Dressing the Decade - 1960

One of my favourite things to do when I need some sewing inspiration or just some ideas for what to wear to work is to look through the Vintage PatternWiki.

I love pattern illustrations. The fine details in the drawings - the perfect hair, dainty shoes and the fabric choices all give me lots of ideas! Making wool look like wool with tiny little brush flecks is always fun to see. 

Sometime the models can be a bit suspect or being doing some very odd poses - take a look a pattern junkie if you need a good giggle! 

There are of course obvious issues with the illustrations - the models legs can sometimes be a little unrealistic and some illustrations for plus size women are still drawn with the same template as the misses patterns - but that's a whole other kettle of fish that we might discuss another time. As un-PC as they are, it definitely shows how far we have come to be more accepting of other body shapes. 

My favourite years to look at are mostly 1967 to 1968 patterns, but I decided recently to look at earlier years and compare how the styles have changed through the decade.

Facile Patterns

Hello one and all! I hope you've been having a pleasant week?

Last week I had a rather full mind posting often, but this week I decided to sew and let the blog breath a little. 

But anyway I'm back and in the mean time I've received these lovely Australian patterns from Bella's Vintage Affair - (She has a great floral Oilcloth rain coat for sale at the moment!)

Legend of a Girl Child Linda

It’s been a rather nice weekend – warm and sunny 23 degrees which is lovely for Winter and hopefully and indicator of the next few months to come

This new dress will be perfect for when the warmer weather arrives and I’m very excited to show it to you.

My Sewing Space

Today I took the day off work for an Orthodontist appointment so it was nice to be home on a week day morning.

Outside kids are walking to school, cars are making a fuss about getting through the traffic and neighbours are going in and out to leave for the day. I was going to do a little sewing before my appointment, but in the bright morning light everything looks much newer and fresher. Something I only get to see on the weekends

I thought I'd take a photo of my sewing area for you and the tools I use most while working

My sewing area is at the end of the dining table in a corner so I can spread out and make a mess in one little area if I need. The spare room is dark and pokey so I'm not keen on being in there much and from here I can watch TV, listen to music or keep an eye on my cooking.

My pretty sewing machine Dolly has been behaving well since her return from repairs

60s fashion elements - The Drop Waist

Well, another dress down and a new one already lined up! I'll of course take some photos for you all this weekend, but in the meantime I'm making plans to use this modern pattern to make a deep red drop waist dress with white buttons and bias binding

In my research for an inspiration image I came across a reoccurring trend of 60's drop waist dresses, so let us delve a little deeper shall we?

60's Australia

Sometimes with all the excitement surrounding London or New York in the 60's, I sometimes forget about my own little country.

During my late night trawling of the National Archives of Australia, I came across some images of Australian fashion in the 60's and realised that although we weren't the center of the cultural revolution like London, we still were there doing our own version of the swinging sixties

Here are a few of my favourites

The Bliss of Mrs Blossom - the movie

In case I haven't made it clear by naming one of my dresses after it - I'm a big fan of the movie The Bliss of Mrs Blossom

I came across it back when I was 16 or so on a Saturday afternoon when channel 9 took a rare break from Clint Eastwood and Elisabeth Taylor films to show this visual treat.

I finally got a DVD copy a few years ago, so now let me share with you some of my favourite scenes and clothing from the film

(Note: This post is a little picture heavy!)

Queens & Quilts

The lovely Lena from The Vintage Guide to London and Style High Club has been ever so kind to let me be one of her Queens of Vintage

Thank you Lena for featuring me!

Take a pop over the to the Queens of Vintage site to see all the other lovely Queens and Kings of this wonderful community of vintage lovers

In other news, I can finally show of the little quilt I made for my friends Baby!

I made it double sided with 2 prints, as I wasn't sure of the colour scheme of the baby room. I used geo giraffe and chevron ikat both from Spoonflower (where else?) and I added some bias around the edges. I initially started quilting the layers together with 10cm rows of stitching, but I changed it to 5cm when it wasn't giving me that “quilted” look

Quilting when you think about it is pretty easy – There are more complicated and decorative techniques out there with patchwork and so on, but if you can do a running stitch you can make a basic quilt. This one is just a sandwich of fabric, batting and fabric so there are no overly complicated techniques involved. Give it a go if you like!

The future Mama and Papa! See how they glow!

And now back to our scheduled programming – the next project begins!

Take Care!
Cat 

Opp Shopping on a cloud

I often forget to post photos of my opp shopping and by the time I remember, the time has passed and its pointless, but I remembered today, so would you like to see my goodies?

After going to the dentist for a filling (boo!) I decided I deserved a present. Shopping while coming off anesthetic can be funny. I kept touching my numb face like some kind of weirdo, and finding silly little things that I would stare at for a bit before realising that its just crap and I would never buy that on a normal day. 

What I did manage to find with my head in the clouds were these...

In my garden I have a few plants already budding waiting for spring, but they never get very big so this little bud vase will fit them nicely. Lucy's recent post on her dresser table featured little glass bowls as jewellery/ make up storage and I spotted this little bowl which I think will handy for my rings and such

The single (sigh) dinner plate is important to me. As a minor ceramics fan I saw the name on this and knew straight away that I should buy it. The design is by Kathie Winkle who did work for Broadstone ceramics in the 60s and 70s. I also have a ceramic jar by from Kathie Winkle which currently stores my marigold seeds.

You can read more about Broadhurst here

I don't often have much luck with patterns at opp shops - they're usually 80s to 90s patterns which are never all that attractive. These 3 lovely ladies were waiting for me patiently today. 
Misses dress Style 1118 (1975), Jumper and shirt Simplicity 3157 (no year, I'd say early 60's) and Skirt Style 2405 (1978)
Style 1118 is particularly handy as I have been looking for a slim fit bodice dress like this for awhile 

A few fabric bits. A lovely paisley pillow case, light blue chiffon, lace and a navy silk sash

The below piece is a huge table cloth that I am considering turning into a dress. The fabric has a big design in the middle, which spreads out over the table cloth. I kinda hate it when people chop up vintage sheet sets to make clothing and leave the pillow cases as orphans (like the one above) so I'm a little unsure if I should chop up the table cloth - but I don't imagine using it for anything else and it doesn't come with matching place mats or anything.  
Do you often have silly dilemmas like this as a sewer? 

Pretty ok hoard for today. I didn't want to hang around digging for too long as I had to go pick up my repaired sewing machine.

I hope your weekend is going well so far! And remember - shop carefully while coming off anesthetic!

Cat xo