Vintage Knitting, Retro Dressmaking, Make do and Mend, Original and Vintage Inspired Knitting Patterns, Vintage Inspired books

Thursday, December 18, 2008

a little blogging goes a long way

I have decided that rather than leaving lots of stuff to pile up and then having to do big long blogs that take ages I'm going to TRY and blog more frequently. Certainly between now and christmas I have a few posts to get through.

The good news is that in the last ten minutes I have finally got a working scanner. Its also better quality than any scanner I've had before which hopefully means it won't break with as alarming regularity as all the others.

I've started planning 2009 and have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to be seriously organised if I am going to achieve the targets I have set myself - I'll share some of these plans with you in the new year - but in the short term, once the christmas festivities are over, we're going to go over to Paris for a few days on a vintage button and ribbon hunt (hubbie and daughter don't know that's why we're going yet, that's on a need to know basis) and also to find more of these

peit mode september 1934

This is the back cover illustration from the french magazine Le Petit Echo de la Mode and shows dressmaking patterns available. Can you imagine being able to get patterns as beautiful as these? This particular issue is from 30 September 1934 and instructs the parisian women on how to make their own high fashion clothes and also how to customize their existing wardrobe as well as featuring some fabulous adverts such as this one

petit mode advert

which roughly says that "Ondulux" in a few moments, simply by placing it on your head like a bonnet, will give your hair the exact waves that you want. Do you think it would work?

for now
Ruby xxx

Friday, December 12, 2008

A huge thank you

to everyone who has messaged me both on this blog and privately about my last post. Those comments have meant the world to me and have really helped me regain my motivation and you have no idea how much I appreciate you all taking the time to lend me your support.

The offending items have been removed from ebay and I have managed to stop myself spending the rest of my life trawling through every page of ebay and etsy for more of my designs, and I will carry on doing what I've been doing and more things besides.

No pictures again today as I have also managed to loose the battery charger for my camera. I will get myself sorted shortly I promise.

Spending the weekend with the lovely Jane Waller in her lodge in the woods looking through vintage patterns, ooh, and was interviewed today by Prima magazine for a piece they are doing on shopping in vintage and charity shops. There is to be a 'glamorous' photoshoot in January at one of my favourite shops. Couldn't ask for more.

Have a lovely weekend, whatever the weather.

for now
a back on track
Ruby xxx

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Sometimes, life disappoints

I was really disappointed to find out yesterday that someone is selling one of my designs, knitted up, on ebay. An email has been sent to the person asking them to remove the items from sale, but its just a real shame that people do this. I've had similar experiences before and it always knocks the wind out of my sails. I have offered those designs for free and at my own expense - yarn, time, blog/web page costs - and would like to think that people have the decency not to try and make money from other people's efforts. But I have been proven wrong yet again. I'm sure these people would be the first to complain if there were no more free patterns available, but it does make you want to stop.

I could say a lot more, but I will leave it at that.

for now,
a sad Ruby xx