Underneth it all

I don’t know what it’s like in your part of the world, but here fall is coming to its spectacular, grand, multi-coloured crescendo. Along with the chilling air, for some weird reason I start dreaming about lingerie… Anyone else do that? Seems a bit strange, but on the other hand, when it’s too hot outside, I have zero inclination to wear polyester (and most lingerie is polyester, even WKD so-called “silk”-pieces are made of artificial silk) or craving for tight shapewear. But during fall… oh, I dream of tap-pants, slips, stockings, elegant dressing-gowns…

In the name of honesty, this post is long overdue. I shot the pictures in my old apartment, before summer *blushes*  For some reason, spring also brings out this craving for fancy lingerie! Not too warm, not too cold outside and boom!, I’m dreaming of girdles =) 

And isn't it just perfect that a while ago, I had a shopping spree on lingerie! A couple of happy coincidences (and me being a bit slow to blog about purchases) and I now have a whole new set to show you =) On the dress-dummy, though, too shy to take pictures while wearing it...

First, I had an amazing luck months of stalking Tradera/swedish Ebay payed off and I won the auction for this vintage ruby slip.

Love the lace bodice and cutlines in the back!

Second, I splurged on What Katie Did goodies =) Initially I ordered the Hollywood dressing robe, and both the Glamour and the Cabaret girdle. I wanted to see how they felt on, as I only tried on the Glamour girdle in London, not realizing there was a similar one in the Cabaret collection.

From left to right: Cabaret girdle, Hollywood robe, Glamour girdle.

It was a total no-brainer, I kept the Cabaret girdle. WKD lingerie is proportioned for a standard figure regarding waist-hip ratio, and my hips are wider than standard. The Glamour girdle was really uncomfortably tight around the hips, digging in at the front thighs and reducing leg-movement. I wanted to be able to blues dance in it, so limited leg-movement was a no-no.

The Cabaret was much comfier! I could even do legsweeps in it. It has boning down the front, and while I didn't find the "flattening" effect to be more than the one the Glamour girdle had, it does help control the tummy. And the boning is surpisingly comfortable when I'm sitting down! Not comfy as a pair of sweats, of course, but better than a corset, or the Glamour Merry Widow.

So why is the Cabaret girdle stretchier than the Glamour? This puzzled me, they're the same size, the same brand, the website gives the same measurments for them. But... the Cabaret girdle has a single layer powermesh in the big panels, while the Glamour has a double layer, cut out in different directions, so the stretch is reduced significally. So if you're considering a girdle from WKD, and like me you have a larger than standard difference waist-hip, then I'd recommend the Cabaret.

Cabaret girdle and bra

I sent the Glamour girdle back to WKD, who by the way has en excellent return service and ships any exchanges free. All my orders and questions were handled super-fast, and I couldn't be happier with the customer service! (my own personal opinion, I'm in no way what so ever affiliated with the company). In exchange I asked for a Cabaret bra (I'd tried it out in London) and now I have a set! Yay! Hmm, might have to send for the panties eventually... ;)

I also exchanged the Hollywood robe for a smaller size. I figured "It's a dressing robe - it should be comfy roomy! I'll order one size larger than all my other stuff, then it will also match my waist measurment." I'm not sure why, but it seems like all WKD fits so that I should go down one size in comparising to what they recommend as waist measurment. This was true for this one as well - in the larger size the front wrap ended up all wrong, so the piping peeked out 10 cm beneth the waist-tie. I'm quite happy with this smaller size, though! On the question if I couldn't make it myself with a better fit and a smaller cost (in real silk, instead of synthetic) the answer is of course I could. And judging by my sewing list it would be done about the same time this will be worn out. Sometimes I find it worth to focus on the ready in ReadyToWear =)

The slip and the robe goes beautifully together! Also, you can see the how the robe ties on the inside, to keep the left side skirt from drooping.

