Jitterbuggin 30% off sale through Sunday

Hi everyone! I have continued the trend of being head-spinningly busy lately! I was hoping to get not one but two Vintage Knitting College posts written up this week, and have come up with a big, fat zero! We're off to visit my mom and step-dad outside Washington, D.C. next week for Thanksgiving, so I'm hoping to have a bit of free time to work on at least one then.

In the meantime, I thought I'd alert you to a sale I found out about. Jitterbuggin is having a 30% off sale through Sunday!

When people talk about vintage vs. me-made vs. repro, such as Stephanie of The Girl With the Star-Spangled Heart did last week in this thoughtful post, my first thought in the repro category, with a few exceptions, isn't the bigger companies that focus on repro or more frequently retro/pin-up-inspired (i.e. not actually trying to recreate a vintage style, but running with the feeling).

Instead, I first think of the seamstresses who sell in small online shops or Etsy, like Nudeedudee, Jitterbuggin and Allure Originals. Yes, you'll likely pay more money for a custom or small run piece than you would with a large retro brand, but let's face it—even some of those bigger brands are very pricey, and not even necessarily using quality materials or craftsmanship. (Stretch bengaline comes to mind... I'm not a fabric snob but good gracious, I hope I never wear that fabric again, I've done my time with it. lol)

When I'm able to, I like to support the smaller repro companies, who are sometimes a company of one! I just don't sew enough to be able to bring to life everything I want to wear, and when I can't find it vintage or would prefer a more longer-lasting alternative (for, say, a particular work piece that gets a ton of use and needs to be hard-wearing), I turn to gals like these. Instead of "me-made" I think of it as "she-made". ;) Plus it gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling to support an indie business, when I can put names to faces and have an ongoing relationship. It's just something I've always liked to do when I can.

So when I saw Jitterbuggin was having a sale, I wanted to pass on the love. I have a few pieces from Kim, and I love them all. In fact now that I think about it, the red checked bow blouse in my blog header is from Jitterbuggin and damn if it's not one of my favorite summer tops.

Pop on over to Jitterbuggin and take a peek around. Use the coupon code "Autumn Leaves" for 30% off through Sunday. I'll leave you with a snap of my new favorite piece of hers, my green pinafore dress!