On Six Ideas for Vintage Decorating

For those who love vintage it is well known there are various degrees that people go to decorate their houses with vintage items. Some people live in time capsule houses where almost everything is vintage and others choose to decorate more subtly with a few things here and there. While I think it’s great if you have the ability to go full vintage, I personally fall into the later camp at this point, so to wrap up the month of May I wanted to share six ways for giving a room that special, yet subtle, vintage touch!

Coloring Books

I know, you’re probably thinking, “Coloring books, Inky? Aren’t those awfully thick?” Well, yes they are, but no I haven’t gone mad.  I’m talking about the ones that are closer to the thickness of a magazine and the very thin art books that would have been part of a series. These ones are great for framing! Plus, if you did want to frame a thicker coloring book, there are always shadow boxes. 

About a year ago this lovely flower coloring book crossed paths with me. It’s about magazine thinness and fit perfectly in a frameless frame (which, unfortunately, does not photograph well) . 

Sheet Music

A little more obvious along the lines of paper items is sheet music. There are a lot of great cover designs and even if you’re unable to get an original, there are a ton of covers ranging from very classic looking to downright bizarre you can find online and print.

1913 and 1909

These two I found in a library book sale about four years ago for 75¢ and love having them up on my walls!

Wind Chimes 

This is one of my favorite of vintage decorations. If you can find flat chime pieces you can hang them on your wall just like a picture with some extra pins/small nails to arrange the chime pieces so they aren't all in one lump. 

I had a relative who worked with company that sold wind chimes in the 60’s or 70’s and going through a box one day was delighted to come across these card suit chimes. They add a touch of whimsy to the wall, as well as being an alternative to something framed. 

Clip-on Earrings

Don’t wear your clip on earring because they pinch your ears, but still want to display them? Then clip them on your lampshade and you can enjoy them without the pinching! It’s also great if you have earring that have lost their match.

Please excuse the dust!

Folding Fans

You can find them with landscapes, flowers, animals, people, and cutouts, so why not put them on display like a piece of artwork?

My early 1960's fan has been propped up with thumb tacks (I would NEVER stick them through it) for about 11 years and I’ve only ever had to adjust it once to keep it from falling. However, mounting one in a shadow box would probably offer far better protection.

Record Albums

I adore having a record album frame! It allows one to display and enjoy some of one’s favorite album covers, as well as providing an option that could easily be changed out for something new dependent on the season or your likes.

A happy rabbit for spring.

101 Strings records are wonderful for framing.

Hope you enjoyed these ideas and will be able to give some of them a try in your own decorating! ♥

On “Nightingale Wood”: A Book Review

Title: Nightingale Wood

Author: Stella Gibbons

Genre: Romance, Comedy

About the book….

Viola, a common shop girl, married into the wealthy Withers family. Unfortunately, the death of her husband leaves her with no other option than to move in with her in-laws and join in the dreary world they inhabit. This world is about to change, though, when love strikes the Withers family and turns their world upside-down. Nightingale Wood was Stella Gibbons fifth book, first published 1938.

What I think… 

I tend to avoid romance books unless they’re classics, but having thoroughly enjoyed other things by Gibbons I thought I would give this a try. As the back of the cover states, it is a “Cinderella” type story with a modern twist in the 1930’s sense, which I liked about it. This made it a little predictable at times, but Gibbons has some delectable ways of making it her very own.

I love Gibbons’ witty way of writing and poking fun at British social structure and customs. The way the characters react to those of other classes, their expectations based on experience, and their attempts to keep and retaliate against social norms paints an interesting picture of the time and the changing attitudes that were occurring between generations.

Going off of that, another aspect I enjoyed about this book was the variation of the characters and how Gibbons chooses to portray them. You have just about every type of character type you could hope for: a sad and lovelorn widow, a chauffeur, loads of snobs, a miserly father-in-law, a thoughtful bookworm, a not so eligible bachelor, frustrated daughters, a hermit, a washerwoman (mother of the chauffeur)…just name a character type you’d expect to find in a rural romance and you’ll find them. The multiple plot lines that focus in on different characters and the third person narrator’s occasional quips only helps to make them all the more charming and delightfully human.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with this as a whole. For some strange reason, I started reading this with the impression that it was going to be more similar to Cold Comfort Farm (in some aspects it was, but then again, I would have been irritated if it had been almost the same), which made it difficult for me to get into. I don’t think I was in the right sort of mood to read this when I started it, so I stopped reading it, read something else, and then came back to it to find I enjoyed it much more.