The good part of this post being so miserably late is that I've road-tested the cabaret girdle! It' behaved really well during blues dancing, swing dancing and even dining out.
That's all from the lingerie-front! =)

Love, Erika

A studio sewing table

Let me tell you a sad, sad story of the one worst moving-purges I've ever done (I promise, there's a happy end!). When I lived with my mom I had a pretty 60s teak writing desk. It was a perfect size, 80x120 cm, easily de-constructed for storage or transport and with two small drawers at one side, making it perfect to sew at since you could easily have two machines next to each other. However, this was before I fell in love with vintage, when 60s teak was just quaint, and before I started sewing on such an everyday basis or owned two sewing machines. But I did love the desk, and something about it spoke to me (maybe a premonition of the love affair to come! ;) ). I was moving up north (leaving home for the third and final time), having rented a partly furnished one bedroom appartement, with no additional storage space, second hand. At the same time mom and my sister Kajsa was moving to Malmö, and my brother Joakim was leaving the nest. The house was sold and everybody would have less space in their new homes - lot's of hard choices were made.
I loved that desk, I really did. But the appartement already had a desk, I anyway had a load of moving boxes I couldn't store anywhere except my bedroom and the hallway. Mom stood by the car, the desk halfway out and I hesitated, so very torn. Mom said "Will you take it with you or no? I'm going to the landfill now." I closed my eyes, pushed away the knot in my belly and said "Go."

Wrong decision. Totally wrong. And one I've regretted more times than I can count. For in the end I could have found space for it even in the furnished appartement - four legs and a slice of wood is easy to fit in and I anyway felt like I lived in a storage space that first year. When I moved to my own place it would have been perfect. Not so long after that the love-affair with vintage started, I began appreciating the old teak furnitures more and I started sewing more regularly. For five years I've searched for the twin of the desk I foolishly let go (don't think about the landfill, don't think about it smashed to pieces. D**n, too late.)

I try to tell myself that I've learned something very important through this: Sometimes it's hard to let go of old things because of misguided nostalgia, and then it's a sort of catharsis to clean them out. Hard to do, but you feel better afterwards. Other times, it's hard to let go because you deeply love something, even though it's not practical or doesn't fit in. And then it's foolish to ignore your resistance, it's better to keep what we deeply love close to us, and adjust the little things in life to them, instead if the other way around. The trick is to learn to tell the difference between nostalgia and true affection.

So, all of this said, I've been on the look out for a new sewing table for years. I've activly searched for two years, since moving to my non-student appartement and therefore having more stability in my living situation. And I've finally found it! And it's even better than the one that got away! May I introduce you to...

Ta-da!
It's an old studio sewing table that belonged to the seller's passed away mother (a lady who apparently ran her own sewing studio). I'm pretty sure it's made to order, as there are so many unique features to it (and some signs of traditional woodman craft).

It's 110x150 cm (xxx"), so it's huge! At least in my book it's huge =) The surface is covered with something that has a suspicious similarity to plastic carpeting, but whatever it is, it's very unsensitive to needles, scissors etc, and the fabric doesn't shift around a whole lot on it. I like it =)

There are two sets of drawers, the bottom one on the right side is tailormade for hanging folders.

On the other shortside there's a beautiful shelf, perfect for storing boxes of sewing supplies and sewing reference books.

It was in pretty bad shape, but after some cleaning and a lot of teak oil it looks great. It was also a bit unstable, but some wooden plugs to secure the table top to the drawer unit and it's standing still =)

It is a bit big for my sewing area, but I don't care - I love it! Looking forward to spending lot's of hours at it for the next 40 years or so =) And I've learned my lesson: even if there comes a time in my life when I don't have room for it, I'll find a way to store it until I have space again. This time, I'm holding on!

I'm off to sewing, there's a lovely table calling to me for attention... =) Have a great weekend!

Love, Erika

All I need is blues. And my new dress.

There's been a lot of dancing going on here lately. Fun as always! Besides teaching the intermediate lindy class, I and my partner have been working on something all new on Umeå's dance scene: a blues dance workshop. I've been sold on blues for about 3 years, and while we've had a few blues dance sessions (playing blues for an hour after the usual lindy social), we haven't had classes or any pure blues night. But now it felt like the time had come and there was a demand for it! So last weekend we held a blues dance workshop for two hours, and it was a very interesting challenge to teach a whole new dance... Lindy I'm familiar with teaching but this was all new =) Darn tricky, but so rewarding when at the end of the class it felt like everyone had understood, and really was dancing blues!

