I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the lovely comments on my last post! They certainly helped brighten my week. 

Us Edmontonian AVR members Jill, Erin, Bailey and I had a lovely picnic in the park last Saturday at MacKay Avenue school, which was one of the first schools in Edmonton as well as the home to the first legislature, and now houses the Edmonton Public School archives. The archives weren't open on Saturday, but we made due with the bright sun, hot temperatures and the perfect grounds for croquet.

1980s does 1940s does Edwardian sailor dress from Cat's Eye Vintage in Calgary Shoes by BAIT Hat from Imagine Vintage in Camrose

This post has been so long in coming. I took the outfit photos for it last month after a job interview with plans of using it as an announcement post if I got the job. I didn't, but I don't want the photos to go to waste!

Yes, I wear full-on vintage for job interviews. For some interviews I don't go as all out as others, but this was for a heritage-related job, so I figured I could get away with it. But wearing vintage for job interviews is a topic for another day (probably once I'm employed again).

1940s peplum dress: C/O Adeline's Attic Seamed stockings: What Katie Did 1960s Shoes: C/O Adeline's Attic

This black peplum dress was an incredible, way too sweet gift from Jill of Adeline's Attic Vintage. Jill hosted a trunk show at her house, and when I tried on this 1940s suit dress it was love at first sight, but I knew that I shouldn't be spending money on unessential items while unemployed. So instead Jill just gave it to me, in part for helping her with her look-book photoshoot and part because she's just an amazing person. I actually started to cry in her kitchen (I'm a big sap).



But this dress is so much more than something to wear. It's a symbol that I have great friends who believe in me. Being unemployed, even when it's no fault of your own, can be really wearing on your nerves and confidence. Sometimes you need a little pick-me-up, whether it's a great dress, red lips or friends to rant with - or in my case, all of the above.



The shoes I'm wearing are my house shoes, and also a gift from Jill. I believe they came to her by way of a costumer who worked on Chicago and she bought them somewhere in the US, but believe it or not they were made in Edmonton - what serendipity!



Other than that, the job hunt is going reasonably well, for someone in my field. I've had two unsuccessful interviews and another on the horizon that I'm feeling very positive about. Feel free to send any extra good vibes you have lying around the house to me!

XO Laurie

In case you haven't heard, Bomb Girls hasn't been renewed for a third season, but instead the series will wrap-up with a two-hour made-for-TV movie.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty gutted. Yes, it's just a TV show, but in a way it's so much more important to me. I'm not surprised it's getting cancelled - Global had to change its schedule to make way for the 11 billionth season of Survivor, and having to stay up until 11 p.m. on Mondays to watch a show is pretty tough even for a die-hard like me (note: Ian just made fun of me for this. Whatever, dude. I'm an old lady). I'm not saying that it's perfect, but I am really going to miss it. I was somewhat disappointed with the finale, so I really hope the movie does it justice. I suppose I should be happy that it's ending on a high note, like Twin Peaks, and won't get dragged out to death like The Simpsons.

But, in case the big-wigs at Global are reading my humble blog, here's why I hope Bomb Girls lives on to see another day. Or that they make a spin-off called "Shirtless Marco" where Marco just arm-wrestles random guests. I'd watch.

Addenum: I got a note from Claire at Save Bomb Girls, and I wanted to share it with you all. "We're raising money to send up to 1,000 Victory Bandanas to Global TV and in 24 hours we raised $2,000 towards this. Once we have enough for 1,000, all of the extra proceeds will be donated to the Ajax Bomb Girls memorial fund."

I should note that this post may contain some spoilers. I've done my best not to give anything away for my American and European readers, but my apologies if something slips through my spoiler filters! 

All photos are from the Bomb Girls Facebook page.

It tells an important part of Canadian history

Bomb Girls is different - it tells about the fight going on at home while war rages on in Europe. It helps to remind us that women sacrificed a lot for the war effort, and that the war had repercussions that reached far beyond Europe and Asia.
Not only does Bomb Girls shed light on how Canadian woman jumped into the workforce, it also sheds light on the less-than-ideal viewpoints of the past, like discrimination due to ethnicity, gender, sexual identity and even social class.
Us Canadians like to pretend that we treated everyone with the respect they deserve, but it's not true. Bomb Girls might show the "good side" of the war effort, but it also shows the bad side, and choses not to gloss over the negative side of the 1940s or glamourize the war.

There are some flawed characters

If I had a dollar every time I called Gladys or Carol a cow (or something a little saltier) I'd be rich! Every character on this show has a flaw: Gladys tries a little to hard for people to like her, Vera tries to make up for her injury in 'other ways', Kate is turning into quite the liar, Lorna is prejudice, Betty is too independent and can't get over Kate, Marco get caught in with the "wrong crowd" etc etc. If they were  all perfect I'd probably would have shut off the show a long time ago. Drama makes for great television.


The style

Ok, I admit that the main reason I watch Bomb Girls is because of the costuming and the hair. How can I resist? I think I shout "Great dress" or "I need those shoes" about 15 times every episode. It's given me great inspiration for styling, shopping and sewing. I wonder what they're going to do with the costumes after the series ends....


Did I miss anything? What do you love about Bomb Girls?

In case you didn't know, I am now available to hire for styling photo shoots, vintage-themed parties, shopping consultant and the like. I was more than delighted when Jill of Adeline's Attic asked me to help assist her with styling some look book photos for her Etsy shop at Edmonton's historic Rutherford House.

