Vintage Pattern Goodness

On St. Patrick's Day David and I enjoyed a rare afternoon out, alone. He had taken the day off work to attend a parade with our Civil War reeancting unit, but due to various situations, our unit did not end up marching in the parade so we were left with a whole day of our own. We spent the morning with the boys at the park and after lunch their grandmama came over to watch them while David and I went out.

We decided to go antique shopping, then see The King's Speech and after that we went out to dinner. It was a lovely time and the movie was awesome. Talk about 1930's fashion inspiration! Besides that, a great plot and great actors and it was just all around enjoyable.

We found a lot of interesting things at the antique mall but with our usual reluctance to fork over $$ for things we don't really need we did not buy much. We did come away with a few goodies, though. A wooden ark with wooden animals and a wooden Noah for $10, to bring to reenactments this year, and a few vintage patterns for $1.25. I bought a bundle of women's patterns and a bundle of children's patterns.

The best were the girls pattern from the mid 1950's. Oh! So cute. I told David that if we ever have a little girl, she will wear dresses like these. :)

The ladies patterns were mostly an assortment from the 70's and early 80's, but there were a few pretty ones. I love the Gunne Sax looking pattern, and the yellow halter top pattern (perhaps without the possibly ridiculous collar) could be made into a very cute sundress by attaching a skirt at the slightly raised waistline. I can think of all sorts of cute sundresses with ruffled skirts, tiered skirts and floaty circular skirts. :) (Speaking of halter tops, what DO you wear beneath one? I cannot imagine wearing a strapless bra all day long as they constantly fall down and need hiking up. . .) The nice thing about these patterns is that they are all sized to fit me, or nearly so.

I haven't been sewing much lately but I need to get my bum in gear this week. Our first Civil War event is in three weeks and I need a new corset and my hoop skirt needs a renovation before it is wearable. Actually, in two weeks we are planning on going to a dinner and ball so I will need both before then! And perhaps a new dancing dress.

Can you believe it is almost APRIL? Alas! This spring is merrily flying by, it seems.

Love,

Sarah