Yesterday everyone got a chance to test their new and/or old blues-dancing moves, as Swingum hosted a pure blues dance social! We were a small workgroup, and we tried to change the concept to differ from our usual lindy socials. Diveded off part of the room to make it cosier, placed the tables in the room next door to give space for that quiet, cozy blues feeling on the dancefloor. We got a lot of positive respons on the new "layout", so it feels like we're on the right track.

The "socializing" area. Refreshments were in the kitchen next doors.

Blues night (or slow drag night as it's called nowadays) at Herräng is the night when everyone dresses up in their faciest outfits. Black or dark coloured dresses are usually favored among the ladies, with skirts that tends to be on the slim side. A lot of the gents are just dashing, dressed in suits or even tux's.
For this our premier Blues night I wanted to wear something special, so I introduce to you my vintage little black:

I would guess it's from the late 40s, judging by the grown-on sleeves, the lapped metal zipper in the sideseam, the bustdarts and the gathers in the shoulders, in combination with the A-line skirt and the pleated "belt" that ties in the back.

A few detail shots:

Sleeve with gathered shoulder.

Three covered buttons secures it in the back.

Lapped metal side-zipper.

Pleated "belt"

And a last picture from the dance, where my fully fashioned vintage stockings also are visible =) I loved dancing in this dress, the sleeves made it easy to move, the material was light and I never felt warm in it, the skirt was the perfect shape for blues.
Unfortunatly, as you maybe can see from some of the photos, it's not in mint condition. The fabric is fragile and the seams have split on some places, like the neckline. I'll need to do some needlework on it before wearing it again, but on the bright side: the not so perfect condition of the dress means I can dance in it without feeling like I'm comitting a vintage clothing-crime =) Also, blues dancing is a lot less straining on the clothes than lindy hop...

Now I'm off to dream about more blues. We'll def host more Blues nights in the future, and hopefully there'll be more workshops as well. For now, my legs are burning from all the dancing yesterday, I've still got that slow, dreamy blues feeling in body and soul, and my mind is playing Fade to black with Dire straits.

Love, Erika

Colette sewing book and personal style

As those reading sewing blogs may have noticed, Sarai who owns Colette patterns released a sewing book during November, The Colette Sewing Handbook. I've been reading reviews of it all over the internet, and everyone loves it! It seems like a great book for beginner-intermediate sewists, it comes with 5 patterns and it covers some areas I usually miss in sewing books, namely planning, choosing a pattern and fitting. The chapter on finishing also sounds interesting, new techniques are always good.

Tasia from Sewaholic wrote a great review here, focusing on the part about wardrobe planning. Casey also adressed this part of the book in her review, and she had some more pages from the book for us to read. Sarai's tip is to pick out 5 garments/outfits/accessoiries that you really love and feel good while wearing (meaning that you not just love the idea of them, but actually enjoy wearing them as well). Then analyze these pieces and see if you can find some common feature, like type of colour, fabrics, fitting, etc. Tasia wrote a follow up post where she did this, found here. I liked this idea, so I figured I'd try it myself! =)

Red doubleknit cotton-jersey dress, swing/40s style (me-made). Pattern made from my blockpattern. I love the colour, the heavy weight of the fabric and how extremly comfortable it is to wear.

Wool winter skirt with grey cardigan. Wool is my all-time favorite fabric! And this is my favorite cardigan; I love the length, the loose-fitting sleeves, the lacepattern on the bodice and the little tie-band just beneth the bust which ensures that the cardigan fits correctly.

Blue cotton skirt (me-made) with purple knit top. This skirt is perfect! It never wrinkles, it's mostley cotton so it breathes, it moves beautifully when I'm dancing, the pleating makes it comfortable to sit in all day at work. I love the top, the sleeves are just my length and I adore the detail with the lace inset and the small covered buttons.

