What have I been up to lately ? - Week 41

It has been a while since I last posted and I thought it was time to catch up on some writing.

So first and foremost, I have been busy with school! I decided to switch to another school and do something totally different: social care, and I'd like to specialize in elderly care. Soon I will start my work placement, 2 hours a week for the remainder of the school year in a home for people who suffer from dementiaIt was something I wanted to do even before I started dressmakers school. That was a decision I made too quickly. I'd love to finish it and be a real seamstress one day, I will also continue sewing as a hobby. But for now, I decided I really wanted to go to school again and work with elderly people. So, that is what I am going to be doing for the next three years of my life and I can't wait to learn everything!

-Caution! Lots of pictures ;)-

Read more!

Selling candy at Tuschinski

About three weeks ago my friend Birthe and I were portraying 1930s candy-girls at the stunningly beautiful Tuschinski theater in Amsterdam. I had never visited before so I was amazed by the beauty of the theater. I can say without a doubt, that it is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen!

We sold old-fashioned Dutch candy in little paper bags. The containers that we used to carry the bags of candy were made by Birthe out of coloured paper and fruit crates, she even made sure the colour would match the walls of the theater! Read more about it on her blog

We decided to make our costumes by ourselves, each using an original 1930s dress to start with. We bought 5 pairs of crocheted lace collars on Ebay and sewed these on the neckline of the dress, as well as on the top of the apron. We used bits of left-over lace I had in my stash for the cuffs. Some ribbon was used for the apron ties and the headpiece. As an inspiration we wanted to look like 1930s servants. Our biggest inspiration however, were Anna and Lotte from 'De tweeling' (My favourite movie, a must watch!)

We wanted to look like 1930s servants.

And we decided to recreate this look. I think we did a pretty good job!

First, we had to pin the collar to the dress. Please don't mind the outfit and hair, I was still experimenting with different styles at the time.

I have a (small) degree in pattern making so I decided to draw the apron patterns, it was very easy and fun to do because we could see the finished product so quickly!

Birthes outfit in progress!

The headpieces were rather easy to make and consisted out of three pieces of ribbon. 1 piece was folded in pleats, which was then caught and sewn between another piece if ribbon. The small, pink piece was for tying it around the head.

We had lots of fun, sold the candy way too quickly (perhaps because we sold them for a 'dubbeltje' = 10 cents a bag..). We took a few pictures, I will post some on here, the other pictures can be found at Birthes blog, as well as some information about the theater itself. Consider this a small 'teaser post.

Pretending to be a movie star. Or, something like that!

There was a Laurel&Hardy day with lot of their films being showed that day. I had never seen a silent movie, or an old movie in a theater like that so I was happy to be able to peek through the door and watch the screen!

We were soooo hungry, we forgot to take our lunch with us so we were starving. We had to put our candy-containers in the kitchen and there were like three boxes of cakes/muffins on the counter top. We decided if we would make a picture with me pretending to be stealing them.

  

The same evening we had a small dinner-party. I borrowed a dress from Birthe, felt (and from what I heard) and looked like Disney princess! Read more about the party on her blog. 

I had a wonderful day that day, as well as a good hair day and really enjoyed wearing a vintage dress again. Not wearing it daily makes it really special for me, I never thought it would!

That's all for now, I'm looking forward to writing again soon. I also want to thank everyone for the kind comments on my last post, they really made me feel better about the entire situation. I think I will dedicate a post to that subject very soon.

with love,

Jip.