Buried Treasure

A few years ago I uncovered an interesting tray on one of my Goodwill expeditions. I thought about painting it hot pink or something crazy, but never got around to it. We are moving on Monday(yay!! more on that later) so I have been busy packing. I came across the tray today and decided to try polishing it. Here is the before:

And after:

I love the all of the details! Also, the tray is silver plate on copper, and the silver has worn away in some places to reveal the copper underneath.

While cleaning the back of the tray I uncovered this:

So, I'm really glad I didn't paint it! This is the oldest thing I've thrifted, and I'm thrilled(: I think I'm going to put it on my dresser and fill it with my perfumes and things. Any ideas what you think it was originally used for? A tea tray maybe?

Sarah

Summer Blooms

I noticed that the magnolias are blooming today! The porcelain-like blooms of the magnolia are too lovely not to take pictures of. It really never ceases to amaze me how much variety and attention to detail God infused into His creation.

Does anybody know what type of plant this is below? I have no idea, but I love it! The stalk reminds me of asparagus. I love the contrasting colors and textures.

Our backyard is a jungle, as you can see! We live near the zoo, and sometimes when I hear the lions and the monkeys I feel like I might actually be living in the Amazon(:

My feet got chewed up by mosquitoes): A small price to pay, I suppose.

Daily Dose of Glamour

I watched Shall We Dance (Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire) the other night. The plot wasn't perfectly construed nor was the romance between Ginger and Fred entirely believable, but the clothing, interior design, and music were of course fabulous. That is why I love watching movies from the 1930s! I need a dose of glamour quite often; here are some lovely photos just in case you need one too(: 

DIY: Retro Swimsuit

Retro swimsuits are so in style right now. I've actually been wanting one for years. Every time I see  a high-waisted bikini in a vintage fashion book or calendar I want to climb  right into the photo and slip into the swimsuit myself. Modcloth has adorable retro swimwear, and I love looking at their website. I've thought about ordering a swimsuit from them, but their suits are usually about $100 and I hate to spend that much when I know I could make something similar for about half the price. So, when I found pink gingham swimwear fabric at Hancock Fabric I decided to go ahead and try making my own retro swimsuit.

I wasn't afraid to try sewing swimwear; I've sewed one suit before and it's really not that much different than sewing anything else. For me the biggest challenge was finding a retro pattern. Original vintage patterns are harder to find, can be more expensive, and don't come with detailed instructions and multiple sizing like the more user-friendly patterns of today. Most pattern companies do offer a variety of vintage reproduction patterns, but I haven't been able to find any  swimsuit patterns. So, I decided to combine two different patterns(which I got on sale for $1 each!) and tweak them. This is the pattern I used for the top:

This is the pattern I used for the bottom- I chose it for the higher waist and lower cut leg.

After choosing my patterns, I began purchasing supplies. The pattern called for a few things I hadn't used before: polylaminate foam, cotton swimwear elastic, and featherlite swimwear boning. I bought my fabric and lining at Hancock Fabric, but their notions stock is AWFUL. They didn't have any of the other things I needed. Joann's(yes, I drove all the way to Spartanburg) has a great notions stock(but interestingly, not a great fabric selection/ store layout). There I found the elastic and boning. Apparently polylaminate foam is not to be found in Greenville. You can order it from a website called sewsassy.com but I found it a little bit cheaper on Etsy.

After finally tracking down all the materials I needed, I finally began sewing. Warning: this was NOT an easy project. I've done a lot of sewing, and I still found it challenging. Frustrating. Tear jerking. But worth all the hard work in the end. This is the final product:

I added a ruched panel to the front of the bottoms(it is so figure flattering!).

Now that I've finished this project, I'm off to start working on a 60's blouse!

-Sarah