It goes without saying that of course The Coat is a favorite to wear. For the first time in my life outerwear actually fits! The back isn't too wide or long, the overbust isn't too small, the waist fits, and the width of the skirt means the coat is loose over the hips and doesn't gape open when I walk.

Thrifted green vintage dress of unclear decade. This dress is just so nice to wear. Simple as that. =)

A few things springs to mind about my taste:
-Solid colours, dark or jewel, are a favorite.
-Fitted in the waistarea, loose around the hips, not overly loose around the bust but with enough width for easy movement. Waistseams sits in the natural waist.
-Natural fibers; wool, cotton, linen, silk. Jerseytops and cotton cardigans.
-Necklines that are not tight but not deep enough to show cleavege.
-Hemlines on skirts right beneth the knees, 2" longer on winter skirts.
-Always some sort of sleeve, either short or full-length, seldom elbow or three-quarter for every-day wear (too hard to layer).

Now, these things were far from new to me, and I already sew with this in mind. For example I know that the fitted over the hip/calf long/blous-y at the waist - dresses of the 30s  that I just love isn't what I feel most comfortable in. Instead, I'm sewing 40s style and 50s style skirts and dresses to wear at work.

However, while I knew this in the back of my head, this was still a very useful exercise. Maybe it's time to focus on making more of the styles I know I like? Maybe it's not boring to plan more clothes in the same category as the one's I have, it's insightful of me to know what I feel good in =) And perhaps my taste is not the flashiest, lot's of people would feel grey and frumpy in it, but since I feel good in it, why should I strive toward other styles?

This brings me back to the Colette Sewing Handbook... Take a look at the patterns that comes with this book (I'll just link as I don't want to steal photos):
The Truffle dress and the licorice dress. Both very cute, but the sleeves are all wrong for me and the parts I do like (the fitted bodice) would be a lot easier to do using my block pattern than doing the 1 million alterations I'd need to do on the bodice. The skirts are not quite my taste...
The pastille dress. Adorable, but not my kind of sleeve nor skirt. See above about the fitted bodice.
The Taffy blouse and the Meringue skirt. Again, the sleeves on the blouse are not my style, the bodice on the blouse is too loose for me. The skirt pattern I could do myself in less than an hour, with the length, waistband, opening and pockets I prefer.

What I'm trying to do here is to decide whether or not to get the book. The patterns are super cute, all of them, but they really don't fit into my style. Of course referece books on sewing techniques are always fun, but I have a bunch of them and shouldn't I read them all before I can justify getting a new one? But at the same time this one seems so very interesting... And maybe some of my friends who sews would find these patterns useful? =) Having a major case of in-decision here!

Ah well, no need to get it now before Christmas, I can think about it for a while. I did really like the wardrobe analysis though, it was great fun to do, and a big help to being comfortable about my style and thereby likely helpful in the future for choosing sewing projects. Maybe the book have many more of those thoughtful gems, and I can justify buying it for that reason?

What do you think, have you bought the Colette sewing handbook? Do you plan to? Have you done any similar wardrobe analysis and what did you come up with? Should I buy the book?!!! =) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Love, Erika

A love story

The search is over! They've been on the top of my shoe-wishlist for years: They had to be from the 40s, have a distinct but not too high heel (6-7 cm), lace up, be suitable for colder weather. Unless I wanted to spend a fortune on taxes and custom for shoes I didn't even know would fit, by buying from etsy or ebay, they seemed be impossible to find. But now they're standing next to me looking lovely =)

The short version of how I got them: Umeå may be a small town but we have an amazing shoemaker, Mr Löfström. He adores vintage shoes, came by these by chance and sold them to me. Read on for a longer version of the story, or just enjoy the pictures =)

I heard through the grapevine (yes, Facebook) that shoemaker Löfström was selling a lot of vintage shoes from an old lady. Off I went in search of pretty shoes, but discovered upon my arrival that they were all too new for me, mostly 70s and 80s. He showed me some of them, and I agreed they were in great condition and very cute, but explained they just were not my style.

