Wednesday 19 February 2014

Oh Baby! More Curtain Couture



Knee length skirts, cutesy animal prints and girly ice cream shades, not my usual thing, but there's a distinctly Spring-like friskiness in the air this morning hence the cheery colours, frivolous print and gratuitous leg flashing.


The buds are about to burst.


Signs of growth in my containers...


...and Jacob's out of hibernation!


I bought this 1960s nursery curtain from a jumble sale. I've no idea why, possibly I had the same in my room as a baby but, more likely, I was still drunk from the night before. The rabbit with a rattle looks worryingly demonic.


Last nights' Great British Sewing Bee (and such a positive reaction to Sunday's Go-Go dress) had me all fired up. This curtain was the first thing to hand in my fabric stash, it fitted the 1971 Jiffy pattern perfectly and I managed to knock it up in an hour. 


Young Vix would have looked at this outfit in horror. She'd have worried that people wouldn't know she'd had a grammar school education, an IQ of 145 and was once a member of Junior Mensa if she walked around town in a skirt bedecked with squirrels and bunny rabbits. Who'd know she was a serious Indie fan if she didn't dress in head to toe black with bad ass 16 hole Doc Martens?


Old Vix couldn't give a toss. I know I'm an intelligent woman with great taste in music, if a stranger chooses to dismiss me as a empty-headed Barbie girl it's not my loss. 

Jumble sale skurtain worn with 1960s ribbed sweater (50p, car boot sale), Suedette candy-coloured platforms (£5, off the market), bubblegum pink opaques (present from Jon, 2012)
I've had a brilliant couple of days of second-hand shopping success which is currently piled high on the settee and in danger of smothering the cats if I don't get it washed, ironed and put away plus there's Moseley Vintage & Retro Fair to prepare for (details HERE). Better step away from the internet and get my arse in gear.

See you soon!

60 comments:

  1. Well look at the lovely signs of Spring here !
    Loving it, you look quite ready for it.
    Clapping wildly seeing your shelled one.
    Is he a Sulcatta tortoise ?
    Our Mr. and Mrs. torties (Russian tortoises the both) are still hibernating but of course we recently had a blizzard , and snow again yesterday ~ no signs of Spring on our farm yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fecking fab! I'm all over sewing again just now as well..it must be the perky weather...can't get me away from my Bernina. I love that pattern. Nursery prints are excellent used out of context, and that pink rabbit is properly demented. Love the pink legs, love yer brains n'beauty,love signs of spring...generally loving it all.
    Have a great day at the fair.
    Loves ya...see, more love!
    xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's Jacob! How lovely.
    Your skirt is so cute, I'd love a rabbit print skirt, I have to make do with rabbit fur adorning my skirts, heh.
    I'm glad The Great British Sewing Bee is back, the midnight blue nightie was by far my favourite creation of the night.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah Spring! can't wait but no signs of Spring yet here yet!
    What is to say about your outfit, i adore it! That rabbit skirt is so so cool! Good thing you picked up that fabric, look at you now, fabulous!

    Have a great time at the fair

    See you soon!

    Arianexo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha this skirt is awesome, makes me think winter might finally be on the way out! Love your plant pot too ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. is this sun behind the hedge?

    every time i think it´s can´t get better - you do! lovelovelove the outfit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I adore this spring outfit! OMG that print is positively mad and makes me want to rip heads off peeps but in a good way! You keep amazing me with your creations and you also gave me a much needed smile with this outfit. Can't wait to see what you've scored!
    Love you honey!xxxxxxxooooo

    ReplyDelete
  8. Loving all the signs of Spring here - hello, Jacob! You amaze me with the way you can whip something up in an hour. I have to think about it for longer than that : > You look gorgeous, xoxo.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well I think it's a fab skirt, sorry Young Vix!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The contrasts in this skirt are fabulous! Never in a million years would I think of turning that fabric into an A-line skirt.

    I've decided you are a vintage wizard. I could give you an old tin can, some bobby pins and a straw hat and a piece of frill from an old apron you'd make that work too.

    bisous
    Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  11. Indeed you have a great taste in music as well as in clothes ! You look marvelous!
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bleedin hell dont keep mentioning the curtain fetish , or nobody will ever invite you round again in case you start start hacking up the soft furnishings

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fun and fabulous. That what curtains are for, yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    ReplyDelete
  14. again with the curtains to clothes! One of these days I'll be so lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Vix you are a vision of parfait loviness!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Jacob! I've got a Jacob but he's a 6ft tall 15 year old old. He moves at the same pace as a tortoise though.

    That's not a Vix outfit! It's cute and girly, BUT it really suits you and I really like it.

