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.