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Saturday 24 August 2013

Scotland Trip! >or< How to Bore People with Too Many Photos!

The other week I took some time out to visit my Mum and Godmother in bonny Scotland! If you follow me on Instagram or twitter you'll already have seen some of these photos!



The main reason for driving up was that due to me buying my wedding dress (!!!) second hand on eBay they hadn't seen it yet! They loved it. I'm so pleased because I think it's just perfect! 

They couldn't get much time off work but we managed to cram plenty into the two weekends anyway! 



We visited Stirling. For a good rummage in TK Maxx. I have a beautiful silk shirt now. Perfect for job interviews? 



I was taken to Cupar home of fabulous charity shops! I tried on an amazing mint green 60s or 70s sort of frothy pencil skirt type secretary dress, but alas it was not meant to be! 



We had fun frog cakes. Found the Really Nasty Horse Racing Game and got some lovely bargain clothes. Leopard print jacket. Oh yes. 



Then we headed to Anstruther to see the sea! Had famous Fish and Chips followed by bubblegum ice cream and went home (ridiculously) full, fat and happy. 



I made a couple of mid week excursions on my dear bicycle. To the random pineapple and the new addition of a spitfire memorial in Grangemouth. 




We spent my last Sunday visiting Blackness Castle on the Forth. Complete with what seemed like gale force winds! Lovely castle, but the stairs aren't for the faint hearted! 



After that we went to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway where they run a gorgeous little steam train up and down the tracks all day! 



We booked first thing to go on the afternoon tea excursion. It was delicious. I want to do it every weekend! Nothing like the noise of a steam train!



The train tickets allow you to hop on and off as many times as you like. As there was only one trip after ours we didn't bother, but the nature walks off the little stations looked lovely. I believe there's also an estate you can walk to and visit. 



Oh, and I learnt the basics of crochet. As you saw in my recent book review! Fingers crossed for a finished article soon! 

All in all a wonderful little break. It's all a bit crashing back down to earth now, but looking back through the photos has been lovely! 

Jo :-)

P.S. have you been anywhere nice lately? Day trip? Sun, sea and sand holiday? 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Crazy Birthday Wishlist >or< what I'd buy if I won the Lottery!

So hi guys! It's my birthday today. 23!

I don't really do birthday lists (don't even think I did them when I was little, Santa lists yes, birthday, no) but I thought it would be fun to do a crazy, extravagant, lottery win type list. Because let's be honest, I'd be happy with a slow cooker and some chocolate! :-)

It's a good excuse for a post full of pretty things!!

So, without further ado:


1) A DeHavilland Tiger Moth. Or Gipsy Moth. Sorry for the bad photo quality. Phone picture. That I zoomed in on! Seriously though. My favourite aeroplanes. So lovely!


2) A vintage Mustang. Gorgeous. Oddly my crazy Wishlist seems to be vehicular in nature! 


3) Vivien of Holloway wrap dress and a funky new blue petticoat to go under it! Given that I now sew somewhat more than I used to, the skirts are becoming more accessible to me, but the structure of tops and dresses still scares me! 


4) A stunning (and slightly too in your face!) sparkly necklace. Diamonds preferably! This one is made new on Etsy, in a deco style and is gorgeous. As is the price tag of £3300. Definitely a Lotto win bit of jewellery!

5) a personal trainer?? Who'll followed round and yell at me when I want to buy chocolate and when I watch "Come Dine With Me", get obsessed with the sponge pudding, google it and go make it in the microwave. (May have happened. My lips remain sealed and slightly sticky with golden syrup...) Who forces me to run and jump and skip and get lovely and healthy again!! Haha! 

Anyway, silliness aside! I hope anyone else who shared an August birthday with me has a great day! 

Jo :-)

P.S. What's been your favourite birthday present? I love my bike and my VoH dress and petticoat to death, and my evening dress from my Dad for my 21st! 

Shortening a Skirt

There's nothing fabulous on my sewing table at the moment. Indeed, as you're reading this I'm hopefully nipping down the A1 to get home! 

