On "Highland Fling": A Book Review

Title: Highland Fling
Author: Nancy Mitford
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, Romance

About the book...
Written in 1931 by Nancy Mitford, Highland Fling presents the world of English aristocracy with a comical twist. When the Sally and Walter Monteath are invited to host a hunting party at Sally's aunt and uncle's Scottish castle, they view it as a great way to escape from their financial troubles and be economical. Along with friends Albert Gates and Jane Dacre, they soon find themselves surround by the "stuffy" older generation and the traditions they hold so dear.

What I think...
I was expecting to like this book a great deal more than I did. This isn't to say I disliked it, but it just wasn't the right choice for me.

On the negative side, parts of it carried on for a bit longer than I cared for. It also was a much more up and down sort of story as far as the way it carried out than I generally prefer.  Having been in a dismal mood lately, the frivolity of the characters annoyed me at points, as did the way they overreacted to things (I know this book is supposed to be poking fun at the aristocracy, it just wasn't as funny to me in this case).  

That being said, there are still a handful of things that I did like about it. Mitford presents a wide array of characters, which really captures the changing attitudes between the generations of the time and added a comical touch to the relationships between everyone. Parts of it were very funny, such as a soggy hunting expedition, a staged ghost sighting, and the accidental eating of an entire picnic lunch followed by a second lunch, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Overall, Mitford's first novel is definitely not the one for me.

To sum it all up...
If you're looking for a lightweight book from the 30's you might want to give it a try, but if you're in the mood for something more substantial and less ridiculous, avoid it. ♥

On Some Pretty Aprons and a Bit of Embroidery

Recently I was kindly given some vintage patterns and along with them a small handful of The Workbasket magazines from the 40's and early 50's. While I was hesitant to accept the magazines at first, based on some silly notion that they were primarily about crocheting (clearly I had never really looked at the copy I've had for over a year), I'm really glad that I did and am thoroughly delighted with them, especially with the catalog that was in with them!

Continuing on the streak of being unpleasantly busy and having a disinclination to write at the moment, I thought for this week I would share some pictures of some of the pretty and novelty aprons that I found when flipping through the copy of Aunt Ellen's Complete Book of Needlework catalog for 1949-50.

I'm glad times have changed and we don't find aprons like the last set acceptable anymore.

 

You too could have a set of doilies to match your apron!

I adore how unique all the aprons on this page are! And especially love the Party Tie Apron!

And from the January 1952 issue (also known as the issue I've been ignoring for far too long), here's a wonderful idea sent in by one of the readers on making an apron out of handkerchiefs.

And finally, just because I feel like it and because it could very easily belong on an apron,  here's a picture of the teacup I embroidered last weekend when I had a little spare time.

♥ ♥ ♥

On Guest Posting over at Chronically Vintage Today!

I was absolutely delighted and honored when my dear friend Jessica at Chronically Vintage invited me to do a guest post while she's on vacation this week!

Make sure you hop over to her wonderful blog to read my post on having a love for vintage books!

♥ ♥ ♥

On Finishing up Some Sewing Projects and Dreaming of New Ones

Lately I’ve been busy, so I haven’t had all that much time or desire to do a great deal of sewing. With that in mind I thought it was time to go back to some projects I hadn’t quite finished and start thinking about a few things I wanted to make in the near future, which is what I'll be sharing with you today.

First the unfinished projects…

The black circle skirt

In February, I made a black circle skirt of a Poly-Rayon blend for my Valentine skirt before realizing that the fabric was too heavy for my petticoat and that the appliques would disappear into the fold. As a result, I put it aside in order to finish my second skirt in time leaving it almost complete with the exception of folding the hem up the second time. Over the past few weeks I did the gathering and hemmed the entire thing by hand, finishing just yesterday

Next, the bird dress

For those of you who remember, July of last year I was thinking of making a dress using this delightful bird fabric. Within a week of the post the dress was done, but there were some issues. First, my idea to hide the seams with ribbons was a poor choice…a three times ripping out the stitching because the ribbons caused the dress to pull in weird directions poor choice. The bodice also ended up a bit large. I knew I could fix it, but by that point I was so frustrated I banished it to be looked at later when I wasn’t so sick of it. 

Fast forward to this July and I had the idea of using ric-rac instead of ribbon. So far it looks like this is going to work out much better and to save myself having to undo the seams on the side I plan to leave the ribbons there for tying in a bow around my waist.

The 1960’s sundress

I made this at the end August and it’s been sitting awaiting button holes ever since. The irony in this is that I stopped working on it because it got so hot I didn’t feel like having fabric draped over me as I hand-stitched the six button holes.

As far as upcoming projects…

I’ve been wanting to make a blouse to match with my overalls. Or more specifically, the lining of the pockets on my overalls. Currently I’m thinking about this blouse pattern except with a Peter Pan collar or even a detachable one. I also want to make another circle skirt (and preferably not hem it by hand). I’m rather keen on the idea of putting black lace around the bottom. 

And finally, my big upcoming project is a plaid flannel shirt. I’ve never worked with plaid print and I’ve never worked with flannel, so this will be an adventure. My main concern is the matching, although after this skirt the thought of matching isn’t nearly so daunting. ♥