KnickKnacks, Cocktails and Jazz...

Gosh, I am sorry for the late-ness of my updating! My ultimate blog goal is 2 entries a week, with things to show of what I have been doing... I made a new dress this week, with SLEEVES, which is jolly exciting as I've never done that before, I shall save that for my second update though because for now there is catching up to do.


Picking up from where I left off, we journeyed off to Cardiff for a weekend of fun, to visit George's mum and see Calvin Johnson play. While we were there we went to Jacob's Antique Market, which is just amazing, three Aladdin's cave like floors packed with beautiful and crazy objects - crockery, furniture, clothes, military things, sci-fi memorabilia, kitchen equipment... I was on a budget so didn't buy anything but my imaginary shopping basket was full of 1960s coffee sets and vintage brooches. I will go back with money for sure! If you're in Cardiff I heartily recommend it, you can easily spend a good half a day there AND they have a little tucked away greasy spoon cafe in the midst of it all. Top banana!

So that was the weekend before last, and then last weekend I finally had my (very) belated birthday party! The theme was 1960s Cocktail Parties and may I just say how impressed I was by the effort everyone went to! All our lovely friends came looking super sharp and with contributions to the bar, and all in all it was super fun! I wore the dress I made in the Spring - a vintage pattern made up in (ebay-ed) liberty print, I always had 60s cocktail parties in mind while making it.


This photo is a bit unrepresentative of what the night was actually like as George and I were just messing around before any guests arrived, sadly that was the only dancing... But we listened to lots of jazz records and drank martinis and whiskey sours, my new favourite drink!

Whiskey Sour:

2 parts bourbon whiskey
1.5 parts lemon juice
1 tsp sugar/sugar syrup

Stir together and serve over ice with a twist.

Oh my they were so good. Steve mixed some lethal Old Fashioned's too, which played a significant role in my overall tipsy-ness. Hee. I want to have another cocktail party now! We are still working our way through the left overs from the bar... I think I'm addicted to super sour cocktails, my most recent discovery is vodka and grapefruit juice (a 'greyhound' apparently), yum o yum. I love classic cocktails... they seems so much classier than the terribly named ones you get today, full of old-fashioned glamour. We bought proper cocktail glasses and I'm getting far too used to sashaying about the kitchen in my pretty dresses drinking cocktails and feeling sophisticated in the most lovely of ways!

As the last two weekends have been busy ones I'm enjoying a nice quiet at-home sort of weekend for this one. While I've been writing this there's been a very dramatic thunderstorm going on and I've been feeling all cosy, sitting with the lamps of, drinking lapsang souchong and listening to Sufjan Stevens getting drowned out by the hammering rain. Lovely! Another post soon as I have my dress and some beautiful 50s blouse patterns to share.

Sarah x

Hey wait a minute Mr Postman

Today was a three parcel day, yes yes, I have been ebay shopping! I think one of the nicest things about ebay is getting parcels, and they're not just any old mail-order type parcels, it really is like getting proper packages as they have been handwrapped in different ways by different people, which is MUCH nicer.

One was my birthday present to myself, a vintage 50s duvet cover from Etsy which I bought back in March and has been around the world twice since then, but finally it arrived on my doorstep! Sadly it turned out to be a rather expensive purchase as first it was lost in the post for several months, leaving me thinking I would never be able to see it, but then it turned up back in the USA again! So, a second lot of postage charges (plus extra for priority service so as not to take any risks!) and a customs and handling charge later, and here it is, on my bed, and I can truly say that it was worth the wait and the expense, for it is beautiful! And a perfect excuse for Clean Sheets On The Bed which is one of my most favourites of life's small pleasures.


Also this week I've received 2 lovely vintage sewing patterns for blouses, photos to follow soon, I'm rather excited as I've got dresses pretty much down to a t now but blouses are a whole new adventure! So today has been pretty good, parcels and then a lovely evening involving hairstyle experimentation, card games and packing for a weekend away...

I had a practice run doing a beehive, which is how I plan to have my hair for my belated birthday party - the theme is the party scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's, not rigidly so, that was just the best way I could think of summing up the sort of party I want it to be - sort of a Summer night, apartment block, 60s cocktail party, all listening to jazz lps and swooshing around in vintage cocktail dresses drinking martinis. The perfect excuse for a beehive! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out for a first attempt - I used Strawberry Koi's video tutorial, which was so brilliantly easy to follow. I didn't go for mega height - it's only got one kneesock (yes, kneesock) in there for volume, but I like it very much!


Wearing my hair like this gave me a strong urge to sashay around my bedroom listening to 60s girl groups, so I had a pretty perfect evening listening to the Shirelles, making up the bed with new bedding, and packing for our little weekend trip to Cardiff to see Calvin Johnson.


We are going tomorrow evening so we can spend Saturday going to the the bootsale and Jacob's antique market, we tried to go last time we were there but it was shut, so I could only gaze longingly up at the windows which looked absolutely crammed with treasures... I'm so excited! Also on a very tight budget so I will have to behave myself and not get too carried away, but I hope I end up with at least one small find.

Sleep time now as it is past my bedtime, but there will be a sewing post coming up soon, I've got a whole load of projects on the go and am desperate to get started with blouses...