The UK Trip & The Serger

The recent trip to the UK was overall just "OK" and I hate to say that, because it was all free :/ Most of it had to do with the utterly shitty weather we experienced while there. In Brighton, everything was covered in ice. They don't get weather like this very often, so salting everything wasn't even in their vocabulary:


This is how ALL the sidewalks and roads were!

We also got hailed on in Brighton. HAIL. Little pellets of ice falling from the sky. We were walking to a station and I ended up soaking wet (we all did.) I did manage to snap some shots of some cool art moderne/deco, though:






Here I am with two handsome gents: a brother in-law in-law (lol) and my husb!

Then we spent a day in London meeting up with one of Joe's longtime friends. It was much nicer. No hail or ice. We drank a bit and had an Indian FEAST. They know how to make it right in England -- over here it is pussified (when I say I want it HOT I mean it!) Me in a London pub next to an art moderne TV set:



Some London buildings:









Yea, sorry guys. I'm obsessed with buildings. We ended the trip in Cambridge at Joe's parents' house and it was delightful. Xmas was lovely and my big gift was the DVD box set of Little Britain! I freakin' love that show, especially Andy & Lou and "I'm the only gay in the village!" LOL.

The flight back SUCKED, though. It was looooong and boring and we were lucky enough to get stuck next to bunches of screaming and sick brats!! One of them was running up and down the isles (pissing off the stewardesses!) while his parents SLEPT! Joe and I are both currently sick. We blame the airplane. I did get asked by a very gay steward if I was into Marilyn, in which I told him she was ok, but my heart really belonged to Harlow. He then told me "Wasn't she only 26 when she died?" I loved it.



And for those who care, when I came home I bought myself a serger from a little old lady off craigslist. It's a Simplicity serger. I'm hoping it's as good as it looks. I have no idea how old it is, but it has in instructional VHS TAPE so I'm assuming it's at least 10-15 years old. Lol.



I'm really tired of my dresses looking like frayed-up crap on the inside! I only hope I can work this easily! Lol.

xmas cheer!

I want to wish all a fab xmas! When I get home it's sewing time and I want to make more, more, more dresses. I've also decided to go back to red hair once this plat grows out too much. It's too expensive for me right now, plus I want to turn up the "pinup camp" in my look a bit.



Here is a lovely little cheerful xmas ditty that includes a lot of my childhood imaginary boyfriends....

In The United Kingdom

I've been here for almost a week. I's been quite a ride. The first few days were spent with people in Brighton, which I really didn't enjoy at all. Drinking and smoking pot just really aren't my things :( We also got hailed on really badly -- walking to a pub :/

Yesterday we went to London (Clampham Common) to meet up wth Joe's friend Mike and I had a much nicer time. I drank a bit because I was more relaxed. We spent the night at his place and came to Cambridge this morning.

I took many photos of art moderne buildings! I'm also here until Sunday and I'm WORRIED SICK about poor Lola in the kennel :( But we haven't heard from them so no news is good news! I'm also jonsing to sew!

Off to watch Harry Hill's TV Burp!

Serging, End Finishing, etc ADVICE NEEDED

Hey sewing broads! I don't have a serger yet, but I'm tired of my ends fraying. While I *do* take very good care of my handmade dresses and wash them by hand, I still just feel like they aren't "finished" or something. My skillz are also getting much better and I want my dresses to start looking the same on the inside.

Since I don't have a serger (yet), what should I do in the meantime? I usually roll my hems and sleeve hems or I trim them with bias tape if it "goes." I've tried zig-zag stitching the inside raw edges, but there's something about it I don't like :/ And it takes up all my thread! I have a hem roller foot, but I'm not very good at using it yet.

Is there anything I can do that I'm not aware of? My sewing machine has a lot of fancy stitches and feet that came with it -- it's not top-of-the-line, but it's a decent machine equipt for quilting.

And I won some money at work plus got my school loan stipend so I bought this stuff:


Fell in love with that art deco-y collar!

And I raided ETSY for some cheap patterns (being poor sucks!!, but I want to save for a serger :)











And here's some fabric I recently bought:



Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, but you get the idea. The green one on top is going to make the art-deco-collar dress. The pinups are my husbands and he wants pillowcases made from them. The flappers I plan to hoard ;)

One more quick question before I leave: What is a good serger to get? I don't need a fancy one -- just something that gets the serging done! What price am I looking at for something a little nicer than "basic"?? Thanks!!

Whoooo -- I'll be in Britain in less than 24 hours!! Whooo!

Lisa Freemont Street

What a frikkin' inspiration! For those not in the know, Lisa Freemont Street has a youtube channel where she shows you all her vintage beauty techniques. I haven't even begun to watch HALF of them, but I'm working my way through. Some I watch over and over. Like this one...



...which I tried to do today. Not exactly her method, though, because I don't have too much experience with sponge rollers yet (I end up with fro-lets!), but I LOVE those vintage arched bangs with the severe middle part (hint, hint -- do a video on all the different methods you can use to achieve those GLORIOUS ACHES!)



