The Rose Seidler House 50s Fair 2013

Well what a gorgeous day it was on Sunday - the weather was unseasonably warm and the sun was shining.  The perfect day for a Fifties Fair!

And you finally get to see a photo of me in the outfit I made!  I love it!!

My favourite bit is always the markets!  I buy most of my vintage online because there really isn't much available in my area, so being able to handle things before I buy them is nice.  Stalls range from nicely organised ones:

To ones that are a free for all rummage where there is so much stuff for sale its hard to see anything!

And there is all kinds of things for sale - fabrics, patterns, homewares, furniture, gorgeous clothing and accessories:

This dress was amazing, and if it fit me it would be hanging in my wardrobe right now, but it didn't.  Sigh!  The most amusing thing mum and I found all day was this:

Its a Spanking Stick!!!  Hilarious!!!

But I just know you want to see what I purchased!

This sweet little hat - lovely lolly pink with white flowers on the sides and a bow on the back

These lovely lilac earrings - they need a bit of a clean...

 4.5 metres of this vintage border print cotton... I see a full skirted dress in its future!

 And 4 metres of this fabulous vintage border print cotton by John Wolf Textiles in the palest of pinks.  Here is a close-up of the 'scene':

This seller had heaps of other fabrics, and I could have bought A LOT more (for a start there was a pink roses length the same as the blue roses), but unfortunately I did have a budget - sad face!

The gorgeous old house (which is a museum) is also open to view... but there are so many people that its really difficult to relax and take it in!

But how fabulous is this mural on the verandah!

In case you are wondering, when you go in the house you have to take your shoes off.  This may well be the only photo you will ever see with me in stockinged feet and no shoes.

On the road out the front of the house there are also lovely vintage cars!

Now, I did enter the best dressed competition, but I didn't make the cut.  This is no doubt due to the fact that my outfit wasn't all vintage (ie, I made my dress and bolero the week before, so its 'new').  But never mind!  Whilst it would have been a lovely fairytale to blog about if I won, it didn't happen.  I loved my outfit, I felt fabulous, and I received many compliments.

But that wasn't all I did on Sunday.  Mum and I left the fair at around lunch time and headed to a bar for a glass of champagne each and a lovely lunch, and then we headed in the direction of home, but stopped in at a race track to watch my husbands horse race in the last race of the day!

If you're wondering why the air is so dirty, they were doing a hazard burn in the area so this is smoke from a controlled bush fire.

The horse (Battle Street) drew an outside barrier and had a massive run up the outside to come fourth - but it was a great run and if there was 100 metres more he would have had them.

Anyway - Mum and I had a fabulous day.  I hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Beccie
xxx

The Outfit Emergency Continues...

... well its actually not an emergency any more, because the outfit is FINISHED!!!!

Yes, the dress was finished on Wednesday night (thanks to hubby and step-son being at rugby training, giving me extra sewing time) and I sewed the bolero last night from start to finish in two hours.

Yes, two hours.

I only made a tiny alteration to the pattern - the same one as the dress - which was to add half an inch to the side seam on the front and back pieces.  And from there it was a very simple sew, mainly due to the fact that there is no collar.  Who needs a collar on the bolero when there is such a fabulous one on the dress???

I'm really happy with the way this outfit turned out.  Especially considering it was a last minute sew.  I've decided I'm going to enter the best dressed competition at the fair, so you all need to cross your fingers for me!!!

I am already planning making this outfit again, and there will be things I will do differently (and I'll make sure I do a much more detailed post when I do).  But they will be very very minor alterations that you won't notice from the outside.

I'm going to make up another version in this fabric, to go with this hat!

This is obviously not me - I think its the Etsy seller I purchased the hat from.

This version will have a lilac satin bolero made with some lovely thick satin that I have in my stash.  I'm going to a ladies day at a race meeting in a couple of weeks and I thought having an enormous bunch of flowers on my head would be perfect for a spring outfit!!!

And due to the vintage fair (and a stallion parade at a thoroughbred stud that I'm attending with my father-in-law) there will be no sewing this weekend.  But never fear!  I'm going to have to fill you in on the goings-on at the Rose Seidler House Fifties Fair, so you WILL be hearing from me!

But if you can't wait until then, go on over to my Facebook Page because I'm sure to post something on there!

Till next week!

Beccie
xxx

Outfit Emergency!!!

This coming weekend is the Rose Seidler 50s Fair - the vintage festival I most look forward to every year.  I've been planning and collecting vintage bits and pieces for my outfit for a couple of months now - all inspired by this gorgeous vintage pagoda shaped parasol.

Isn't it magnificent - and in beautiful condition too!

So I trawled etsy and purchased all the pieces for an outfit that I thought would be wonderful.  Here is my 'mood board' for the outfit.

I bought a different hat, but everything else here now belongs to me

Now I LOVE the dress (I'm wearing it today actually) but its a very dark navy, and when I put the whole outfit on it just didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

Panic Stations!

Trying to get to sleep on Monday night I was obsessing about the whole thing and realised I *could* wear it, but I just wouldn't be happy, and its such a big event for me that I really want to be happy with what I wear.  So then my mind wandered to the vintage patterns that had just arrived that day, and I realised this one would be PERFECT!

