I have succumbed! Bakelite goodness.

I smell the beginnings of a new addiction... smells vaguely like formaldehyde. I had hoped never to fall prey to the dangerous craze that is collecting vintage bakelite bangles, but having seen the huge, beautiful collections of bloggers such as
Brittany and Holly, I decided that no respectable vintage jewellery collection could be complete without them!

Bakelite jewellery isn't something that pops up too often in the UK, and online prices are high, so this is a rare treat for me. My only other bakelite possessions are some buttons and buckles, and two adorable Scottie dog napkin rings which belonged to my grandmother.


This beauty is currently winging its way to me from Canada after Aerospace Boyfriend fought bravely for it on eBay. He details my triumph here on his blog, which contains many fine examples of why he should probably always listen to me.


My beloved Scotties... I love the colours and the little differences between them.

Vintage Blouse Project: Bakelite Buttons Update

After the disaster that was my first bakelite buttons purchase for this project, I was somewhat disheartened. However, I've cheered up a bit after the replacements I ordered from OritDotan on Etsy arrived safe and sound. Here they are (there are actually six):


Not as nice as the bamboo effect of the first lot, but these are the right size and colour, and the cut grooves in the bakelite are a nice touch.

As soon as I have some spare time I'm going to draft a pattern for the blouse from a vintage dress bodice, and I think that for the first time ever I might bother to make a muslin, I don't want to cut up my fabric only to find the blouse is too small in the bust or has weird armholes.

I'd better get to it soon, Spring is most definitely upon us here, the crocus have been out for weeks and the blossom is budding on the trees... here is where I planned to put a picture of myself being Spring-like, but it appears that there exist no outdoor photos of me, so instead here are some Spring rolls I made last week (and sushi and stuff). Yum.

Vintage Sewing: Two New Patterns and Bakelite Horror

Here are a couple of new vintage patterns I have purchased! One is a lovely dress with classically 1950s sleeve and collar styling, and the other is a rare playsuit and overskirt pattern. I'm hoping that as well as creating these gorgeous garments, I can also trace off and modify the bodice of one of them to create my planned Summer blouse.


From Miss Betty's Attic on etsy.


From NewVintageLady on etsy, you should also check out her marvellous blog!


Also in preparation for the blouse project, I ordered these gorgeous bakelite buttons from BecaliJewels on etsy, thinking the bamboo-like pattern would go wonderfully with the tiki-ish print of my fabric.


However, when I opened the package... BAKELITE HORROR!!!


I was so upset. The seller's packaging was faultless, each button wrapped in foam, taped up then placed in a padded bag, some callous bastard somewhere in the postal service must have literally stamped on the package to cause this damage. She was so lovely about it, gave me a refund right away and she is going to make a claim with the US postal service. Still, it's saddening that these vintage treasures did not survive. Three are still intact to use on another project, and I'm hoping to fix the least broken one with some epoxy. Unfortunately, my blouse is going to need at least five buttons. I've ordered some more, not quite as nice but hopefully they'll look good.