Random post

I thought that that weather had got warmer in the UK but not so warm that I'd see a tropical bird in a UK garden.  these were taken by my boss - amazing!

Miss L Fire Shoes

I am new to Twitter but am finding it an inspiring source of bitesize info shots.  It is through this site that I found out that the maker of my 'most favourtie shoes in world' now has their own webshop.  According to the Miss L Fire blog on the 14th March:

You can now order your precious Miss L Fire shoes from our website!!!

The store has been open for a couple of days now...

This is a whole new business venture for Miss L Fire, and we're all very excited about it - check out the new store now and have a look at some pretty new shoes!

FACT: The best-selling shoe so far is Vee Eight in black and white.

I have always been a fan of these and have too many pairs than I wish to admit but lusted after and then ordered these beauties:

I am eagerly waiting for my chance to get my hands on one of these bags from the site as well:

Perfect vintage style accessories for summer!!!



Vintage fair news

I have the post-Vintage fair blues. Saturday’s Joy of Vintage Fair was so much fun. It was well organised, full of lovely things, the people were all wonderfully friendly, and had a great feeling all day. The time zoomed by. It was really lovely seeing my friends who popped down as well, I really appreciated it and a big thank you to Tess who was flower seller extraordinaire and stayed with me for the afternoon. I met lots of lovely people, ate a yummy cinnamon cupcake and drank tea from vintage china. As mentioned in earlier posts I was very nervous to begin with but by the end of last week was looking forward to doing it. I left on such a high into a sunny evening, couldn’t have been a better day. It was also the first time I had worn out my Colette pattern dress in the Tanya Whelan print. I got lots of compliments and it gave me a really boost.

I was so busy on Saturday I didn’t take any photos but you can find them on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Joy-of-Vintage/155273521178119

I did take one photo of the stall on my phone so excuse the rubbishness:

So the next fair is on the 4th June, come along if you can. Venue is the same Beechen Grove, Watford. The makeovers I saw were fabulous, there was a little tearoom with cakes and sandwiches that you could sit at all afternoon and people watch, and it is a place full of happy chatty people – great stuff.  As a result of the fair on Saturday I have no more business cards left so I have ordered some more.

On the back of last weekend, I’ve been invited to take part in a Pop Up Vintage Fair in Hampstead. The building is gorgeous – take a look below. This lovely building will have two rooms of beautiful vintage fashion, accessories and homeware for sale. There's the Main Hall with high ceilings and tall windows and the Small Hall with marble fireplace. Both halls are approached via a sweeping staircase with a huge vintage Victorian mirror and clock at the top of the stairs.

This event will take place on Sunday 29th May and I will be helped by the lovely Mr P! The venue is Hampstead Town Hall, 213 Haverstock Hill, Hampstead NW3 4QP, dates are 29th May & 19th June 2011, so if you live in London (particularly North London) and you want a vintage fair fix come along and say hello!

Other exciting news is that I have a little ad on ‘Diary of a Vintage Girl’ at the moment.  it is below the main sponsors and looks like this:

This links straight through to my etsy shop which has now been updated. With 2 fairs to get ready for in short succession I have a lot to do and lots of ideas! I want to make a new dress for each event as well. I still have the Vintage Vogue patterns to work through and one for a pencil dress with cap sleeves. Before all that though I need to finish my curtains dress!

1 day to go!

Now it is only one day until The Joy of Vintage Fair in Watford and I am very excited!  Maybe it's a combination of the sunny weather and the promise of the weekend but I can't wait for tomorrow.  Not particularly looking forward to the early start but looking forward to seeing all my lovely friends who are going to pop down to see me.

Yesterday I bought a lovely new pair of sunglasses to celebrate the sun.  I have a pair of Tres Noir catseye glasses but they are a little too dark and angular for some outfits so these are perfect.  Surprisingly they are from Oasis :-)

I hope to send lots of people away with hair flowers - perfect for the summer, and if you read this blog and are coming to the fair please come and say hello.

Happy Friday everyone!



2 days to go!

2 days to go to The Joy of Vintage Fair!

