Cool Christmas Fair

For those of you anywhere near London, try to make it down to the Bust Christmas Craftacular this Sunday at York Hall in Bethnal Green. I always try to go to their fairs because they are quite frankly brilliant! I always find the selection of stalls truly inspiring, and it's a perfect place to find something for those people on your Christmas list who have everything.

I just hope the weather doesn't take a turn for the worse - they've predicted snow......

Trousers - can one length ever fit all?



Which length?

The Anne Sheridan trousers are done! Well everything except the length. Here I am with a selection of shoes I want to be able to wear the finished trousers with, but I think it will be impossible to accomodate all. From left to right, we have red brogues, blue mid-heel peep toes, 4 inch silver slingbacks, and my treasured 40's style Terry Dehavilland wedges.

As I'm incapable of making a decision without exhaustively researching, I turned first to my vintage sewing books, the oldest of which was published in 1946:

Guess what? No mention of trousers until the late 1960's, and then hardly anything. It doesn't seem that trousers (or 'pants' or 'slacks', as the Colonial publications call them) were decent to discuss among lady-folk until the 1970's. The best advice (and most hilariously stuck up) I found was in 'The Art of Sewing - Basic Tailoring' published by Time Life in 1975:

'Whether the trouser line is cuffed or cuffless, it must fall in precisely the right place. If too low, it may get stepped upon; too high, it will expose a gauche ring of sock'

Just to make sure, I next looked at some vintage fashion plates and some classic Hollywood photos:

It seems long, but not covering the shoe completely, is the most authentic length for the era.

I pinned one leg to suit the lowest shoe:



Trousers with flat shoe



Then I pinned the other leg with the highest shoe:



Trousers with wedge sandal
After all that deliberating and indecisiveness, there was only about 1/2" (approx. 1 cm)difference! Why didn't I just do this in the first place and save myself some time!


Anyway, now the trousers are done and I love them. I won't take you through the making from start to finish, as there are other blogs that do that much better than me, such as Gertie's new blog for better sewing, but here are some of the details close up:

Left hand button closure (with magician's assistant hands!)



Close up of the buttons





Right hand pocket

Until next time - take care!



Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Zombie Housewife!

Anne Sheridan's Trouser's



I recently caught 'I Was a Male War Bride' on telly, much to my enjoyment. I've always been aware of the film, but had never managed to see it. A quick summary of the plot: Anne Sheridan is a feisty lieutenant in the U.S. army, based in a chaotic post-war Germany, who falls in love with a French officer, played by Cary Grant (who makes no attempt at a French accent, but then he's Cary Grant, so he can do what he likes!) They decide to get married, and realise that the only way to negotiate all of the red-tape and beaurocracy thrown at them is for Cary Grant to declare himself Anne Sheridan's 'wife'.

Watch it if you need cheering up, as the chemistry between the two leads is infectious - there are some scenes that seem to be totally improvised, as they're so natural. The locations are real, so you get to see the destruction suffered by Germany first hand, and to reinforce this upheaval, there is a large chunk of the film featuring Anne Sheridan in charge of a motorcycle, ferrying around Cary grant in a sidecar, much to his discomfort.

And so to Anne Sheridans trouser's......



Trousers!

I haven't been able to stop thinking about them, and so have resolved to make a pair as similar as possible. As you can see from the pictures above and below, they are quite wide, flared from the waist with a single pleat, and best of all, a button fastening at the left side.



Side closing detail

Side view

I've trawled through my patterns; unfortunately, I don't have any trouser patterns from the late 40's (the film was made in 1949), but I think if I adapt some wide flares from the 70's, and adjust them in the fitting stages, it could work out. I know they look horrible, but I've decided to use these patterns:





Detail of simplicity pattern

I think if I combine the waist/fit of the Burda with the flare of the Simplicity, it could work out. At the worst, I'll end up with a pair of 70's Bowie-style flares, but that won't be such a bad thing:



The Thin White Duke



Actually, that waistcoat is quite cool - maybe a future project......

I've been to my beloved Dalston Mill Fabrics, and picked out a lovely red twill - total cost £8.50. Why red? Well, I already have a few pairs of wide black trousers; navy would have been too nautical; I don't like brown (I had a brown school uniform, hence the dislike); green or khaki would have been too army-surplus. And besides, I don't have any red trousers!

So now I have to decide on buttons......

A lovely surprise!

How lovely! I've been out of the loop for a little while, what with work and the boring stuff in life taking over, but how happy was I when I finally found time to open up my blog to find I'd been nominated for an award by Vintage Passions Just like Mine. Thank you, Dama, and the rest of you - check out her fab blog!

The conditions that come along with this reward are:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog along with the name of the person who awarded it along with a link to their blog.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have recently discovered.

3. Contact those bloggers and let them know they've been chosen.

So here are my favourite 15, in alphabetical order:

1 - the1939clothier
2 - 1950's Atomic Ranch House
3 - AbleGrable
4 - Betty's Vintage Musings
5 - The Butterfly Balcony
6 - Diary of a Vintage Girl
7 - Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing
8 - Get Some Vintage-a-Peel by Miss Peelpants
9 - moon-doggie
10 - Snoodlebug
11 - Straight Talking Mama
12 - Tea with the Vintage Baroness
13 - Temperamental Broad
14 - The Vintage Housewife
15 - Vintage Passions Just like Mine

Take some time to have a look at as many as you can, as they are all brilliant, creative, witty people.

See you soon!