  

To sum it all up…

Not a book I would consider my most favorite, but worth a read if you’re looking for a light weight romance that was written and takes place in the 1930’s and definitely if you’re a fan of Stella Gibbons.♥

On (Finally) Finishing My Overalls

My overalls from the Wearing History pattern are finally finished and I’m so happy with them!

These turned out to be a more challenging project than I expected. First, I experienced problems with the trouser waistline being bigger than the waistband. While this happened when I made my muslin, I just brushed it off thinking it was because I hadn’t been overly concerned with making perfect darts/tucks on the trouser pieces…last time I make that sort of assumption! As this was my first time using a pdf pattern, I either managed to print it on the wrong setting or, more likely, pieced it together wrong. To fix this I ended up having to take both side seams in a ¼ of an inch and adjust the darts a little.

With an old straw hat I'd fit in quite nicely at Sunnybrook Farm.

I also had an issue with the back bodice not fitting against my back and pulling outward to create a gap, which was something I expected. I eyeballed the measurement for two darts going downward from the top and it miraculously worked out perfectly.

A few inches to the left and right of the straps you can see the two darts, which I top stitched for some reason

I found some lovely blue fabric for the pocket lining. (I bought more for a matching blouse!)

And here are my beautiful (and some not so beautiful) button holes on the side. I had the dilemma of being one button short for the ones I wanted to use, so I ended up finding these on Etsy and have plenty more left to use on something else.   

These overalls are probably one of the most comfortable things I have made so far and I know that in cooler weather I’ll be wearing them often. Plus they’re perfect for pie baking!

 

♥♥♥

On a Pretty Blue Skirt and a Bag to Match

Last week while waiting for the buttons for my overalls to arrive in the mail (I am VERY ready to be done with them), I decided it was time to use up some fabric I’ve had sitting around for awhile.

This print makes me unbelievably happy!

In order to keep the print going in one direction and to avoid having to do too much matching, I chose the gathered skirt from McCall 3829, which I had made once before. It's not exactly my favorite pattern since I have an aversion to gathering, but it is one that is really quick to make and it turned out to be perfect for this.    

Originally, when I bought it I had thought to make a dress, but I’m extremely glad that I didn’t because matching up the print on the fabric was quite a challenge and that was only for three seams! Overall, I think I spent more time on this skirt trying to make sure the print matched up or was even when I was ironing the waistband and hem.

I even managed to make it match on the lapped zipper!

Having made the skirt, I then realized that neither of the blue hued bags I had would go with it and since I was in such a sewing mood figured why not make a matching bag.

It’s been awhile since I’ve made a bag and as a result I went a little bit crazy with the embellishment using both bias tape and ric rac for the pockets, as well as adding a pocket with a flap (it still needs a red button).

I really love the way both the skirt and bag turned out and it was certainly nice to sew two things in a week! Now if only I could finish up those overalls...

♥♥♥

On It’s Alice in Wonderland Day!

For those who are fans of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a very happy Alice in Wonderland Day to you! Today marks the birthday of the real Alice, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, as well as the day the story takes place. In honor of this, I decided a post dedicated to some of the Alice themed sewing I’ve done over the years was in order.

 

A little Wonderland whimsy

 About 3 years ago, I came across some Alice in Wonderland patterns on another blog from the November 1965 edition of Woman’s Day and, while I prefer not to use patterns when making stuffed animals, I knew that I had to get my hands on this magazine. In one of those rare cases where you find exactly what you’re looking for and at a reasonable price, I was able to find a copy and shortly after it arrived in the mail I set about making Alice. 

There was a lot more to making her than I expected based on the fact that in addition to her dress, pinafore, and shoes, she also has a petticoat and underpants. I had a lot of fun learning about the construction of doll clothes, though! 

A few months after, I decided to make the Dormouse. Instead of using the dark orange velveteen as recommended, I went with orange flannel. I’m a little regretful of this decision as he’s awfully…orange. I kind of wish I would have chosen brown, but I do love him despite his orange-ness, and he lives atop a bookshelf in my bedroom.

 

"The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze..."

Finally, there’s my White Rabbit and my “Eat Me” pillow (see first picture). The White Rabbit I made about seven years ago. I didn’t have a pattern, so I made my own based off of the John Tenniel illustration of him and sewed him entirely by hand. Of all the stuffed animals I’ve made he is probably my favorite.  A year later I made the pillow to look like one of the cakes Alice eats in chapter one. 

And thus concludes some of the Wonderland sewing I’ve done so far! For some reason I never made the Hatter or the March Hare from the magazine and there are a couple of other things I began and never finished, but I think it’s about time I started thinking about them again! ♥