Sweetness

I am in heaven. :)  I get to hold and take care of and love this precious baby every day! 

Sigh. 

~Bessie

Our Sweet Little Christmas Gift: Evelyn

Evelyn Margaret

Born December 20th, 2012

We were blessed with an uncomplicated labor and delivery, and a very healthy baby girl!

She looks a lot like her daddy...

Thank you, Lord, for entrusting us with such a precious treasure. 

Merry Christmas!

Bessie

p.s. These beautiful photos were taken by my sister Jennifer.  Thanks Jenny!

Susanna's Coat

Ah, the joys of forced project finishing!  I need this sort of pressure more often.  Hehe.

So today I worked on finishing my sister Susanna's coat.  We began work on this coat last fall--Susanna designed it, and we used a vintage McCall's coat pattern as our base for the draft, modifying as we went along.  I am happy to say that it is almost finished, with the exception of being hemmed!  

The coat has a very "swingy" feel to it.  She wanted it very simple and sophisticated.  

Here are some pics.  I have not steamed or pressed anything yet. :)

Susanna decided that she did not want any buttons. :)  

Once it is finished I'll try and get some photos of Susanna actually wearing it!

Have a lovely day,

Bessie

Quilt Top Finished!

I've been borrowing my sister's machine (because mine is still not working properly), and she informed me yesterday that she needs it back for awhile.  This prompted me to get my butt in gear and work on a couple projects--Evvie's nursery rhyme quilt and my other sister's coat (which we began work on last year and I still haven't finished).  Hence a long day of sewing today, and much progress!

Evvie wanted to be in the picture. :)

The finished quilt top!

I love this square. :)  Cute little Humpty Dumpty!

The top is definitely not perfect--I have never been a very precise person, and there are a few squares here and there that aren't matched up perfectly.  But all-in-all I am happy with the result!  I am also very happy to say that all of the fabric used in this quilt top was thrifted or auctioned--I don't think I paid more than $3 for all of the materials combined.  Gotta love that!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can download this adorable nursery rhyme embroidery pattern HERE from patternbee.com. 

In other news, I am still very much pregnant and hoping that that will change in the very near future.  Evvie has dropped, but her little feet are still firmly lodged in my ribcage--I think I might have permanent bruising there! ;)  In all seriousness, though, I am very very excited to meet Evelyn and begin my journey as a mother. 

I hope this December finds you all cozy and warm and having fun with winter projects!

~Bessie

A Little Dragon :)

Hello All!  Just wanted to share a little project I've been working on this week.  It is a birthday gift for my brother John, who REALLY loves dragons. ;)  

So far I have the whole body completed.  Now I am working on the wings, and lastly I will fasten on the ears.  He's pretty cute, isn't he?

You can download the pattern here for free, in case you were wondering! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bessie

Two More Days of Savings...

We are down to the last couple days of our Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale at Bessie Miller Vintage!  

Use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY20 for 20% off your entire order!  

We just posted some lovely antique quilts, new patterns, and a plethora of tacky vintage Christmas sweaters...:D

Stop on by! 

Bessie Miller Vintage

~Bessie

Black Friday Sale!

SALE at Bessie Miller Vintage!

Stop on by! :D

~Bessie

Lipstick, anyone?

The ladies over at Brentwood Lane are hosting a fun giveaway this week for a tube of Tangee Lipstick!  You should check it out here. 

Lipstick giveaways are not the only thing that makes the Brentwood Lane blog awesome.  The blog is written by three sisters who love vintage and write about their sewing projects and fashion inspiration.  I always enjoy reading their posts, and I have a feeling you would too. ;)

Have a lovely afternoon!

~Bessie

Fun New Stuffs--And A Special Coupon!

At long last, I have finally added some new items to my Etsy shop!  

We have loads of new sewing patterns...

...plus a bunch of great tacky Christmas sweaters.

  

Oh, and a couple sweet vintage dresses.  

AND two awesome vintage coats--one of which I am having a very hard time selling (because I want to keep it!). 

