Spring Cleaning!

I am determined to get my apartment in order this spring if it kills me!  A few months ago I was cleaning out my closet and realized exactly how many bags of fabric scraps I had squirreled away in there and decided to do something about it.  I am absolutely incapable of throwing away fabric, no matter how little of it there is and I had accumulated a ton of silk, velvet, vintage fabric and linen bits over the years.  I also had a favorite blanket that had definitely seen better days (word to the wise, no matter how cold it is when you’re camping, or how tempting it is to hold your blanket over the  heater for a second to get some warmth in, don’t.  Unless circular burn marks are your thing.  :-)), so I decided to jazz it up.  I can’t believe I had never thought of this before!

Seriously though.  You may be thinking “how hard can sewing small rectangles into a big rectangle be?” The answer: really goddamn hard.  Just trust me when I tell you to measure the crap out of it after every row.

sorry for the lumpy bed, I couldn't be asked to actually make it correctly 🙂

 

the back

Another thing I did to cut down on the scrap heap in my house is make a bean pillow for a friend of mine who has some health problems.  This one  is totally easy.

 

Sew a tube, inside out. Sew one end shut and flip it right side out.  Fill half-way with beans (or cherry pits), fold edges in and sew shut.  I also made a pillowcase for it to snazz it up a bit.  The pillow itself should be out of cotton (or a microwavable safe fabric, check before you use it!) and can be microwaved.  The beans keep the heat in really well.  You can also scent it with an essential oil if you like (I used sandalwood).

In other news, some new seeds for the garden have arrived!  I’ve decided to grow heirloom lettuce, cucumber and onion this year as well as huckleberry.  I can’t wait to get into the garden and start planning!  More on that next time 🙂

so. excited.

 

Part Two: Vintage Cooking Tools and Misc.

Winter crafts.  I can’t even type it without cringing, but that’s what this post is about.   This time of year, Christmas is just over and the weather is usually pretty sucktastic, so I start looking for things to do in between Xbox marathons.  This is what I’ve been up to (all of them are really easy!)

Making vintage cooking tools from Christmas trees:

I’ve actually been making these for a while to use at medieval reenactments, since a friend of mine saw one in a medieval museum.  My clients are used to my bizarre requests by now (you have walnut trees? I need the  green ones!, for example) and the ones I’ve had for longer all know to bring me their christmas tree tops every year, so I was delighted to stumble across this in one of my vintage magazines.  This one is from the January1919 issue of Hilf Dir Selbst. If you’re wondering what that is, I’ve posted tea and mushroom recipes from it before (I now have a bunch of them!)

Click on the photos for a larger view:

the one on the left is finished, the one on the right is in progress

The instructions read:

“To Use a Christmas Tree

Before burning them, Christmas trees that have served their purpose  can be turned into kitchen utensils.  I find if you prepare the whisks in different sizes,you can completely subsitute them for the ones you can buy in the shop carved out of solid wood. They are especially good for taking laundry out of the pot.  You cut the top so that the only the teeth of the whisk remain, be careful that the wood doesn’t crack, see figure 2a.  Then each whisk  should be peeled with a sharp knife in the direction from the thickest part to the thinnest of the handle [if the wood is still green you can also peel it off with your fingers]. After peeling, leave the whisk for a while in hot, but not boiling water to soften it.  Then let it slowly dry in a mild temperature so it doesnt turn brown [I actually skip this step].  Then take sandpaper and sand it down until the whisk is smooth.”

I also rub mine down with olive oil to make it extra smooth.  These will beat eggs and cream like nothing else on earth!

Turning a Scarf into a Hood, 40’s Style:

So a few days ago I came across this post on Diary of A Vintage Girl and fell in love with her hood. I was even more excited to find that she got the idea from a collection of 1940’s fashion advice videos found here: British Pathe.  In addition to the headscarf video there’s advice on how to tie a turban, how to make slippers, tweaking your dresses from day to night, and making hats! The Day to Day frock video is my personal favorite.  Anyhow, I decided to try the scarf to hood idea and found a scarf I had that was wide enough to do so (it’s a little to wide, but this was only to test out). It took like 5 minutes over coffee at a friends house to stitch it. Also, I look like Little Red Riding Hood.

All you need to do is fold it in half (ends together) and stitch it down until the back of the “hood” reaches the bottom of the back of your neck.  With all the wind and rain it’s so useful, I’ve worn it every day since I made it!  Her’s totally looks better than mine, but next time I’m going to use a thicker and narrower scarf and see how that works out.  It would be great for my long-stretch hiking too!

And to wrap up, two of the highlights from Christmas:

Learning how to salt a sheep’s hide to prepare it for tanning at a friend’s house in Franconia. There were also giant jello shots and a trip to a 6th generation potter, but this is probably my favorite moment 🙂

I was also gifted some 50’s christmas ornaments by my friend’s grandmother. I love them!

