seriously secondhand

Mr B and I took a special trip across town to Junk & Disorderly yesterday. Mr B was picking up some war badges (he's a collector) and I was more than happy to tag along. What a worthwhile trip! There was lots and lots of retro and vintage loveliness to be viewed. It's a huge shop, so be prepared to be there a while as it does take a bit of time to see everything. I'll certainly be visiting the shop again when we're ready to furnish our bach sleepout.

vintage poodles

Yesterday Mr B and I were making a trip across town and came upon a really great antiques and collectibles store in Mt Roskill. Every nook and cranny of the shop is filled with all sorts of treasures. I found these two 1950s Japanese poodle ornaments for the china cabinet. I'm looking forward to going there again soon - plenty more finds to be had.

vintage black plastic

Mandy Lou (England), Chatty Cathy (standing), Mandy Lou (NZ) 

Onsie - front view

 

Onsie - back view

During a recent sewing room tidy up, I rediscovered these 1950s vintage black plastic Pedigree dolls (pictured above with Chatty Cathy). Since they came to live with me (must be about 3-4 years) I haven't sewn them any new clothing.

In the Fifties, it would have been a favourite pastime for mothers, aunts and grandmothers to make doll clothes from the many knitting and sewing patterns available. This is very true of the 1950s NZ hard plastic doll that I bought a few years back. The doll was in a bad state with a ragged wig, cracks to her head and face whilst her body was in good shape. It was sold complete with some lovely handmade clothing ranging from dainty 1950s florals right through to 1960s retro brights. It was obvious that someone had put a lot of love, time and effort to making the clothes.

So in keeping with that tradition, first off the sewing machine is my version of the onesie (pictured above).  Then next up, I'm making them both a typical 1950s styled school dress with the peter pan collar and gathered skirt and some extra dresses in a bright yellow or red.

ice cream

my parents had a similar ice cream maker back in the 1970s. In the summertime my sister and I would sit on the back step and take turns cranking the handle and topping up the ice and salt. It was a tiring job and the only thing that motivated us to keep going (30-40 minutes of hard out churning) was the promise of yummy pineapple ice cream at the end of it all. The ice cream was delicious so it was well worth the effort!

When this RCW Frost King ice cream maker came up for sale recently on Trademe (our local equivalent to ebay) I couldn't resist buying this for my family to try out. Of course I'll be trying my best to replicate our family recipe. I recall that it included a can of Highlander condensced milk, cream, a can of drained crushed pineapple although I don't have any exact measurements. It'll be a process of trial and error. I'll let you know how it goes.

vintage flexiforms



AVIS - Size A (bust 32"- 39" & hips 34"- 40")



MAVIS - Size B (bust 36" - 50" & hips 38" - 52")



Flexiform manual


please welcome Avis and Mavis. These vintage dress forms were manufactured in NZ especially for the home sewer . As a mail order product, it was delivered as a boxed kitset of 14 pieces. The manual recommends that a friend is needed to help mould the Flexiform to the body otherwise "you will almost certainly end up with a dress-form that just isn't you!".

I won't be trying to re-mould the dress-forms as the vinyl clasps are becoming very brittle and prone to breaking plus the wire is so firm that it will be too tough on my fingers and thumbs to adjust it. So Avis and Mavis will be models for my sewing instead of the uninspiring 'hanger on the door' style I was using.