Pointing at the shoes I was wearing I explained that I needed my everyday shoes to be orthopaedic, and for dressing up I preferred that style, pointing instead to his beautiful collection of unused, mint-condition 30s and 40s shoes (Which I already knew was not for sale, regardless of the price offered, they are for show only. A true shoe-lover!). He showed me a pair left by another client for a new sole and heel, explaining how vintage shoes needed to be treated to that unless the sole would be ruined when worn outside (old leather fall apart eventualy. Trust me, I've done that to a pair of 60s shoes...)

He then hesitated a bit, judged my reaction, weighed how I was dressed, and said slowly... "I do have a remarkable pair of 40s shoes in the storage. A lady came in to have the soles done for outside-wear, I offered to buy them to have for my show-collection, but she'd rather wear them. So I gave them a new sole and heel, she picked them up. A few days later she came back: the shoes were a tad too small. Did I still want to buy them? They were too beautiful for me to pass over, so I bought them. But they're no longer original, and can't go in my collection... Do you want me to take them here for you to try on?". Did I?!!!

Yesterday, I tried them on and they were perfect. Perfect! Not tight, not loose, beautiful and oh so comfortable to walk in! So I of course asked how much he wanted, and he hesitated, starting to almost talk himself into not selling them (I swear it wasn't a salestrick - you could tell the notion of letting them go was almost painful to him) so before he succeded in doing that I told him of my love for vintage and vintage craftmanship. When I told him of the coat I'm tailoring from a 1951 pattern, he changed his mind and gave me a price. He said that he hoped to one day see them worn, so I promised to swing by in full vintage gear =)

And now they're all mine! Two amazing features on them, besides the fabulous collar and the leafs on the ties, is the shape of the heel. Look at any true 30s and 40s shoes, and you'll notice they flat out at the heel, the angle different depending on the height of the heel. Modern shoes just aren't shaped that way, which is a pity. Wonder why they stopped... Another nice touch is the flannel lining, making them nice and warm, perfect for our not too hot northern weather.


Looking at them, I still can't believe they're real, or that they're really mine =)

Challenges and projects

In June I participated in MeMadeJune, an internet challenge run by Zoe, where I pledged to wear one me-made item every day. I actually finished it, but I didn't have time to document, so I'm afraid you're just going to have to take my word for it =) Now another challenge is running: Self Stitched September began yesterday. I very much wanted to participate this time around as well, but I feel that I haven't filled up the gaps in my homesewn wardrobe I discovered in June, and I will instead focus on sewing.

So what did I learn from MMJ? First, that taking daily pictures are time-consuming and a big challenge in itself. If I didn't want my living room as a backdrop for every single outfit I had to find photo spots outdoors. Not a huge problem, but a time-thief... It was fun, though! I discovered lots of nice little photo-places in my near surroundings, places otherwise never would have occured to me.

Second, that I have some huge gaps:
-Tops and blouses, and not just of the homemade version. I just simply have too little variation in that departement.
- Comfy clothes to wear around the house
-Work-out wear
-Outerwear

It also wouldn't hurt to have a few more dresses, both for winter and for summer. My plan is to sew soft jersey dresses to slouch around at home in during winter, and be comfy in all summer.

But is there a plan to rectify these gaps, you might wonder? Indeed there is! But then I always have plans... I sometimes fear that I actually prefer dreaming of sewing while fabric-hoarding to real sewing =) One reason why I'm so slow in finishing projects is that sewing is just one of my favorite hobbies, and dancing takes a lot of time and energy. Not to mention the full time job and the 3 times a week gym-work out ordered by the doctor (Literally. Or at least ordered by the physical therapist the doctor sent me to.).
My current projects, and why they are not finished, sort of sums up the other reasons so few things are proclaimed ready. A small list:

My late, paternal grandmother's dressing robe. The only visible flaw that needed fixing up was the lining. I could have just patched it, and it would have been done. But anything worth doing is worth doing well... So I'm inserting a new lining and finishing all the robe's selvedges.

