#anAWWyear - August 1947: Make your own "Vagabond Bag and Beret " and more

Vintage issues of magazines such as the Australian Women's Weekly contain great free instructions and patterns for all kinds of crafts, usually homewares or items of clothing and accessories. Each month I'll be showing a few that are available and also making one or more - preferably ones which can also use up stash, as that is a goal of mine for 2017.  

August 1947 contains only a few craft projects.  For knitters, there is a Knitted Box Coat  which is "made with a firm stitch which gives it tailored lines and makes it suitable for sports wear, for the office, or home". It is written to fit a 34-35" bust. 

Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 9 1947  p51.

There is also a rather neat convertible sewing apron/bag - wear it while you craft, and then it becomes a project bag. The subhead suggests it would make a lovely gift. The fabric is all cut as sized rectangles, and as the different sections - inside pocket, waistband, etc - could easily be made from contrast fabric it might be a useful way to use up some fat quarters and scraps.

Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 23 1947, p53. 

The craft project I chose to make this month was this cute beret and bag set. 

Why yes, my spring wardrobe does need some variety.
Australian Women's Weekly,  Aug 9 1947, p49.

The picture illustrating the instructions wasn't very clear but the vibe was enough to make me want to try.  The copy was full of how fresh and wonderful this pair was, and promised me that the bag would leave me with a hand free.  The instructions said they could be made in felt or fabric, and as I had a length of green felt in the stash I went with that. I am still not sure what makes this a 'Vagabond' bag, as sadly my online search results were made difficult by the bag brand of that name. 

The bag is made from a long rectangle, with pleats added in the short sides. 

My pleat pinned, waiting to be tacked down.

In order to actually get this done (and as the felt wouldn't fray) I decided to hand sew it all so I could do it during times when I was at the park/watching TV/etc and wouldn't need to rely on my increasingly rare time on the sewing machine. 

Once the pleats are in place, the rectangle is folded so the pleated sides are together at the top, and you sew 9 ½ inches up each side. I would recommend slightly less, as Miss 1947 may have had a more slender arm. At that measurement I couldn't easily push the bag all the way to my elbow. It also would restrict the size of what you can put in the bag, as unless I am very much misinterpreting the instructions the only way in and out are through the side holes. 

Sewing up the side seams.

The top is finished with another strip of felt with studs added. I had a minor crisis here, as while attaching one stud the die decided to get so stuck to the stud it would not come off. I had to cut it away and sew together two pieces each with two studs. As a result it looks slightly unbalanced, but I don't mind too much. Much better than it would look with a big silver die base in the centre. 

The finished vagabond bag.

The beret instructions are typical of patterns of this era when they aren't just rectangles - a basic labelled diagram that is not at all in scale. The beret is a high halo style designed to be worn back on the head, and has two felt bows decorating the side. The instructions, once the pieces are cut out, are very simple. It suggested adding a stiffening, but as my felt was solid I decided that applied if one was using other fabric, and ignored it. Perhaps my halo would be crisper if I had not.

The finished beret. 

The inside of the beret's band is finished with petersham ribbon to stop it stetching out. 

Interior view showing petersham ribbon (and a close up of one of the bows)

And in action: 

The bag is designed to hang off your forearm, as shown here.

The beret sits at the back of the head. 

Ready to step out. 

#anAWWyear: August 1947 - Fashion, Jewellery and early Capsule Wardrobe advice

I'm kicking off my journey of a year through the Australian Women's Weekly with a tour through the fashion pages of August 1947.

Chic matching beret and jacket on the cover of Aug 23 1947

This month is dominated by French fashions, as the Women's Weekly was promoting their French Fashion Parades. While the parades were running twice daily in Sydney for the first half of August before moving on to Melbourne and Adelaide, showcasing over "100 frocks suitable for any occasion", the magazine was presenting pages of the frocks and shoes and jewellery for their readers.

My stand-out favourite outfit is this stunning wool suit by Robert Piguet -the details of the drape of the jacket are a little lost in the photograph but the curve of the jacket edge and the way the lapels sit pleases me greatly.

