Christmas Goodies!

Today I thought I'd share some of the new things I received this year - either directly or indirectly.

First, the books that were under the Christmas tree. I got Everyday Fashions of the Fifties Pictured in Sears Catalogs, which shows actual pages of the old catalogs and what sort of clothing was sold. This is a great resource for not only the clothes, but the accessories worn with the clothes. I also received Fabulous Fit by Rasband/Liechty, which was recommended to me during the trench coat fitting process. Last but not least, I received a copy of The New Look, The Dior Revolution, which is filled with old photos and interesting information leading up to and following the New Look era.

I also received an Amazon gift card, which promptly got spent on Modern Fashion in Detail shown by Shannon on her blog the day after Christmas. From what Amazon tells me, it is in the mail and should be here next week.

The next goodies were bought with part of my Christmas bonus. I went shopping in Manchester today at Fabric Fix and Martin's House of Cloth. From Fabric Fix, I bought the following two pieces, plus zippers and foldover elastic (not shown).

The fabric on the left is a 60" wide shirting like fabric I found on the remnant table for $3.00 per yard. The stripes are not printed, but woven in. I only got charged for 3 1/2 yards, but ended up with 4 5/8 yards. Not sure how that worked out! I'm thinking this will become the Byron Lars shirt dress. It also had this tag attached to it. Anyone know anything about this manufacturer? The address is for Italy.

The fabric on the right is just something I liked and there wasn't much left, so I decided to get some. There was only 2 yards left and I got both. It is a rayon/poly of some sort, but unique and different. The little bits of color you see are from extra fibers which stick up that woven into the fabric, sort of like a boucle.

I then went to Martin's House of Cloth and picked up more 25 cent discontinued patterns. Three of which are wardrobes and the remaining is a just a coat.

I also got this lot of fabric there:

From left to right, there is 1 3/4 yards of white velvet, for the velvet coat with lace trim from BWOF 12/07. My husband *really* liked it, so I'll make it in white with black trim. There's 3 3/8 yards of some silk or silk-like black and white paisley print. It is sort of sheer, so it will probably become a summer church dress. Lastly there is not quite 4 yards of a blue tile print knit. The blue isn't quite as bright in real life, but that's the camera flash for you.

Parting Shot: Carol of the Bells, Four Hands. My daughter's piano books have a second part written for all the pieces so that someone else (presumably the teacher) can play with the student, for fun or performance. Here we are playing Carol of the Bells on Christmas Day.