    C
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sweet and funky at the same time!! And all in one hour - wow! You make me smile, Vix. Hardly anyone can ever take you as "an empty-headed Barbie girl" - you are not even close to it. Your looks are always full of thought and feeling! So full of life! And now we know your IQ! :) Hugs,

    ReplyDelete
  18. Definitely a feeling of Spring in the air, you look ace.
    I think the joy of getting older, is not giving a toss, I feel the same.
    I watched The Sewing Bee, and was so inspired, I asked Mr Twigs to get my sewing machine down from the attic, better do something with it now.
    Twiggy

    ReplyDelete
  19. Exactly! If people don't like us just the way we are then I say good riddance. You do a beautiful job of being you. x

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey, Barbie Girl, nice bunnies!
    Isn't it great to confound people's expectations? Yes, we can be intelligent and like clothes, be serious and wear pink, be grown-up and have squirrels and demonic rabbits on our skirts, dress pop but play indie! Long live all those wonderful co-existing contradictions!

    You are indeed a breath of fresh Spring air, yellow and pink are amazing together, you are a Sewing Star, and you have the luck of the bloody devil with your chazzing!
    When you've got your stock sorted, I think it's time for a drink or two, don't you?
    Loving you! xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love! You look so refreshing like a much needed breath of Summer! Also, turtle!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi my dear!! I really love the bunny print and your whole outfit is perfect for a Spring day!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a wonderfully spring-time look. More demonic bunnies please!! :D xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. Don't you look scrumptious in your neopolitan ice cream colours, can't believe you knocked that mad fab skurtain up in an hour. Just caught up with last nights GBSB, wasn't there someone from Walsall? I've got myself a pattern for a bag -my first project...just got to get on with it now. Isn't it great being older and not giving a flying fuck what people think. xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  25. Blooming hell! that's a huge IQ! the demonic hell bunny skirt is pretty cool, I love the outfit and pink tights! it's fab you whipped up in an hour! the sewing bee is an excellent show though, I love it! out daffs are budding too(we didn't know we still had them)x x x

    ReplyDelete
  26. FARK! I admit to wondering if I'd hit the right link as I read the first line.....but how fecking AWESOME is that demonic woodland critter skirt?! Lovely a-line, and I adore pinks and yellows together!!!
    Frivolous, girly, and rather stupendous! the only accessory missing is a big fuck off bottle of rum in one hand and a straw in the other!
    Love Helga xxxXXXxxx

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh my gosh I was the same, the FEAR that someone might not realise I was a metal fan! You are right now I wear whatever and couldn't care less what people may think.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I do hope that series comes to NZ some time. That is quite a different look for you, very cute :D

    ReplyDelete
  29. Your summer is getting closer Vix!! Spring bulbs are my favourite flowers and it must be lovlely to have your turtle wake up. I always enjoy your what would young Vix think of the today Vix. I think te teenage me would be pretty happy with the now me, as I am. I have always been pretty happy in my own skin and what I was given to work with!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Pink and yellow are great together and you are the perfect proof of that, bonkers bunnies and all. You look so beautiful and slim and young in that get up, the perfect embodiment of impending spring. Representing the seasons through the medium of dress. I have never done an IQ test, and i have dodgy taste in music too, but thankfully I'm not bothered. I do love a spot of sewing and show and tell. You have such a talent for it. Keep up the good work! I saw primroses today, what an exciting development! Xxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  31. Old Vix is a wise woman ready to have fun wearing her pretty a-line skirt with pink tights and lovely shoes!!, always delightful not dressing as expected!
    Have you noticed how many colorful dressed ladies were badass girls in black?, mwahaha, that's fabulous!!
    besos & primavera

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh, I love the Great British Sewing Bee, so glad it's back! My mother introduced me to it one day and we're both kind of hooked.

    I've never known anyone to look so good in a curtain! :D

    It is a really cute fabric, the skirt looks brilliant :)

    It is lovely to see little buds popping up everywhere.

    By the way, you look anything but an empty headed Baribe doll. You look brilliantly unique, and that's bloody cool!!

    Have a lovely day xx

    ReplyDelete
  33. You look oh so spring-like, like a breath of fresh air. And the bunnies are perfect to usher in spring! Xox

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh Vix, you look so different. Different but gorgeous - as per. Love the yellow and pink - such a delish combo. Xx

    ReplyDelete
  35. Rocking the nursery curtains like Desiree! That little bunny in the blue dress looks like Little Grey Rabbit -- did you ever read those books when you were little? I loved them when I was a kid.

    I love this colour scheme, although it still looks "indie" to me -- and nowt wrong with that! :)

    Nice to see the tortoise -- how's that hedgehog you found?

    ReplyDelete
  36. The ice colors are delicious!

