Vintage Button Brooches-Upcycle

Vintage button brooches

I love to collect old buttons, buckles and whatnot and glue them together to make brooches to wear on my coat or jean jacket. They’d be cute on a hat or bag, too!

This weekend I was lucky enough to find a bagful of bakelite buckles at a yard sale. I stacked them and glued a button on top of each as shown, then glued on pinbacks.

Regular Crazy Glue doesn’t work well in glueing these types of materials (plastics, metal, Bakelite) together, but I found a gel-type Super Glue that is great for little projects like this.

It helps to roughen up the surfaces to be joined with an emery board, glue them together, then tiptoe away and don’t disturb the project for a few hours.

The Retro Suit- Bringing Back Elegance

In my mom’s day, if you knitted (which practically everyone did) then somewhere along the way you’d knit yourself a suit.

At the time you might have done that on very tiny needles and it likely would have taken the better part of six months to complete.
However, when finished you’d have a beautiful addition to your wardrobe and if you were careful with storing it you’d probably keep it for many, many years as she did and proudly show it off to anyone interested. I found it amazing that anyone could have the patience to do such an involved and seemingly endless project.

Since I am so enamored of vintage fashions, I decided to give a nod to the days when knitters proudly wore their suits to any and every fancy or dressed up occasion. In these times when it is becoming increasingly popular to go out in public like this, it is a joy to see a woman taking enough pride in her appearance and talent to create and accessorize a beautiful outfit like the Retro Suit.
If you’re a real vintage afficionado, there is no better place than Ebay for a selection of vintage accessories, many of them quite affordable (the 40′s hat in my Styling Guide below went for a mere $24.99).

“My Grandmother’s Knitting” Giveaway!

The book signing and shrug fitting event at Knitique last weekend was such a success, to further celebrate the wonderful book by Larissa Brown, “My Grandmother’s Knitting”, I’ll be giving a copy away to a lucky winner who signs up for my newsletter between now and March 15th.

The book contains family stories and patterns from seventeen designers such as Jared Flood, Meg Swansen, Ysolda Teague and myself.

Here is Knitique’s photo of my Angelina Shrug named for my mother which is included in the book.

Sign up for our White Lies Designs newsletter here for your chance to win a copy of this beautiful hardback book!

Many thanks to Lisette Davis for such a lovely photo.

Clarissa Styling Guide

It’s been a while since we posted a new styling guide and today Clarissa is the lucky girl.

My dad was a Navy man in WW2, so I have a soft spot for sailor pants on both guys and gals. If a blue jean can be elegant then these certainly are, especially when paired with the lovely Clarissa cardigan and a gaggle of beautiful accessories.

I must point out the Italian millefiori ceramic mosaic brooch worn at the neck of Clarissa; a vintage find on EBay. It’s amazing to find lovely folk art such as this for under $20.

Clarissa

When designing a new style, I try to visualize who will be wearing it and forsee any problems. I also try to address any comments I’ve received about similar styles I’ve done in the past.

Some of the things I’ve heard about Zelda were very positive, but also found that after a certain age women felt she might be a bit sweet with all the bows and the sleeves might be a tad too short. I can totally relate to the fear of being seen as mutton dressed as lamb as well as baring the upper arms.  And yet Zelda has a lot of great things going for her (that great curvy shaping and interesting lace stitch), so I felt the need to revisit some of her styling details.

So without further ado, I’m pleased to introduce Clarissa. 

Even all covered up with her Victorian-steampunk air and office appropriate proportions, she is still stone sexy.  Lose the brooch,  unbutton a bit and wear her to a casual party this holiday season. You. Look. Marvelous!

Knitted in Codex , hand dyed by the Sanguine Gryphon, a lovely blend of silk and Bluefaced Leicester wool.

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Come hear me babble about knitting, vintage fashions, fitting a glorious rack and other assorted subjects!

WLD Styling Guide: Zelda for Evening

I know we as Americans love our casual, comfy clothes and for many of us the sweaters  we knit fall into that category.

A pretty sweater like Zelda however, can and should do double duty as a dressed-up top to wear out in the evening, to dinner or to a dressy occasion such as a wedding.

Pair up Zelda with the right accessories and bring the comfort of a sweater to evening attire.

Colette Redux

Sometimes the sweater models that I use for shows get a little shopworn and need to be replaced.

In knitting up the Colette Jacket again, I decided to change the yarn to something with a loftier hand in a deeper color.  

Here is Colette just yesterday as I finished up the last sleeve and  had pressed the pieces.  The color is called Oceana.

And here she is today:

She knitted up ultra-fast in only 5 1/2 days of very casual knitting and with the new yarn was far more economical than the one I formerly offered for this style.  The old yarnpack was $73 USD  in this size ( 35″  bust ), but in our new Cascade Soft Spun is only $41.25 USD. 

Who can’t use a little price break in today’s economy? And I can’t think of anything else to do that’s this much fun for under $50!

One man’s trash…

Not a lot of knitting content today, other than a few pics of some finished garments stacked in a pretty color arrangement.    I really just wanted to show some pics of some of the favorite things lying around my house, some (most actually) of which I’ve collected at yard sales and thrift shops.     

There is also some of my artwork from my Frederick’s of Hollywood days, my current inspiration board in my office and some of the brooches my husband made from vintage buttons and buckes.  Enjoy!

Zelda: She of the Fab Forties and the cover of Yarn Forward #15

Oh yes, I do love my vintage chic circa 1944. 

Shoulders were strong but femme, necklines were sweet  and the sweater girl was the pin-up princess of the day. A pair of pretty little lace patterns winding over and around the girlish topograpy was enough to set a young man’s heart afire.

 My Zelda, she can be yours too.  Find her in the latest issue of Yarn Forward Magazine #15 or right here.