Agfa Foto! I Finally Have My Vintage Camera

For a long time, I've hoped to find a vintage camera, preferably German, that was still in good working condition.
I think I finally found it; an Agfa 'Billy Jgetar' from around 1931 that someone in the UK had in their collection.

I can take this beauty to living history events (carefully of course), hopefully to get a few historically accurate 'fotos', and learn to develop them myself. Film for these can still be had.
This little lovely even had a roll of film already in it, that had been there for who-knows-how long. The film had only 2 exposures left, so even though the film is likely no longer good, I used those two shots taking photos of my adorable dog, Lucy just for the hell of it.
I wonder if anything on the previous exposures, or my own shots, survived? I'll just have to get it developed to see ;-)

 Still had its original canvas case

Zee film...

 

Adorable case in fair condition. The tip of the closure strap is ripped off, but someone was kind enough to keep this little bit inside the case. I may attempt to repair it by backing the two pieces together using a small additional bit of leather.

Buttons And Braid

A couple of months back, I had mentioned that my friend Anders had acquired boxes upon boxes of wondrous things. Mainly buttons.
There were also loads of genuine silver and gold braid, of varying width and design, many in their original wrappings from 19th to early 20th century Germany and England.
He has started an Etsy shop, Greyfell Productions, with just a few of these items so far. But you can get an idea of the types of buttons and military braid we have available from this huge lot.
A lot of these items would be fantastic trimmings for a ladies military inspired Georgian or Victorian riding habit.

So Many Buttons!

You know those scenes in old films or cartoons when a character finds piles of treasure, and dives in, swimming around in it? Well, that was me recently, thanks to my friend Anders.
I took a 'treasure bath'.
So. Many. Buttons. Gold, silver, and all very old. A few bakelite here and there. Plus, a ton of other stuff I need to keep secret for now. This photo is just a small sampling of the huge grip of stuff I snagged for myself.

Gold French military buttons in disintegrating pink tissue and card stock. The package with the exquisite handwriting is a never opened card of German silver braid. All of it probably from around WWI, and could be used for much earlier projects.

It's the stuff of romance....

The Last Dirndl...For A While.

As some of you may have read in past posts, I was making a limited number of custom dirndl dresses.
This is one of the last of any commission projects I will be doing for a very long time, as I need to focus what little sewing time I get on sorely needed projects for myself and my gent. Some of which have been sitting on the back burner, or unfinished, for over 4 years :-(
This last dirndl flew the nest to its new, and very happy, owner. I made sure to take a few photos of it before packing it up, since I had been bad about documenting the others I had made before sending them off.

This one is a royal purple cotton with a lavender dotted batiste for the apron and trimming:

 

Auf weidersehen, mein schatz...

So, you can look forward to my next posts here actually involving 18th century fashion and play-by-play project posts! Up next; that darn velveteen frock coat and breeches for the gent. Then, my gown!

Bodice nearly done...

Totally different look with a printed fabric. I'm really liking how the motifs are situated on the front.

Dirndl #2 in the works...

The bodice. Nothing different than the previous burgundy one, it's the same cut. The fabric here is what makes it unique and still traditional. A turn-of-the-century French print from Provence, Germans during the 1920s through 1950s were crazy for cotton florals like this one...

Dirndl Dress Project: Part V

The dress is hemmed, the apron is done, and I've started making the trim for the neckline...which is an odd combination of being both fun and tedious to create from the dress fabrics. This first piece was a test to see weather or not the fabrics were too thick. It worked, but I have a lot more of it I need to make...

Front placket

On the front of the dirndl dress skirt. Not on a seam. This is one of those tricky sewing things that is akin to explaining, without pictures, how to tie shoelaces. I'd like to do a tutorial on just this in the future.