So I've just put together a quick post about shortening the length if a skirt. 

I picked up a lovely (probably 80s) olive green skirt from a charity shop in Cupar for 99p the other day. I'm getting a good 30s or 40s vibe from it if I style it right, but currently, it's just too long! 



To make life slightly more interesting, it's got false buttons up the front, a zipper and button that actually fasten the skirt at the back and a split in the middle at the back to give you that extra bit of freedom of movement. 



Here's what I plan to do. It's probably an evenings work for me with one of my sewing machines. Although the last skirt I shortened I did by hand, and it didn't take too long! 

1) decide how long you want the skirt to be. 

Mine will be 67cm from the waistband. This is the same length I use from my circle skirts (found by measuring my petticoat!) and I find it fairly flattering on me. 

2) hand sew the split at the back closed so it can't be seen from the outside. 

Because the split will end up being stupidly short if I left it, I'm going to sew it up by hand just catching a few threads from behind so it will just look like a continuation of the seam at the back of the skirt. 

3) measure the length of your skirt from the waistband and  mark using a straight edge with washable pen/pencil or tailors chalk. 

Or be lazy like me and iron a crease in as you go.....

4) add a two cm hem to this line and cut off the bottom section of skirt. 

5) fold over twice up to your drawn line, iron and pin your hem. 

I hate ironing but it makes such a huge difference in sewing! 

6) stitch all the way around your hem just less than 1cm from the edge of your skirt making sure you get the folded material behind. 

When I hand sewed a hem I used a very basic running stitch. With the machine sewing, I'll use a matching colour thread and try to match the stitch length to the rest of the seams or hems on the skirt to make it look less obviously altered. 

7) iron again (must I...?) and wear your newly shortened less frumpy feeling skirt with pride! 



Jo :-)

P.S. do you remember you can shorten things in charity shops? What was the last thing you altered? 

P.P.S. apologies for the rubbish photos. I haven't sewn it yet as I've got an eight hour drive ahead of me today! To Essex!! 

Monday 19 August 2013

Book review: Geek Chic Crochet

Back with a crafty book review this week! 

Crochet! Since learning to knit (somewhat at least!) I've been intrigued by crochet as well. So having spotted a nice metal set if crochet hooks for a bargain price on eBay, and coming up to visit my craftily blessed Mum and Godmother, I thought I'd give it a go! 

An afternoon was duly spent with some bright pink wool to learn the basics (aided slightly by You Tube!) before opening my lovely new book! 


It's fab. It says it's drawn inspiration from the 60s and 70s with a retro vibe, but I think a lot of the things in here are so classic they'll fit in perfectly well with my mainly 50s style wardrobe! 

It's beautifully laid out and photographed throughout. The instructions in the back are simple and clear, teaching the basic stitches that you will need to complete everything in the book. 


There are so many things in this book I can't wait to make! All of the patterns are started with an easiness rating. One star, simples. Three stars, not so much! 

I've started with a lovely emerald green wool making the Turban Headband. 


I kid myself that I'll look like this when it's done, but it will be great for the airfield and cycling in the autumn! 

It's building up fairly quickly, much quicker than knitting, which is really gratifying for a complete beginner! 

I would recommend this book to anyone starting out with crochet as there are lovely patterns in there that appeal to all, but definitely with a retro vintage vibe! 


As you can see, plenty to keep you going! I think some of the things such as hats, scarves and bags would make lovely thoughtful Christmas presents too....

I'll leave you with a few of my favourite makes. Which will probably take me forever to get round to doing! Along with hours of practice at making the lace! 


Lacy Peter Pan Collar separate. 


Tank Top (there's a matching skirt too!)


Completely adorable Peter Pan Collar Cardigan


Vintage Lace Gloves

I'd better get busy!

Jo :-)

P.S. do you crochet? Want to learn? Got a favourite pattern or make? 

