Summer update

 Summer is happening and like so many others, I too am busy living and not so busy blogging. This week has been especially busy as I'm working longer hours than I normally do, so even less time for blogging! Anyway, here's an outfit I managed to photograph the other week. The capri pants used to be just normal length trousers with the belt loops lower down, but not anymore! I just love it when I'm able to make something just how I want it. These capris have had a lot of use already...

For some reason I have been working every single monday evening the past 5-6 weeks, all but one, which means I haven't been able to go the the monday car boot-sales more than once. When I did go, I found some lovely things with hearts on them. I've seen the jar many times before, but always more expensive and in worse shape. The jug has already become a flower pot and suits it purpose very well.

 

I don't know when you'll hear from me again, as my holiday starts in two days and we have great plans to travel around Finland in our camper-van. We've been thinking along the lines of going down the coast stopping at Pori, Naantali, Raseborg, Ekenäs, Hangö, Helsinki, Borgå and Lappeenranta, from where we'll take a mini-cruise to Viipuri (Russia) and then make our way back home again the inland way. Feel free to leave tips on great places to shop vintage along the way, places to see and cafe's where you'd like to have a cup of tea and talk about sewing/vintage with me while I'm passing through.

Until I have the chance to write again, Have a fantastic summer!

Love, Kitten

Where the magic happens a.k.a my sewing space

Hello readers, how have you been? I've been busy having a cold, celebrating midsummer and my birthday, and making myself an area dedicated for sewing! Oh, and I found myself a nice piece of furniture (60's teak) at a flea-market, which I had to fill with shoes and hats in my usual manner;

It is now located in my sewing area, where I can finally spread out and not have to clean up after myself every single time I get creative, because this area is meant for creating and nothing else! I used to put the sewing machine on the desk in front of my computer when I used it before, so this is a real improvement...Do those of you who sew have a special area set up too or do you have a different arrangement?

At the same place I found my new (old) shelf, I also found these shirts;

We celebrated midsummer with my family, eating well and just hanging out. Did you have a nice weekend?

Malmö finds, part 2

My last day in Malmö was a monday, therefor my brother was at school and his wife at work, so I had to go out vintage shopping on my own...I didn't do too bad though! It was a warm and summery day so I put on this outfit and wandered off into the city. Several hours later I had found two skirts;

 

I've been looking for a red one for ages...And the one below was just fantastic, LOVE the pattern, has to be taken in slightly though.

I also found a dress which fitted me like a glove. Both skirts and the dress came from Humana.

And last but not least, I found two hats...In an antiques shop with loads of beautiful teak furniture and string-shelves other nice things I sadly could not fit into my bag and bring home.

Aren't they pretty? But kind of wintery so they won't get worn for another couple of months. I also visited Som Ny, and chatted with the lovely owner. She had some nice stuff there, especially the jeans, but sadly nothing in my size that I liked. But do head over there for a peek if you're in Malmö, or visit her web shop, she had some nice jewellery too!

I had a really nice time in Malmö, the shopping was sure better than around here, as was the restaurant we went to and of course it was also nice to hang out with my brother and his wife. The finds have been washed and now I just need to iron and do some other fixing before I can start wearing them. Oh, and I need the weather to be warm again...

Finds from Malmö, part 1

My trip to Malmö, was pretty nice. I went to visit my brother but in reality, I spent most of my time getting to know his wife C better. My brother isn't into shopping so I wasn't surprised he left that part to us girls.  C and I haven't really spent time together before so it was pretty nice, especially since it turned out we had more in common than expected, she's into ecological thinking too and likes flea-markets for example. So for once I didn't have to go shopping alone, yay!

The first day we went around a couple of vintage stores in town, as well as a couple of antique shops. We saw some nice stuff but I still came back empty handed, while C found a lovely 60/70's tunic that looked really cute on her.

On Sunday we went to a carboot sale kind of market and suddenly my I started spotting things I wanted. My favourite find was this old H&M dress, a couple of sizes too big with buttons missing in the back but hey, it only cost me 30 SEK (about 3 euros) and I just know it will look great once I get it fixed...

The bad thing about outdoor markets is that you can't try things on, so I bought me another dress that was too big. But I should be able to fix it...I just need some time.

