Holidays

I hope everyone had/is having a wonderful holiday. I am absolutely exhausted but am finally getting a bit of a chance to slow down. Christmas was great, however I was doing the Christmas dinner this year and went a bit over the top. I only had 3 days to prep after moving back home, and in that 3 days I decorated the entire house including the tree, wrapped most of the presents, and made 19 different dishes (from scratch) for Christmas dinner. Luckily everything turned out wonderfully, and now that it is actually over I have a chance to sleep and unpack!

Catsy sleeping on the tree skirt

I got a lot of great gifts including a massive DVD box set of Buster Keaton films and another one of Harold Lloyd films. Other highlights include 5 boxes of violet creams (my favourite chocolate which are impossible to find!), some magazines about farming/permaculture, and an insanely heavy cast iron baking tray.

When we went visiting the other side of the family on Boxing day I wore my new blouse (made from a 1940's pattern). I added a vintage headscarf and a pair of jeans for a casual 1940's inspired look. (Ok the jeans were because all my other pants were still packed in boxes. Personally I find wide legged trousers much more comfortable than jeans!)

I was pretty bad about taking photos this year and didn't get any pictures of the many presents I made. The only picture I did get was of Britt in the chunky knit scarf + matching gloves I knit her. Speaking of knitting I have been doing a heck of a lot lately. I am almost finished a 1920's sweater which I am very excited to show you all. I am also working on a blanket. Each square of the blanket is named after a mystery novel. I'm knitting it in cream and grey, although it may be a long time before I finish it. If you are on Ravelry add me!

That's all.

Winter Fashions 1880

Just a few Victorian winter fashions for you. What are you planning on wearing for the holidays? 

Christmas Music

I'm still exam writing but I have written (failed...) 3 so far and only have 2 left! Which means any "free" time has been spent getting the last of my Christmas gifts together and doing what prep I can. While making Christmas gifts I decided I needed some music. Normally I just listen to 40's and 50's Christmas music, such as the standard Bing Crosby tunes. However I thought I would try and see if I could find some earlier stuff. Turns out there isn't much. Most classic Christmas songs weren't written until at least the 1940's and there just wasn't much Christmas music before then.

Luckily I was able to find some tunes and have complied a list of my favourites for you. These are a mix of 10's/20's/30's recordings, which a bit of a focus on the earlier decades. I forgot to save the links but all these songs are on archive.org, you might just have to do a bit of hunting to find them.
(Ok some of these are technically just "winter" songs but I thought they should be included)

1. Winter - Billy Murray
2. Jingle Bells - Charles Dornberger Orchestra (This is by far my all time favourite version of this song!!!)
3. Winter Wonderland - Lew Stone
4. Snowflakes - Harry Resser
5. Will you love me in December as you do in May? - Elysian Singers
6. We've got our love to keep us warm - Paul Whiteman
7. If Winter Comes - Atlantic Dance Orchestra
8. Christmas Bells at Eventide - Gracie Fields
9. Savoy Christmas Medley - Lloyd Shakespeare's New Piccadilly Band
10. The Fairy on the Christmas Tree - Gracie Fields

There are also a few good songs (and rather odd novelty recordings) in the Voices from Christmas Past collection.

What is your favourite holiday song?

Poinsettia's 

Any Early Christmas Present for You!

Hello everyone. I'm still here. I've just been drowning in school work. I shouldn't really be typing this now but I just had to blog something!

I had planned on adding some vintage-themed printables to my Etsy shop but just haven't had enough time to do so. So I've decided to offer one of my designs free to all of you as an early Christmas gift! This was a trial run for a bookplate using an image from a 1930's magazine. It is of a lower image quality than I would like but it looks fine when printed. Just print it on label paper in your desired size and put in your books! (If anyone needs help doing this just write me a comment and I will give you some help if I can.)

Isn't it cute? Perfect if you lend out any books. I am always worried by babies won't get back to me but a bookplate is a gentle reminder of the books owner (and proof if anyone tries to steal your book... I'm a bit possessive of my books haha)

That's All.

Cyber Monday Discount!

Hello everyone. Just a quick post to let you know all my patterns are 50% for Cyber Monday. Just use the discount code mondaymonday when making your purchase. (The code is already active and will remain active until early Tuesday morning)

And because no post is complete without a picture, here is a photo of myself in the Summer Rose hat I took a couple years ago when I was experimenting with hair and makeup.

Time to celebrate!

