Vintage Pattern Haul! (with added Gnome)

No makes this time, but there are vintage patterns!


I work at the local public library two to three times a week, and last week's shift highlighted just why libraries and librarians are the best.  My supervisor had mentioned earlier this summer that she had a box of vintage patterns I could have, and I completely forgot about them until last Friday, when I found this sitting on the desk.

                                        Gnome and vintage wig box on my bed -- thanks, boss!

 There are days when I really love my job.

The box was absolutely stuffed with vintage patterns, mostly from the '50s, with a few '40s and '70s thrown in for good measure.

                                            Look at all of it!  Mr. Gnome can't believe his eyes.

About half of it was children's patterns, which aren't much use to me, so I left those in the box -- the collection is going to a few other people in the department after me, and I know at least one person has kids.

The others were great -- a lot of housedresses, one really pretty evening gown pattern specifically designated for those 5'4' and under (i.e., not me -- eh, I'll make it work), and a lot of embroidery patterns for specific dresses.  There was one '70s embroidery pattern that had designs straight out of Modcloth.

                                      Mr. Gnome surveying his prize, including a spats pattern.

Pretty much all of them were bust size 34" to 36", which also happens to be my size!   Yay for vintage patterns that I won't have to resize!

Besides this, I also finished up a few projects this weekend that will get blogged eventually.  I'm going as Katniss in Catching Fire this Halloween, so I knitted the cowl using this pattern.  I went as Katniss from the first movie two years ago as well; Mockingjay better have good costumes, or I'll have to break the streak of Hunger Games Halloween.

I made two pairs of So,  Zoe... underwear this weekend and have ordered 5 yards of 6" stretch lace, so there are more pairs upcoming.

Gray and Cream Lady Skater

Two posts in one week!  Progress is being made!

Continuing the theme of posting this summer's makes, here's a revamped Lady Skater dress from Kitschy Coo.

                           Surrealist phone strikes again, this time accompanied by beauty products!

I actually made this dress last spring, but never wore it, so I reworked it this summer to get some use out of it.  It's a ponte knit from Fabric.com in a pretty silvery-gray.  It recovers pretty well, though I think it may have some trouble with pilling later on, as the other ponte I ordered and make into a skirt has a bit of pilling cropping up.  The new lace bits are a cream stretch lace from the Hancock Fabrics remnant table.  God, do I love that remnant table.  It's been particularly full of soft knits and laces lately.  So tempting.

 The original version was cut to a size 4, although I think next time I make this I'll go down to a 3, at least on the waistline.  The original version also had 3/4 sleeves and the slightly dropped waistline in the pattern.  The 3/4 sleeves were a little too big and hit at exactly the place that 3/4 sleeves are uncomfortable (the elbow -- 3/4 sleeves should be above or below to be comfy on me) and while the dropped waistline was pretty flattering, especially as I have a short waist and high hips, it felt dowdy and unfashionable.  It was all in that gray as well, which meant I felt like a dowdy elephant wearing it.  A shame, too, since it was actually warm enough for a Minnesota winter.

So, I fixed it.  I raised the waist to my natural one, which meant another inch or so was taken off and about another inch taken in.  (In the first picture it looks like the waistline is still dropped, but that's the line from my tights.  Fleece-lined tights rule.) This raised the hem too, but since that was bit long on the original, it was an improvement.  It's just barely above knee-length now.  I also cut off the sleeves and hemmed them.

                                                                     Action shot!

Next step was to cut off a long strip of the cream lace and add it an inch above the hemline.  The edges are just turned down and topstitched with a zig-zag stitch.  I've also been loving all the shoulder details that are in style right now, so I marked off an area on each shoulder and did more or less the same process to create the lace shoulders.  It's not the neatest way of doing it, but it works and most people don't notice.

It's much more wearable now than before -- I've been waiting to break it out for fall weather, which officially hit this past week.  Brrr, Minnesotan winds are brutal.  I feel so cute wearing it, and it might even be appropriate for future employment if the office is more casual.  I got a lot of "why are you so dressed up?" comments in class yesterday, which are always nice.  The dress code around campus is of the sweatshirt, black leggings, brown boots, and hair-in-a-bun type, which makes wearing a dress, heels, and blazer a bit unusual.

Still working on other projects, which I'm going to make E., the roommate, photograph.  That, or get a more interesting phone case.