And the winner is...

 It was a very tough decision to decide the name for my pattern, since I loved all the suggestions you readers provided, but in the end I decided to go with "Sweet Bea" as suggested by Tina (if you could send me an email at purlsofthepast@live.ca then I can send you your free copy of the pattern) . The pattern PDF is now available in my Etsy shop. It's only $2.50 but, as a thank you to all my readers for just being amazing, use the coupon code THANKS to get 20% off :)
Here are some more pictures of the design (since I have over 50 pictures of it I will never actually use...)

On a completely unrelated topic, I can't wait to share the final pictures of my Halloween costume. Unfortunately, my friend has yet to send them to me :( Oh well, I should be able to post them soon. I sure am enjoying reading all the posts about everyones costume's this year. What did you dress up as?


That's All.

Anyone good at coming up with names?

I've been a busy little bee this week putting the finishing touches on my latest pdf pattern. However, this one isn't a knitting pattern, but rather a sewing pattern! I've designed a cute 1930's inspired hat and am planning on selling the pattern in my Etsy Store. However, I am having a terrible time coming up with a suitable name for the hat. After almost three days of trying to come up with a name, I've decided to ask all of you.

If you have any suggestions for a name leave me a comment on this post before the 30th of October. The creator of the name I end up using will get a free copy of the pattern (in pdf form). Thanks everyone for the help :) I'm just terrible at coming up with nifty names.

Here are some pictures of the design (which my friend Britt was kind enough to model):

The hat was loosely based on this image (from The Costumer's Manifesto)

Thanks again for your help!

That's All.

Blog Award (and maybe some hats?)

First off I would like to thank Nabby for giving me a Liebster Blog award a few days (weeks?) ago. Thank you so much! 

I'm supposed to pass it onto blogs with fewer than 300 followers, so I'm giving it to the following blogs (I tried to pick blogs I haven't given awards to lately). Don't feel you have to pass it on if awards aren't your thing. 
Flair in a Lady's Boudoir
Grandmothers Pearl's
A Vintage Girls World
Bright Young Twins 
TeaCup Allie
Caitlin Rose

In other news, I have been considering making a few of hats (based on my designs) to sell on Etsy. I would likely make them on a made-to-order basis. This won't be until after exams are finished (mid-August) but I wondered if there was any interest out there? I also wondered what people would be willing to pay for them? I'm still not sure if I am confident enough in my knitting skills to actually sell my products but feedback is very much appreciated!!


And just so this post isn't completely pictureless:

That's All.

Clothing and Hats (from 1909 and 1914)

As promised, here are a few images from the magazine pieces I bought. Some of the images are from 1909 and the rest are from 1914. I must admit I was never a bit fan of fashion from that time period, but since watching Downtown Abbey I have grown to appreciate it a lot more. I still don't think it is a look that is easy to pull off but it is very interesting to see the shift between the Victorian fashions and those of the 1920's. 

Antique Market Goodies

One exam done, three to go. So far it isn't going well. I am always amazed how I can be able to do all the practise problems, have all the formulas memorized, and still do badly on the exam.

I took a much needed trip to my favourite antique store today. It may be my last visit before I move back home for another 4 months. It was warmer today so I decided to dress up a bit. All my dresses are back home already so I just wore a big poofy skirt, a sweater and black ballet flats. The flats were a bad idea though, since I had to wait for the bus in several inches of snow.

The hat I bought at the market. It was in a pile of other hats which were all $4! They had had a tough life. If I had a hat block I would have bought more to try and reshape. This one seemed in decent condition though. It is black velvet with the cutest little bow at the back. I also bought some postcards. My collection is strictly from before 1920, and I only buy ones that have cute messages on the back. This time I obtained ones from 1912, 1910, and 1902 (my oldest one so far!). To add to my collection of scanning materials, I bought two magazines. I think I need a larger scanner though. It is too small to fit the whole magazine :(
That's All.

Well if I drop out of Math I can always become a Milliner...

I really do not enjoy university. That whole thing about it being the best years of your life? That better be a lie or else I am going to be veeerrryy disappointed in life. Right now I am looking forward to retirement.

As I am sure you can tell, it has been a hard first week (and the week isn't even half over yet!). My room is still a disaster so no pictures yet. Here instead is a picture of the hat I just made (the glue gun is still hot!). It is the result of my latest shopping trip to Michaels. I bought the flowers (on sale for $1!) and a square of felt (also $1). I was going to try and steam the felt into a 1930's shape but that didn't quite work. Still I am happy with the result. Total cost for new hat? $2!!!! :D

Also bought on my Michaels trip were some lovely notecards. 8pack for $1.50 (well actually it was $6 for 4 8packs but that is a lot of notecards)! I love writing letters and these give me the perfect excuse. I also bought a mug with the same picture on it (my old mug seems to have gotten lost in transit....)



And finally, just before I left I made one last trip to the Kirby book sale.

Some I bought just for their covers:

And some I bought just for their age (this book is circa 1890 and I got it for $1!):

That's All.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

On Monday night I hosted a Mad Hatter Tea Party. It was a lot of fun and thank you to everyone who came. Here are some lovely photos from the night as well as the party plan :)

Theme: Alice in Wonderland (the book, not the movie)

Location: My upper deck (think almost tree fort since it is amoungst tree branches)

Food: Chocolate Peanutbutter Squares, Chocolate Eclair Squares, Buttertarts, Pavlova and Yogurt Chantilly, Raspberries, and Cherries (with chocolate chips)

Tea: Raspberry Chocolate tea, Red Vanilla tea, Orange Manderin Spice tea

Main Decorations: Card Chandileer (I made it and it took forever to sew all the cards together!), Eat Me and Drink Me cards on the food, Various Tea Pots, Cardboard Pink Flamingos, The Cheshire Cat (it was a cardboard smile hanging in the corner, see picture below), Flowers (I had roses on the table and then some other flowers around the edges), Christmas lights

Music: 1930's Swing cd. Later on I wanted to play a Bing Crosby cd and everyone else wanted Lady Gaga.... I won.

And here are some of the many pictures (it looked even cooler when it got dark and the glass droplets on the table, and the mirrors on the chandileer, were sparkling):

Cheshire Cat

And here are some pictures of my outfit. The hat was just a plain white beach hat but I added a feather boa, some pink faux flowers and a sparkley butterfly to make it more fun.

I made everyone wear a hat :)

Best hat of the evening: