Verity Vintage Studio

1950s Girl's Fall Floral Dress

Still trying to catch up with documenting my fall sewing before I start the holiday things... This week I want to show you the fall-floral dress I made for my oldest daughter for Thanksgiving! 

 

I had these two Riley Blake Designs fabrics from last year paired together for a dress for her for ages. Finally I made it happen, since right now she is growing out of all her clothes and needed new Sunday dresses anyway. 

 

I found a vintage dress pattern from my stash that would work well with adding contrast, and I love how it turned out. It has super fun inset dolman sleeves (no setting sleeves!) gathered into a sleeve band - sure wish I had an adult pattern with sleeves like this! Doing them in contrast helps emphasize the cute details of the pattern. 

 

It is loose and slips over the head, fitting at the waist with a sash, so it's very adjustable. I made it extra long too so she can wear it for a while. 

 

As you can see from the dimples, she was very pleased with it!

 

I have a hard time getting perfect corners when I do an L shaped inset seam like this, so I covered the front corners with little buttons. Decorative and practical too. 

 

I really enjoyed this pattern. It was unique, quick to make, and has lots of fabric combination options with the way the pattern pieces are done. Meanwhile she loves wearing it, and I am glad to see it finally take shape!

 

1950s Maple Leaf Thanksgiving Dress

I have been in quite a sewing mood lately, and have been whizzing through my pile of fall projects quickly before it's time to sew for Christmas. My Thanksgiving dress was my latest fall finish - and though delayed by my whole family getting sick with a nasty flu right before Thanksgiving, I did get it finished in time to wear that Sunday, which is when we ended up having our family celebration. 

 

I loved the soft aquas in the fabric line Shades of Autumn by Riley Blake Designs, and knew it would be a good novelty print for fall - plus be a good color for me, which is hard to find with fall fabrics!

 

I knew I wanted a 1950s dress in it, with some contrast in the plaid fabric. After sorting through my patterns I settled on this one from the late '50s or possibly early '60s. It was just what I wanted and even had a good contrast detail so I didn't have to draft my own. 

 

The construction was quite interesting. I actually had to follow the pattern for this one! They had me construct the entire front and entire back, then sew it together on the side seams. I'm not exactly sure why they did it that way, but I figured I might learn something new and followed it as written. 

 

I do prefer adding collar and facings while flat, but thankfully it worked out pretty well. This is the only time I've done a stand-up circle collar quite like this, and it was unusual to stitch, but I really like how it looks. 

 

The skirt band and bow I did in the plaid, drafting my own bow since I didn't have enough fabric to use the bow pattern piece. I don't usually go for metallic threads in my quilting cotton, but I liked the plaid a lot. A little shimmer makes it more holiday-ish.

 

I also added a little plaid piping on the sleeves to trim them. 

 

I knew I wanted to emphasize the gold threads in the plaid, and luckily found the perfect buttons in my gold button stash - and had exactly the right amount for the space on the dress. 

 

I had to sew the buttonholes with my regular foot, and while it's more complicated than using a buttonhole foot, it works quite well!

 

This is perhaps the first time I have successfully done a partial-lapped front opening like this, so I was very happy with that accomplishment! Usually it looks ok on the outside but is butchered on the inside. :-) 

I styled it with a 1950s hat, my gold Aerosoles heels, modern elastic belt (since my post baby waist still prefers such things...) and added midcentury gloves and suitcase for these photos.

 

I just love the soft cream and aqua colors, and the large maple leaf print. This is definitely one of my favorite fall dresses, and my only regret is that I made it late enough in the season that I likely won't wear it again this year. 

Pastel Pumpkin Runner for Moonbeam Dreams Blog Tour

It's my turn on the blog tour for the new Poppie Cotton fabric line called Moonbeam Dreams. It is not what I would normally be drawn to, so I was surprised at how much I ended up loving this fabric once I saw it in person, and how much I enjoyed sewing with it!

 

I was in the mood for fall sewing, and this is a lovely autumnal line with some of my favorite cooler-toned fall colors. It took me a while to settle on a project, but eventually I decided on a pumpkin table runner to be finished before Thanksgiving. 

 

Our Thanksgiving Day dinners usually end up with so much food on the table there isn't much room for decorations, but I still love a festive touch, so a table runner is perfect. 

 

The next problem was settling on a pumpkin block that I liked, since I'm not generally a fan of them. I ended up loving this free tutorial by Woodberry Way, and quickly made 6 of those big pumpkin blocks out of my 6 favorite pinks, adapting them to join side to side as a runner.

 

My temporary sewing station in action!

 

It ended up as a very long table runner, so it will only really fit my table when it's fully extended. But that's ok! This was the closest I could get to a photo of the whole thing.

 

The pumpkins were made with a little bit of improv piecing - my first ever attempt. It was rather enjoyable!

 

I quilted it with my walking foot, with an all-over wavy grid that I could do freeform without taking the time for markings. It's a very forgiving quilting design that still gives great texture. 

 

Then the extra hand quilting touch was done in a burnt gold size 10 crochet thread. I used a bowl to draw one curve on each side, and then drew the other by eye. Of course they aren't all uniform - but then, neither are real pumpkins uniform! And I am also NOT a perfectionist. :-) 

 

The colors go together so well! I love the dusty blues and pinks and golds, the florals and moths and stars.

 

Since I only used a selection of fabrics in this runner, I also whipped together a large zipper pouch, just for fun. I still have some fabric left, so maybe I can come up with something else fun to make. The green moth print is a favorite, and would be perfect for fussy cutting!

 

I'm looking forward to using this on our Thanksgiving table next week. In the meantime, follow Poppie Cotton on Instagram to see all the pretty makes using this lovely fabric line!

 

1950s Ditsy House Dress

I'm trying to catch up with my finished projects, so you get 2 blog posts this week! This time it's a house dress I made for myself with some 1930s repro quilting cotton and a 1950s pattern.

 

I haven't sewed for myself in a while, so it was fun to be back at the familiar tasks of sewing darts and matching skirt seams.

 

The print is small and busy, so I wanted something fairly simple and pulled from my stash a pattern I haven't made before. 

This straight-skirted 1950s pattern features inset pockets and a collar band. The cutaway pocket detail (which was pretty much the only pattern detail) got completely lost in the print, so after some thought I added a bit of trim.

 

The trim also pulls out the navy blue dots in the print, which I wanted to accentuate since the yellow-green flowers are not a good color for me. 

 

I hoped the trim wouldn't make it look too apron-like, but after it was finished I decided that it was the right call. 

 

I always enjoy making a pattern with sleeves cut with the bodice, since it's quicker and I don't have to set sleeves. They are also more comfortable to wear since they allow more range of motion - but I also don't like how they look as much, so it's kind of a love-hate relationship. :-) 

 

I know the buttons are spaced pretty close together for this style of dress, but when I do a button-front dress I'm always afraid of it gaping in spots, so this was my solution. 

 

Also I have to document that this is the very first time I've made buttonholes with just a regular foot on the machine, and it is very freeing to know it's possible, if slightly more complicated!

 

For some reason the print reminds me of my great-grandmother who lived with us for a time when I was a girl. I'm glad to have it off my shelf and in my closet.

 

Even if I don't make this pattern again, it was a fun sew to break through the long drought of no dressmaking and getting bored with the options that fit me in my closet, so I will enjoy pairing it with a cardigan this fall.

 

 

1950s Girl's "Dandelion Dress"

Fall project finish!

I actually made this dress several months ago, but it still needed a sash - and I didn't get around to spending 10 minutes making the sash until this week, so here it finally is. We snapped pictures on a mild November day, taking advantage of all the crispy leaves on the ground.

 

I loved the pattern I used for my oldest daughter's Easter dress this year, and wanted to use it again before she outgrows it. This time I did the top section of the skirt in the contrast color too, and love the color blocking!

 

These two fabrics go so well together. They are from a cute quilting line last year called On the Wind, by Riley Blake Designs. I loved the dancing dandelion print, and though there were a lot of options for contrast, for some reason the yellow argyle spoke to me to be paired with it.

 

Since I had made this pattern before, it was a quick project. I omitted the trim, so all the interest is just in the fabric. As before, I changed it to button all the way down the back.

 

I also added the tie sash on top instead of the side belts, and of course a little patch pocket since this child adores all the pockets.

 

She is growing so fast and is hard on her clothes, since she loves to be active outside as much as possible - so it was high time to get this off my stack and into her closet!

 

(I know I've been showing a lot of girl clothes and quilt projects lately, but there are definitely some more fun vintage dresses for me coming up! I'm in a sewing mood right now, and completing a bunch of things as fast as I can, so stay tuned! :-)

Sundress and Zipper Pouches - Hide & Seek Fabric Tour for Poppie Cotton

The newest Poppie Cotton line called Hide & Seek is not my default style, but I loved the butterfly prints and instantly knew I wanted to make a sundress for my 4-year-old out of one of them. I also picked out a few others to play with, so here they are!

 

I still don't have a sewing room yet, so I finally set up my machines on my dining room desk area and got to work. It felt so good to be sewing again, even in a temporary space!

 

For once I did NOT use a vintage pattern, believe it or not. I pulled out a modern children's pattern I picked up years ago at JoAnn which had the overall look I was thinking of. It was perfect for this fabric.

 

A lot of A line dresses are too tent-like for this size of child, in my opinion, but this one had a nice flare. Roomy but not too enormous. 

 

She LOVES pockets, so of course I had to add pockets. I had seen a photo of a vintage dress with quilted pockets once, so I decided to try it here. It makes them nice and sturdy for her, but also adds some fun texture. 

 

I finished all the edges like any quilted project and then just top-stitched them to the dress. 

 

I really liked the way the sleeves were done here, and how there was no facing since the yoke was two-sided. Definitely keeping this pattern! It's cool for warm weather, and can be layered with a shirt now that it's cooler.

Even with the quilted pockets added, it was quite a quick make!

But as usual, with the main project finished and out of the way, I wanted to play with some of the other prints, so I also ended up doing some last-minute quilted zipper pouches. 

 

I had to watch a tutorial for how to insert a zipper in a pouch since this is the first time I've done it! I still need to work on perfecting that technique, but they turned out cute and usable, which was the main thing!

 

I did 3 different quilted panels, quilting them differently on my machine, and made 3 different sizes. I didn't measure them precisely, but it turned out perfectly sized for pencils, books, and a project bag to help keep my crochet bag in order. 

 

For the largest bag, I decided on the spur of the moment to save a cute little appliqué on a stained baby T shirt I was ready to throw away. I cut it out and top stitched around it twice on my bag panel - the colors go so well!

 

It was a fun little upcycled addition and gives a more elaborate look to a simple bag in minutes. (The blue butterfly was my favorite print in the line, so I saved it for the largest bag. :-) 

 

These prints are so perfect for fall! I love the saturated shades. 

 

 

 

Sewing with Garden Party Fabric by Poppie Cotton

 

Today I get to show you what I made when playing with the lovely new Poppie Cotton fabric line called Garden Party! I really wanted to get this all quilted in time for my blog slot, but we've been moving house and it took waaaay too much time out of August and September, so I had to just take photos of the top to share.

 

But as a result, I now have a lovely yard and garden spot for photos! And what better place to photo fabric called Garden Party then...in a garden!

 

I've been looking forward to sewing with this line for a long time. I adore the little strawberry prints especially, but all of them are cute and they coordinate so well. 

 

I have really been enjoying making wall quilts for my house - they have all the appeal of making a quilt and you can still play with blocks and color combinations, but are small enough that I can actually finish them quickly, and hand quilting them doesn't take forever. Plus I can enjoy looking at them on my wall! (Of course, they are also crib sized if you want to use them as baby quilts instead.)

 

So for this one, I settled on making a small version of the Stars and Windows quilt pattern. I rescaled the blocks to an 8" size, and used the yellow color way for the diamond blocks. The blues and pinks were paired for the stars, making each one unique. And the blue-gray made the perfect cornerstone color.

 

I also have some extra of the blue strawberry fabric that I was going to use as a border...but I simply couldn't decide what I wanted to make with it since there's enough to make an apron or a baby dress or something. So I'll save that for another day since I haven't had time to sew lately!

 

Aside from the strawberries, the picture prints are the CUTEST and perfect for fussy cutting if that's your jam.

 

Looking at this really makes me miss my sewing space and time to stitch - but I know this settling-in phase will pass. Meanwhile I am starting to feel caught up with all the unpacking and organization at the new house, so hopefully I can get this basted soon! I have it all planned out how I want to quilt it. Follow along on Instagram @verityvintagestudio if you want to see the progress.

 

There have been SO many cute makes this month with this beautiful fabric, so I hope you take a peek at everything that has been featured, and if you love it check with your local quilt shops since it is shipping to stores now!

 

Wednesday, September 6	https://www.sewmariana.com/
Friday, September 8	vanessaward
Monday, September 11	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Wednesday, September 13	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 15	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Monday, September 18	http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday, September 20	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Friday, September 22	@elliebugmakes
Monday, September 25	www.cardinalcreekquilting.com
Wednesday, September 27	@bemandythings
Friday September 29	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/

 

Country Kitchen Accessories - Prairie Sisters Homestead Blog Tour for Poppie Cotton

Fabric speaks to me. 

When I received my sample bundle of Prairie Sisters Homestead fabric by Poppie Cotton, I put it on my shelf with a plan to make a couple of woven pot holders out of it at least. More recently I had an idea for an apron made from 2.5" strip precuts. But when I went to cut out my projects last week, I ended up suddenly needing to also make a patchwork apron and some patchy potholders too!

 

So I went to town with all the cute kitchen items, as you can see. 

We are in the process of moving house this month, and one of the things I wanted to do is upgrade all my disliked or yucky potholders. I bake a lot, and am a big proponent of things being both pretty AND practical - so why give drawer space to pot holders I don't like when I can replace them with cute ones? They may eventually also get yucky and need to be tossed, but they are so easy and fun to make, and will be fun to use in the meantime.

 

I made two basic 16 patch potholders with 2" squares, following color schemes instead of going all scrappy like I originally thought. The yellow I arranged a little; the blue I just did random. 

And does it ever match to perfection the vintage tablecloth I just got my mom for her birthday!

 

The 3rd potholder in the mint color way I decided on impulse to do a fussy cut square in the center - some of these prints are PERFECT for fussy cutting! - and do the smaller mint patches around the edge.

 

I layered them all with a double layer of cotton quilt batting so they would be extra thick, and quilted them all differently. I love each of them, and enjoy seeing them side by side so you can see what a difference a little arrangement and quilting can do to a basic design. 

 

Also you have to love the coordinating chicken backings, and gingham bindings!

 

I did in fact do a woven hot pad too, though! I had seen a tutorial ages ago from Art Gallery Fabrics and have been wanting to try it ever since. Finally did it, and it's super cute! Also very little actual sewing.

 

I want to make another now and play around more with the color placement. But this one I'm very pleased with. Reminds me of apple pie. 

 

The pink apron was my "jelly roll apron" idea, made with 2.5" strips where the end was sewn like a Dresden plate to make points, and all of them joined side by side. I originally got the idea from a photo of a 1940s pattern for an apron with lots of flared gores and pointed ends, so this was my non-pattern version. 

 

I tapered the tops to make it a little more fitted and shaped, and chose the strawberry fabric for a waistband and ties. 

 

For my yellow apron, I did something quite different. I cut 4 yellow FQ in half and sewed a half of each into a large patchwork rectangle, which I then gathered into a waistband. (Yellow just seemed to be the right color for August sewing - but now I kind of wish I'd made a blue one too.)

 

Add a fussy cut pocket and ties, and a little bit of lace trim - and it's just the cutest! My mom and sister just about swiped this one from me. :-) 

 

Incidentally, it matches my mom's gorgeous yellow 1950s stove like a dream. 

 

I really enjoy working with fat quarter cuts. While they are intended for quilts, and certainly handy for that, it's also fun to work within the constraints of an 18 x 22" piece of fabric to see what all I can come up with, without extra yardage. And all of these pretty new kitchen things make me so happy as I prepare for upgrading to a new kitchen soon!

 

Check out the other bloggers on this tour to see all their makes with this sweet new fabric line:

Monday, August 7	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 9	Vanessa Ward
Friday, August 11	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Monday, August 14	www.cardinalcreekquilting.com
Wednesday, August 16	https://amerooniedesigns.com/
Friday August 18	http://prettybyhand.com/
Monday, August 21	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Wednesday, August 23	@elliebugmakes
Friday, August 25	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/

 

1950s Birthday Girl Dress

The week my oldest daughter was turning 4, I pulled out some girl size patterns and asked her which one she would like for a birthday dress. She picked the one with pockets, of course! And when I let her choose some fabric, she gravitated instantly towards the purple floral - which did not surprise me. :-)

 

This floral is one of my very favorite prints from the recent Bee Vintage line by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs. The good news is that it is one of their basics, which means that it will be available for a much longer period of time than usual, and they will keep it in stock!

 

This is a pretty standard 1950s girl dress, with a basic shirt-dress style made interesting by a yoke and those cute pockets. I cut down on the skirt width a bit, believe it or not. There were 4 entire widths of fabric in that tiny skirt!

 

Some lavender rickrack was the perfect edge for the contrast yoke, which I had the ideal fabric for in my stash. 

 

The little gathered pockets are the cutest. And she loves them so much, I will probably have to put pockets on all the dresses I make for her in the future!

 

I altered it to button the whole way down the back, and omitted the ties since this will be an everyday dress. Otherwise I followed the pattern. It was pretty quick and easy to put together.

 

The bodice pattern pieces were slashed and spread to make a bigger size, so this is actually a tad long-waisted for her. But that just means it will fit her longer, and she is growing so fast that is a definite plus!

 

The fun thing is that I have some of this fabric set aside for a 1950s house dress for me, so once I get around to sewing it, we will have matching dresses! I'll have to take more photos then. 

 

She was super pleased with her dress, and took interest in all the fittings and progress I made. She will be sewing her own as soon as she can, I'm sure. Meanwhile I can hardly believe she is 4 already!

Another 1950s Rose Dress

Everything's coming up roses, apparently! Actually, since I was pregnant all spring I didn't get any of my dress ideas for my spring-ish fabric made, so now I'm hurrying to stitch some of them before fall arrives. As a result, you get the 2nd large rose print dress in a row.

 

This one was sewn with fabric and vintage glass buttons from The Timely Tailor, and I have to say it probably is my favorite sewing project so far for the year. I was so pleased with the fit (important since most of my Sunday dresses don't fit me again yet!) and the style. 

 

This is the first time I've made this 1950s pattern, and I usually shy away from something with a lot of fullness in the front. This time, though, I decided to risk it, and top stitched the pleats down for a few inches, which really helps keep the waist looking trim.

 

It has double slanted side darts to add some pretty detail, and my favorite kind of fold back collar. 

 

Funny story though - I was having a bit of a day when I cut this out. Everything was going wrong. And when I went to cut out this dress, I found that the front bodice piece was missing. That was a bit of a poser, since it's harder to swap out a bodice piece, especially when I wanted the details of this particular one. I ended up going through my patterns, finding one similar, kind of cobbling together a front piece that I HOPED would work out like the original, and cutting it out. It added quite a bit of hassle and time to the cutting out process.

I carried the stack of pieces to the sewing room, turned around - and there on the floor was the missing bodice piece. :-) 

 

Thankfully the rest of the process went a lot more smoothly! But because of the substitution and my size adjustments, the collar piece ended up too short to overlap in the back like it was supposed to. It didn't even meet - there was 1-2 inches of gap that just didn't look right. So I had the idea to make a separate tab to cover it, and actually love how it turned out. It makes a petal collar that fits with the fabric very well.

 

Narrow white cotton lace trims the sleeves, and I went with classic white glass buttons. 

 

The skirt is super full and swishy - even though I took out quite a bit of width to fit it on my fabric! - especially with a small crinoline, but I really like how it adds that feminine silhouette while still being trim and flattering.

 

I will definitely make this pattern again...THIS time with the right bodice piece!