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Outfit Post - Red Gingham Circle Skirt

So you've already seen that it's finally finished. The picnic blanket skirt! After silly issues with my sewing machine! 

So here is an outfit I hope to wear out to the jazz club next time I go! 


Excuse the hair there was some laziness going on. The sunglasses are because I'm on holiday! In Scotland. So actually needing them is rare!


I think the hem on this skirt is probably the scruffiest I've done so far. I'm blame the much thinner poly cotton I've used! 


And for your amusement, here's one of me sitting on a bench, but all it's succeeded in doing is making my legs look ridiculously short! 


And one where I was spinning round! Just for fun! 

Outfit:

Sunglasses - TKMaxx they say VP on them with a Playboy bunny in the middle. I have no idea. I think they're cute! 
Top - Debenhams, years ago!
Skirt - made by me!
Petticoat - the ever fabulous Vivien of Holloway
Shoes - they're by Marta Johnson and were a gift last Christmas! 

I can see this skirt with a crisp white shirt too! Perfect for a summers day!

Jo :-)

P.S. have you needed your sunglasses lately? Made anything summer inspired? 

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Etsy Listing - Pink Evening Gloves

Hi there guys. Just a quick Etsy shop update. 

Currently in there are these lovely 50s or 60s soft pink evening gloves. 

I got then for myself ages ago, but they're a bit small really! 


They're a size 7 by Dents...


Sorry to see them go really! 

You can find them here:

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/158832908/pale-pink-1950s1960s-evening-gloves-size?ref=shop_home_active

Take a look :-) 

Jo

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Red Gingham Circle Skirt

A quick me made post today. Look
What I finished this week! (Those of you who follow me on twinstagram will have ready seen this and I'm sorry to bore you!) 

But look!!



Isn't she pretty? I've wanted a red gingham circle skirt for ages now. But thick cotton gingham seems to be fairly expensive. So I've bitten the bullet and gone for polycotton instead. It'll mostly be worn over a petticoat anyway! 

Things started off rough as I was determined to sew it in a day for the Jazz Club summer party to go as a picnic blanket! (It was that or a bathing suit. Go figure!) 


Could I get this dear sewing machine to work. Nope. Nothing. Just backward needle thread stitching. Turns out I had the needle threaded the wrong way. Doh. 

Instruction booklets are a god send!! 

Just look at the cute buttons on the waistband! Strawberries! 


To go with the picnic theme you see. Incredibly organised for me really considering I completely forgot a button for the last skirt! 

Ah well. Still learning! I'm thinking something music themed next! 

Wish me luck on the hunt for bargain fabric!

Jo :-)

P.S. where do you find your bargains? Sewn anything lately? 

Instagram July Round-Up

Hi there Internet friends! 

Here's the first in a series of blog posts that hopefully I'll keep going every month! 

Top five (by the number of likes!) Instagram photos of the month! 

So with no further ado, here's July! 

1) My new picnic basket stacked on the old picnic basket! Actually an Easter present for the fiancĂ©, but it was hard to make everything fit in the first one! So I'm afraid I caved and bought the second from a charity shop! 



2) The back of my bargain eBay wedding dress. Gorgeous. I love it so so much. Off to see my mum at the end of this week to show her as well! VERY (yes shouty very!) excited!



3) Moi with victory rolls that were falling out in front of my favourite Tiger Moth. Went flying with a friend that evening and it was lovely!



4) A beautiful rose I purchased for the newly weeded front garden! It smells divine! What's the point of roses without fragrance?!



5) Last but not least a little gold bird brooch that I know nothing about and picked up in a charity shop. Very pretty and it's head moves. It's now gone to the  fiancĂ©'s mother as a present! I'm sure she'll research it a bit more! 


So don't forget to find me on Instagram and twitter! Both are @ofavintageair and I'd love to chat!

Thanks for reading! 

Jo

P.S. loving the new blogging app on my iPhone! This will make life so much easier! My laptop refuses to go on the Internet now, hence the absence! You'll be hearing more from me soon!