Another lovely sunny day today, so warm that I didn't even come in with a coat this morning and I really feel the cold so it must be warm. Oh lovely sun where have you been for so long?  To celebrate the change of weather I am wearing a 1940s blouse and my black silk high waisted, fish tail skirt from Tara Starlet.  Hair is in no way vintage and is straightened with my wondeful ghd thingies which I only just discovered a few weeks ago and now I have them I'm never going back!

The day started off with an early morning trip to the sorting office to collect a couple of parcels. It felt like Christmas but sadly they were presents I’d bought myself! One was from What Katie Did and contained a few lovely pairs of their seam stockings and the other was a lovely little book that I recently found out about. It’s called ‘Vintage Crochet’ by Susan Cropper.

It has some lovely patterns in here, my favourites are the delicate shrugs, peony corsage and gorgeous bags! Not only is it a pretty book but it actually has real content in it and all the patterns look doable. I have to admit that I never thought of doing anything other than making granny squares, hats and little animals with crochet so a whole new world has been opened up to me! I’m planning on starting a little shrug this weekend.  Looking forward to it, I've never knitted anything so excited to crochet a garment.  Only thing is that the patterns call for good wool and quite a few balls so it could turn into an expensive hobby.

3 days to go

3 days to go to The Joy of Vintage fair in Watford and I’ve been catching up on the last few editions of Vintage Life magazine. If you haven’t seen this magazine yet, have a look at your local WH Smiths or get the online version as I have started doing. An absolute bargain at £9.99 I think. I first found out about this magazine when it had just launched at Vintage at Goodwood. One of the best things about it is the events section at the back of the magazine. There are some great articles in there as well as some how tos by the amazing Lisa Freemont. If you haven’t seen any of her hair tutorials online on YouTube go to at www.lisafreemontstreet.com. Just amazing and such a stunningly stylish lady.

I also wanted give some blog space to http://www.mydelilah.co.uk/ I bought one of my first handmade pencil dresses from here before I started making my own and knew how difficult it was to make the time. I don’t know how the lady who runs MyDelila does it. When not making pretty things for the site, she performs as burlesque dancer Sandy Sure. I think the webshop is wonderful. Also a handy site to know if you need anything burlesque related from tassles and corsets. I love her mini bloomers!

Oooh the sun is out so it looks like I could have worn a dress today, poop! I finished the sweetheart neckline wrap dress on Monday and love it. I made a fascinator to match with dusky pink roses. Hope to wear the outfit on Saturday for the fair – even if it rains!

Sweetheart neckline

Back of the dress, wrap detail

Matching fascinator

I found a lovely new site the other day called ‘From Britain with Love’. It is an online directory, beautiful done of all things made in the UK. A lot of the designers seem to take inspiration from the past and have a nostalgic theme to them. www.frombritainwithlove.com . There is a great section on there about classes near you to create all sorts of wonderful things – not just fashion but gardening, food and drink, amongst others.

Their mission is simple... ‘we want to let people know that there are beautiful things being made in studios, workshops, factories and farms across Britain every day, and our aim is to help you find them.

From the Shetlands to the Scillies, we've been searching the nation to seek out the very best British made products, from cool crafts and unique homewares, to original designer fashions, delicious locally sourced food and gorgeous handmade gifts.

We know that it's not always easy to find products that have been made in Britain, so we've created a unique online directory which showcases hundreds of Britain's most talented and creative producers. From designer-makers to craftspeople, food producers and retailers - all dedicated to creating or selling beautiful British made products.

If you're looking for inspiration, our regular editorial features bring you the latest trends, fresh ideas and new talent. From 'meet the maker' interviews, competitions and creative course reviews, to travel features and the latest must-visit events, so there'll always be something fresh and exciting to inspire you.

This is their manifesto – something I’d love to print out and live by!

