Verity Vintage Studio

Two Little Bunny Dresses

I finished another coordinating dress set for my two little girls last week. I had intended to do these for Easter (because bunnies!), but when the last set of dresses turned out so cute, I ended up using those instead. But these did finally get done!

 

More cute prints from Poppie Cotton's Poppie's Patchwork Club fabric line, perfect for little girl dresses. I made the 4 year old size from a 1940s pattern. I really like the inset belt and the square neck.

 

This color of green is such a good color for my little redhead!

 

A touch of vintage rickrack ties in the pink accent fabric.

 

It was a fairly basic shape, so it didn't take long to put together once I buckled down and started it.

 

My 1 year old dress used a 1930s pattern, and I really like it!

 

She didn't cooperate very well for photos, but it does have super cute pointed yoke and pleat details on the front.

 

It is loose enough to pop over her head without a waist opening, and cinches a bit with a sash. I made it a tad long for her so she can wear it all summer.

 

I opted for ruffles instead of sleeves, and used a long-hoarded card of vintage pink bunny buttons that were the PERFECT match. Rather than fuss with buttonholes with that shape of button, I closed the back with snaps and sewed the buttons on top. Much easier to fasten a wiggly toddler in a dress with snaps, and the buttons cover the snap stitches – double win!

 

This pattern has several sleeve options and different looks depending on how you use fabric in the yoke. So I want to make it again while she will still fit in it. Meanwhile this one is a fun warm-weather addition!

 

One of the fun things about having little girls is that I get to play with fabric that is too juvenile for myself. It's enjoyable to make up this cute little bunny fabric into something that they love.

 

Colorblock 1940s Maternity House Dress

According to my blog history, I have made this pattern now 5 times - twice as a robe, three times as a house dress. But by now one of them has worn out, so I mainly wear this one a lot and knew I would get a lot of wear out of another version, both for maternity and after.

 

I wanted to make it look different, though, and I knew I wanted some blue contrast to pull out the blue in the print. I had to change my idea several times when I went to cut it out once I saw my fabric limitations. I originally was going to do blue yoke and sleeves, but as you can see it didn't end up that way. :-)

 

This is one of my favorite repro prints suitable for dresses, released last year by Riley Blake Designs. I wish it came in more colors, but now I have a dress in both prints. The brown version is definitely still a favorite!

 

I used some vintage green buttons from my stash. I found I have very few green buttons to select from, but these almost mirror the print, which is fun. 

 

With making a simple pattern this many times, it was super fast and mindless. I made most of it in one day. The only hand work was the hem and stitching down the facing. 

 

I don't plan to do much maternity sewing this time around, but this is one of the exceptions, and I've added yet another iteration of this pattern to my closet. While I don't think it's my top favorite version, I'm sure it will get a lot of wear!

2022 Dressmaking Recap

Now that all my 2022 projects have been blogged about, it's time to do my yearly round-up of the garments I made this past year. I like to do this each year to see everything in one place, and evaluate what I made. 

   

 

1950s teal dress, 1940s Christmas dress

 

I made a number of new patterns, as usual...this one I made twice in a row!

1950s Easter dress, gray cherry house dress version

 

I think perhaps this year I was more diverse with color choices than ever before. Of course I still like blue, but for once my sewing for the year is NOT predominately blue! :-) For one thing, I rediscovered purple. (And incidentally, sewed two of my favorite pieces. The purple house dress gets worn pretty constantly.)

1950s daisy dress 

 late 1930s purple dress

 

I made a fair amount of separates this year, including a couple of mix-and-match outfits, which was one of my sewing goals for 2022. Both these two outfits were looooong on my sewing inspiration list from vintage photos, and I'm happy to finally make them a reality this past year.

  

1950s gingham 3-piece

 

     

1930s dress and jacket set

 

I made a couple of pinafore aprons for the first time. The yellow one was a shop sample for my new vintage-dressmaking-supply shop The Timely Tailor, and I love how it turned out!

   

1940s pinafore mother-daughter duo 

shop sample for this kit

 

Another color that is less common for me, which appeared more than once this year in my wardrobe, is brown. 

1940s 2-piece, 1940s print house dress

 

And to my surprise, also a little pink!

1940s pink dress

1950s polka dot blouse

 

I used some long-stashed patterns out of my collection, as well as a few new arrivals...just sewing what I wanted to. A few of them didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but there are also some definite successes and favorites added to my closet - including these two remakes of patterns I had first sewn many years ago.

early '50s tiered dress, 1940s house dress

 

Most projects were fairly straightforward. Once in a while I had a troublesome one, or ran into complications I hadn't foreseen, like the novelty 1950s skirt. But it still turned out well in the end, thankfully! I didn't do as many details as last year...just a little top stitching and adding lace occasionally, but I did try several new techniques, like decorative cutouts and lace-and-bead appliqué.