Well I've survived midterms (barely..). In celebration, I wore my "new" dress for the first time. Technically I bought this dress last spring but it was too warm to wear it so I tucked it away. I think it is late 50's and is 100% wool. It is one of the few winter dresses I have, as normally I tend to just wear lighter dresses with sweaters over-top.

Outfit Details:

Dress: Vintage

Tiger-print Scarf: Vintage

Shoes: The Bay

Hat: Zellers 

I also celebrated with a little trip to my favourite antique store. I had my eye on a Victorian hat but alas even on sale it was out of my price range. I did get a few other little goodies though.

My first purchase was this 1920's curling iron. I have wanted one for ages but have never found one for a good price. This baby was a steal and is in perfect working condition. I am tempted to try it but I think I may be too chicken. Has anyone used one of these? I would love some advice if you have!

My other purchase was also rather silly. I bought a wax cylinder. No, I do not have a wax cylinder player, nor do I know anyone that does. I do want to get one someday but they are rather out of my very small student budget. Nevertheless, I bought this wax cylinder simply for the fact it is a Billy Murray recording. He is tied with Annette Hanshaw as my favourite singer. His songs tend to be humorous little dittys and most of his recordings are from the 1910's and 20's. The song on this cylinder is Casey Jones. It is not one of my favourites but you can listen to it (as well as many other great Billy Murray songs) here.

My last purchase was actually made a few weeks ago. Isn't she gorgeous?

That's All.

1920's Dressing Room Outfits

Once again I have been so caught up in school work I forgot to blog! Posting is unfortunately going to remain sporadic over the next month or two. As much as I love blogging and reading everyone's blogs, I just don't have enough hours in the day! Luckily tonight I finished early the assignment I have due tomorrow (early being any time before midnight) and have time for a quick blog post.

I found this article in a 1920's magazine. I just love looking at old styles of undergarments and pajamas. I really wish I had things this glamorous for lounging around the house in! I also wish I had a dressing room in which to wear such things...

(I've uploaded this to flickr so you can view it in more detail there if you wish)

I especially love the triangle pockets and scalloping on the armhole of the pajamas!

That's All.

WWII Perfume Recipes

I picked up this book at an antique store a couple weeks ago:

I bought it for some perfume recipes I noticed and some of the other general "how-to"'s. However after reading it more in depth I have decided it really should be called "How to poison yourself and your family". Holy cow are there a lot of toxic chemicals in these recipes! Formaldehyde should not be used in a skin cream!! Nor would I recommend mixing your own paint by combining lead and turpentine, using Hydrochloric acid to whiten your teeth, or making a hand-cleanser from ammonia and turpentine. I would also think making your own depilatory creams with Quicklime is probably not a good idea. Yikes!
(I also liked the suggestion of inhaling some Chloroform if you have a stuffy nose. Once again, not a good idea.)

I do have plans to try some of the non-toxic recipes in this book. I haven't tried any of the perfume blends yet, but here are a few that sound interesting. I am going to try them after I finish the Victorian blend I am currently using (the recipe can be found here. I quite like it but it has a very different smell). If anyone tries these out I would love to know the results!

Note: I have edited the recipes slightly. They all recommend being set in a base of alcohol, but I would recommend using an oil instead, such as grapeseed oil. The scent will have more staying power if you use an oil and it moisturises your skin at the same time! It is up to your personal preference what you use so I have only listed the essential oils required for each blend. THESE RECIPES ARE MEANT TO BE DILUTED! Do not use them full strength on your skin. The essential oils should be less than 10% of the final product.
(Also note citrus oils can make your skin more photosensitive so use caution if you are going to be out in the sun for a while)

Inexpensive Perfume
7 parts Bergamot essential oil
3 1/2 parts Lemon essential oil
3 1/2 parts Lavender essential oil

Verbena
16 parts Lemon essential oil
1/2 part Lemongrass essential oil
4 parts Orange essential oil

Simple Perfume #1
15 parts Orange essential oil
9 parts Neroli essential oil
5 parts Bergamot essential oil
3 parts Rosemary essential oil

Simple Perfume #7
3 parts Bergamot essential oil
1 part Lemon essential oil
1/4 part Lavender essential oil
1/4 part Clove essential oil
1/2 part Sandalwood

Anyone else love trying out vintage beauty recipes? I make most of my own beauty products and always find historical beauty recipes fascinating. (Not all of the recipes I come across are safe but the majority of them are). Does anyone else make their own beauty products? I would love some new recipes to try :)

That's All.