It was on this site that I found this little brooch, so cute!


http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/meninafeliz/product/little-spring-birdie

Also, a little more practical, on the back of all my dressmaking post recently, I found this link to help with all the niggly things that you have to go through when you first start sewing. Here is a link to tutorials on how to start off sewing. I’ll be using it for when I bit the bullet and sew a zip one of these days!

http://www.seamsoeasy.com/page8.htm

So only 3 days to go to my stall, here’s what I’m hoping it will look like on Saturday with a few photos of my favourite pieces. Thank you so much to everyone who’s said that they will pop in and see me on Saturday, be lovely to see you all. Please excuse the photos, I used my little pocket camera and it wasn't as light outside as I hoped when I got home.  I'll be having a 4 foot stall on Saturday so will have a lot more room to spread out and show off more flowers and fascinators.

Also a reminder that Vintage London tickets are now on sale.


http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/vintage-at-southbank-centre

http://www.vintagebyhemingway.co.uk/about/vintage-at-southbank-centre

4 days to go!

4 days to go until the Joy of Vintage Fair in Watford...

Now, I am not a fan of facebook by any means, I just don’t get it or even like it for that matter but a lot of events are publicised on the networking site by people who don’t have websites and want to organise events.  As Will Ferrell tweeted, and I agree, ' Facebook is like jail, you sit around and waste time, you write on walls and you get poked by poeple you don't know'.

I have heard about 2 events, both with details that you can find on facebook. First is the Tara Starlet sample on Saturday 28th of May, more details on dear o’ facey.

Second is something called ‘PASH’, described as ‘a huge style enclave hidden in the southern quarters of old London Town’. I think the last one was in an old biscuit factor in Bermondsey. Their mission is to enchant and inspire by means of a large, pop-up fairs of vintage and retro style for both men and women. Their website seems to have died a death, http://www.landofpash.co.uk/, but if you want to find out more and when the next date is, then again check out FB.

As Mothers Day approaches I thought I’d try and inspire you to make something for your mum. My mother-in-law very sweetly asked if I could make her an apron. As luck would have it, when I went into Hobbycraft the other day there was a free apron project pattern – hurrah. I was thinking about buying the Butterick apron pattern 5474, but thought it couldn’t be that hard to do my own. So, I bought this lovely material with the most gorgeous blue silk bias binding and got sewing. I am so happy about how it turned out.
For my mum, we are planning an afternoon tea at some point the following weekend as I have 2 little nephews who like to run around a lot. My mum’s favourite are scones so thought I’d share this recipe with you in case you wanted to treat your own mum or just yourself.

Lemon Scones

Make 12

Prepare 20 minutes

Cook 15 minutes

• 30g raisins

• Half a lemon, zest and juice

• 450g self raising flour

• 80g unsalted butter

• 3 tbsp caster sugar

• 300ml while milk

Preheat the oven to 200c. Put the raisins in a bowl and pour over the lemon juice. In another bowl, sift the flour with a pinch of salt and stir in the lemon zest. Add the butter and using your fingertips rub into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Sift in the sugar and gradually mix in the milk until you have a rough dough, mix or knead it as little as possible. Turn onto a floured board and divide into half so you can make one batch with raisins and one without. I personally love raisins and always put in as much as I can get away with.

Drain the raisins and gently knead them into one half of the dough. Press each half of dough lightly until 2cm high, then cut out rounds with a 6cm biscuit cutter.

Put on a baking sheet, bake for 12-15 minutes, Cool on a rack and serve with cream and jam or lemon curd. Yummy!

To make things extra special for your mum, Waitrose have started selling some sweet little disposable cake stands, I don't have a photo but you can buy similar ones like these online.

Just a quick sale update, the Dolly Dagger sale is nearly over but you can still get some great shoes for a bargainous price if you have size 4/7 or 8 feet.

I'm going to end with a joke my friend sent me, it's a little bad taste but it made me laugh:

Why did the French chef commit suicide?

Because he had lost the .... huile d'olive!!!!!

Silly but made me laugh.

5 days to go!

Yes, just 5 days until my first ever stall at The Joy of Vintage Fair.  Mr P knows how nervous I am and has offered to help me set up in the morning bless him, he can't stay though as football is on (yawn).  I do really appreciate the offer though and may have to take him up on it.  I had a look at my business cards today and really should get some more done.  I only started http://www.vintagegarden.co.uk/ after I had them printed and around the same time I was told that you could get to my etsy shop using http://www.vintagegardencrafts.etsy.com/ which is so much easier than the alternative www.etsy.com/shop/vintagegardencrafts Anyway, the old cards will have to do as I only have 5 days to go - eek!

