Wednesday, October 31, 2012
My Mending Shelf - advice from 1930
"I used to look at our huge basket of family mending, I always dreaded the task ahead of me. Then one day a happy thought struck me. I had- attractive shelves for books, for dishes, for knives, and for kettles. Why didn't I have a little sewing shelf, which would measure up to the rest of the house, a shelf so attractive that it would lend a glamour to the whole task of mending? The reason I disliked mending, I suddenly realized, was because it meant such a terrible waste of time. My tools were never at hand. And so I had kept putting off the job from day to day and the mending collected and grew more and more discouraging.
My plan was quickly carried out. I made a shelf of three-quarter-inch board, three and a half inches wide and twenty-five inches long, with a back to serve as an additional rack. These dimensions make an adequate abiding place for all the articles I need in ordinary sewing and mending work, but offer no refuge for excess baggage. I painted my shelf a gay lacquer red, treating it as an ornament of the room, but I could have matched the color of the wall had I wanted to make it unobtrusive.
When I had completed the outfit I felt very proud of it and hung it in the room where I usually mend, while the children play around or bring me their clothes which need a button or an odd stitch or two. Of course, it was in a good light for both day and night work, and within easy reach of my low sewing chair.
On the back of the rack I drove in six brads at an angle, and on them placed a few necessary spools of thread. Black and white cotton in two weights—one for buttons and the other of lighter weight for hand and machine sewing—were all that I really needed. As I happen to use beige and black silk frequently I gave these a place also. These spools are merely slipped over the brads and can be changed at any time. There is no need to keep a large stock of thread and sewing silk on hand if you are within easy contact with the shops.
Darning stockings is an all important process, if there are children in the home. Also, runners in grown-up stockings are usually discovered just at the sound of the automobile which is to carry you to some special function. To meet both these needs, I have equipped my shelf with four balls of mercerized cotton in the colors most often used. Moreover, since I frequently have to take a stitch in a hurry, each colored cotton has its own needle and this needle I leave in its particular ball, threaded, and ready to use. Then I can arrive at the shelf, pause for a thread, and almost before I realize it, the task is done, and the needle replaced in its particular ball.
Of course, with this darning equipment must go a darning ball. Mine has a handle which will slip into the fingers of gloves, and I accommodated it to my shelf by neatly drilling a hole through the wood. To the thimble I assigned a special place and it is such a comfort to have it always bowing to me as I approach hastily instead of having to hunt for it.
Next on my shelf, I put two small duplex boxes, which are as gay as the heart could wish. These little things hold a few snaps and hooks and all the buttons which the family will need for a few weeks. Buttons are a product with which we are apt to over-supply ourselves. Actually we use very few.
Below the shelf I put a series of small cup-hooks. The first one holds a pincushion and the second a cushion for needles and needles only. I always have a safety pin or two present. I use them to draw various tapes and runners in bloomers and pajamas.
The next hook I definitely assigned to the tape measure. The next holds a woven band of colored darning threads. They are attractive, useful and inexpensive, and no mending shelf is really equipped without one. On the remaining two hooks I hung the scissors. I find two pairs sufficient; one for cutting and the other, a small pointed pair, for fine work. Definite places for things are such a comfort.
With this equipment on hand, even a large order of mending from a ten year-old son loses its deadly effect, and the running time, of all weekly mending is infinitely reduced."
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Useful Tips for Selecting Groom’s Attire
Men's Fashion Outfits 2012
See More : Wedding Collection for Men
The denims must be use with shoes with a smooth matte finishing and a wider only than sports shoes. For periods reduced in the range of process, use footwear with dense feet, possibly something like a start or behind to range with distinct sewing or jumping.
A see a fee overarching style that will bring into the new season with them the ongoing reinvention of the 80s styles with argyle sweaters, skinny ties and the revival of the Member’s simply overcoats.
Linen, while it has by no means been out of fashion, I think will craft a extra powerful come back next summer time. Write your feedback and suggestions in below comment box.
Lindsey Wixson for Mulberry FW 2013
Source: blog.thaeger.com
Monday, October 29, 2012
Paris Makes New Style Points with Seamings - 1929
But it's all about points, hemline points, waistline points, neckline points, they are L'Echo De Paris!
"There are always details that date a new Paris frock as belonging to the season just beginning instead of the one coming to an end, and pointed treatments are just such a detail in the new French showings. Almost every designer uses them in some form or other, yet there is no uniformity because the points are used in ways as original as the lines of the dresses themselves. In one frock on this page, the points are a minor detail, used to suggest a higher waistline in an evening gown of stiff silk. In the other frock, pointed effects are the theme of the dress, with pointed seamings, a pointed cape collar and dipping hemline."
Dolce and Gabbana Winter Collection 2012-2013
Hello Kitty Necklace - Fashion Jewelry
Sunday, October 28, 2012
L'Echo De Paris - Fabulous Styles from 1929
As always don't miss the details; these are 'cleverly seamed and pleated' with 'curved seaming' and 'slightly draped' necklines. Plenty to challenge the seamstress.
"PARIS is creating more and more frocks for daytime of light weigh woolen fabrics, some of them frocks that accompany a coat of the same material to form an ensemble and others that are intended to be worn alone or with a scarf or fur. They are of such light woolen that they overcome the usual objection to woolen frocks in steam-heated American houses, and being so light, they are made in models that are equally attractive made up in silks."
"SUITABILITY to the person who is to wear it and to the occasion when it will be worn is the rule that governs French daytime frocks, so the tailored fashions that form the smartest costumes for daytime include all types. One may have a soft feminine type of tailored, frock with a circular skirt and a bow at the neck and waist, or a frock with crisp pleats, tailored in every detail. Or frocks that compromise by having tailored lines, and soft feminine details."
Microsoft Reveal Its First Tablet
The Surface appears to be a cross between a tablet and a PC, and Microsoft's challenge now will be to educate the market as to why different is also better.
The metal stand lies flush with the tablet when it isn't in use, but when you extend it, it holds the tablet almost vertically.
Panos Panay, head of the Surface project, demonstrated the tablet's features, beaming video and music to other screens, showing off the ultra-thin cover that doubles as a keyboard, and hooking up a camera to the device's USB port. He even dropped the device on the floor to demonstrate its durability.
Microsoft stressed that the Surface, featuring a pre-installed version of Office, is not just for entertainment but also for work.
A variety of Surface accessories are also available for purchase, including Touch Covers in five vibrant colors — black, white, magenta, cyan and red.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
L'Echo De Paris - 1930 Fashions
These were patterns you bought to sew at home. How the 1930's sewing machines handled all this sheer draping fabrics cut on the bias reminds us just how good these seamstresses were.
"The difference in skirt lengths that Paris prescribes for different times of the day is well illustrated in these three models. The practical frock for all day wear is longer than it used to be, but not too long, and is likely to be even all round. The formal afternoon frock usually dips at the hemline, its long points decidedly long, and even its shortest points reaching several inches below the knee. The newest evening gown goes in decidedly for length, giving an impression of touching or nearly touching the floor."
"The type of dress sponsored in the early season by Patou is having a strong influence on the silhouettes of formal frocks. In these models, the slenderness at the hipline is carried down to a much lower line, contrasting with fulness at the hem. The effect may be marked as in a frock which is slender almost to the knees and then suddenly widened by a flounce. Or it may be subtly produced by a circular skirt cut to fall straight to a low line and then flare."
The Oversized Trend in Men's Fashion
Louis Vuitton Travel Fall 2012 (A Mexican Road Trip)
Source: louisvuitton.com