1950s novelty skirt, late '50s leaf dress

 

No formal gowns this year...and I think not quite as much variation in silhouette as I sometimes achieve. But I also have found what I like to wear in this stage of my life, so that influences my pattern choices as well. Also I think every piece I sewed this year was made with cotton...mostly modern, a few vintage pieces. No wool or rayon this year at all. But it's fun to see the variety that just plain old quilting cotton can still create.

1950s blouse with vintage fabric 

1940s novelty jacket blouse

 

Of course, I made a few baby dresses this year as well, for my small daughters.

 

I am glad to be able to craft my own wardrobe. Even when something doesn't turn out right, it's still a good chance to learn and build my skills for the future. And it's always a satisfying feeling to turn a flat piece of fabric with so much possibility, into something stylish and wearable. That burn to create is what keeps me pretty constantly sewing, whether it's garments or quilts. 

1930s green dress, 1950s dotted dress

 

Final count for the year...

3 1930s outfits

9 1940s

11 1950s

and 4 baby/girl dresses.

1930s separates

 

Thanks for following along on my vintage sewing adventures! I'm looking forward to what 2023 will bring.

~Kristen

1940s Christmas House Dress

I went very bright and bold for Christmas this year with a length of vintage novelty fabric that I scored on Facebook Marketplace earlier this year. I quickly decided what I would do with it, and laid it away until December.

 

I wanted something comfortable for Christmas Day this year, and also needed a simple pattern since the fabric is so very splashy.  A housedress was the perfect solution. So I tried an interesting new vintage dress pattern I recently acquired that has one fitted side and one loose one, with the fullness gathered in by a sash.

 

I cut the shoulder yoke sideways so the stripes would go different directions, and added a front zip so it would be nursing friendly.

 

I first tried it with a contrast waist tie, but after trying it on the first time, I decided it needed a self tie instead. So that set me back a little bit, but it was still a very quick make.

 

I made it in a few days before Christmas, without any stress or feeling rushed.

 

I do love sewing with the modern repro fabrics, but I have to admit there's something special about sewing with vintage fabric. And it really does add a level of authenticity to the finished product too.

 

I've never done sleeves like this before. The dress has cap sleeves to start with, and I've never put sleeves in a cap sleeve opening, but I really like how it looks, especially with the gathered top. 

 

The next time I may just cut the cap sleeves a couple inches longer and leave it, but this was an interesting sleeve variation. It was actually more like a shaped sleeve band, and the seam was on the top instead of the underarm.

 

It was very comfortable to wear all day - whether for lots of eating, picking up gift wrap litter, chasing 3 littles, or curling up for Shop Around the Corner in the evening. I felt very festive all day!

I hope everyone has a happy Christmas season! We celebrate it for 12 days, so we are still deep in festivities at our house.

 

1940s Pink Princess Dress

I squeezed in another warm-weather sewing project in October before the weather suddenly turned cold. We are currently buried under early snow, so these pictures look quite outdated at the moment!

 

I had a 1940s mail order pattern for a princess style dress that I hoped to use for a special project, but I wanted to try it out first. This was the trial.

 

I'm glad I tried it, since it definitely needed a lot of tweaking for the fit. This one is still not perfect, but I have a better idea of what to do if I make it again. Thankfully wearing a belt helps a lot with making it still look good.

 

And I just love the fabric! It's a 1930s repro feedsack print, and so perfect for a house dress. (If you like it too, you can find some for sale in my newly opened vintage sewing supply shop The Timely Tailor!)

 

I wanted originally to use dark red buttons, but had nothing that would work, so ended up picking out the gray instead to emphasize. I do like how gray and pink looks, and also how it tones down the otherwise sugary-pink color.

 

The yoke/ruffle detail is pretty cute. Otherwise it's just a basic button-down-the-front princess style dress, which is very handy for trying on as you go and making fit adjustments. I can see why it's a perennial style.

1940s Brown Floral 2 Piece

Fallish fabrics are finding their way to the top of my sewing queue these days. Such was the case with this pretty floral, another color way of my favorite Lori Holt print from her recent Cook Book fabric line (you may still be able to track some down online). I used the aqua print for my Memorial Day dress, so this one I also wanted to sew something 1940s, but with a fairly different style.

 

I chose a 2 piece pattern, so that I could mix and match. Think how cute the jacket would be if worn with a red skirt. Or a brown blouse with this skirt.

 

Summer suits were very popular in the 1940s, so I have a few different pattern options. But I settled on a new version of the vintage Simplicity 4736 pattern I made a few years ago in blue for Easter.