I think I'm more nervous about meeting new people, people who know me know I am really really shy.  An example of this is that when the water machine breaks on my side of the office floor I don't drink all day as the alternative is walking through the whole office to the other side and I just can't do it.  The flip side is, why have I always worn 'odd' things and bright colours drawing attention to myself?  I feel more confident that way surprisingly and if I'd made an effort on the outside I feel a lot better on the inside. 

Anyway, it will be a good day and a great experience, I just hope I don't get into a 'what is vintage' discussion with a die hard 'I  only wear vintage' vintagista (if there is such a term!)  Like I've mentioned before I have a certain style of dressing which draws from all kinds of eras and influences but mainly the feminine way of dressing of the '40s and '50s.  Empathisis on the '50s as I love the hairstyles, big earrings and even bigger skirts. 

I was talking to a friend the other day who said that to her, anything from before the 1920s was antique and should be in a museum, 1930s-1950s was vintage and 1960s-80s is retro.  In her opinion, anything 1990s onwards could and should be ignored.  Slightly harsh as I wouldn't change my Cyberdog years from 2000 for anything. (if anyone hasn't been to the Cyberdog shop in Camden - if it's still there, I'd recommend it).  Ah, those good old Cyberdog days :-) 

Mr P says that vintage is anything old.  Succinct and to the point as always.

So in order to be prepared for any discussion or need to justify what I make and why I'm selling at a vintage fair here's my reasoning....to me, the term 'vintage' is a feeling that something evokes in me.  Vintage is anything that makes me feel nostalgic, this could range from my lifetime or a time generations before me.  Vintage items, to me, are anything from a teapot made in 2011 to pair of original 1950s clip on earrings.  I don't think it has to be more than 70 years old but it has to have a footing in the past.  An example of this, perfect for Mothering Sunday coming up is this lovely 'Scented Spring Jug' from Waitrose.

I would call this a vintage inspired gift as it has a whimsical, nostalgic feeling to me. 

Other things I think of as vintage are afternoon tea, seamed stockings, baking things like scones and banana bread, picnics and lovely china sets.  This is just a tiny list of many though.  The dresses and fascinators I make are feminine and looking back to a time when women wore hats and flowers in their hair.  I would call them vintage style as I base a lot of the things on books/photographs/films.  I used to work for a marketing company that recreated vintage events and I am recreating a bit of vintage girly glamour in my fascinators.  Vive la différence ;-)

One and a half dresses made

I love it when you buy a vintage dress pattern and it says easy on it and it actually is easy and straight forward.  There is nothing worse than buying a pattern, getting it home and the instructions may as well be written in Martian.  This weekend I've started a project marked easy (though the picture didn't look it) but I trusted it, started sewing and I love it!

I am still  nervous about next weekend but the more I worry - the cleaner the house gets ;-)  I have a habit of cleaning if something is on my mind.  Yesterday though the house was clean and I'd made a banana loaf and peanut butter cookies already so to take my mind off things I started dress number 2.

Dress number 1, the Colette wrap around dress took, all in all - from pattern cutting, cutting out and sewing, about 3 hours. It is a brilliant pattern and I love the finished result.  The photo below isn't the finished article as I had to redo the neck facing as I got a bit snip happy when I was putting my notches in.  Hope it gives you an idea of how it turned out though.

When it's on it has a lovely floaty feel to it and is very flattering as the ties can be tightened right into the waist giving a lovely effect.  The skirt flares out wonderfully too. 
This dress may be my favourite summer dress actually as it's so easy to wear and I just love it.  So much so in fact that I've ordered some Tanya Whelan Darla fabric in blue picnic rose to make another one!

