The ones i'm keeping...

...being a periodic peek at my pattern stash and related goodies.

Today's selection?  This early 20th century McCall pattern:

How early?  Well, that's a very interesting question.  It gives a patent date on the back of the pattern, April 21, 1908 (no patent number, which would make it quick and easy to look up, but i'm not complaining...).  However, that patent isn't for an individual pattern design, but for the "guide chart" system that keys the instructions to portions of the garment illustrations.  Yep, that little bitty fine print on the back of the pattern envelope and those tiny little line drawings are all the instructions you get...

So we know at least that it's not earlier than April 21, 1908 - but how much later?  This being a child's pattern, the sizes are given by age rather than measurement, and i know that's an indicator of an older pattern, but i don't know just when McCall switched to sizing them by measurement.  A boy's shirt is also not the trendiest of garments, so the design of the garment only gives you a ballpark on this one.  I have seen early 1920s McCall patterns that have a different, much more ornate envelope design, but don't know if that was used on their whole line, nor exactly when it came into use... more research!

Flea Market Finds

We finally made it to the favorite flea market on Saturday! We had tried the week before, when they were supposed to open for the season, but the whole operation got flooded out. But this past Saturday, it was sunny and 70-ish, so we went a-hunting...

Here's what i left with:

A small leather make-up case, a little smaller than your average train case

A tailor's ham, which will probably go to my sister, since i kept the last one i bought for her...

A sleeve roll (and i've been needing one, but new ones are expensive, and not that easy to find!)

A sewing box, containing mostly unexciting notions, but also a pair of nice Wiss pinking shears

A 1940s craft booklet with instructions and projects for crochet, knitting, tatting, and embroidery - and which turned out to have another knitting pattern stuck inside

Three issues of McCall's magazine from 1940

A school songbook with lots of popular songs from about 1915 to the early 1920s

Not a bad morning's haul, really. Would have been grand to stumble onto some great patterns, or some fabulous vintage fabric (say, just enough for that apron i want to do) - but there's always next time. The thrill of the hunt!

Pondering the Proper Plural of "Peplum"

I am, let it be known, a sucker for a peplum. Probably from the time i was a girl, and there was one of those tiny little illustrations beside the definition for "peplum" in the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary i borrowed from my father when doing my homework... (i am also one of those folks who can get lost reading a dictionary like a novel, which is probably why i remember stumbling across "peplum," instead of some more likely vocabulary word).

I just though it looked so cool, and was dismayed that they didn't crop up on the clothes i saw around me. Now, i know that this problem can be solved through the wonder of vintage patterns. A few photos for your inspiration, all from 1940s patterns:

The Requisite Snow Post

I think everyone in the Mid-Atlantic is required to do one today, so here 'tis. We've got somewhere in the neighborhood of two and a half feet of snow here, in a region that doesn't deal well with more than, say, four inches...


That's the chicken coop. There are no actual fowl visible, because they're all in the doorway of the chickenhouse, making disparaging comments about the weather. My chickens are not fans of snow.
The cats, on the other hand, are. As long as they can come in and sleep by the woodstove, after...

Cold Weather Gear

Just a quick view of ways to keep warm, vintage style... if you're going to sew and wear vintage styles, be aware that they look really silly with modern outerwear. Wouldn't want to spoil the effect of all that work, would you?



Capes and cloaks are a great solution - they're quick and easy to sew, look dramatic, and in the right combination of fabrics, can be quite toasty. I lucked into a lot that had quite a few cape patterns - some have already sold, so there's only one listed right now (the Vogue, above), but there are more to come.

Nog on the blog

By way of apology for neglecting the blog through the holidays, let me share the eggnog recipe i've been tinkering with this season...

Now, this is a recipe that uses raw eggs, so if you're not comfortable with that, please seek out another one. I have the unfair advantage of having my own chickens, so i know that they live in the lap of luxury with enough space and organic feed, homemade kefir, and delightful snacks. I know when the eggs were laid and don't have to wonder if they bumped around all over creation for a month before getting to the store. Anyway, i'm pretty confident about the quality of my egg supply, so i don't worry too much about using them raw.

Eggnog

8 eggs, separated
5/8 c. sugar (divided, 3/8 c. and 1/4 c.)
1 c. rum
2-1/2 c. milk
1-1/4 c. heavy cream
vanilla to taste
ground nutmeg

Beat the egg yolks with 3/8 c. sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then mix in the remaining sugar. Add the beaten yolks gently to the egg whites. Slowly mix in the rum, then the milk, then half of the cream (somewhere in there, a splash of vanilla, too). Whip the remaining cream, then fold it into the eggnog, carefully, so as to preserve the foamy layer. Ladle into cups and top with ground nutmeg - bonus points for fresh grated - and enjoy! This makes plenty for six or eight. I wasn't organized enough to take pictures, i'm afraid, though it looked awfully pretty in my mother's china teacups with an ivy vine pattern...

Undiscovered gems

Now and again, a perfectly swell pattern gets overlooked. Such as this one.


It's a great little late '50s suit (1958, to be precise), in a great size (38" bust!), the envelope's in great shape, and it's cheap because it's missing the skirt pieces. But the skirt, to be perfectly blunt, is not the interesting part of this pattern. Dozens of other simple straight skirt patterns could be substituted, and no one would be any the wiser. No, the interesting bits are all in the top and the jacket - i particularly love that immense, fabulous collar. And as impractical fashion details go, it's probably a lot less troublesome than most...

I know the cover art is overwhelmingly pink. I promise you don't have to sew it in pink if you don't want to. Go take a look.