Commenter Lynne sent me the link to this dress from Posh Girl Vintage, which combines two of my favorite things: buttons and polka dots.
It's pique, too, so I guess that makes it three of my favorite things. Oh, wait — piping — that's four. If only it had pockets …
It's a little small (maybe a modern 6?) but it's so adorable. (Click the image above to visit the Posh Girl listing.)
Did you all know that the Vintage Pattern Wiki is up to nearly THIRTY THOUSAND patterns? Holy Moly. (We only have about 700 to go. If everyone who reads this post in the first hour that it's up goes and adds a pattern, we'd be there and past there!)
This is one of my recent favorites:
Lovely, isn't it? You can find the full wiki page here.
Many, many thanks to all those who have uploaded pattern images, tagged patterns, left extra information and generally made this a fantastic resource for lovers of vintage patterns. You are awesome.
I love this pattern. Someone sent me the link last week (can't find the email, if it was you, please claim credit in the comments) and I've been thinking about it ever since.
In fact, I woke up the other morning having dreamt that I had bought and sewn this pattern (in a green-and-white gingham) and that it was hanging on the back of my sewing-room door. It wasn't … wish it had been!
Do you have sewing-related dreams? I find that if I don't sew when I'm awake, after a while I will start to I sew while I'm asleep. Either I make stuff like this (and am REALLY DISAPPOINTED when I wake up), or I have dreams where I make impossible things, like soap-bubble ballgowns. Once in a dream I made a skirt of a fabric that was made of dimes, melted and beaten thin, but with Roosevelt's face still visible. (In the dream it wasn't heavy.)
So a question I often pose to myself in idle hours (not that I have any "idle hours" anymore; "idle forty seconds" is the most I can hope for) is: is there a garment you could wear in any era? Say, if you were a time traveler (for example, cough, a companion to a certain Time Lord, cough)?
This pattern might be a contender (especially the cowl-neck Princess Leia version). Doesn't it say "I'm going to get medieval on your ass" and "the future has stewardesses" simultaneously? If it were made from that fabric they had in the Zenna Henderson stories which could be smoothed and stretched to any length, this would be perfect. Lengthen the skirt for the past, raise it for the future, add a nice cardigan and go anywhere in space or time!
This pattern has a very precise location in space and time: it's at CoconutPie's Etsy shop. (And Susan at Coconut Pie offers a a 10 per cent discount to anyone who mentions "dressaday" in their notes to seller.)
[Note: this is a maternity dress.]
Beulah: I am thinking motherly thoughts. Deep, motherly thoughts about my precious babe-to-be. Thoughts that require me to stare into the middle distance, and ignore the teeny tiny person undressing at my feet.
Hester: Dude! You're knocked up, you're not the Dalai Lama. Get over yourself. And pass me the saltines, will you? I think I'm gonna hurl.
[This pattern is from Sheila, at Out of the Ashes — she's running a 15% off sale, today through Sunday. Use the coupon code SUMMER.]
And, as promised, lame excuses — sorry for the light posting lately, I am completely, utterly, irredeemably swamped with work. Not sure when it will let up, either. Wish me luck!
Forgive me for turning my back to you like this, but Holly at Lucite Box is having a big sale this week, which includes this amazing red gingham shirtdress:
Bows *and* buttons. And pleats. AND it's a larger size! (B40/W32) If it only had pockets, it would be well-nigh perfect.
Oh, okay, here's the front:
There's lot of other stuff on Lucite Box right now that you just might like … if plain gingham isn't enough for you, how about this gingham and paisley combo? Or maybe this tiger-lily dress? (I think orange and tan is a very chic combination …) Or perhaps this absolutely glamtastic long gown? (Holly has such a good eye, don't you think?)
Oh, my goodness: the current Spoonflower contest is for ROBOT FABRIC. I want them all! Here's a few that especially caught my eye …
Go vote here.