Due to the whimsical colouring I've decided to make this one with the sweetheart neck line which is dress 2 on the pattern.  Mr P has been away this weekend but I'll have a photo of me wearing the original dress on the next sunny day, and by that time I may have made the other version :-)

So project 2, the Vintage Vogue pattern.  I've seen these on sale before and frankly been intimidated.  To make things that more difficult for myself I decided to use the curtains I got on ebay.  I had 2 curtains and ended up with 4 bits of material which were very long but not that wide, folded length ways they were about 30inches.  I felt awful taking the curtains apart but I will reuse the lining at some stage even if it means working out a pattern on it or something. 
After laying out the pattern pieces in various ways I managed to cut out but was cutting through 2 layers of curtain.  The fabric pieces themselves just weren't wide enough to layout as suggested in the instructions. So after I worked that out, moved the cat (see earlier blog) I got started.  I still need to finish off the sleeves, give it a good press and attach the skirt but I'm chuffed about how it's turning out.  I think the fact that the dress is made from curtains gives it a real vintage feel.  I was worried about the tuck at the front but it was so easy to do and creates that nice line, bringing the front piece of the bodice to the side.

Also this weekend I had my wardrobe Spring clean and now ebay has a fair few of my Vivien of Holloway dresses on there.  I had a look on ebay at the same time and sadly missed out on this amazing 1950s martini glasses.  They went for a bargain of £11 but I forgot that the auction was ending and so missed out - poop!   I would have LOVED these but I know Mr P would not have been amused.  He may have been happier with an apple martini in them though....

So that's my weekend, can't believe I have work tomorrow.  It's been so wonderful just pottering about sewing and baking.  Oh to be a 1950s housewife! ;-)

Joy of Vintage Fair - next weekend!

This time next week the doors would have already opened at the Joy of Vintage Fair in Watford.  It takes place at Beechen Grove Baptist Church and starts at 11am.  I've just had an email about being a stall holder and when and how to set up.  I am very excited but also a bit nervous.  I haven't done a stall in a while and even though the last one was really well received I am having little niggly doubts.  I am sure it will fine on the day but I think I do like a good worry!  It looks set to be an amazing day out and lots of my lovely friends are going to come and see me so it's worth going just for that.  I can just imagine all the cake and tea I'll drink that day.  As it will be an early start for me I have to plan what to wear..I've finished my Collette pattern wrap dress and it's gorgeous, I am so pleased with it but think it might be a bit too summery.  I also want a nice day to get the chance to wear my Tara Starlet dress that I bought from a previous post.  Oh the decisions...but what a lovely choice to have.  I am lucky.  Knowing me though I have to decide now or I'll turn up in my pajamas having got ready in a doze.  Full details of the fair can be found here:  http://www.thejoyofvintage.co.uk/index.html

It is such a beautiful morning, makes a change from grey rainy yesterday so have been out doing some weeding - the glamor of my Saturday hey?  I had planned to cut a dress pattern out but our cat put a stop to that idea. 

Didn't have the heart to move him, he's too cute!

Vintage style accessories and dresses for a wedding?

As it is the season for weddings coming up, I thought it might  be useful to post a couple of jewellery suggestions.  There is a site called Glitzy Secrets. Please don't be put off by the name as is a really great site for a special piece that is vintage inspired.  Here's the link: http://www.glitzysecrets.com  They have a 'vintage' collection described as 'a charming and beautiful collection of replica vintage (pieces) inspired by priceless vintage jewellery from Victorian, Art Deco through to 1940s Hollywood eras. The stunning range features diverse designs from vintage chandelier earrings to classic, ornate drops.'  Here are a few of my favourites.  Below is a pair of earrings, hair comb and hair pins.  I think the hair accessories would look stunning in a sleek up do.

For something a littler simpler, I found these earrings on www.notonthehighstreet.com from the seller laurafallulah.  http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/laurafallulah/product/bouquet-earrings

 On the subject of weddings, I've found a few items that would be perfect.  The dress below is from Oasis and priced £60.  I love the colour but also think it's very similar to a very flattering red version I own from Stop Staring.  A real bargain this one I think.  it comes in the blue below and a yellow.

 
 

I'm not allowed any more shoes but these are lovely:

Other lovely clothes from Oasis are as below, there are so many and I'm going to try and resist them all.  I love all these items as the cut is so flattering and is in the same style as the 1940s tea dresses or glamour of the 1950s made so popular today because of the TV series 'Mad Men'.

(sigh.......)  hehe.