Lovely Week Already!

Monday was Lovely!

Monday morning my friend Gaye picked me up in her adorable blue corvette and we drove to our friend Beverly's house. Beverly makes the most authentic Civil War era bonnets I've ever seen...the interesting part is that she's not very well known for it. She doesn't have a website, so her business is more or less word of mouth. But, if you ever need a lovely lovely and very super authentic bonnet, straw or silk, Beverly is the lady to go to!

So, she invited us to her house to check out some original dresses that she acquired and is going to sell. They were very wonderful! A beautiful white silk ballgown was my favorite...I loved the sleeves which were box pleated into the armhole and still contained the net undersleeves and hints of the original net trim.

We also looked at her own collection of original bonnets and day caps, then mosied up to her bedroom to check out her own collection of ambro and tintypes which she restores. After that she pulled out her decently large collection of original clothing from all eras. Some really interesting pieces!

And, she gave me one of her lovely early 1900s silk wedding dresses! It's not in very good condition and needs...well...a lot of repair work. But I'm really excited about making it beautiful once more.

She also gave me a whole box full of vintage sewing books - just what I adore! The earliest are from the 1940s.

Ohhh...and she had a massive vintage pattern collection, too. Even things from the 1890s! She said I could copy them whenever I wished...I'm going to have to start thinking of projects to sew. : )

It was the absolute perfect day! Beverly is such an inspiration and a business woman that I have very much respect for. She really is an artist at her trade.

Today I was back to more furniture restoration - painting a desk and still applying polyurithane to the dining room table. My Dad is a life saver and always helps out with the little details that I manage to mess up. : )