Merci à Mme Arthur Bélair et à Saint-Phil! (Or, alternatively: "Vintage Pattern Score!")

when i had a car, i tried to visit the montreal mega reuse center as often as possible. over the course of one year, i found so many beautiful treasures and i'll be sharing images of them as they relate to my different posts. in a few months, i'll be purchasing another vehicle and the mmrc is pretty much the first place i'm going to drive to. one of my best girls, annie and i have taken to calling the gentleman who works there "saint phil" because of how he clearly guards a subdivision of heaven and because of how helpful and nice he is.

on one of my last visits, i acquired a clear, plastic bag containing several brown envelopes addressed to a mrs. arthur bélair, in laval, québec, in 1959, and three vintage patterns. the envelopes had been sent from pattern companies so i thought, yay! a bag of vintage patterns! and then promptly set them aside with all of the other patterns i wanted to "one day" sort through. at the time, i was working as a relocation consultant and the job occupied my mind from the time i woke up to the time i finally lay my head down and, even though a i often daydreamed about all of the wonderful things i wanted to sew, i rarely got the time to actually do so. when i did have free time, i threw an overnight bag, some water bottles and my kids (if it wasn't their fathers' week-end) in my car and left town in order to properly clear my head. 

in the last few months, i've had more time to dedicate to, well, everything and so i've been organizing my work space, sketching up a storm and finally starting put together a few plans of action. the plastic bag from the mmrc ended up in my hands for the first time in over a year. now, i'm not one to squeal but i must admit that such a sound did escape my lips upon opening the first envelope. 

what surprised me the most was the sizing. i'm a size 10 to 12 so, as far as pattern sizes go, this is something i can work with without having to spend too much time grading. 

behold the contents of pattern number two:

and:

all three of them will be used when i start putting my spring wardrobe together, next week.

i was also quite happy to discover this lovely apron pattern:

in what i presume is mrs. bélair's handwriting, the contents of the next envelope were described to me, "pattern for little girls coat":

and here it is, in need of much love but still relatively in tact:

and how cute is this?? it's from 1957:

for women (or, rather, for me), there was also this one:

this one was also in the bag but i have a feeling it came from elsewhere because i remember bringing it home alone, at one point:

so yes, all of this was discovered right in time for the creation/revamping of my spring wardrobe and i absolutely had to share it with you!

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"la robe à trois trous"

i have decided to start with "la robe à trois trous" in the grey plaid. translated from french, this means "the dress with three holes". i first heard this term when i watched my grandmother sew one for my aunt, when i was a child. my sewing teacher then used it, half a decade ago, when i attended lasalle college. i'm not sure about anywhere else but it seems to be a term generally used for this sleeveless, straight dress, in québec. 

i believe that, because of it's simplicity, this dress can look great on just about anyone. while it does nothing to distract the eye, it does nothing to direct itto potentially unwated zones, either. it can become anything you want it to, as it can be accessorized in so many ways. i'm not sure that i'll wear it with the jacket seen on the pattern envelope to work but i'll definitely bring it along if i have a dinner to attend, afterward. i'll delve deeper into the ways this dress can be styled and why i think it should be found in every woman's wardrobe once i've completed it. 

i would usually finish this dress in an afternoon but today is my last day to prepare for a photo shoot i have tomorrow so my priorities lay elsewhere. that said everything, including the lining has been cut and is ready for assembly. 

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Fall/Winter Wardrobe Challenge

part of the reason i haven't liked my office jobs over the years is because i feel anything but stylish in business attire. i believe this problem goes deeper than that, though. i think my issue stems from the fact that, ever since i put on my thyroid weight, i've managed to inject style into every type of outfit i wear, except for the business one. first of all, i find most affordable, business casual clothing out there to be made for anyone but the short, curvy woman. wide-legged pants are one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to this but i'll be sure to dedicate an entire post to pants in the very near future. 

i'll be returning to the office sometime in the next two months and, this time, i refuse to wear clothing that, make me feel dumpy, are dated, ill-fitting or even banal. i can sew, i host clothing swaps, i'm pretty stealth when it comes to finding great pieces online and i have a great selection of thrift stores in my neighbourhood. 

as much as i like to do all kinds of crafts and will surely keep that up, the next few months are going to dedicated to creating the perfect wardrobe for the short, curvy woman who works in an office and wants to look great while at it. i'm sure a lot of these styles will also work for taller women and i will touch upon that as i go along. 

to start, i have these two plaids i want to make something out of and i dug up these three patterns to pair them up with. i chose these not only because they are appropriate in this case but because they are simple enough and i don't have to perform much grading (a time and energy gobber, for sure!). 

i especially love this blue, grey and red plaid. it's light and soft and will look great sewn into almost anything business casual. 

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