Here she is as a blonde. I actually think she looks better with the red hair. I know, rare for me since I'm nuts for blondes! I also like the song "Abigail Blue" used in this so if you have it on Mp3, you should send it to me ;)

Sure, there are LOTS of other gals on youtube who give vintage hair tutorials. Why am I so into Miss Street? I'll tell you why -- there's many reasons why she is my fave:

-We're the same exact age. I get the vibe from her that she doesn't give much of a shit if she's "rockabilly" or "vintage" or "authentic." She just wears and does what she likes. IE, she dresses for what the occassion calls for and has fun with it! I'm the same way. Somedays my inner rockabilly comes out, others I want to be firmly planted in 1938, others I want to mix it up, and other days I just wear jeans and pigtails! *GASP*
-She makes so many cute mistakes in her vids and then takes the piss out of herself for them.
-She likes the entire scope from the 20s to the 60s. She has said her preference is 40s, though, which is fine because I also like the 20s-60s and lean towards the 30s.
-She knows what she's talking about!!!
-We're both cursed with thin, stick-straight hair. If she can do it, SO CAN I!
-She reminds me of myself in every way, shape, and form.
-I don't think she is "in love" with herself. Now, I *DO* like dames who totally admit they are in love with themselves (cough*Lolita*cough), but I *DON'T* like the dames who post photos of themselves all over the place and claim they don't (PLEASE!) Lisa may be in love with herself -- I don't know and good for her if she is! She's bringing something to the table and I think that's why I see it more as "confidence" than "in love"!
-She seems like someone I could hang with because I'm certain she has a good sense of humour -- maybe she's even a little ditzy (just like me!)

She's probably going to read this and comment. ;) Please correct me if any of my assumptions about you are incorrect!

I want to do these hairdos someday soon! Probably after the New Year, since I leave for England tomorrow!





I don't want to sound like a crazy stalker, but Lisa Freemont Street is incredibly inspirational when it comes to my hair! I've NEVER "done" my hair until the past summer. Before that it was in a straight Louise Brooks bob because I've never had one iota of hair talent and never even TRIED! Miss Street here MAKES me set my hair every night. I'm just watching and learning from all her techniques and mixing them up on myself as well!

Now all we need to do is to get Miss Street to learn how to sew. Then we could all have a slumber party and sew and do each others' hairs. Lol.

More of my Hubby's Swoons and FUGGS

He insisted I do another list because I left so many out (remember, I didn't consult with him prior to making the list!) Lol...

MORE SWOONS:


Some guys like tits and ass, others like jaw and cheekbones!


He does like Miss Rappe a whole lot, which is odd because she's from "1812" (my husband's word for anything before the 1930s.) But he likes her "fat girl face." Yup, my hubby is a "face" man all the way!


He likes Natalie Moorhead's "horseface."


KKH has the horsey thing going on, too.


I know you aren't going to believe it, but I married a man who thinks Clara Bow and Priscilla Lane are mingers, but thinks THIS looks good! I know, I know. I give him hell for it a lot. ;)


Gertrude Micheal kinda has a long/fat face. He's nuts for her!! Here she is singing about "Sweet Marijuana" in 1934....




And I recently turned him on to Helen Vinson because I think she resembles Gertrude quite a bit.


Frances Dee. More horsey!! Lol. Just to refresh your memories, "horseface" is a GOOD thing in my husband's vocabulary because he likes a lot of FACE on a woman.


Haha!!


I'm almost certain he likes Petty girls more than real ones...


It's the bobbed hairdo!


Who doesn't love a blonde, cute chorus girl? I'm surprised at Toby Wing, though, because she's awfully "cute" and he's more into "handsome" women.


I never got the Ann Miller thing, either, but he's been mad for her for as long as I've known him!


He actually prefers her when she is fat.


Oh he is MAD for Ann Dvorak! MAD, I tell ya! She's probably right up there with Jane Russell, Jean Auther, and young Bette Davis!

And now here are more FUGGS:


Something we see eye-to-eye on -- he hates everything about her. He is not attracted to "delicate little flowers."


Plain and simple: "She's a mess."




He can't stand Anna Mae!!! She's really high on his FUGG list.


Don't even get him started on how much he DESPISES Ms. Bardot! She's probably #2 on his "ULTIMATE FUGG" list. lol.


Says Alice White needs a "crab boot" to the face ("Crab boots" are what we call Ballet boots -- haha!)

But Joe's ULTIMATE #1 FUGG is.....


He *HATES* Mae West with a seething passion. HATES. LOATHES. DESPISES. But he knows he likes Sextette. His get-out clause -- because it's funny. Whatev! SEXTETTE IS THE GREATEST MAE WEST MOVIE EVER MADE.




Personally, I'm partial to horny old bag Mae West, but that's just me. I only wish I could be so awesome when I get old!!

The Girlie Mags

This weekend I got around to scanning my vintage "girlie" mags and, LOL, they haven't even been on Flickr for 24 hours and they have nearly 100 views! LOL. Is it wrong that I actually hope my images are being put to *good use* by all those lonely men out there who search Flickr for porn? I'm twisted, but we've already established that....


1938. She's got 74 views as of this writing! A record! And FYI -- I didn't scan any nude photos, just the sexy ones...


1947. She's popular.


1947. They like her a lot!


1938. She's been invited to a "Girls In Swimsuits" pool.


1939


1961. This is popular. I like the dude's sneakers and socks. Lol.


1957. Hehe!!


1957


1957

I love love love love girlie mags!