And luckily for me Tuesday is my day off!  I made sure I was at Spotlight at 9am Tuesday morning so I could buy my supplies and get back home as quickly as possible to get started.  I also realised I was going to have to cut some corners to make this happen, but hey - I like being inventive!

The corner that I cut that most concerns me is not pre-washing my fabric.  I just didn't have time!  This dress will be very gently treated in the wash in future and I will have everything crossed that nothing goes wrong!  I'm sure you'll hear if there is a problem...

Anyway, I got the pattern out and did some measuring to see what I needed to do to make it fit - not much as it turns out!  What I would normally do is redraft the pattern piece to the correct size, but I didn't have time for that, so here is another corner cut:

Yes, I got out my chalk pencil and drew my adjustments directly onto the fabric!  All I needed to do was add half an inch to the bodice front and back pieces - simple!  I got cutting, and then I got sewing!

But of course I don't want to make things too easy for myself!  I decided to add some contrasting trims to the collar and the skirt so it wasn't just a navy blue dress.  Here are the finished collar pieces:

I did a bit of thinking before I did this part, because I needed a clean result that matched at the collar seam since it was going to be such a focal point.  Of course, you could attach the ribbon to the collar piece and then sew them together, but I have found that technique a bit of pot luck in the past, and really I was trying to do this as quickly as possible... so this is what I came up with!

I realised that if I matched them at the seams first the rest would be a piece of cake, so I sandwiched the lengths of ribbon in between the fabric pieces and then sewed the seam.  After that, I ironed the seam flat and stuck the ribbon trim pieces down in place, and sewed them!  TA-DA!!

Thats another corner I'm cutting, I'm using hemming tape in two different widths to stick down the trim before I sew it on.  Ideally it would all be hand sewn, but who's got time for that???

The first one took about twice as long as the second one (why is that?) but in record quick time I had them together and on the bodice.

Then it was on to the skirt!  When I bought the pattern it was pointed out by the seller that the pieces had been cut at the 'lengthen or shorten here' line and the pieces that were cut off were not included.  Not that this is a major issue, but I expected that I might have to lengthen the pieces, so I measured them.  They were cut to 31 inches and the perfect skirt length for me is 27-28 inches - HOORAY!

I started sewing all the pieces together and pinning the pleats (they are soft pleats so only need to be held down until they were sewed to the bodice).  I cut another corner at this point - I didn't do my normal seam treatments, I just cut them with pinking shears.  If it was good enough for home sewers in the 1950s, its good enough for me!

The skirt and the bodice sewed together in record time and the zipper went in without a drama.  I hemmed the skirt to my preferred length, and started putting the trim on the skirt.

You can tell when its getting late by the quality of the lighting in my photos!

This trim is all being stuck down with hemming tape too, and then it will be sewn, just like the collar.  I'm measuring the distance from the bottom trim and the hem, but the rest of it I'm doing by eye (my eye is reasonably accurate).  I haven't finished sticking the ribbon trim on yet, but I couldn't resist taking a photo to show you all!

I need to explain about the cream cotton satteen thats draped over the shoulders.  It is going to be a bolero, but I haven't started it yet, so I just draped the fabric for illustrative purposes.  The reason I chose cream is because of the light colour on the parasol AND the lining and fold-over bits of my basket purse.  Besides that, it also makes the collar really stand out!

And here's another photo of my accessories - I'm so in love with all of them!

And in case you were wondering, the bangles are bakelite.  I've discovered a seller on Etsy that polishes bakelite, removing patina to take it back to its original colour.  Seriously, I've never seen anything like it!  Go and check out Brighter Bakelite!!

So tonight, I hope to finish sticking the ribbon trim on and then sew it down, and then finish the arm holes with bias.  If that all happens with a minimum of fuss and bother, I'll start on the bolero!

Wish me luck!!!

Beccie
xxx

UPDATE!

This is for Doris Button and anyone else who'd like to know what hat I'm wearing with my outfit.  I bought this one, which REALLY needs a good steam before the weekend.  I'll add that to my list of things I need to do!

 

Rose Seidler House 50s Fair 2012

So, all that frantic sewing of the coat and the matching dress was because the Rose Seidler House 50s Fair was coming up and I wanted to wear my new outfit to the fair.  You see, the original coat I made 12 months ago made its debut at the same fair in 2011, and I thought it would be fitting for the red coat to have its first outing at the same place 12 months later.

However, a wonderful spanner was thrown in the works by one Pia Andersen, who I've met recently.  She asked me to model in the vintage fashion parades on the day - and who says no to that kind of opportunity!  Not me thats for sure!

Rose Seidler House was built in 1948-50 by internationally renowned architect Harry Seidler for his parents Rose and Max.  It is located north of Sydney on a large estate of natural bushland.  The house, contents and grounds have been carefully restored to the original 1950 look and are now a museum owned by the Historic Houses Trust.  You can read more about it here.

 

Rose Seidler House

 A photo of the house from 1951

There were three parades during the day - Sunday Best, Swimwear, and Cocktail and Evening Wear.