Gorgeous wool suit from the AWW French Fashion Parade
Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 9 1947, p5

Then at the other extreme of formality is this casual yachting outfit  with cute shorts, a belt "with pouches for powder, handkerchief and cigarettes" and those shoulders! I am very tempted to see what shorts with the "impudent notes" of rounded hips look like on me, as my hips are my proportionally smallest part. The original ensemble features a white and burnt orange striped top with green shorts.

Yachting costume, Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 2 1947, p11

The jewellery shown here was designed to accompany the fashions from the "great dress houses of Paris" and heavily features beads and pearls. I think the single strand tied into a bow high on the neck is rather charming, although I try to avoid such high necks myself.  I'd be far more likely to wear the two strands brought together in a large cluster just below the collarbone in the other picture below. 

Just two of the jewellery fashions on this page.
Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 9 1947, p21

As well as the more aspirational fashions from overseas, every issue of the AWW contains details of more achievable frocks and patterns which can be ordered through their fashion service. Some of the August highlights for me include this scalloped neckline dress, which looks amazing but would, let's be honest, be nerve-wracking and/or tedious to sew. Those scallops would take ages to sew accurately, and with the prominence around the neck and on the short sleeves you would definitely notice any flaws.

Dress featuring scallops from the Fashion Patterns service
Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 16 1947, p30

There is also this "Rita" frock which looks striking and more original than many such offerings, but I slightly worry one would end up looking like puzzle pieces.

Rita Frock from the Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 2 1947, p30

The advertisements this month didn't yield much fashion that I coveted, but there was one sketch of a coat in an Australian Wool Board advertisement that caught my eye

Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 30 1947, p17

Recently I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking about a capsule wardrobe (verdict: has been very useful in narrowing down what I want my style to be, but I am no closer to implementing it) so I was interested to see some advice in Dress Sense by Betty Keep to a reader asking about basic rules to help her make sure she had things to actually wear from her 'plenty of clothes'.  The response is very simple capsule wardrobe advice

The way to organise your clothes life is to buy only clothes that do harmonise. 

You should plan not only for the moment, but for the season ahead.

Never buy any garment without thinking "Have I the necessary accessories, or can I afford new ones?" 

Always select a basic color and be sure it is becoming. 

Lastly, take into consideration whether the greater part of your life is spent out-of-doors, in an office, or at home, and plan the biggest part of your wardrobe for that purpose.

Which, sadly, means that both the chic wool suit and the yachting outfit really shouldn't be making an appearance in my life any time soon! 

The Plan for Aug 2017 to July 2018 - An Australian Women's Weekly Year

I've been watching my sister Tanith's Trove Pattern Project with much interest. I spent a long time trawling through microfilm issues of Australian newspapers and journals during my honours and PhD theses. Part of me wishes more had been digitised at the time, so my research could have been more focused, but there was a certain charm in browsing through whole issues, being able to read the fiction and advice columns as well as the advertisements I was ostensibly there for.

Australian Women's Weekly, Aug 9 1947. 

While I've enjoyed doing vintage crochet patterns from the Trove archive, particularly the Australian Women's Weekly, I also wanted to explore some recipes, some fashion ideas...

You know I'm going to have to test out those pineapple sandwiches.
Australian Women's Weekly, Oct 18 1947, p41

My plan, starting in Aug 2017, is to work through the corresponding months of 1947-1948. I'll spend that month going through the issues on offer, trying out some appealing and not so appealing recipes, working up some of the craft projects, looking at the fashion. I'm planning on weekly posts - for each month, one on craft projects, one on recipes, one on fashion and beauty and one to cover anything else that catches my eye - although this may be flexible. It will depend on what appears in the magazine!

We can talk about how gorgeous these coats are.
Australian Women's Weekly, Feb 14 1948, p11. 

One thing I do feel the need to say before I start is that although I am a historian of business and advertising, I won't be analysing the contents of the magazine in an academic way often. This is going to be a more casual and less rigorous reading of the contents than I did while I was studying.

