40's blouse

One last time for this pattern, I think. LOL Are you bored with this style yet? I couldn't help it. The truth is, I made the red blouse and purple one at the same time. Sometimes it just easier to make two of the same pattern at once. The fabric is a purple gauge and matched up pretty well with my skirt from Talbot. This shirt is another Closing in the Gaps project. I am finding that sewing with gap busting in mind has been fun. My morning routine has been easy, breezy too! Although, I am not a stickler in regards to following "programs", there are a few unnecessary items that are begging for my attention to sew out of whimsical expression and pure enjoyment. So little time, sigh.

This week I've been less productive than usual. The loss of my iron due to repairs, has been a great loss indeed. While using my old iron, I feel like I am using a "toy" iron compared to the Rowenta.  Seams aren't ironing in as crisp. I love ironing while sewing. It makes a HUGE difference in the finished garment. So there may be fewer projects until I get her back. Until then we'll have to make due. Do you like ironing or is it a hassle for you?

Have a Fab Vintage day! I am glad to be back. I won't tell you I dropped my new camera while grabbing my son from harm's way. I am heartbroken over it, but glad everyone is safe!

Gina

Links/comments may not be working

This is my favorite painting that I own. It has been in my family since my great grandmother. I have spent hours looking at this lovely lady hoping someday I could dress like her.

Please bear with me as I fix these problems with my blog. I am not aware of the source that is keeping a few folks from commenting or clicking links. My husband works in computers too and is looking into the problem. Thanks so much to all of you who have email me. My email is vintagegina@yahoo.com if anyone else would like to email and let me know what they are seeing on their computers, this may help me to resolve issues! Thanks so much for your patience. You are all the best community around! Until then how about some random pictures of my favorite things from my home! I like to decorate with antiques, here are a few of my favorite spots in my home. In no particular order. Warning lots of pictures here!!!

This lamp was my mom's. She gave it to me and I found another one just like it at the antique store. The light dances at night all over my walls. Love it

Christmas Day at our house, told you this was random!

                 Our front door, I enjoy the design.

      Our everyday chairs for our dining area. We love the castle theme of them, they are very heavy.

           My upstairs bathroom shelf. Just for fun.

        I wish this showed up better, there is mother of pearl painted in this picture, it's very grand to look at.

        I made is runner years ago. This vase is heavy, you can't see it's true color, is a beautiful pale blue.

      This chicken's name is Jones, my kids joke often about him.

 I am very bad at leaving tags hanging on items I have bought, I am a bit of a Minnie Pearl that way.

              This is from my bedroom. I love this pale yellow vase.

               

         This is where I sit and blog. The metal tray is for my coffee. the curtains I made last year.

Polka dot skirt burda style

I love this little skirt! It has top stitching that took forever, but adds so much to this Burda skirt.  Maybe I'll try it in red. What are you making?

On a side note, I have received a few emails from folks that have wanted to comment and can't on this blog. My hubby looked into it and thinks it may be fixed. If you are having trouble leaving a comment or following the site please email me about the problem. I love to hear from you all.

Have a wonderful vintage day!

Gina

Old verses new

Does anyone out there having these kinds of problems? Can I share with you some observations that I have been making over the last year? I don't wish to be mean in any way, it's not my nature, but I need to speak this out today. I am very disappointed with the "new" items I have been buying lately. I know we live in a throw away society, but this is ridiculous to have this many encounters with bad products. My antiques that are 50 years old are out lasting anything I buy today. Here's a rundown of my recently issues with the "new" stuff.

First, I thought I would replace my 20 year old can opener, it costed maybe .79 cents. My new can opener was on sale for $8.99. It opened THREE cans and broke! My husband said it couldn't be repaired!

Next up, furniture! I wanted to replace our 15 years ago couch. It lasted well and still looked great, but I wanted to replace it with something new. My "new" expensive couch has plastic feet, they broke off in 3 months!!! The fabric on the couch that I paid extra for is deteriorating and rubbing off. I have never seen this before in my life. The lazy boy chair, that we don't sit in very much, I bought for 800.00 dollars has a strange deflated look on one side, as if the stuffing is totally missing out of it.  I have never seen this before either so I called about it, but as you can see it wasn't repaired.  

Freezers, yes, when buying our house, it came with a freezer that was every bit 30 years old. It was rusty and a bit ugly, but worked great. I didn't like the rust so I asked my husband if we could get a new one. We bought a freezer, got it home only to find it was already broken. So, we took it back to get another. Bad idea! We brought this one home and I have to take it back, because it's not working!

If you look closely, you can see the water coming out.

This morning, I pull out my ROWENTA  Focus Professional iron, Yes, my Christmas gift. My old black and Decker iron I brought 21 years ago for about 15.00 dollars, it still works. My 100 dollar Rowenta is pouring water out of the electric cord! I called the company and they want me to paid to have it shipped. My iron will be in a service center for 4 weeks, it's hard to sew without an iron. I don't know if I will trust that it will last. If they are using the same junk parts, how could it?

