It's on again!

If you're a Melbourne-based vintage lover and have not yet experienced a Unique Vintage warehouse sale, take a trip to Cheltenham tomorrow (8th Feb) and be prepared to go nuts!

Unique Vintage is located at 10 Hewitt St, Cheltenham, roughly 30 minutes by car from Melbourne's CBD.  You can also get there via public transport - catch a Frankston line train to Morrabbin, then an 811 or 812 Dandenong bus to the Keys Rd bus. The draw-backs of using public transport are: the buses seem to only run hourly and it's no fun having to change vehicles while carting a giant garbage bag full of clothes. 

Dresses - $15

Cowboy boots - $30

 

At this months sale, they're offering playsuits for $15; skirts for $10; women's shoes for $10; and handbags for measly $5. The amount of stuff on offer is phenomenal, quite literally a warehouse full, and it can be a bit daunting for a first timer. That said, I still managed to pick up a few good buys the last time I went.

 

This day dress has had quite a few outings over the last couple of months.

Another day dress which is new old stock and still had an original price tag attached.

This awesome number has a few small moth holes (it's wool) but is otherwise perfect. 

My best buyer's tip is this: Don't wast your time going through every garment on the rack; scan for vintage prints and fabrics - they'll most likely be cotton & blends - then take a closer look. Oh, and don't forget the ever handy 'waist around the neck' measurement, it saves having to try things on. Believe it or not, if you can reach half the full waist around your neck, it will fit. Give it a try, it really works!

For more details on the warehouse sale, check out Unique Vintage on Facebook.

Happy shopping!

- Tamara

Some New Additions

Back in December, I had a big clean out and sold a heap of stuff on Ebay. With a surprisingly healthy PayPal balance, I decided to treat myself to some new patterns. 

One of my favourite places to shop (online) when I have some spare cash to splash is Patterns from the Past. I find the redesigned site a little cumbersome for searching but if you have some time to browse, your efforts are likely to be rewarded.

New York 1612

Simplicity 3802

As you may recall, I'm a massive Vogue fan, mostly actual vintage era but I won't pass up a new Vintage Vogue if the price is right. Spotlight were offering all patterns at $5 each, plus members also get another 10% off which meant I scored my Vintage Vogues for $4.50 a pop! Too good.

 

Vogue V8812

The above pattern has been re-released as V8788 and is dated 1954, but looking at some of the design features, I'd say it's more like 1956. Either way it's a super cute wrap dress which needs to made ASAP.

Ebay has also been good to me in terms of bargains, which seems to be somewhat of a rarity these days. I picked up a Butterick repro & a real vintage Vogue for less than $10 each.

 

Butterick B5708

 Vogue 7505

Ahhh, so many beautiful patterns, so very little time to sew.

- Tamara

Bombs Away!

Last winter I compiled what I thought would be an achieveable wish-list - there were a total of three projects, only one of which was actually completed. Due to school commitments, I knew I wouldn't have much time to complete more than one project this winter, so decided to make the Vogue jacket from the 2012 wish-list.

Vogue 7146

I've loved this 1950s bomber jacket for years but have never had the courage to start it. So many bound buttonholes to line up, not to mention the welted pockets and slashed sleeve openings - it was a little advanced for me at the time. These days, bound buttonholes are pretty much the norm and I've perfected the slashed sleeve so it was time to crack on.

 

 

 

This is actually one of my first serious projects using 100% wool fabric. More often than not, I sew with cheap, blended fabrics for the simple reason that I rarely bother to make a muslin. I figure, if it ends up a disaster my financial loss is minimal. But what a difference good quality fabric makes! The wool was so smooth to sew - my machine barely made a sound - and it held the ironed in creases beautifully. If only I could afford to sew with good fabric all the time. Sigh.
 

 

 

As you can see, I've rocked the slashed sleeve opening - turns out all I needed was a really sharp pair of scissors. Previously, I'd been too afraid to cut the slash right down to the stitching line and could never get the ends to sit right. Now that I'm cutting it right down to the wire - seriously, there only needs to be a couple of threads of fabric left - the facing folds in neatly and are then topstitched into place.

The welted pockets and bound buttonholes use basically the same technique, but with a Y shaped cut at each end of the slashes. The Y shape folds in to create a nice, neat edge for the buttonholes.

Sadly, the bottonholes aren't as pretty on the inside, but at least you get to see a small splash of the teal green fabric I choose for the lining. Oooh, pretty.

I can't tell you how much I love this jacket! It had quite a few outings this winter and with plans for a few more pants/skirt options, it's likely to be popular next winter too.

- Tamara