 

Sunday Best - thats me on the left

Entire outfit owned by Pia Anderson (jealous!), photo by Louise Whelan 

Swimwear - my vintage suit, Pia's bangles and glasses

Photo by Brent Wilson 

 

Evening Wear (thats me on the right) and the whole outfit IS MINE!!!

Photo by Louise Whelan 

Well, all mine apart from the fabulous rings - they are Pia's

Photo by Louise Whelan

As part of the parades we would rove through the crowd for half an hour after each turn on stage.  The six other models and I would split into groups and just walk around, having our photo taken umpteen million times by everyone that wanted to take one.

This all meant that I got very little time to put on my outfit and shop in the vintage market!  I only really wanted fabric or patterns or buttons... or some bakelite bracelets.  But, thank goodness - I did get a little bit of shopping done - and this is what I bought:

I may never refer to this... but you never know!  

And it was only $10... I saw the same thing selling on etsy the other day for $48!!!

These fabulous buttons - I love vintage buttons!

These AHHH-MAZING buttons!

 I love this dress pattern - the shoulder detail is fabulous

The original mail order envelope is gone though, and I can't find a brand name anywhere.  It does look like an Anne Adams or a Marian Martin by the illustration.  Anyone know?

This looks to be a jumpsuit!  And the label is a small Australian pattern house from the 50s.  I bought it because its a bit of an oddity - I will probably never make it up.  I don't think jumpsuits are my thing...

I'm always searching for a nice blouse pattern and this one has enough detail to be interesting, but not too much that its painful to sew.

And this peignoir and robe pattern - so beautiful!

Its amazing what you can find in half an hour!  Rose Seidler House 50's fair is a fabulous vintage day out.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

Beccie
xxx

Do you impose sewing deadlines???

Have any of you sewn under a self imposed deadline?  I seem to do it to myself all the time, and I'm not a good boss!

My most recent deadline was to sew a dress to accompany my new red coat.  And the deadline is due to the event that was on on Sunday.

The Rose Seidler 50s Fair is a wonderful, annual, purely vintage festival in Sydney (more on this later on in the week - its worth the wait!), and funnily enough the original coat that I've been re-visiting was worn for the first time at this event last year.  So of course I wanted to finish my outfit to wear to the same event!

But that meant sewing a whole dress, from start to finish, in one day.

ONE DAY.

And of course I didn't make my job any easier by choosing a pattern that I'd used before, or even one pattern for that matter.  No, I decided to use a modern pattern for the bodice that I then modified, and a vintage pattern for the skirt.

Here is the pattern I decided to use... version C

Version C has a cross over bust detail with pleats in a style that I always like, and cute little cap sleeves.  I decided to modify the pattern so it had a V back instead of the rounded neck back - easy!

But wait - I haven't talked about my fabric yet!

Now, regular readers will know about my love of matchy-matchy, so therefore I adore the idea matching coat linings to dresses like this:

Maximum Matchy-Matchy!

So with the opportunity in front of me, how could I resist making myself a dress out of red polka dot satin!!!

Right, so because my fabric is satin and therefore flimsy, I decided to interline the bodice with a light cotton to give it some... robustness for want of a better word.  The bodice goes together in two separate sections that look like this:

The fronts at the front, the backs at the back

It was a fairly straight-forward sew to this point even though I had an extra thickness of fabric, but this is where it started to go off track.

I put the bodice on my dress form and noticed that the front section fell straight down from the boobs, rather than curving under the boobs.  So I added a dart so there was some shape:

 I'd say the pattern was drafted for people with small boobs...

Then there was the issue with the cap sleeves.  As per the pattern illustration (which lie - as previously established) I expected the sleeve to be angled downwards, but no:

 

Wing sleeves = yuck! 

And due to the fact that the sleeve is inserted with the lining in a single step (its then turned through to create one single piece for each side - really easy construction!) I was not going to unpick the thing and start again... so I decided to fix it like this:

 

See the little tuck with the pin?  I replaced the pin with a couple of stitches

So then it came time to attach the skirt, and due to the fact that I cut it out in a hurry (ie, minimum measuring maximum guessing) and had added darts to the bodice, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it fitted perfectly AND the bodice darts matched a seam on the front of the skirt!!!  Total fluke!!!

 

A very happy coincidence! 

And then I sat up half the night re-hemming the coat (did a crap job the first time), sewing on buttons, and doing some handsewing on the dress.  And I did it, I got there, I made a dress in a day!!!

And here it is - the moment you've all been waiting for - THE UNVEILING OF THE WHOLE OUTFIT!!!

Yep, I went with the lips buttons, even though they got the least number of votes!

And the coat does have large shoulders, and I've put shoulder pads in, but I'm thinking that the ones I've used were too flimsy and it needs heavy duty ones...

I just love the shape of this coat, its really feminine, and I love the bigger collar

Matchy-matchy!

This is so cute I could die!

And how AHHHMAZING is the handbag!!!

I like the V back much better than the rounded neck look

So, what does everyone think?  I love it, and the dress is really comfy and the satin suprisingly doesn't crush easily!  Hooray!!  

Now to decide on my next project... hmmmm.....

Beccie

xxx