Quick Share ~ Shoes, glorious vintage shoes!

Brittany from Va~Voom Vintage has done it again; this time she’s complied a wonderful post that helps you to pick the right shoe style for your chosen era.  I must say the 20’s and 40’s are by far my favourite ~ I think they are super cute! 

Building a Vintage Wardrobe: Shoes

Shoes are an important part of a vintage style wardrobe. They really make or break the outfit. When it comes to wearing vintage, the magic is in the details so here are some details that you can be on the lookout for...

xox,

bonita

How to ~ A Ric Rac Rose Jewellery Tutorial

You’ve probably noticed that ric rac features heavily as a favourite trimming in the 1950s ~ a lot of dresses and skirts had ric rac detailing on them, like these lovely examples:

There are also a million different things you can do with ric rac, like this rose applique & ric rac trimmed collar :

Or these pretty cards decorated with ric rac:

However, when I found this tutorial by Janet of Vintage Vogue’s Nostalgic NeedleART I thought it was a great way to top off any outfit with a lovely vintage touch, even if you don’t have a ric rac trimmed 1950s piece, because you could easily add it in the form of jewellery! 

Materials you will need:

• Thin ric rac if you want to make earrings, thick ric rac to make a broach/ring
• Jewellry findings ~ I use post earring back and a broach pin {I would have made a ring, but I didn’t have one to glue the rose to}
• Thread to sew the roses together/to your jewellery findings
• Hot glue

So here’s what you do to make a ric~rac rose:

Step 1:  Cut a length of ric~rac, fold it in half and twist the two pieces around each other.

Step 2:  Roll the rose up and secure it with glue or thread so it doesn’t come unravelled. You can use pins to get the placement of the end right, or just hold it tight. 

Step 3:  Peel the petals back if you like, or use it as a rose bud.  : )

Now to make it into jewellery!

To make ric rac rose bud earrings:

Step 1:  Cut two 15cm pieces of 1/2cm wide ric rac and roll them into a rose bud.

Step 2:  Glue your bud to the earring finding.

Note:  I used bead cup/clasp/thingy with the post earring threaded through the hole in the middle because the disc at the end of the post was too small to glue the bud onto.  You can just use a plain post earring however.

Step 3:  Lather, rinse, repeat ~ and voilà!  You have two cute ric rac rose earrings to wear. 

To make a ric rac rose broach:

Step 1:  Cut a 82cm piece of 1cm wide ric rac and roll into a rose.  Glue the end down.

Step 2:  Peel the outer layers of the ric rac back to ‘unfurl’ the bud.  You may have to glue the bottom of the rose to keep it from falling apart. 

Step 3:  Cut out some green felt in the shape of leaves and a small circle that is the width of your broach pin.

Step 4:  Glue down the leaves, then the broach pin, then the felt circle.  You want the circle to sit in the middle of the back of the rose and cover all the untidy glue. 

Now you can début your lovely set of ric rac rose jewellery.   ^ ω ^   You could also make a ring, or glue a rose to a headband and wear it in you hair ~ really the possibilities are limitless.  Ric rac can add a lovely vintage touch to just about anything; so have fun with it!   ᵔᴗᵔ  

xox,

bonita

The big CSSA reveal ~ my first circle skirt!

   ~ * ♥ * ~   

It took longer than I had hoped, but I have finally finished my very first circle skirt!  Yay!  *does a dance*
 \ ^ U ^ / 

There were some tears along the way ~ I had to restart the waist band about five times and on the last time I accidentally ended up making a small hole in the fabric which I then had to mend with an iron on patch before I could finish sewing the waistband down. : /  I wasn’t very happy about that!

Also the crinoline gave me a bit of a headache ~ I couldn’t find a pattern to make one the way I wanted too, so I ended up winging it!  It worked out ok; and I rather like what I did with it ~ it was just wrestling with the yards of tulle that had me hopping mad every so often.  ; P

This embroidered patch pocket took me all week to do, but it was fun, although it was a bit tricky.  I didn’t have an embroidery hoop {which I will buy for next time!} and I could have used a stiffening spray, but I found out about it too late.  Still, it worked reasonably well, and I like the pattern I came up with.  I just freehanded it with tailor's chalk onto the fabric and it turned out ok.  My favourite is the poppy~type flower that I used split stitch & french knots for. 



Aaaand here we have the reverse side in action! 

Outfit One:   Fascinator  ~  Me~Made    Shirt  ~  Thrifted  Belt  ~  Valley Girl  Gloves  ~  Love Vintage Clothes Show   Circle Skirt  ~  Me~Made  Shoes  ~  Thrifted

Outfit Two:   1950s Hat  ~  Love Vintage Clothes Show    Floral Top  ~  Thrifted   Belt  ~  JayJay’s  

Circle Skirt  ~  Me~Made   Gloves  ~  Thrifted   Shoes  ~  FSW

~ * ♥ * ~

~ Project Details ~

Year: 1950s
Pattern: Tea length self drafted full circle skirt ~ 28” from waist to hem
Fabric: I have no idea how much fabric I used, but I thrifted two sheets {for $5.00 ea}and when I cut my skirt{s} out I had leftovers!
Notions: One zipper {$1.00}, three buttons {$4.00}, white & black lace {$10.00}.
Time to complete: Aggess…. If I had to guesstimate; probably about 10?  Way too long for such an easy project…  But that’s ok, with practise I’ll get faster.
Make/Wear again? Yes!!  I want one in wool, one in corduroy, one in a floral print, one in a boarder print…  I love circle skirts.  ^ ω ^
Total Cost:  $25.00 

xox,

bonita

What I’ve found ~ Catwalk Fairy Thrift Haul

Yeah, I know, I know ~ random title, but I couldn’t think of anything better! > . <

