1960s Vintage Knitting PDF Giveaway

Hooray! I'm actually making progress in my scans of my vintage knitting patterns. I just put this awesome PDF booklet from 1961 with 25 women's sweater patterns up in my Etsy store, for $10. So of course I will be giving one away! To enter, leave a comment below with either a link to your blog or your email (so that I can contact you in the event of winning!) before December 1st.

In other news, I've gotten a haircut. I've been long missing my bangs and went into the Fantastic Sams with an iconic image of Brigit Bardot in hand. I think it came out a little more Ally Sheedy, but I owe that to my hair color and the fact that I don't have time to put it up into a bouffant. You can see what I mean in these lovely photos from my 5 year high school reunion.

 Note how in the first photo, my face is its normal color, having just arrived. Note in photo two, after a lovely sangria the rather, ahem, red glow I have! And yes, besides the girl who came in a Barbie neon pink dress I was the only one in a bright color.

Hey you, ya wanna buy some patterns?

Glances around furtively and opens trench coat...

Just kidding! As some of you might remember I do volunteer work for the Commercial Pattern Archive. I'm in charge right now of selling our duplicate patterns - patterns that have been donated of which we already have a copy. We usually sell them to pattern vendors to help fund the project, but I thought it might be interesting to reach out to you guys and see if any of you were interested (or you could ask for Christmas?)
Here's how it works:
The director and I worked out what we think is a fair way to evenly distribute the patterns. For $36 (includes shipping and handling to the US), a box of 60 patterns can be purchased. They are not checked for completeness but we're not going to give anyone an empty envelope, either. Each box gets about: 6 patterns from the 1940s, 12 from the 1950s, 14 from the 1960s, 24 from the 1970s, 2 from the 80s. Out of these 60, 2 will be oversize (like Vogue Specials, etc.). If you are interested, please let me know by email: taponmyback@cox.net

In other news, Hairspray is up! As soon as I buy photos I will have them up. Unfortunately though, my amazing wardrobe assistant swallowed a pin this afternoon, so let's all keep her in our thoughts.

Can It Already Be Thursday?

Apparently it can! Tonight is the official dress rehearsal for Hairspray and quite frankly, there is still a lot to be done, but overall everything is looking good. I still can't believe it! I wish I had pictures to show you, but they all came out super blurry.

I'm going to leave you with this very funny video by a team of french comedians. Most of their other clips have dialogue, but this one doesn't so anyone can appreciate it. The song is also very, very catchy. Or annoying, depending on how you look at it.

 Quite frankly, after Hairspray is done, I'll just be happy to get back to the SW Challenges. For my "do-over" pattern I'm hoping to finally finish my corduroy vest and skirt set, since my original skirt came out too big and unflatteringly long.

SW: Pin Up

Hey! I actually got a challenge done during Hairspray...because it will be in Hairspray! Underneath is my still unfinished lounge wear challenge garment so I guess you all get a sneak peek at that as well. I actually had to sew two of the peignoirs for Amber and Velma Von Tussle (the snobby, white, rich, mother-daughter duo), but for some reason the second one took me a lot longer than the first, go figure. Isn't it usually the other way around?

Actually, for awhile I was calling it Barbie's Graduation Gown, haha!

Pattern: Sew-Knit-N-Stretch #215 (1969)
Time: 8 hours-ish
100% polyester costume satin and marabou boas
It went together pretty fast, actually, because I just serged the whole thing together, except the neckline and the armbands. The marabou took a long time because I had to sew it on by hand, but it was worth it. All in all, a very awesome pattern!

Thinking Ahead: The Suit

Of course, I am already dreaming of what I want to start sewing once Hairspray is finished. For the two job interviews I have had I dressed more business casual - a me-made pencil skirt with a conservative jersey top and low heels. However, I'd like to have a suit I can wear to interviews that I made just for me. Knowing that I might need to take a 4 hour bus ride to them, especially, because I can't be toting garment bags of sample work all over Boston and New York. So why not wear my big sample and then bring something smaller, like a hat and corset (also on the to-do list)?

This means a lot of research and culling through others blogs for tips and tutorials and what-not. For now, though, I'm going to have to be content sharing suit pattern images!

View 2 is a top contender, especially as I own this pattern! The peplum, the double-breasted style and the skirt with all the drape falling to the back? Love! Not that I wouldn't make some changes...lengthen the sleeves to half or 3/4, since the skirt is long and it will be winter when I am doing interviews. I would also open up the neckline, if I could.

Patterns Acquired

Friends, time is running out for Hairspray costumes and with the lack of cooperation from certain places that I would like to rent from I needed a back-up plan. A back-up plan that unfortunately will involve MANY nights of sewing and crying, I think. So I bought these:

From HelaQ

The middle view, for shop assistants.

 From mbchills

 For Edna and Tracy's grand finale.