Southworks Antiques

How is it that I've lived an hour bus ride away from Canada's largest antique mall for 4 years and not known about it?! I just keep telling myself that if I had known about it I would be broke by now, so perhaps it is all for the best.

Southworks Antiques is over 30,000 square feet of antiques and collectibles, and located in the beautiful city of Galt. Actually it's in the Galt region of the city of Cambridge, I think. I'm not quite sure how that all works... Anyways, like I was saying it's really big. I still haven't quite made my mind up if it is almost too big. My normal antique store is Market Road Antiques in St. Jacobs. While I enjoyed Southworks, I think I still prefer Market Road Antiques. Southworks seemed more crowded and difficult to shop. They were however fairly priced and there were many, many things I would have loved to take home with me. In the end, I settled on four items: a pair of galoshes, a magazine, a nightgown, and a hoop skirt.

I have been looking for a white antique nightgown for a while, so I was very happy when I found this darling. The nightgown was labeled as circa 1920, although I think it may be slightly earlier than that. I styled it as a dress and wore it to class today.

My friend told me I looked a bit like a crazy person wearing a nightgown so I played around with it a bit when I got home. I've discovered it looks a lot less like a nightgown when worn as a top with my Victorian styled skirt.      

The galoshes were my silly purchase of the day. I love the idea of galoshes and these were in excellent condition. The galoshes are Gaytee's, and I think they are from the 1940's. The best part of buying the galoshes is getting to say the word galoshes. Hehehe... it is such a fun word to say! Galoshes, galoshes...

I bought another magazine to add to my growing collection. It's a Photoplay from 1939. The magazine is filled with lots of interesting articles, but despite the giant picture of Shirley Temple on the cover there is nothing about her in the entire magazine! Oh well, I'm not actually a big Shirley Temple fan. She kind of creeps me out a bit haha.

And now for a picture of me in my underwear. What wait?! Don't worry, nothing very scandalous going on. I just couldn't figure out how to photograph my new hoop skirt so I decided to model it for a few quick snaps. I was in the market for a new petticoat for a certain dress and couldn't find one in my budget. Luckily this baby was cheap and will work perfectly!

Ok, this last one wasn't from the antique store. It was bought from the children's toy store nearby. Is it not the most badass kite you have ever seen?! I have plans to take it flying tomorrow. :D

The Dread Pirate Tabby!

That's All.

New Blog!

Just a quick update to let everyone know I've started a new blog. I have wanted to write about small business things for a while. As many of you know, I run a small Etsy shop and hope to open an actual store after I finish my current degree (and also get a degree of some sort in business). My new blog is where I will be posting about my own business adventures and also about things I have learned along the way. Don't worry, I won't be neglecting this blog. I just didn't want to bore all of you by talking about this sort of stuff too much on here. This way those of you who are interested in small business things can follow my other blog as well, and everyone else can stay here for the my normal content. (I will also be posting vintage-millinery related things on there, so those hat lovers out there might be interested in that.) My new blog can be found here.

Summer Weather

Although I haven't gotten out recently, with the exception of meeting with fellow students to work on assignments, the weather has been much too warm to not dress up. It seems to be getting closer to seasonal now, but just a few days ago it was quite honestly as warm as summer. They actually had to turn on the air conditioning in parts of campus! I should add only two weeks ago there was still snow on the ground! I hadn't planned on wearing my summer dresses for a while, but with the weather so freaky, I got a chance to wear one of my favourite dresses. It's 1950's and was a birthday gift from my mother. 

My friend was nice enough to take these photos for me (actually I bribed him with copies of class notes he missed). Of course he got a little fed up as I kept making him stand in different spots so I could find a good spot for outfit photos. He felt a little akward that everyone kept staring at us, but oh well. Taking photos with someone is so much easier than with a tripod!! 

And now I need to get back to this:

That's All.

Sweater Inspiration

The weather has been freakishly warm the last few days. I love spring weather, but it's been more like summer around here. I don't have many lighter clothes with me so I'm running out of things to wear! It makes me sad to not be able to wear my sweaters at the moment. I LOVE sweaters. They are easy to wear and super comfy. I keep hoping the weather will get cooler again. Until then, here is some 1940's sweater inspiration from one of my knitting booklets.

I did cheat a bit and wear a short sleeved sweater today. It was more of an excuse to have something to pin my newest brooch to, as it was far to warm to wear it. This is the pin I won in a giveaway from Subversive Femme. Isn't it cute? I just quickly snapped these photos so you can't really make of the details, but it's my new favourite brooch. 

Please ignore the one mismatched button. The dress is vintage and this was done by a previous owner.

That's All.

Casual Friday and Another New Pattern!

It was quite warm outside today. We seemed to have skipped spring and gone from winter directly into summer! Despite the warm weather I ended up wearing a wool sweater today. I have found myself completely in love with the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery I picked up at a used bookstore. I have never read one before but so far it's great! It makes a nice change from the Agatha Christie's I normally read, although I will admit they do have many similarities. I suppose that's why I like it. Keeping with the 1930's theme, I decided to dress in a very casual 1930's inspired style to go hiking today. I suppose it was more of a stroll than a hike... I realize this isn't the most flattering outfit, but it was extremely comfy and I was told I looked fancy several times today  so it couldn't have been that bad.