~ ♥ ~  This is the only vintage piece I picked up this time, but that’s okay.  And I do like the puppy; isn’t he cute?  ~ ♥ ~

So that’s my latest thrift haul.  I can’t wait to style up some of the clothes for outfit shoots ~ it will be fun.     ᵔᴗᵔ 

xox,

bonita

Quick Share ~ Catalog Sunday

More lovely inspiration pictures to drool over from Shelly of New Vintage Lady ~ please enjoy!  : )

Catalog Sunday

xox,

bonita

Love Vintage ~ why yes, I do!

So my mystery event on Saturday, in case you haven’t already guessed, was the Love Vintage Clothing Show & Sale at Canterbury Racecourse in Sydney.   It was fun, it was huge and I ended up with total sensory overload!! 

Of course, there are pictures, so let me show you ~ 

 

Isn’t this tapestry handbag simply darling?  And I just adore the Lucite handle, it felt so nice to the touch.   There was soooo much to look at in the stalls, but of course there was also a lot of amazing outfits around!  My sister helped me spot some darling vintage ladies and I manage to bolster my nerve and ask if I could take photos…  Everyone was really sweet and said yes, but unfortunately I lost some of the pictures! 

My camera malfunctioned and about half of the photos of the gorgeous ladies simply vanished… *sadface* : (   I am terribly sorry if your photo is missing.  I feel awful, but I suppose these things happen.  

 

~  Bella looked super in her fur stole and hat although I don’t know how she managed to stand the heat! 

~  Polly Polka Dot looked so cute in her blue gingham frock and no wonder; she works a pin up model. 

I loved this toy sewing machine ~ how gorgeous is it?  Plus, it totally looked liked it worked!  The sweet little plaid~clad bears were hard to pass by as well. 

 

~  Tara’s blue floral print frock was simply stunning, and I loved her accessories!  A lady always needs a good pair of gloves; although I was too hot in mine, so I took them off.  Her mother, Julie, also looked amazing her suit and cats-eyes sunglasses.  Very elegant! 

~  Caterina’s navy circle skirt looked so comfortable but pretty and it had pockets!  *win*  Plus, the red striped top looked great, and don’t you love her matching navy clutch?  

There was so much beautiful pearl jewellery available; trust me, I was drooling over the lot of it….  All out of my price range though.  *sigh* 

As were the frocks as well I am afraid!  Lots of looking, but no taking home.  Not this time anyway – but if I do go next year it will be with a well armed pocketbook!!! 

This dress was an amazing confection of tulle and lace ~ I thought it was very pretty, although not quite my style as I don’t like to wear strapless.  The colour was gorgeous though!

The lace collar on the far left!!  So pretty and such a lot of detail!!!  I actually saw quite a few collars from the 1930s which I thought was pretty amazing.  ᵔᴗᵔ

So many fantastic hats!  I wanted to take home any one of the dozens, but alas, they were out of my reach again.  Next year I kept telling myself!  I did however, manage to score one deal that I thought was super… 

But that will have to wait until my next post.  I haven’t included all of the pictures because there were too many, so I shall do a part two later on this week. 

xox,

bonita

Quick Share ~ Belt Up

What can I say?  Charlotte of Tuppence Ha’penny Vintage has come up with another really useful post in the form of ads for vintage belts.  Who knew that bow belts and leopard prints where perfectly vintage?!  I sure didn’t so, check out these awesome illustrations… 

Belt Up

I am, as you may have noticed, a big fan of belts. They can often be had for small money in charity shops, and are a great way to add interest and ring the changes in an outfit. Happily, interesting belts are also perfectly vintage, as these scans (mainly from the Sears catalogue) show. I love seeing the variety of belts available through the years!

xox,

bonita

Blue Bird Sky ~ Outfit Forty Seven

Barrette  ~  Equip   Flower Hair Clips  ~  Woolworths   Peal Earrings  ~  Christmas Present ‘07  
Cream top ~  I have no idea; it’s too old!   Twiggy Bird Broach  ~ Acorn & Will   Belt  ~  Dotti   Blue skirt  ~  Thrifted    Crinoline  ~  Some online shop I’ve forgotten  Stockings  ~  Woolworths   Socks  ~  Best&Less   Shoes  ~  Thrifted

~ * ♥ * ~

I think I’ve found a new favourite photo taking spot ~ I love this old building and the tree and the fence!  Mind you, the entire time I was taking these photos there was a magpie swooping me.  I had to hold a stick above my head when I wanted to check the photos! 

I am sure I looked so silly, but gee, those birds are so unnerving when they are dive-bombing you ~ all you hear is a swish, a click of a beak, and they are gone. Some of them will even make contact with your head; and you never know if that time will be it!  O __ o 

Still, it had to be done, even with the bothersome bird and passers-by staring. 

It would be nice to have my business cards all ready though ~ then if anyone comes up and asks me what I am doing I can hand them a card rather than trying to awkwardly explain it.  To be sure, no one has actually done that yet, but I would still feel more prepared in the mean time.   I wish I had a nice quiet wood nearby, but I guess I have to do what I have to do…   Whether I feel like an idiot or not? 

What say you: hide in my backyard or brave the wild world??   : D

xox,

bonita