I saw a vintage helmet-hat like this in the web and wanted one for myself, but had no time to work on it than. Some weeks later a similar hat appeared in a scene from an early Hitchcock-movie (Murder!) I saw. This time I had no choice but to make my own Version. I took a modern feltbody, some vintage petersham ribbon, cut it up and began to stitch. It doesn´t really suit my “assistent” Helen, but it suits ME. And that´s enough.
I had a flawed, art déco childrens-duvet cover and 8 identical kitchen-towels from the same period. A good reason to make a short coat. The towels had hangers on both small sides, wich was convenient. I ran in some vintage cord and lifted the lower sides of the towels for a more shabby effect. The beautiful monogram on the duvet cover embellishes now the back of the coat.
To many lilac scraps in my basket…..and no idea, what to do with them….Until I decided to make a short vest for my violet tunic and a matching skirt, made from a vintage bed-cover.
The vest is warm and cosy and it´s an eyecatcher too. The colors brighten up dark and gloomy autumn days and my basket is not so overfull anymore….
Guess, which series fan I am…..Isn´t there a little bit of “Phryne” in every woman? 
“Stop!” yelled prince charming.
The rag-princess, just pacing down the castles stairs in her brandnew amazing coat, made of a 1960´s velvet-curtain, froze, one foot in the air.
“What´s wrong?” she asked.
“I hate to tell you, but I must insist on you changing your coat!” said the prince with cumbrous politeness.
“Why? What´s wrong with the coat?” asked the princess baffled.
“It seems, you can´t sew anything that´s not more or less ridiculous, but THIS COAT tops it all!”
“I don´t know, what you mean!”
“Not only it´s ugly…you see…..it´s GREEN! Have you ever seen a princess in a GREEN coat?”
“Well….Actually I saw Cinderella last week in this fabulous green…….”
“Stop it! You look like a FROG!”the prince yelled.
“ME? FROG? You call your wife a FROG? I think, you´re in the wrong fairy-tale!”
“I don´t want to show myself in public with someone, who looks like an abundant amphibian!”
“But we´re invited to the neighbor-king´s ball! And we should be on our way now!”
“Yes! And that´s a very good reason, why you should hurry and change your coat!”
The rag-princess counted to three and hoped, her fairy-godmother would appear and have a word with this headstrong husband of hers, but nothing happened. She had to face the situation on her own.
“Where are those fairys, if you need them!” she murmured to herself. Then looked at the prince.
“This coat….” she tried again.
“NO! As Long, as I drive the coach, I will not allow you to get in there, looking like this! I´m afraid, the horses balk!”
“And YOU call yourself a MODERN prince? Now look, I can´t be late….I promised snow-white and the evil queen to show them how to make a skirt from rotten old scarfes and…..”
“Green coat, no ball! That´s all I have to say! Now go and Change, or we stay at home! You have five minutes!”
Sometimes a princess has to accept a lost fight. So she ran up the stairs, took of the coat an got another one, just as rediculous as the frog-coat, but a red ragy-riding-coat with a fancy hood and hurried down again.
Prince charming stood at the bottom of the stairs, padded impatient with his elegant feet and rattled with the coach-keys.
He gasped as he saw the red coat, but said nothing. At least better to step out with a heap of red rags, than a frog.
And so they drove to the ball, where the princess kept her promise and bored all the Ladys half to death with her scarf-skirt project, while prince charming found his solace by walking around the extended park of the neighbors castle in solitude, disturbed only by a flock of yarn-bombers.
For this project, I wanted something curvy, flowing, like some of the dresses from the 30s have. But not to much! So I used some old lace-borders, a vintage cushion (including closure and mother of pearl-buttons as you can see on the front of the dress) and fabric from a damaged duvet cover. I dyed everything, as usual and turned it into a slightly curvy Dress.
Vintage curtains are fantastic items for clothing projects. It doesn´t matter, if you use the heavy kind with rich patterns or the tender lacy ones.
For this long summer-tunic, I used pieces of vintage art déco curtains. The sewing-pattern had to be simple, because the design of the fabric speaks for themselves.
To use or not to use…That´s the question!
Sometimes you get vintage items and ask yourself “should I use them for a project or just collect, so they can be preserved?”
Usually I decide to use them, if the items are not too rare and precious or so delicate in condition, that using ist out of question.
In this case, I got a vintage display-sample from the 30s or 40s with some beautiful Plauener-Tüllspitze (net lace from Plauen in Germany).
The old rose items in the middle are acctually the two parts of a collar, but I thought, they would make fantastic embelishments for a bra…..
I was right, as you can see in the picture.
So it you decide to work with your vintage treasures, be gentle and respectful and don´t forget, they where once made for use and there is no reason, why they should not come back to light and shine!
Last year I got a heap of vintage millinery items, including two strands of white cellophane-braid. Braided cellophane was popular for hats between the 1920s-50s. Today it´s nearly impossible to find.
Unfortunately the material is delicate and don´t get along with sunlight or dampness. Accordingly to this, both strands where in a poor condition, parts of them half rotten. However, I tried to make a hat in a 1920s style, to practice the handling of difficult material. I had to damp it, keep it wet in a cloth and sew it carefull with needle and thread over a hat block, without ripping the braid or dissolve it. After that I stiffed it with starch and millinery wire at the edge.
To my own astonishment it worked! The hat may be a little eccentric and every touch makes a crackling sound like withered leaves (no wonder, cellophane is made of cellulose), but it is wearable at all!
We shouldn´t use fur. I think, the times, when animals had to suffer and die for things like fur-coats and collars should be over and never come back again.
No human being can ever look as good in a fur coat as the animal does, that had to die for the coat.
When winter comes I use “Furry”, my fake-fur-collar. I didn´t sew it myself. Actually I found Furry years ago in a second hand store. It was dirty, the lining had holes, seams where lose, only a half tail remained and one glass-eye was missing.
But it was obvious, that someone long ago made the collar herself from simple materials like satin and a fur-like fabric, usually used for teddy bears.
I cleaned and mend it and bought a pair of new glass-eyes. Now we´re both happy together.
But what is there to see on the picture? Some real fur! Is this woman a pharisee?
No, I´m not. But Furry´s tail and ears are real fur. I think, the woman who made it, used some bits from a genuine fur-collar and I didn´t have the courage to remove it. But I also never repaired the half-tail.
Furry will remain as it is and I use it as a reminder for myself never to use fur.
You don´t own fur-coats or collars and you also don´t want to buy such things and why did this woman need to write about it, because fur is mega-out for years?
Don´t think your save. Fur lurks everywhere, even if we don´t realize it!
Those pretty miniature- animals you can buy on fairs and markets or in cheap stores, are often laminated with the fur of cats. Millions of them are killed every year. Or where does the genuine trim fur on your new, stylish purse comes from? Or the piece of fur on this in-boots you just admire in a shoe shop?
It may not be mink or sable. But does it matter, which animal it is?
Ask yourself in wich way the animals, we use for industrial products like clothing and shoes are raised and how they die at the end.
Try to avoid products with genuine fur and if it´s not possible, buy your things from eco-friendly companys.
The web is full of alteratives to “common” industrial products!
Ask questions. And if they don´t give you the right answers or try to dodge them, go and buy elsewhere!