 Outfit Details:

Wool Sweater: I've worn this is few times before on here, but it's my favourite sweater. It's vintage and belonged to my dad until I stole it :D

Skirt: This was a large floor length skirt that my mom didn't want anymore. I took it in quite a bit at the sides and now it's a 1930's inspired high-waisted pencil skirt!

Riding Boots: Ariat 

Faux Pearl Necklace: Vintage

Book: Have His Carcase, a Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery - by Dorothy L. Sayers

I thought I would also mention that I have another new pattern in my Etsy shop (and soon it will also be in my Ravelry shop as well!). My tester finished faster than expected so I decided I might as well release it now. This one is a knitting pattern, and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I based it loosely off of a 1940's design, and it is similar to a pillbox hat. It features a heart shaped top, and is definitely slightly whimsical and romantic. Introducing the Let's Fall In Love pattern:

 That's All.

1920's Headband Patterns

I should be doing school work at the moment but I just had to make a quick post to let you all know I have a new pattern in my Etsy shop! This one is for five 1920's inspired headband/hairclip patterns. These do not require any sewing so they can be made by everyone. (I have a new knitting pattern coming soon as well, but that is currently being tested!)

I have so many patterns I want to design and not enough time to draft them all! It's so difficult being away from my beloved sewing machine. Anyways, I will hopefully be able to post on the weekend if this mountain of school work doesn't crush me first...

That's All.

Media Medley

Time for another Media Medley Post! This time I've added an "other" category!

Music:
True to the Navy by Clara Bow - This is one of the few songs sung by Clara that I actually like. There is a film clip that goes along with it which can be watched here on youtube.
Button Up Your Overcoat by Annette Hanshaw - One of my favourite of her recordings. This is one of the songs she sang in the baby-voice style (similar Helen Kane).

Movies:

My Man Godfrey - This is one of my favourite William Powell movies! It also stars Carole Lombard and is basically just a screwball comedy. It's very entertaining though. 

Thirteenth Guest - A murder mystery starring Ginger Rogers. Not the greatest film, but pretty good and only a little over an hour. 

Radio Show:
Archie Andrews - I thought I would share something different than the detective shows I normally post. This show reminds me of the many hours I spent as a child reading Archie comics. I find some of the voices slightly annoying but it is a cute radio program.

Other:
I have recently started reading some of the publications available and there are some great books on there! I may have to get an e-reader just so I can read some of the out of print novels from the 1800's. You can of course also read them online. This week I've decided to share:
Catalogue of Fall and Winter Fashions from 1891 - There are some great fashion drawings in this booklet.

More youtube hair tutorials!

Hello everyone! Just a quick update to let you know I have two new youtube videos up.

Card Cabinet Photos

I picked up some lovely Victorian/Edwardian photos a little while ago that I thought I would share with you today. I am very picky about adding photos to my collection. Something about the image has to "speak" to me, and I avoid mean looking people. Old photos can be mildly creepy (especially at night) so I never buy children or people who don't look like they were particularly nice. I mean if there are ghosts in the photos I want them to be nice ghosts right? 

(On a side note, "old photos of dead people" seems to always be one of the most searched key words people use to find my blog...)

A rather dapper young gentleman. 

I just liked the "personality" this photo seems to show (in comparison to many of the more bleak
couple photos, or wedding photos where the couple looks utterly miserable!) 

Not technically a "card cabinet" photo, but I just thought she was lovely.
I especially love how frizzy her hair looks!

Closeup of above photo. Check out those buttons!!

My weekend went well. The weather outside was rather terrible yesterday so I spent the day inside making lemon curd and studying. Now today I get to spend the day inside eating lemon curd and studying. I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

That's All. 

Antique shopping again...

After class today I jumped on a bus to go to the antique market. I love the antique market but by bus it takes a long time to get there so I only go once every few weeks. Which is just as well because I can't leave there without spending money. Once I spent my grocery money for the week on a Victorian hat I just couldn't leave behind... Who needs food? Luckily this week I was much more restrained in my purchases. I am trying to adopt a "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" attitude, but after a looong week at school I deserved a few little goodies right?

But first here's what I wore: 

(The only place in my room with enough lighting and room for outfit photos is on my bed. Just thought I should add that in case any of you are wondering why I am standing on my bed haha)

Outfit Details:

1920's-style Dress: Made using this tutorial (same fabric as my pink dress. I found a few meters in a clearance bin so I scooped it up!) I used seam binding instead of facings. 

Sweater: I'm going to say vintage. Technically I stole it from my dad, but it's old enough to call vintage. 

Stockings: I just chopped the legs of a pair of tights.

Earrings and Hair Bow: Made by me

Want to know what you can buy with $15? Turns out a heck of a lot!! I bought a large bundle of what appeared to be embroidery and knitting booklets. Only when I got home and opened it did I realize how large it really was! Most of the booklets are from the 1940s, but there are a few later ones as well. The majority of the pile is embroidery designs and crochet booklets, but there is also knitting and some general needlework booklets. I'm thinking a few of these might end up in a giveaway when I hit 300 followers ;)

The pile of brown papers in the other picture is actually a pile of embroidery designs! Here is one just to show you how adorable they are!

I also bought this rather sad looking sieve. It was $5 which seemed a bit high, but I think it is from the 1940's and still in working condition. I plan on putting this to good use in my kitchen. This was a practical purchase since I needed a sieve.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have to spend most of it studying but hopefully I can find time for some baking as well. 

That's All.