 

This time I was a bit more adventurous and opted for the larger square collar. Then I wanted to jazz it up a bit. A wide collar gives quite a bit of opportunity for all sorts of decoration. I thought of embroidery, but ended up trying something I never did before – open work.

 

To do this, you just trace a simple shape on the fabric, cover it with a very narrow, dense zig-zag stitch, and then cut out the center. It was an interesting variation to my usual decorative attempts, and I think makes it look less homemade.

 

I had to redo one side of the jacket ruching to make it even, but otherwise the assembly was pretty basic and quick.

 

I was happy to have a use for some of my large collection of red buttons. White buttons tend to be my default.

 

Summer cotton suits are a very nice style, especially when nursing. A flattering fit, mix and match ability, a bit more formal style for church - but easy nursing access and quite cool & comfortable for hot weather.

 

For these photos I had to give my giant 1940s hat an outing.

 

And how perfectly do these gloves match the suit fabric??

 

Altogether, I was very pleased with this sewing project. I will have to squeeze in a few more wearings while it is still warm!

 

 

1940s Brown Print Dress with Lori Holt Fabric

While vacationing back east this spring, I got a cute 1940s pattern at an antique mall. Luckily it was complete. I ended up pairing it with my second favorite of the new Lori Holt prints (fabric is from Cook Book line by Riley Blake Designs).

 

It's quite a rare color for me, but I ended up really liking it - perhaps because it's a cool-toned brown. The print is spot on for vintage fabric reproduction, and has a large enough scale to look good as a garment - which is usually the challenge when sewing dresses with quilting cotton. I only wish it came in more color-ways!

 

Because it's a busier print, I knew the yoke details would get lost, so I outlined them with white ric-rac points. 

 

I omitted the ruffle on the front, but I think I will try it, if I make this pattern again. 

 

It had unique construction, and I had to apply my mind to the pattern instructions in order to figure it out, since the front piece is both bodice, band, and facing. But I was successful in the end, and I really love how it turned out! It's fun to still run across a challenge in a simple dress pattern, even after years of experience.

 

Large brown buttons from my stash were a good choice, and are very easy to button and unbutton with one hand while I'm nursing. 

 

I will wear it as a house dress, but I styled it a bit more formally for these photos with one of my favorite vintage hats, and my top favorite treasured vintage heels. A good print dress can be dressed up or down, as the fashion plates of the era often demonstrate so well.

 

I'm getting lots of sewing done these days, in between house work and canning, and am delighted to make the switch from a folded length of fabric on a stack, to a wearable, cute dress in the closet! There's always something magical about that transformation.

It's perfect for these busy late summer days, and I know will get a lot of wear.

1940s Pinafore Duo with Poppie Cotton

 

I'm a sucker for strawberry prints, so when I got the chance to work with this new fabric from Poppie Cotton, of course I chose to sew with the strawberries to make a 1940s style coordinating pinafore set with my little girl.

(Isn't Betsy's Sewing Kit the cutest name??)

 

For her I first considered making an apron, but since she's growing out of all her 2T clothes, I decided to make an apron-style dress instead so she can wear it for everyday this summer and next year too.

 

I used a vintage DuBarry 5643 pattern from my stash, and did a little color blocking with a coordinating print, which both stretches the fabric and accents the design elements of the dress pattern.

 

I usually would opt for white or red accents with a fabric like this, but this time I stepped out of my comfort zone a little and used some yellow vintage rick-rac from my stash.

 

Red heart buttons were the perfect closure in the back. She's such a great little kitchen helper already!

For my coordinating pinafore, I did an apron pattern long on my list. It was reissued by Simplicity a while ago. It is definitely the most elaborate apron pattern I've ever done! It took almost as long as a dress, and took some concentration to figure out since the pieces are not as intuitive as a dress.

 

It had facings, top stitching, and darts in the back section. But I love how it turned out! I used a coordinating blue to color block for this one also, to stretch the strawberry print, and I think it even accents the scallops more to do it this way.

 

It has a full front, half sides like a regular apron that wrap almost the whole way around, adjustable waist fit with a sash, and a T back to keep it in place on the shoulders.

 

I love the scalloped hem especially, and the amount of dress coverage it gives.

 

It was certainly the right time of year to be sewing with strawberry fabric, and I enjoyed working with these lovely summery prints. The dress is a new favorite for my little girl, and the apron is finished just in time for canning season.

 

It reminds me why I love the fashions of this era so much - practical, yet always unique, feminine and flattering. And made in a high quality quilting cotton like this, I can wash and wear it, without bothering to press it, many times!

 

There are lots of other pretty prints included in this fabric line. Check out the other makers on this project tour! It's always so fun to see the variety that different people can come up with, out of the same lovely fabrics.