This skirt on the other hand was just right, but I'm not sure about the belt...Maybe it would be better higher up? Why oh, why does everything I buy turn into a project?!

 

My last purchase of the day doesn't have to fit me, as I bought it as an addition to my collection of vintage slips and nightgowns. One day I plan to have my collection hanging on the walls of our bedroom, I just need some hooks on the wall first (or a bedroom with walls that I can put up the hooks on myself, without the need of stone wall drilling equipment...).

C also came back with a few things, and I even managed to find a few things for her that she liked (a retro tablecloth and retro enamel casserole, both awesome but not quite my style). Anybody else need a personal shopper? I'll show the rest of my finds another day so stay tuned!

Close to completion

 I love my new handbag. It's not really new, of course, just new to me. I've been looking for one in navy for ages, if I only had a similar one in white and in red my handbag collection would be pretty much complete. Is that even possible? To have a complete collection? Will I really be able to stop looking at and buying handbags when it is? Only time will tell I guess...

Other than the fabulous handbag I have recently also found a basic slip to wear underneath dresses with wide enough shoulders (winter stuff).

And I so could not resist these swallows...only problem is, how to get them up on the wall? There's a hole at the back but when I put it on a nail the swallow tilted! Whoever put that hole there sure didn't put it in the right place, hah.

I've got my red jeans to keep me warm

I have done a few nice finds lately (see previous posts) and here's proof of another;

A pair of red jeans have been on my list of things to keep an eye out for when thrifting for a long time now. I found these (top also) in a flea-market in Vasa before x-mas, and they have been in use quite a few times already. Because no matter how many skirts/dresses I buy/make, when I get home from work I still end up wearing jeans or sweatpants in the winter. I am too cold in skirts and really cannot be bothered to add layer upon layer of tights to keep me warm, when all I do most days is sit by the computer/sewing machine/couch and only hang out with Mr Kitten. If I'm going out it's a different story, but still, it was -26 C on Wednesday which is not really my idea of skirt weather.

I haven't been very busy playing with hair styles lately either, because going outside means wearing a hat, as in something that will keep your head warm-but also ruins most hairstyles. Winter is tough. But tomorrow, when it's only going to be around -8 C, I am putting on a skirt and fixing a hairdo that can be worn with a warm-ish half hat, and I'm going to an antiques and vintage fair in the town of Kokkola. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I got some money for x-mas and I wouldn't mind some more vintage stuff, be it clothes or furniture, I can do both! Wish me luck!

P.s. I've only used baking soda once for washing my hair since the beginning of December, water only the rest of the time! Ina is doing something similar and wrote a really good post about it here. Check it out if you're interested in going shampoo-free!

Dot dot dot

Mr Kitten and I went shopping to Kärkkäinen last weekend. What I came home with all seemed to have something in common, can you spot (pun intended) the similarities? The gift wrapping paper I plan to use for making some pretty storage boxes, I've been looking for dotted paper for ages! The blue package is our new shower curtain, in case you were wondering.

Earlier this fall I had plans for making a shirtwaist dress. Well, I made the shirt, but as this is the first shirt I've made since I was in school (aged 14) and I made up the pattern myself, it didn't come out exactly as planned. I also chose a fabric that turned out to bee pretty itchy...Oh, well. Can't win em all. But I now know what I need to do differently next time. To make myself feel better I made another circle skirt instead, this time with a hidden pocket! Turned out a lot better than the shirt...

As I mentioned in my last post, I took some old clothes to be sold off at a nearby flea-market. Of course this meant more room for new items in my closet! At said flea-market I found an item I could not walk away from, even though it had lost it's shape (bad washing?) and needs a bit of work to fit me. An embroided cardigan, 50's style, most likely vintage (it has beads as buttons!). I have been searching for something like this for a while and now I've got one! Hopefully it will come out wearable after I take it in a bit, shorten it etc.

Another lovely find was this vintage dress;

Great colour and style, matching belt (pretty much) and my size! Nothing to alter!? Definitely a style I will try and copy for other dresses. It is not as long as it looks btw, camera was a bit high...And note my matching nail polish!

Hope you are all doing well, I'm going to Vasa to get braces tomorrow...No sticky candy for me for the next few years.