Like wearing a fluffy blanket: my shawl-poncho

Last year at one of the regular craft days I attend, we had a swap day where we brought craft supplies from our stash that we no longer wanted. It was a fantastic idea and I got rid of a lot of paper crafting supplies and some fabric. Dangerously, I was the only person who wanted to take yarn. So I perhaps took a little more than I should have.

Most was one or at most two balls of the same yarn, but there was a lot of one slubby blue yarn (an acrylic/mohair blend). I thought there were 6 balls (turned out there were actually 8!)

Uneven size, fluffy texture... but that colour is perfect for me!
This is all that is now left of those 8 balls

Now usually with a textured yarn that does that slubby look where it is thin in places and large and fluffy in others, all I'd make is a scarf. Maybe. But unless I was planning on making the longest scarf ever, that would only take one or two balls and I certainly didn't want three matching scarves. I knew with that much to work with, I wanted to make a garment. I wasn't going to use such a textured yarn for a cardigan though. I pondered a shawl, but I've never managed to get a shawl to be of any use except when curled up on a couch reading. I kept pondering and worked on other projects, but I knew I had to do something with it because I adore that colour.

One day two months ago, doing a colour exercise where I was looking through all my pattern books looking at yarn colours, I came across this interesting pattern in my copy of Rustic Modern Crochet and immediately realised that it was the inspiration I'd been looking for.  

Sand and Shells pattern by Yukimo Alexander.
(I took this photo from my book copy because that seemed less dodgy than adding one from elsewhere;
 for better pics see the ravelry link above)

While this is made up in a totally different style and weight of yarn, the overall schematic of the garment was what I wanted - effectively a poncho. Crochet an arrangement of rectangles and sew together in two places to form armholes. And shawl-poncho is born. 

So cozy

I didn't use the stitch patterns given because the detail would have been wasted on such fluffy yarn. I did keep the contrast in density, making the upper side in a more open mesh, and I worked my dimensions from the detailed diagram for the project. 

You can see the division into the three areas more clearly in this photo.
Actually, this fluffy yarn disguises a lot of details. 

As I said, the construction is very simple, and once you've finished the actual crochet, all that is needed is to join 6-8cm at a point on each side to create the arm holes.

Rear view.

I get all the comfort and warmth of a fluffy shawl without having to worry about keeping it wrapped around me. It is the perfect garment for those days when I'm a bit chilly but don't want a full warm sweater (and in Sydney, we get more of those days than you'd think). I intended this to be an 'only around the house' piece, but I've now worn it out a few times on those intermediate weather days. So happy to have used some swap day yarn for a snuggly addition to my wardrobe.

Me Made May 2017: first 11 days and meeting Gertie!

I decided to try participating in #memademay17 this year, not because I think I can actually do a new piece of me made every day, but because I wanted the kick to do more selfish sewing and create more of the clothes that I've been planning in my head for ages.

The first eleven days have been a mix of clothing items and accessories. I'm starting with day 11, yesterday, first, because it was incredibly exciting. I left the boy with a friend, and headed out to Castle Hill Spotlight with a sewing friend to see Gertie and get my copy of Gertie Sews Vintage Casual signed.

Me with the glamourous Gertie, She is so poised. 

Day 11: My blue snood.

Day 10: A coat made long long ago!

Day 8 - a shirt in a cool blue/green print from Spoonflower.

Day 7: My burgundy jersey tunic dress with self fabric sash, 

Day 6: My bright cherry print tote bag

Day 5: This cool teal asymmetric top.

Day 4: My garnet bracelet.

Day 3: This vibrant fruit skirt, 

Day 2: Satin and lace kimono style dressing gown

 Day 1 and day 9's photos have disappeared already. Oh well. There are more details for each day on my Instagram account ( user name parlour_duck) if you aren't already following me there.

It has been quite a reminder that I've been sewing and making a lot for gifts and for my son but not enough for me!  I've almost run out of clothing items for me and have only a few accessories to go - and then I'll have to start repeating.

Closing my Parlour Duck Crafts Etsy store

Etsy sent out an email last week announcing that sellers had until the 17th of May to switch to Etsy Payments and the option to be a Paypal only seller was going to disappear.  While I did consider doing so for a few hours, overnight reflection has led to this decision. I will be closing my shop Parlour Duck Crafts on the 10th of May, and having a closing down sale with the code CLOSING15 for 15% off. I've also made almost all items available for shipping everywhere in the world rather than just Australia.

