Hi dears!  I’m so glad to be adding a couple of new things to the Etsy store.  Some pretty stationery things for you: a Thank You card set plus Print Your Own stationery (you’ve gotten a sneak peek of both items on ye olde blog).

The drawings are inspired by late summer:  lazy afternoons, golden sunlight and pretty wildflowers.  And as you can see I’ve used some of my favorite colors too (coral-y pink, golden yellow and teal blue!).

As of this posting, the above stationery items are on Etsy but I’ll also be adding them to le shop as well.  But first my husband is taking me on a museum date!

Happy Tuesday.

*UPDATE* Stationery has been added to le shop: Thank You Cards and Printable PDF Stationery.  Enjoy!

I’ve had some good luck with thrifting this past week.  A couple of things for myself (including a navy blue cashmere sweater for $2.75!) but mostly for le shop.  Some things need repairing, others perhaps a little embellishment or alteration.  More things for the to do list but I’m excited about doing hands on stuff and salvaging these pretty things!

I’ve had this dress for almost a year, picked it up for $15 at the antique market.   It is almost a relief to have finally done my fixes on this dress; clothes are really moving from the to do rack to the closet!  I really love this dress, I feel really at home in it.

Here’s a look at the before:

A 1970s version of a 1930s dress.  You can’t see it in the photos but the little flowers are flocked which I love (not much flocking left but still counts for something).  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the style, only it needed some repairs here and there.  But for the most part I don’t like high necklines; I feel too closed up.  And the sleeves were shortened in a slapdash fashion by its previous tenant (Hmm, I sense a trend) so I had to do something about that.

This is what I did:

• Cut out and lowered the neckline; removed neck facing that was clearly visible under the sheer fabric.
• Added a pleated Petersham collar that I tacked down by hand. (The stitches seem very obvious to me even though I tried my best to not sew too tightly; I might redo it but it’s fine for now.)
• Cut the sleeves down, leaving a little bit of the previously gathered fabric which I hemmed creating little ruffles.
• Fixed some general wonkiness around the bust seam.
• Cut off the lace and ruffle at the hem and shortened the skirt.  I considered fixing and re-attaching the ruffle but decided I liked the simplicity of the plain hem.
• The ties were very much uneven so I shortened one. (I did not match the lengths exactly as I don’t see a problem with them being off just a little.)
• Fastened a little brooch to the neckline (from Seventh Muse).  I’ve fashioned other things like a yellow velvet bow and such which I can switch out at will!

I have to say I quite enjoy detailing all the repairs and alterations I do to my vintage finds and I hope you do too!  I think so, and I find your comments very kind and encouraging.  Thank you.

This is a smaller post since 1) I wasn’t able to finish my updates to the other yellow (print) dress I was going to include in this post and 2) I (luckily) didn’t have to do much to this one!

So this dress is what has gotten me interested in 1920s style, in terms of actually wearing it, not just admiring it from afar on perfectly willowy, old Hollywood starlets.  I have been fairly convinced that this style makes me look  like a sack of potatoes but when I saw this in Clever Nettle’s shop I knew it had to be mine!  I think this dress works on my frame because it’s short, sleeveless and pretty simple in design. Anything fussier wouldn’t do.

When I got this dress, I also knew it was the perfect place to apply these beautiful antique sequined stars, few of the little things I collected while shopping for wedding stuff last summer.  (They never actually made it into the wedding but I figured they’ll find their purpose eventually.)  And they go so perfectly with this little sequined bag I found a while ago too.

These stars are fragile; the backing is paper.  To make them more sturdy I glued felt to the back (I used Tacky Glue):

Instead of sewing I pinned the stars onto dress - very gingerly as the fabric is, sadly, frail in some areas.  I have a bunch of really tiny sequined stars too which might be cute applied to the shoes!

Oh, and there’s a cape!  To wear in a mad caper?

I wore this ensemble once to a gallery opening (with different shoes though - seafoam green t-strap sandals from Seychelles and a lacy cream-colored, embroidered cardigan) and it’s already one of my favorites.  In fact, I was so inspired I’m working on an emerald green georgette ’20s dress as we speak!