And in between Christmas and New Year’s I was invited to celebrate Spanish style with friends here in Köln. There were tortillas. And sausages cooked in flaming rum. Awesome!.

And that’s that! Have a great week!

Sewing Vintage: 1933

It’s finally finished!  I’ve got new garden photos which I’ll post in the next few days, but the dress takes priority 🙂  I had to resize this one, as the pattern was too small, which added a little more work. HOWEVER. After working with pattern sheets this one was a breeze, as, unlike the pattern sheets, these actually have detailed instructions (so no random pieces you have to figure out).  Here it is!

I used a Gucci silk/cotton blend for the pleated insets

and Cerruti pinstriped wool for the dress

because of the center detailing, the extra had to be added to the sides

the inset is pleated first, then sewn in

then the sides are joined, the yoke is sewn in, and the button added. This one is a vintage 40's and made from antler

et voila! The only thing that needs to be done is to iron the hemline...that's why it looks a bit off right here

detail 1

detail 2

the pattern I used from Vogue Vintage

Finished!

Sewing Vintage: 1936

Friday I finally found my motivation and decided to do something with the ever growing pile of fabric in my closet!  I chose a pattern from a German sewing magazine from 1936 called Praktische Damen und Kinder Mode.  These old German and Swiss fashion journals are my absolute favorite.  They usually show about 30 different fashions and include a massive pattern sheet for all of them, in all different sizes. If you are a vintage sewer, you need a few of these!  I haven’t found anything similar that includes patterns from any other country, but hopefully they’re out there 🙂  The only drawback is that the instructions are minimal, so if you are a new sewer, some of the complicated patterns can be difficult to navigate.  To use these, you need tracing paper, and just need to find the numbers specified and trace out the lines indicated for those pattern pieces you need.  Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty simple.  I finished this whole thing in one weekend, and I love it so much I might have to make another one!

the blouse

the magazine

the pieces

instructions

First, trace out the pieces you need, in this case # 1-7

then lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric. This picture shows the actual color of the fabric

Sew the front and back pieces together, leaving enough unsewn in the back to fit your head through. Then attach the sleeves leaving the top part open (the yoke fits into these places). Afterwards, lay the yoke bits over top. you should have extending triangle areas that you need to set into the sleeves.

getting the yoke on right is easier if you put the blouse on and pin it while you're wearing it.

then bind the sleeves up with a ribbon, pleating it to fit into the ribbon. I left the ends longer so the ties hang down, but you could also just have it as a normal band (with none hanging down)

I used a vintage button and made a tie to close the back at the neck, but you could just as easily use a zipper or a button and buttonhole. I then added a small zipper on the side for fit.

a finished sleeve. you can also see how light the cotton I used is. You really need a flowing fabric for this blouse to work.

Finished! The waist ended up being too short, so I added another strip at the bottom. The other pictures made the fabric look grey, this is the actual color.

and voila!  It really is the perfect project for a cold, rainy weekend.  I can’t wait to wear it!

Totensonntag and Hot Chocolate

Today is Totensonntag, and the weather seems to have followed suit. It’s grey and rainy and depressing and dark outside, which means today is the perfect day for three things: Buffy, sewing and alcoholic hot chocolate!  Yesterday I started a skirt from a pattern from the 40’s, I’ll post pictures when it’s finished, but I think I’m going to have to adjust the pattern a lot.  Also, believe it or not, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Romero’s Living Dead movies are the absolute best sewing movies of all time. They’re just brainless enough that you can follow along without looking at the screen all the time, and so over the top that they manage to keep you amused throughout.  It’s bizarre, I know, but that’s how it is.  Spiked Hot Chocolate is also a must for a cold blustery day of sewing and this one is my favorite.  It’s adapted from the Köln Chocolate Museum’s recipe and is The only hot chocolate recipe you’ll ever need:

Take 2 vanilla beans and simmer with 1 liter milk for 10 minutes.  Take them out, scrape out the middle, and set the milk aside.  In another pot add 3 tablespoons of cocoa, 1/4 liter of water and the vanilla bean scrapings, and bring it all to a boil.  Add the milk  and stir for a few minutes.  Then stir in 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of cane sugar, and a shot or rum or tequila.  If you’re really brave, add 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder or tabasco and a pinch of salt.  Stir and let simmer until everything is mixed and melted and blended.  In winter serve this hot with whipped cream, in summer serve chilled.  A good variation is to substitute the honey and chili with rapsberry syrup.

If I get up the energy to run to the kiosk and buy some milk, I’ll make some today and post hot chocolate pictures along with the skirt. But I wouldn’t count on it

Edited: Actually, scratch that.  My darling stove is still on the fritz. Rats.