I helped style and dress models, did some hair and make-up, some assisting in shooting the photos and even chauffeuring.

All photos are copyright Jill MacLachlin.

It only took a few (can't remember how many exactly) days to sew up, and these photos are actually the second time I've worn it. I credit my speediness being 1 part getting better at sewing, 2 parts easy-to-understand pattern and instructions and 3 parts a shiny new sewing machine that my great-uncle gave to me.

Dress: Me-made Kwik Sew K3929 | Shoes: Doc Martens Belt: me-made/buckle from Decadence | Bracelet: gift (Stella & Dot)

I definitely should have made a size smaller. I ended up taking a lot in (maybe 3-4 inches) after the fact, mostly in the zipper and in the front seams, which was actually fairly easy. I kept the skirt area larger to have more volume, and I'm able to wear my smaller black net petticoat underneath. It's still a smidge large in the waist, but it's nothing a belt can't fix!


Ian and I took these photos behind the streetcar barns in Old Strathcona, shortly before FINALLY signing up to get library cards. I've been back in Edmonton for exactly a year and worked right across the street from the main branch, but didn't get my card until now. Sad.


On to the details! This dress was very easy to make up, and had all the hallmarks of a perfect dress (at least to me, anyway):

Cap sleeves (this was my first time setting in a sleeve and I think I did pretty darn well!)



princess seams



sweetheart neckline (this dress had sooooo many facings! There are some weird armpit facings that I almost skipped because I just couldn't wrap my head around them. I put it in and ripped it out twice before getting it on the third try. It's hard to think backwards, upside-down and inside-out sometimes)


and pockets (Who doesn't love pockets? Actually, I know of someone, but I still love her).


The cotton is also super comfy and doesn't irons very nicely. Score!

I also did a blind hem for the second time. I don't know how I feel about blind hems on the machine. Perhaps once I'm better at the origami-like folding you have to do I'll like them, but I feel like the stitches are so close together that the hem is still visible.

Now I'm on to my next sewing project...

Man, have I ever been productive this month. Sure, I don't have any job interviews yet but I managed to finish off two projects within a span of a week.

The first project I finished was my Datemaker cardigan, which I started on right after Christmas.


It wasn't the fastest knit in the world, but I love it! The pattern is great and very easy to follow. While I was intimidated by it at first, I was relieved to realize it was just diagonal ribbing.


I didn't resize the pattern because according to my gauge match it would fit me perfectly. However, I ended up not seaming in the belt all the way so I could cinch it up a little more. This makes the cardigan "wrap", and I also sewed in a snap with invisible thread so it stays closed. I also put a hook on the belt end so I could catch it in a stitch and it wouldn't flap around.



If you're going to make this cardigan, I highly recommend doing the cuffs BEFORE the sleeves so you can pick up stitches from the cuff instead of sew them on after. I followed a lot of Tasha's tips from her Briar Rose knit-a-long when doing this sweater. As always, by gum, by golly! is a great resource. I also did the three-needle bindoff for the first time, as well as the crochet slip-stitch seaming
method. I love how my seams turned out! So neat and tidy.




The second project was Butterick 4790, aka Misses' Wrap Dress, aka I hope you like binding with bias tape because that's the bulk of this project.



Before starting the dress, I heard a lot of complaints about the fit of the dress, so I went looking for reviews and tips on what to do. The best one I found is from Edelweiss Patterns, who notes that the reissue is actually a different bodice shape than the original drawings on the envelope, and provides a fix. I was going to do the fix but then forgot during my cutting out. Oops.




 Katrina also notes that the dress should be worn with the proper undergarments (I'm wearing a WKD bullet bra here) and a petticoat (which I'm not wearing because I'm the only vintage girl in the world without a long one).



However, I'm really happy with my results. This is only my third sewing project, so it's quite rough around the edges, but I'm pretty proud. I'm sure in a year or two I'll look back and hate it, but for now, I love it.

I've had a fabulous weekend, and I hope you all have had one too.
I went to go see Star Wars Identities with Ian, I finally finished my Datemaker cardigan (which will get its own post shortly), had a great dinner at Miss Bee's abode, fixed my borrowed vintage sewing machine AND will be getting a newer one and had a wonderful birthday tea to celebrate Jill, the proprietress of Adeline's Attic.

I've been following Jill's blog for as long as I've been dressing vintage, and when I saw that she moved back to Edmonton I (being the vintage fangirl that I am) hoped that I would see her out and about on the town. I'm even more excited that we have become friends and that she invited me to celebrate her special day.

The guest of honour

In case you didn't know, March is still winter in Alberta but we all forewent the sensible footwear

As well as some new faces, Charly and Nicole, whose photos I forgot to snap (but they're up there in the group shot) as well as Jill's lovely mother Linda.

I also forgot to take some food photos because I was much too busy eating to take photos. Story of my life. In lieu, please accept this photo of us posing in front of a china cabinet.

My outfit: Scallop dress: a re-buy from Krista Dee Shoes: Rowena Hat: borrowed from Bee

I regret not snapping a better photo of my outfit, as it's only the second time I've worn the dress. It's a gorgeous scalloped dress with pearl buttons down the front. Krista Dee bought it for herself but it didn't fit, so I happily took it off her hands.