    Good to see old Jacob -- nearly 40 isn't he? -- springing back into action! Please give him a nice strawberry for me.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Jacob! I think you look like a seriously gorgeous (and intelligent!)lady with that adorable skirt and fab yellow and pink colour combo. XXX

    ReplyDelete
  38. Yummy bunny skirt. Of course you whipped it up in an hour. It's so wonderful that you're using your powers for such great things.

    ReplyDelete
  39. It's a fun skirt … and I'm a great lover of fun :0)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  40. Great skirt, Vix - very quirky. Our Hermann's, Freddie woke up yesterday from his first ever hibernation, bright eyed and ... well, not busy tailed, but you know what I mean!! x

    ReplyDelete
  41. I love this outfit - you look fabulous! If I saw you in the street I'd think you look like a person with spark and personality. You look far too interesting to be an airhead!

    I'm coveting your outfit!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Loving the pink and yellow in this outfit Vix, it goes great together! The sewing bee has got me itching to create some new outfits, I've got so many things that I want to make x

    ReplyDelete
  43. argh! your so fab!!!! I love the skirt - nor sure id get away with it in real life myself but i'd try anyway!

    Oh i hope they put the Great British Sewing Bee on youtube again! i so want to watch it - one of the ladies look like she has a 60s bent like us!

    ReplyDelete
  44. You look like a lovely dish of lemon and strawberry sorbet, or, a lovely bunch of daffodils and pink hyacinths - it all says Spring! I'm envious that you can see grass, and earth, and flower buds. All we can see is snow, snow and more snow.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Oh my gosh, you're funny! The Young Vix versus Old Vix conversation is priceless! I love you in yellow and the skirt is quite darling.

    ReplyDelete
  46. It's a lovely print and a really good use for it. It's nice to see things being used out of context! It's just perfect with Barbie pink tights. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  47. You're right, Vix in an a-line skirt is something you just don't expect, especially in pastel colors. But zoom in for a close-up and that all changes. What is going on with those weird little creatures wearing people clothes?! And then there's the ensemble which is totally Vix-i-ated. Yeah. Vix with a splash of Barbie. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Here's to you for wearing whatever in the world you want and not worrying what other people think about you. You know who you are and if you are comfortable and happy than that is all that really matters. Really I think that you are an inspiration. You look great by the way - very nice skirt and yellow looks amazing on you!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I was going to say the pink tights make the outfit, but no, it's the yellow shoes. No, it's the jewelry... can't make up my mind about what is best. OK, it's the jewelry!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I loved your description of "young" Vix!! I also love you as "old" Vix!! So cool how we change and why. "We are still ourselves only more so." (One way I've heard aging described.) Can't wait to see us at 90.

    Your bunny skirt is a gem and the pink tights are perfect. Thank you for the sewing inspiration. LOVE YOU!!!

    ReplyDelete
  51. I so wish I could wear heels Vix, being a clodhopper size 8 I find a reasonable amount of abandoned shoes, but I can never wear them. They look fab with the pink tights and I am loving the skirt fabric.
    V
    xxx
    I made a wee movie showing some of my vintage dresses, on my blog, http://valeriebt.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/film-it-friday_21.html
    Guess who the black and check dress if for??? You will have to pm me your address again through Facebook, I have still not found my address book (since last year )

    ReplyDelete
  52. aahh i do love Jacob bless him i always wanted a tortoise. I am loving your skirt you look so pretty those colours are just what the docter ordered with all this wet weather. Well done for making it in an hour :-) dee xx

    ReplyDelete
  53. I would love to see that material used for a whole dress. How cute would that be?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  54. As you know Vix, I'm all about the ridiculously adorable AND rabbits are one of my two favourite animals (the other being sloths) so I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this whole outfit - it screams spring time fun times and well done you for whipping up a pattern in the hour. I love the Great British Sewing Bee - the last season could be found easily on you tube, but no luck this time. I hope I can watch it soon though. I really love it! Also I love your comments about the Young Vix - similar things could be said about the Young Trees! Although I wore black as everyone constantly would tell me how slimming it was and then lecture me on how I always wore black. Thank god those days are LONG gone!

    ReplyDelete
  55. gorgeous springy outfit! the sandals are fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Vix, I think your intelligence is obvious and it is only because of it that you are able to live the life you live. It takes a formidable personality to be true to one's self. :)

    ReplyDelete
  57. What a fabulous outfit....it is rather unexpected, but I absolutely love it on you! xx

    ReplyDelete
  58. Empty-headed Barbie? Well I think we can safely sweep that one out the door. I love this skirt on you, the fabric is delicious and the creepy bunny is amazing! Your tights, make up, shoes, oh god the list goes on ... all in all, you make winter look gorgeous! xoxxooxo

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and for leaving a message. Please don't be anonymous, I'd love it if you left a name (or a nom de plume).

Lots of love, Vix