Fall Fashion (1905)

Hello everyone. I've been so swamped with work that I completely forgot to post anything last week. Actually I'm still drowning in school work so if I go MIA again that is why. I'm running on about 4 hours sleep so sorry if this is a bit incoherent. You have no idea how much I miss sleep.... Anyways...

As Autumn truly seems to be here, I thought I would post some fall fashion. These images are from 1905. I love taking detail from Victorian clothing and using it with slightly more modern clothing (for example adding a Victorian inspired collar on a blouse). Although, I would totally wear full Victorian outfits on a daily basis if I could. It has always been one of my favourite styles.

(As soon as I have access to my sewing machine I am starting on a Victorian style dress! I have a book of Victorian dress patterns that I am dying to test out. I figure I can wear it for Halloween next year if nothing else.)

That's All.

High Tea Outfit

I have been struggling to get any pictures for the blog. My room is in a basement and it is much too dark for photography. I tried to get a friend to take some outfit photos this week but he had to cancel, so that didn't work either. Luckily I found some old outfit shots I never posted. At the time I was a little disappointed with their quality, but something is better than nothing! This was my outfit for a high tea I went to in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee.

Close-up of my hat. This is one of my favourite vintage hats.

Another close-up of the hat and also of the neckline (which is a bit hard to see due to the colour of the velvet)

Outfit Details:
Dress: Made by me from an old velvet pantsuit of my mothers (it makes a much better dress!)
Hat: Vintage
Gloves: Vintage
Belt: Vintage
Shoes: Winners

That's All.

1920's Starlets

As I have been doing nothing other than school work for the past 2 weeks, I've been rather lacking in blog inspiration. It's my (hopefully) last term of school and things are rather hectic here. So as a result, I can think of nothing intelligent to post on my blog. Which means time for pretty pictures! (No brain work required!) These are from a 1925 issue of Photoplay.

That's All.

New typewriter

Well I've moved into a new place (again) and start classes tomorrow. This is (hopefully) my final term of university! Normally I move in the night before classes start, but for my last term I decided to take it easy and gave myself 2 full days to get settled. Which of course means I had time to go antique shopping today!

I was very good and only bought one thing. I have been longing for a portable typewriter for a while. I have a 1920's Underwood but I'm pretty sure it weighs more than I do! I saw this sweet Smith-Corona and knew I just had to have it. It was pretty cheap since the case is in poor condition. The typewriter itself works well though. I may give her a bit of oil so she runs more smoothly but so far she works better than I expected. I think she needs a name though. She looks like a Cordelia to me; what do you guys think?

That's All.

Knickers

I have just gotten back from a last minute trip up to the cottage. It was a lovely few days and the weather was cool enough to try out my new trousers. I altered a pair of my mothers old trousers and converted them into what my 1920's Sears Catalogue reprint calls "knickers". They are basically a short pant meant for sports. I am quite pleased with how they turned out. They are not overly flattering but they are so much fun to wear! I think I need to get some bright argyle knit socks to wear with them!

Inspiration Image

That's All.

Driving

Yikes! How has it been 10 days since I last posted?! Time has sure flown by very fast the last week or so. I've been very busy getting ready for school. I also completed my G2 driving test (and passed!). I now have almost a full license, although my interest in driving is almost zero. I just don't understand the appeal. But if I had an antique car....

While dreaming of owning an antique car, I came across this amusing little book on the internet archive. They are sort of nursery rhyme parodies about motor cars. Spoiler alert: a lot of the cars in the rhymes explode. It reminded me slightly of the Ghastlycrumb Tinies, although not quite as violent. The best part of the book is the illustrations. With a focus on the cars, here are a few of my favourites:

That's All.

"New" Skirt

As part of my sewing binge, I have been reworking many of the old pieces in my wardrobe. I had a black dress with a tube-top upper portion. It has never really fitted properly so I gathered points around the top and added a ruffle to hide the now rippled zipper. This may just be my new favourite skirt! I wore it when I accompanied my friend Britt to the hairdressers. Of course it was her hair being cut not mine. It is now a very adorable short bob which I have plans on waving/curling. (On a side note, I've decided to completely stop cutting my hair. I just want to know how long it can actually get. I wear it up 98% of the time so no one can really tell anyways.)  As always I didn't take photos until we got back so my skirt is super wrinkly.

Britt's new hair!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

That's All.