Time consuming, but the robe is 65 years old, and with a little love I will be able to wear it for many more years.

A holk-sleeve blouse with a fit I'm far from happy with. Just look at those awful strainlines from the shoulder!

Also the blouse is a bit snug around the hips. I'm tricky to fit, and anything meant for my upperbody takes more than one toile. I need to make a new toile for this pattern before I cut into this beautiful pure silk:

I love, love, love this fabric, and I'm comfortable cutting into it since I know where to get more (a much more important factor for me than the price, which was quite dear). But I still want a pattern I belive in before I start cutting.


Johanne's pants (no pictures yet). Men's wear + pants, need I say more? I'm tossing the old pattern out and am making a new pattern and toile. When attempting garments that are outside my skill-zone I learn things, but it does not make for fast sewing. Fun, though =)

Then there are of course the eternal projects, but these are the one's I'm actively working on right now. What about you, do you whip out a new garment in an evening? Do you frequently think "Who's going to know? Let's sew!"? Or do you lose yourself in the quest for perfection until nothing is ever proclaimed ready, and none of your creations has your full approval? Or do you manage to balance the fine line inbetween?

Have a great weekend!
Love, Erika

Stockholm, a haircut and The Armory

This is part four of My Summer. Want to read it chronological? Then check out part 1, part 2 and part 3 =)

Whenever I'm in southern Sweden it's a must to stop by Stockholm to visit friends and family. They sort of expect it, and I always look forward to it. Unfortunatley that makes most of my Stockholm-visits short and hurried, with everything planned by the hour. So this year I decided to take my time, and after Herräng I spent 1,5 week in my old hometown. It was great to not just see everyone, but to have the luxury to see them one-on-one. There was lots of tea, cakes, ice-cream and good food...

Lunch with my aunt at Café Sture

Dessert at my grandmother's. She bakes the prettiest cakes! And so tasty...

I love her appartement, it's not huge but it's filled with countless old treasures. Everywhere you look there's something to admire!

After-lunch ice-cream with the siblings (aka Joakim and Kajsa). We went out for lunch, just the three of us. It's quite rare that we meet just us "children", which is a shame since we always have so much fun together. This time it was gran's idea, and she actually treated us to the lunch. Wasn't that sweet and thoughtful?

Fika with grandmother, 'cause of course we got some quality time just the two of us! We went to a nice café by Hötorget. The lemon pie was to die for...

These last two photos was taken the day I and my grandmother hit the second hand-market at Hötorget and I found this pretty set:

I got the hotplate (not sure that's the correct word, but it looks like a tray and it keeps the food warm during dinner) and one of the serving dishes (the one on the left), gran effortlessly haggled the pair down to half the price =) And the hotplate works!

After the market we met up with Kajsa and saw the exhibition "Royal vintage" at Livrustkammaren (the armory, a museum in Stockholm castle). They showed pieces from the royal wardrobes, 1900- today, only Swedish designers. The bulk of it was from 40s-60s, so right up my alley! I highly recommend this exhibition for anyone going to Stockholm. I'm not sure one is allowed to take pictures there, but this dress was just too beautiful to resist:

And of course I did not use a flash. I so want to make something based on this dress! But it will have to rest for a while, I do not need any more projects...

As you might have noticed, something happened with my hair during this week... I've had a haircut! My wonderful hairdresser Sarah from Retroella moved to Stockholm 6 months ago, and I had a chance to visit her in her new salon. It was so beautiful! And she cut my hair short. I finally took the leap, figuring I'm not doing anything truly important this fall and it will grow out till Christmas anyway. Cutting it short has been on my mind ever since this post, and now I've done it! Feels great! When something is on your mind for over a year, it's time to just do it =)
Here it's been set in pincurls. I like it, but a surprise was that short hair is so much warmer than long! Who could have guessed? Long hair is so easy to get out of the way, a fast braid or a messy bun and heat is not an issue. However, jackets are easier this way. And hoods! It's fun to experiment with a new hairstyle =)

That rounds up my travels for this summer!

Love
/Erika