Saturday in Vaasa

Last Saturday was spent in Vaasa, I had arranged to meet a fellow blogger and seamstress, TuunausTiina, to go thrifting with her. This is what I wore, note the hat!

(Sorry for the cameraphone-picture quality)

I rather enjoyed thrifting with someone who knows what vintage is about and who knows sewing and can see potential in items other see as trash. Sadly, we didn't find anything vintage to fit our tastes and budgets apart from this one hat which I bought;

But none of us went home empty handed either. Lucky for me these granny style winter boots were too small for Tiina;

Tiina found at least one skirt and a dress and we both found some fabric (mine just a plain dark blue, nothing exiting). I also found a couple of cute tops;

The last of the tops I bought ended up matching my newly finished sailor inspired trousers perfectly;

However I'm still considering adding a waistband to the trousers, to get a bit more...waist. Tomorrow I'm back at work again, so it's back to sewing only when I have energy left after work. Being on holiday was fun while it lasted.

More sewing and some treasures

The sewing continues, I have now made a pair of high-waisted trousers, a strapless top and a bolero, all from the same fabric. The bolero and the top are made using the silver scissor patterns, the top is actually the top part of a strapless dress, which with my long torso turned out way to short, even though I made it longer? Maybe it was the lack of the scaling tool that made it turn out like this...The bolero looks just like the pattern picture (apart from the sleeves) but it also feels like a short model on me. Wonder if any of the tops will ever make it out of the closet again...

Yesterday was quite a fun day, I went to see my grandma, and me and my mum helped her clean out her attic...And we got to keep pretty much anything we found that we liked! I came home with two suitcases full of clothes photos and stuff, plus a fur coat from the 40's (made in Washington!) with matching hat, another 60's coat, a 60's suit and grandma's old uniforms from when she was head of the village's mail office (ca. 1950's-70's). Unfortunately pretty much all the clothes are too big for me (sizes 40-44) and most of them are from the 60's and 70's. Anybody interested? I'd happily trade them for something in my size and a couple of decades older. Or sell.

For me, the biggest treasure here is mum's aunt Gerda's old suitcase, and all the photos it contained. Gerda was the aunt who lived in the United States for a few years, there was a scrapbook full of clippings concerning WWII and also some newer magazines. The fur coat mentioned earlier was also hers.

There was also an album with my great grandfathers name in it, with lot's and lot's of pictures of relatives from the 1900's-1960's. I also found my grandparent's wedding photo, and a picture of grandma taken around the same time. I think they got married in 1949...If anybody is interested in seeing old photos let me know and I'll try and scan some of the more interesting ones.

The second suitcase was grandma's own, the one she used to take with her on all the holidays she and granddad used to go on. She had tied a piece of blue string (still there!) around the handle to recognize it faster at the airports...I like things with a history, like the suitcases, especially as it is now me who travels the most. My grandparents also had a caravan (a bit like this one) btw, too bad it's now rotting away in the woods.

It's just soo lovely to have the time to do the things you want...

After my last post I walked into the kitchen and realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of another find at the juthbacka market...I have quite a few plants in the flat so this charming little table felt like something useful to have. And no, it does not bother me in any way that it is also very cute and retro.

As I've been on holiday this week, I've tried to get some projects done, such as revamping a pair of shoes which I haven't worn for a few years. Before;

And after;

From useless shoes to glamorous slippers to wear around the house, makes me feel a bit more luxurious than wearing woolly socks with my dressing gowns...

A little something else I made this week was this matching set of skirt and hat;

Also note my new handbag with the cute shoe-shaped clasp. From a shoe/bag shop here in town.

Finally, here's another outfit I wore to town a few days ago, sorry about the sunglasses inside but hey, that is what I looked like...


Another fun thing we did this week was taking a dance class, basics in Finnish tango. It was fun, but sadly, both Mr. Kitten and I feel like we've already forgotten most of it...

Juthbacka 2010

One of the highlights of the year for finding vintage goodies around here is the juthbacka market. This year I decided to go in full vintage gear (apart from glasses) so I put on this dress, white gloves, shoes and belt, and the white cardigan in the picture below;

I did a fake fringe and when I turned the camera on to take an outfit shot, the battery died. Above photo was taken in the dark evening after I got home...

