and crystal earrings. ]
I’m in love with these metallic pieces that Paige crafted for her shop, Little White Chapel! Both would be perfectly at home in any autumn outfit–especially to add a little pop of sparkle to dark, rich colors. Be sure to check out her shop for more beautiful accessories for everyday or special occasion glamor.
[ 1960s silk suit + vintage rococo cameo brooch. ]
Karen has gathered up some more gorgeous vintage pieces for her shop! Many of which are perfect for this time of year. Lots of rich colors, plaids and heavier fabrics, all of the deliciously vintage variety await you in the Small Earth Vintage shop…
[ 30s hooded jacket in two lengths + 50s slim pant and boxy top. ]
I don’t know about you, but part of my autumn daydreams have centered around what I can sew for the new season. Tina has a wide array of vintage patterns perfect for creating some new wardrobe additions. Be sure to stop by the What-I-Found shop for patterns from the 1920s forward!
A big thank you to all the lovely shops that advertise here on Elegant Musings! If you’d like to inquire about advertising your small business, please see the sponsor information page.
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Posted to: sponsor. | 1 lovely thought
September 1st, 2010
As requested, here are the instructions from the 1954 booklet I used to make my circle skirt a couple weeks ago. What I really like about this particular set of instructions, besides the construction details being quite polished and result in a lovely finished piece, is that the waist opening differs from most circle skirts. The cut-out for the waist isn’t a perfect circle–more like an oval, resulting in the skirt hanging from the waist a bit differently (and in my opinion, somewhat more flattering). I hope you all will enjoy this set of instructions and ideas–circle skirts are super easy and great for the beginner sewist to tackle! I could see these being perfect for the upcoming autumn too in a a cozy corduroy or wool flannel… Plus the embellishment possibilities are endless! (Be sure to scroll to the end of this post for a smattering of ideas.) Enjoy!
[ click any of the images for a larger view. ]
Below is some inspiration for embellishing circle skirts. In addition to these, I’ve see everything from hand painted motifs like bows and florals, to appliqued felt sea creatures (really!). So as you can see, the sky is the limit!
[ images courtesy My Vintage Vogue ]
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Posted to: tutorial, vintage sewing. | 15 lovely thoughts
August 31st, 2010
- vintage-esque blouse: thrifted
- jeans: owned too long to remember!
- scarf: thrifted
- shoes: Remix Vintage
- bracelet: Forever 21
- 40s Navy “sweetheart” pin: gift
Though the weather is far from appropriate (or maybe it’s just my outfit that isn’t?), I was suddenly struck with the desire to pull out my jeans last weekend. Now, this is highly unusual: not only am I decidedly more of a skirt-type, but I also rather hate my sole pair of jeans (2+ years old and in sad need of replacement. Yes, I’m planning on just making or buying a pair of 40s/50s style jeans this fall!) which also happen to be skinny jeans (quite possibly my least-favorite style. Don’t ask me why I bought them–I think I was desperate and these were the only ones that remotely fit my curvy backside at the time.). But, aside from that, I really wanted to go around Saturday with my jeans rolled and wearing the tropical shirt I thrifted earlier this summer. Some kind of pseudo-rockabilly/1950s look, I guess (also unusual for me–hmm… do we sense a pattern?), I think it can be attributed to watching this adorable video that Rachel posted. Anyway, it turned out to be an incredibly comfortable outfit–and I ended up wearing it *ahem* three days in a row (though I switched the shirt out). Oddly enough, it also prompted a large number of people to ask whether I was a model? Which was a bit mystifying, seeing as I do not have model proportions (don’t let the photos fool ya!), but I can only attribute their reactions to the coolness of the faux bang and headscarf–obviously it blinds people with it’s awesomeness. haha!
[ being silly! more pictures here, if you'd like to look. ]
Hope you all are having a lovely Tuesday! I’m planning on uploading the circle skirt instructions I mentioned a couple weeks ago tomorrow, so stay tuned…
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Posted to: outfits. | 22 lovely thoughts
August 30th, 2010
Hello everyone! How was your weekend? It’s good to be back in the blogging world–I missed you all and writing posts quite a bit! I didn’t get as many projects done as I had hoped (mostly due to my slightly unrealistic expectations about how much I can accomplish in a 24 hour period!), but I did end up having some time to just refocus on the why of my creative processes. It was wonderfully refreshing to be able to gain a bit of perspective about why I had been feeling a bit apathetic in the creative/projects department lately. I also was able to get some planning done on my fall sewing list! But more about that a bit later… I’m just excited to returning to blogging this week–I have a bunch of new ideas for posts and such. Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and emails throughout the week–knowing that I was missed was rather sweet!
So for this week’s scans, I have a smattering of coats from 1944. I know–it’s far too warm and early to even really start thinking about such things, but I decided to participate in Gertie’s Lady Grey Jacket sew along, and have been scoping out ideas for my version of the Lady Grey pattern. So of course I flipped open the Sears catalog to take a peek for inspiration! I think what I love most are some of the lovely colors that coats were available in–the light blue is especially catching my eye! Hope you enjoy looking through these as much as I did!
I love these topper style jackets.
Check out some of the details on these, like trapunto quilting.
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Posted to: 1940s, vintage inspiration. | 11 lovely thoughts
August 22nd, 2010
[ please click the image to view the sources for these inspiring images! ]
Hello everyone! I hope you’ve been having a good weekend. I wanted to not only post this week’s links and Flickr collage, but also a little note. After much contemplation (I always feel like Pooh Bear sitting around with my arm’s crossed over my tummy and thinking hard. lol.), I decided to take a bit of a blogging break. The end of summer (at least in the calender sense) is nearing, and I think I could use a bit of a general internet and blogging vacation. If nothing else I want to spend some serious time working on the miles long list of projects I wanted to work on, but haven’t (yes, this is partly my own fault for not ignoring the internet more and making things happen! Need to brush up on making some good internet habits again–I got lazy over the summer!). I also want to spend some time thinking about the direction of my blogging and exploring some ideas I have. I’ll still be checking my feed reader and email once-a-day, and probably fill up the Tumblr queue this evening before I “officially” sign off (and I might be found lurking around Twitter). I’m hoping for a super productive time away filled with projects, forming some new plans for this blog, and listening to lots of music and podcasts to fill my ears and re-inspire me. I’ll only be gone for a week though–just enough time to take a breather and get my head on straight about ideas and directions again!
- I’ve been meaning to write something on the topic of working with vintage patterns for awhile, but hte New Vintage Lady put it far more eloquently than I could have!
- I’m itching to make myself a big, luscious bouquet of these coffee filter flowers.
- I read about half scale design years ago in Threads and was delighted to see a recent post about just that!
- This post on the idea of our bodies being “good”–in the sense that they’re what we’ve been given–is just what I needed this week.
- Could anything be better than a knit sailor scarf?! { via }
- I love these whimsical children’s book illustrations from 1914 that Francesca shared!
- This post by Sarah on trying to take her cat for a walk is hilarious!!!
See you all in a week!!!
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Posted to: weekly inspiration. | 19 lovely thoughts
