Another Possible Blouse on the Horizon

So I've been getting the itch. The itch to sew something.After looking at all my patterns and my stock of fabric, I think I've decided to make another blouse. I know, not as glamorous as a big, fancy circle skirt dress, but I don't exactly wear those everyday. I want to have some more realistic vintage pieces in my wardrobe, things I might actually wear on a daily basis. So I don't have a lot of blouse patterns, but there is one in my collection I've been wanting to make for a while: Simplicity 1692
 
Isn't that cute? And although it is distinctly retro, I feel like this blouse looks contemporary too. The modeled version looks especially contemporary. Which version am I thinking of? Well, possibly C or D. But if I make version D I am not adding the ric rack. Not a big fan. Not sure if I would add the buttons at the shoulders on version C either. Sort of a cute idea, but odd.

I have some silky dark blue fabric in my stash. I'm not sure what the fiber content is, I'm guessing at best it is part rayon. Oh well, it was affordable. And the drape is nice, just enough weight to make it practical for everyday wear.

Who knows I might change my mind. I just discovered that Simplicity has another blouse pattern for the 40s that I don't have: #1590

I'm loving the tied bow are the back of B. Not sure if that would be a good idea for me since I have, how-do-you-say some 'junk in the trunk!' But still quite pretty.

That's all I have for today!

images courtesy of sewing.patternreview.com

The Pineapple Shawl

Earlier this year I made a mint-green pineapple shawl. 

 I crocheted this one, but pineapple shawls can also be knitted. Although you can find several examples of this pattern from mid-century patterns, the pineapple stitch to the best of my knowledge was first published in 1917. (ok, technically Edwardian)

Here are some examples of mid-century pineapple designs:

Get a load of this baby! One huge pineapple on the back. Haven’t seen a lot of these. Most patterns I’ve seen of pineapple shawls are like the second image.

Wasn’t able to find an image of an earlier version, but the puff stitch (which looks remarkably similar to the pineapple design) shows up in a lot of older shawl and garment designs. The antique pattern library is an amazing online resource for crochet and knitting pattern from the last two centuries. The Corticelli Lessons in crochet book n. 13 (published in 1920) demonstrate the puff stitch. A lot of pineapple designs also show up in doily patterns.

When I made mine it took a long time. It wasn’t technically challenging (all the stitches were ones I knew and had used before), but time consuming. Each pineapple you see takes several rows to complete.

I chose to do this one in a baby yarn mostly because I needed a good mint color, and well, baby yarn and pastels go hand-in-hand. Although the dingly things on the edge aren’t typical for most pineapple shawls I’ve seen, they’re pretty and I liked them!

Images courtesy of amazon and pintrest

Like the one I made? You can buy it here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/151217667/mint-green-pineapple-shawl?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=pineapple+mint+green+shawl&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all