Monday 30 March 2015

Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival

So, this past weekend was the Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival, which is one of the biggest 1950's festivals in the state (I think?) It started on the Friday, with a retro High Tea at the High School, for which Elsie George Boutique provided all the girls outfits for. I heard the event was a great success, with everyone loving the clothes, food and entertainment. Afterwards we had to pack down the entire Elsie George store ready for the weekend. Rachel ran out of room in her car and trailer so I had the privilege (hahaha) of taking 2 mannequins home with me overnight, to get them to Kurri at 6am for the Saturday. The backseat of my car must have looked interesting to passer-by's, being a jumble of plastic body parts......

It was very early start for all the stall holders to get there and set up. I got there a teensy bit after 6am (while it was still dark) and most people already had their gazebos up.

Here's how ours looked when we first got all the stock set up, but we changed the layout a few times over the course of the weekend.


Obligatory Work Selfie



I did find one rather unflattering photo of me at work on Saturday....

I'm in the background. Again stolen from Gillian Burgess
Definitely not my best angle....

Then when I finally go home on Saturday, I decided none of my existing petticoats would work with my new dress. So being the crazy person I am, I made a new one! I have a roll of sheer white fabric with little red polka dots that I have never used for anything, as it has quite a plastic feel to it. A friend of mine said that it felt like Nylon, so he is probably right. But it worked out great to use for a tiered petticoat as it had a reasonable amount of body to it, and even though it was a very warm day, it wasn't anywhere near as uncomfortable and sweaty as some of my other petticoats.



So here is the whole Ensemble together: 

Completed Outfit ready to go
This was my first time making a matching fabric covered belt to go with a dress, and I love the look it gives. It is also the first time I have used Vinegar to help set pleats in, so I will let everyone know how they hold up after washing. So far the pleats stayed crisp, even after wearing it all day, so I'm pretty sure I will use the vinegar method again.

I didn't get any good full length photos of me in my new dress, but I did take a few Selfies!

Stolen from Mum


SELFIE!!!

Me and Mumsy selfie!!

Walking in the best dressed parade

Unfortunately I didn't place in the Best dressed competition, but given the outfits of the winners, I wasn't surprised. Miss Hilary of Gigi's Retro Closet won first place, in a stunning blue and white vintage dress that belonged to her grandmother. I saw someone comment on this photo on facebook that she looked like a walking china plate, and I have to agree!

Miss Hilary in her Grandmother's Dress
Photo stolen from Elsie George Boutique

So that's it for the Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival for 2015! It was a great weekend, but boy am I  glad it's over for another year.

In other News, Elsie George Boutique have moved! We have gone from 170 Vincent st, to 94 Vincent st, in the old ballon worx shop, right next door to Grice's bakery. We are still setting up, but will hopefuly be open again sometime this week!

Dixie O'Dare

P.S. As this was a vintage pattern and stash fabric, I'm counting this as garment number 2 for my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge!

P.P.S. I'm also using it for the Spring for Cotton Challenge!


5 comments:

  1. I love your dress! Such a cute outfit. :)

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  2. You must share this vinegar trick to set the pleats!! The dress turned out so lovely! And it matches your hair beautifully.

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    1. Thanks Kacy! I did a bit of googling to see how to permanently set pleats at home, and quite a few sites/blogs/forums suggesting using white vinegar. The suggested concentration varied from site to site, but I used 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water in a spray bottle. I sprayed it on the pleats til they were fairly damp, then ironed them dry. I guess I'll see how they hold when I wash the dress!

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