Should I go on, there is more, but you get the point! I understand that companies need to make profits to stay in business, but  I don't want to buy a new can opener every third can, or a new couch every 3 months.  I guess after this year I really believe my antiques are the clear winners here. Some of my favorite antiques are, an old coffee cup I drink from Every morning, it's given me years of dependable service.

 I have enjoyed driving this 1978 Mercedes without any problems. It's been in our family for 30 plus years.

This phone has out lasted three sets of cordless phones. It works even when the electric is out. 

Am I having bad luck or do you have these problems? Okay, I feel better, thanks for lending me your ear.  I guess in the end, I am really a vintage girl. I like old, dependable things that last. I hang onto my things and enjoy wearing them out. So I guess I'll be hunting down any items I can find at the antique store.

Here's to the antiques in your life. Enjoy them! 

Have a fab vintage day,

Gina 

MMJune/ closing another gap!

Both the skirt and blouse made by me.

 I made this red 40's blouse last week. I am really liking this style and wanted yet another one of these blouses hanging in my closet. And yes, it's another gap busting item. As you know, I made the skirt awhile back, but wanted something to go with it.

Here are a couple of MMJune outfits that I have been wearing.

This dress is a refashion, I hemmed it and and took it in at the waist to be more fitted. It was an easy fix and great for MMJune

( handmade top , the skirt is from the thrift)

Yes, I am wearing my clothing and it's been fun to make and wear things that you like.

Have a wonderful vintage day!

Gina

Shorts, know when to hold, fold, walk or run!

This week I haven't been sewing due to my schedule and am feeling a bit off centered. Do you ever feel that way when your schedule is changed drastically?  It began as life heated up this week, in more than one way. So, some shorts were in order  for MMJune.  I set out to make a pair with a good pattern in hand. Hours later, less than perfect results, I put them away for this week. As you can see here, the pink pair has the zipper bugging out to the side.

 The green pair  came together okay, but has a funny drag line that doesn't make any sense to me. So there you have it,  my less than perfect, unfinished projects. I am not going to call them failures, because they aren't. Everything  I am sewing, I am learning from. Even if the mystery is unsolved for now, there will come a day when understanding will come.  Until then, it's back to the drawing board for this vintage girl.  There is a Kenny Rogers song called the Gambler. No, I am not a fan of his, but for years I have sang these words with a totally different meaning to them.  Yes, it silly, but many times these few words have been helpful to me. They goes like this, "You got to know when to hold em', know when to fold em', know when to walk away, know when to run".  Sometimes I sing this little song to myself when I am making decisions that require me to have discernment. This week it was good to "walk away", knowing I wasn't going to "fold em" completely. Why? Because in the end, I want to make good fitting shorts, I also want to push myself passed the pain of perceived failure.  If I "fold", then nothing will be gained in knowledge, and I will be stuck with buying shorts. Certainly, there are times to "fold", you know when something is going backwards and will never go forward to a pleasing result. And honey, sometimes you need to run away from a fabric or pattern that will not work for you. Other times, it's time to hold on, wait, be patient with the process. It's in these times that we learn a lot. What projects do you need to hold, fold, walk away or run from? Until next time friends.

Have a great Vintage day!

Gina

Closing the Gaps number 3 and MMJune

When I made this skirt in March, I didn't really know what I would wear with it, I was thinking a white blouse. I liked the electric blue color of this fabric, but I knew it would be hard to match. So last week when I made this blouse from the left over skirt fabric, I didn't expect them to work so well together.  Why? Because I heard it said so many times, not to be so matchy, matchy with your wardrobe, well forget that, I like it! So I am officially breaking that rule. What do you think of this matched set? This is my MMJune outfit for today. I have been faithful to wear my homemade clothing everyday. I won't be taking photos of every outfit, but a lot of them. If truth be told I have been getting up early to sew and sew until  10:00 A.M. in my pajamas this whole week, all my sleepwear is vintage, not handmade, I am a bad girl for sure! What have you been making?

Have a wonderful vintage day!

Gina

80's Blouse and 60's skirt!

First up, this charming couple. A 80's top in love with a 60's skirt, say it isn't so.  I grew up in the 80's. At the time, I loved the fashions of that day, but the 90's came rolling in and I lost my loving feelings towards the eighties. Now their back. Mrs. Exeter from Dressing Mrs. Exeter wrote an interesting post about fashion and the decades. How fashions we laughed at years ago, now we consider them endearing. It really got me thinking about returning to my childhood roots. So, I decided to made this 80's blouse. Thanks Mrs. Exeter, I would have pasted up this pattern before! I like the sleeves, all six of them. They give a nice layered effect. I would like to make this blouse again with a nautical theme.

Here's a big shout out to Jane from Handmade Jane  Thanks Jane for recommending this skirt. I kept looking at your skirts and loved them. To my surprise, I had this very pattern in my drawer. LOL, I need to take an inventory of my patterns! This was my first time sewing a lap zipper. I used this video to learn how. what we we do without youtube? Anyway, this is also my MMJune outfit for today. What are you working on? Are you filling in any gaps? I am, I'll be back in a little while with the next update.

Until then have a Wonderful vintage day,

Gina