Sometimes I sew things just for fun….especially, if I don´t know what to do with my big amount of scraps. In this case, I made a coat that´s a mix-up between a vintage japanese fishermans-jacket and a mongolian coat. It´s a bit stiff, I must confess, but still wearable. I lined it with parts of a vintage peasant-bed clothing. The piece keeps me amazingly warm. Now I only have to find the courage, to wear it…..
After I finished my two versions of the “Mrs. Santa Coat”, I had promised myself a third one in brown. I had a vintage velvet curtain in mind, I stored for a long time and never knew, what to do with it.
It seemed perfect, but (like always!) things turned out completely different.
First I had to face, that the curtain was more “shabby” than expected. Some small parts of the velvet were fallen out. And the fabric had unremovable marks from the former seams. For the lining a had only some vintage fabric from a duvet (plumeau) in a shade of green. But the worst was, I could only cut 1 1/2 sleeves. All I had left was some smaller scraps…But give up? NO!
I had to be creative again….First I patched some of the scraps together and made the missing sleeve-half with it. Then I covered two misplaced spots, where the velvet was damaged, with matching borders and then I had to pretend, that all of this was planed from the start, and I wanted to sew a patchwork-coat….
Of course I couldn´t give a coat like that
a shiny new closure….So I took a beautiful, but rusty and shabby vintage belt buckle. I´m not quite sure, if it´s late art nouveau or early art déco, but who cares….
No, it might not be the most beautiful coat in fashion history, but for a shabby old curtain it´s nice enough….and very individual!
So don´t dump things, just because they are a bit shabby. Make a repair, give it a new life, change it into something complete different and be happy with it, no matter what other people say.
No, just kidding…Since I saw the blue velvet coat in series two of “Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries”, I wanted something like that. No accurate copie of course, but a coat in a similar style. Now, that´s long, long ago…meanwhile series three turned up and I never had the time to go on with the project.
Until the day before yesterday. I put anything else aside, made the pattern and sewed the coat in a hurry from silk-velvet, I had in store for years and a lining of vintage unbleached linen. Like the original from the series, my coat has a closure from a vintage belt-buckle. In this case a buckle from a traditional german costume around 1900.
Like usual, it´s not perfect and I also changed some details: Another color, a shorter, softer collar, NO feathers and I also changed the wide, in the lower part gathered and narrowed sleeves into more practical, simple ones.
After I finished the coat, I found it a pitty to have so much work with the pattern and than just use it for once….So I took two vintage curtains and made another, unlined version. This time an Art Déco belt-buckle does the closure-job.
And I think, I will make another version in brown….
Some of the scraps made a little two-way-cap. Depending on which coat I wear, I just turn the cap around.
Oh no…. not off-white again so soon after the Metropolitan- Project!
But there´s a good reason. Whenever I buy a lot of vintage lace , among the sought-after things are others, I´m not so fond of.
In this case it´s those rough bobbin-lace, meant for bed-and table-clothing or towels. I have enough bed-or table-clothing in my cabinet, so I don´t need more. And usually I´m the one to cut them up and not to sew new ones.
But the pile of rough bobbin-lace got slowly higher and higher, until I couldn´t close the cap of my lace- box anymore. I had to do something!
I couldn´t donate the lace to my usual group of sewing girls. To old fashioned for teens. And nobody else wanted it.
So what to do with that nasty, rough bobbin-lace?
Then I had an idea….I remembered a scene from Emile Zola´s novella “The lady´s paradise” (Au bonheur des dames). In that Scene, he describes a display window in a department store, overflowing with yards and yards of white lace…..Could I do something flowing, airy? With rough lace?
Maybe not exactly, but a long, fluent lace-poncho could be a thing for a spring occasion. Or a Christmas evening. And I could also sew some scarfs or stoles.
So I went to my sewing machine and did it. I think, it went good and what I have in the end is ok.
Of course I could dye it, but I like the two-tone shade one of the lace in the poncho has and it all matches perfectly. So it will remain off-white…..
“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.
This was an roseate vintage curtain in cotton velvet. I wouldn´t hang it in my window, but as a coat, it suits me fine.
And the scraps were turned into a nice little beret, embelished with an vintage embroidered doily.