On Saturday we went to Oulu to listen to a concert by the Riku Niemi Orchestra, which was absolutely awesome, and on Sunday we went to another fleamarket. Here's my finds from the weekend;

Everything but the shoes from Kärkkäinen (where we also stopped for some shopping on the way home) is second hand, some of which need to be altered a bit before they fit me...

Now this has to be the most exiting (and expensive) find at the market; 72 sheets of pattern cards from around 1954...But unfortunately missing the silver scissors scaling tool needed to get the pieces enlarged to the right size. This, of course, I didn't notice until I got home. *sigh* BUT, I have a feeling that I just saw this same catalogue on someone else's blog, but I can't remember or find where...Anybody seen it/have it? I could really use a picture of the scale next to a ruler or something so that I could start using these fabulous patterns!

Finally, the second most exiting find, seen above, a real vintage half hat. I paid 30 euros for it (to a lady selling only vintage stuff and who knew how to charge people). I have been wanting one for ages, even tried to make one myself (not very successfully, I might add). So I could not just leave it there...

Anyway, I had a wonderful weekend and just started the second half of my holiday, so I think I'm gonna go off and start working of that growing pile of items in need of alteration. Have a great week!

One step closer

I went back and got it. The sideboard. I've been looking for one for months, and the weekend before last when we stopped at a flea market in Kauhava on our way to a dance, I spotted one. In good shape too, apart from one loose door which Mr. Kitten fixed for me once I got it home. As I didn't want to bring it to the dance and have it occupy half the caravan, I had to leave it behind, but a few days later I had the day off and convinced my dear mother to go on a mother-daughter road trip. In my parents volvo with plenty of room in the back...

The sideboard is now filling an otherwise hard to fill corner of our kitchen, acting as storage for my fabrics, which I previously didn't quite have a good place for. Now I just need to find some vintage shelves for the living room, a vintage sofa table, some nice lamps...But at least I'm one piece of furniture closer to a vintage inspired home.

I'm also one step closer to becoming Mrs. Kitten, we had a small engagement party for the family last week and here's what I wore;

The skirt is self-made and the earrings are vintage;

As I'm pretty new at collecting vintage (and because I live in such a small town) the apartment I share with Mr. Kitten still has very few items of vintage furniture. So I'm curious, what do your homes look like? Do you collect both vintage (and/or replica) clothes and furniture or just one or the other?

Four times a hat

A while ago I bought a sheet of red felt from a craft store and made myself a little hat. This is what it looks like combined with a few of my recent flea-market finds;

It's finally friday, yey! Feels like all I have done this week is worked, I've even had dreams at night about being at work...Do you ever get that?

Anyway, tomorrow me and Mr. Kitten are gonna go dancing again and sleep in the caravan. Looking forward to it!! I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

3 x vintage dresses

I've been lucky this week. On a tour of the local charity shops I started talking to the old ladies in one of the shops about how I'm looking for older stuff, and what do you know, turns out they've got a bag of "old stuff" put to the side in case they drop by from the local theatre looking for costumes...Apparently nobody else is interested in stuff that old!? Well, all the more for me! This was the newest item, late 50's-60's maybe?

I haven't cut my hair again, in the pictures I've got it under-pinned (I think that's what it's called). It's basically folded under at the back and pinned to my head. Instant short neck!

As usual all items were slightly too big for me, but I just couldn't leave them to gather dust in the wardrobe of the theatre...Maybe I could take them in a little?

The next dress is my favourite, it just falls so nicely, and the embroidery is so pretty, and it's got self-covered buttons going up the side...It's about 20 cm to long for me, I'm wearing my highest heels (12cm?) in the picture and it still touches the floor. The dress needs a wash really badly, the massive sweat stains aren't too pretty, but I'm not quite sure how to wash it, it's kinda delicate. I'm guessing it's from the 30's or early 40's.

The last dress I'm pretty sure is from the 40's. And no, I haven't washed or ironed this one either, I could not wait to show it off and maybe get some tips on washing and ironing. After all, I don't actually own much real vintage, since it's so rare around here. Most of the few pieces I've got are cotton or other materials that I dare wash in the machine...

So if anyone out there can tell me anything more about these dresses (decade, washing tips etc.) I'd be grateful!