Except this Charlie One Horse hat, as I don't want to have to ship it overseas. 

The truth is, I wasn't happy trying to run the store and have crafts as a business. I wasn't committing to it in the way that I needed to, and I was displaying classic avoidance and procrastination behaviour when it came to my plans for the store. I am absolutely glad that I have tried it and indeed I suspect I needed to try it - I may well have spent years wondering "what if" otherwise. It was an experience I am glad to have had, if only so it could teach me that I'm much happier for crafts to be a hobby. I started because I wanted a flexible income that came from something I did well and enjoyed. Perhaps I also had a sense that because I enjoyed crafts I had an obligation to try to make it into a career rather than just a hobby. I was attracted by the idea of having a creative business.   Maybe if the other paid work I was doing was awful or exploitative or soulless or was making me miserable, I would have tried harder. But it isn't. I love my freelance indexing and proofing and my casual employment supporting various academics. I'm excited by the projects I've worked on in the past year and the ones I'm starting now.

This zinnia hat is a recent creation and I've had so much fun taking photos of it.

I'm keeping it open for a few weeks rather than closing right away to try to sell my remaining listings, which include some lovely crochet and vintage items, several of which have been pictured throughout this post.

This cross-stitch book qualifies as vintage by Etsy's rules and that fact makes me feel old.

The blog will still continue though, under the same name, and will still be a place where I talk about what I'm crafting, what I'm learning and what I'm enjoying. I have some exciting plans for a blog feature starting in July and I'm also eager to push on with my fabric stashbusting and show you what I've managed to create.  And I'm not saying goodbye 100% to making for others - I will still be open to the occasional commissioned piece of work as a freelance contract. But as of the 10th of May, my Etsy store closes.

A busy making time

I have been so slack about blogging, but like many others I've been busy making things.  I blame the New Year and resolutions involving using up my stash and increasing my sewn wardrobe. I have even joined a Facebook stashbusting group to keep track of how much fabric I use during the year. (So far: sewn 9 metres and bought 2.5 metres)

This post is really going to be a round up of selected makes from the last few months

A baby sunhat in cute spotted cotton

 This adorable sunhat was a gift for a friend with a young baby. I'd forgotten (even in the scant few years since my boy was that small) just how little fabric you need for baby items. The hat was made entirely from a single fat quarter. And that is with a fully lined crowned.

Zinnia hat, from a 1962 Australian Women's Weekly pattern

I've been crocheting some 1960s hats from patterns from the Australian Women's Weekly. Above is a 'zinnia hat' - the original was yellow with red flowers and I've made it in a slightly more subdued fawn and burgundy colour scheme. Below is the charmingly quirky 'field flower hat' which I've made in very close to the colours suggested in the original. I may redo the pompoms on this one, as I think I'd like them to be fuller. Both of these hats will be listed in my etsy shop soon. 

Field flower hat

Close up of the field flower hat 

 Several years ago, I treated myself to a 'I've finally finished the PhD present' and went to a ten day embroidery convention run by Koala Conventions. One of the two-day courses I did was on Mountmellick work and I did a beautiful design. Well I have finally made it up into the bolster cushion it was designed to be!

The finished Mountmellick bolster. 

I also, as part of both stashbusting and increasing my 'me made' wardrobe, made a kimono style dressing gown, decorated with lace I got for a ridiculously low sum at a garage sale. The pattern isn't a true kimono, although the sleeves are very close, and it is from a BurdaStyle magazine Plus Size special (E030, for anyone who might want to look, although I've checked and this isn't available online). It really needs an iron, but what doesn't?

Dressing gown. 

Close up of sleeve under construction - and the amazing lace!

 A lot of my crafting and blogging time has been curtailed by actual paid work now that my son is at preschool two days a week. Still, actual paid work has funded the purchase of some clothing patterns that I really, really wanted, so I hope to be blogging about those makes soon.  I'm also having some bad days on my medications, which eats into the time I have too.