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

You should swing by, especially since I am offering my blog followers 15% off order!  Just use coupon code BLOGGIN15 !

Bessie Miller Vintage

~Bessie

A Quilt for Evvie

Between being tired and sore and busy and losing my camera a few times, I haven't gotten around to blogging much this fall!  Ah well.  When I started this blog, I promised myself that I would blog as I liked, and never feel guilty about a lapse in writing.  ;)  

I am now entering the last month of my pregnancy.  Whew, that is so hard to believe!  And let me tell you, the weeks seem to be going by very slowly, due in part, I think, to the fact that I have been extremely uncomfortable lately.  This baby is getting bigger by the day, but I am not necessarily growing that much, so she is just shoved up under my ribs.  Ouch!  They keep telling me I'll forget all about it once she is here, though.  I'm sure I will.  I just wish she was coming a little bit sooner!

Anywho, I wanted to share a project I have been working on lately: a quilt for the baby.  I downloaded this amazing free nursery rhyme quilt embroidery pattern from www.patternbee.com.  There are twelve embroidered squares, which I will surround with scrap cottons from my stash.  I think it is going to be pretty adorable!  By the way, in case you didn't know, patternbee.com has a bunch of wonderful free vintage embroidery patterns available for download. :D

I have finished three squares as of this morning.  Nine more to go!  I think I will work on Little Red Riding Hood next...

I hope you are all enjoying this lovely November!

~Bessie

The BIG Yard Sale

My dearest husband and I went to a very massive yard sale this past weekend--one that stretched from Alabama all the way to Tennessee!  We definitely didn't cover that much ground, but in the little bit of distance we traveled through the north Georgia mountains we found tons of wonderful treasures and fantastic bargains. :)  Needless to say, it was quite an enjoyable adventure!  

Here are some pictures of our journey and a few of the things we found:

JUNK!

 The back of our car after two stops (it was already a bit full of junk, lol).

Lovely scenery! 

Some lace--a butt-ton of it for 25 cents! 

A good stash of stuff from one stop.  Power Rangers costume for my siblings, a paper parasol, really cute retro food chopper, some old hankies, some lovely vintage fabric, a Lady Remington razor that is in near perfect condition, and a couple Pokemon cups. :)  That was a good stop. 

Isn't this cool?? 

I looooove this.  Can't decide whether to keep it or put it up on Etsy.

Bought this lovely Le Baron watch at a flea market along the way.  It looks very 60's to me.  Works great, too! 

So pretty!  This was up near Tennessee. 

Goofball. 

Little Evvie was very active all day.  I think she had fun.

Our trunk by the end of the day: 

Yes.  It was marvelous. :)

Bessie

The Maternity Coat: Muslin #2

*Sorry about the shoddy lighting and photography. ;) *

I spent most of my morning yesterday making up a second muslin of my maternity coat design.  Really loving how it has turned out, with only a few exceptions.

First exception: The shoulders are too wide.  I need to take about an inch or so off of the shoulder edge.  See how low the sleeve hangs?  Speaking of the sleeve, I am also going to widen it so that it doesn't taper quite so much to the wrist.  Right now it fits my arm a little too perfectly to be comfortable as a coat sleeve.

I haven't put in the second sleeve because I am going to experiment with shortening the shoulder on this side and see what happens. ;)  

The back neck has two pleats.  They look pulled in this photo, but that is just because my dress form has funkily-shaped shoulders and a super wide neck.  The back fits me perfectly--I am not going to make any changes there.  

I decided to do a collar with a separate collar stand.  However I think my collar stand is too tall.  I might hack off about a half-an-inch or so. 

I have basted the seam allowance around the edges, though it is hard to see.  I will also be taking the collar in a little at the front edges.

So there you have it!  I am pleased thus far.  :)  I asked my husband what he thought about it and he said it looked like "One of those old fashioned dresses."  Aha--exactly what I was going for!  My design is very Regency-era inspired.  

 Once I make a few final tweaks to the pattern I will be ready to cut into my wonderful dusty rose twill and get started!

Have a lovely day,

Bessie