Monday, August 15	Instagram: @emmas_crafternoons
Wednesday, August 17	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Friday, August 19	http://happylittlecottage.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 22	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 24	www.freshdewdrops.com
Friday, August 26	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/
Monday, August 29	http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday, August 31	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 2	@elliebugmakes

 

1940s Aqua Floral House Dress with Lori Holt Fabric

Sometimes when fabric companies do their 1930s style fabric lines, it feels more "inspired" than authentic to me. But here's a print that's a real winner! Probably my favorite Lori Holt print ever, I really got excited over this one. It's from the Riley Blake Designs recently available Cook Book fabric line (which has several other garment-appropriate, authentic prints too), and I just love it. It looks like it stepped out of a real vintage feedsack, and has a large enough floral to work well for garments.

 

Of course I wanted to sew something with it that I also would love - something that would get lots of wear, without too many details to get lost in the print, and that wouldn't take a lot of tweaking to fit me. A favorite fabric will still get pushed to the back of the closet if it's a dress that doesn't fit well or feels too fussy for everyday wear.

I remembered a simple 1940s dress pattern I'd made twice, years ago - neither of them versions I own anymore -  and pulled it out again.

 

Because I had made it before, I had the bodice pattern pieces shortened already, so the bodice didn't take any more tweaking to make an instant good fit. Also - I love shoulder dart tucks!

 

The only other detail is the asymmetrical pleat in the skirt. This meant it takes slightly more fabric, and I had a few extra pieces to cut out, but even still it was still a super quick sew.

 

I got it finished for Memorial Day, since it's close enough to red, white, and blue to have a patriotic flair. 

 

I made two belts - one in a coordinating blue solid from Riley Blake, and one in the same aqua floral. I like the blue best, but I also enjoy versatility.

 

Because of the basic design and the wide bodice overlap, it was the perfect choice for some large buttons. I quickly settled on some big white plastic toggle buttons, probably intended for a coat, but they add a little extra character and quirkiness to the dress.

 

It's so trim and comfortable to wear and forget about. Reminds me again how much I love WWII era house dresses!

 

I was so pleased, I was inspired to break out of my usual brush-out and try something a little more creative with my hair this time.

 

I'm super delighted with the happy combination of pattern & fabric, and the way it turned out. I'm sure I'll wear it a lot...and I still had some fabric leftovers to save for a quilt, so that's a win-win!

2021 Vintage Sewing Recap

Time for a quick look back at my past year of sewing vintage fashion! I always like to see all my makes for a year in one place. This year held a few months of no outfit sewing at all, and other months that were quite prolific. I started collaborating with Riley Blake Designs early in the year, and later on with Poppie Cotton, so all but one of these were sewn with new fabric rather than out of my stash.

My first make of the year, which was also my first blog post featuring Riley Blake Designs fabric.

 

I didn't get a lot of new patterns this year, but this was one of them, and it promptly got made up instead of sitting for years in my stash.

 

But a lot of my projects this year used patterns that I have had for YEARS, and I am so excited they finally saw the light of day!

   

1950s two color dress; 1930s Easter dress

 

I had a few repeats this year... Here's another pattern that I have owned for a very long time, and when I made the first one I liked it so much I immediately made a second one! I can't imagine why it languished in the drawer for so long.

   

1930s floral dress; black geometric version

 

I made a lot of baby clothes this year too! It was a bit of a learning curve, so some were more successful than others, but I learned to like making the smaller dresses.

     

1950s baby dress, sailor dress

 

1930s smock dress

 

I couldn't believe the comparison of how much my baby girl grew in one year!

   

1930s baby dress, 1950s princess dress

1950s goose dress

 

This was the only thing I made all year that did not use quilting cotton! It was also my only "modern" pattern - actually a reprint of a 1930s pattern. It was one of my more difficult projects this year, and the rayon challis I used was quite lovely.

1930s rayon blouse

 

Part of the reason I didn't sew with other fabric types was that during the fall, when I usually break out the wool and suiting, I was big pregnant and only made two maternity-friendly projects from July-December.

 

1940s-does-1930s adjustable dress; 1950s adjustable pleated dress

 

I also used what probably is the oldest pattern in my collection for this baby dress. She has already outgrown it, but it's one of my favorite baby makes this year. 

 

Another one of my long-owned patterns that was a remake from a very early version in my sewing career, was this 1930s blouse pattern.

 

This 1950s apron pattern was another double make this summer. I love the scallops!

   

1950s pink apron; green version

 

As always there is plenty of blue represented! Though overall I am pleased with the color variety.

 

1950s slender sailboat dress; 1930s princess dress

 

While I may not have had much variety with fabric fiber this year, I did have a fair representation of different silhouettes. 

aqua 1950s slender dress

 

I also did some fun experimenting with dress details, which is a great way to jazz up quilting cotton. From appliqué to decorative top stitching and different kinds of trims, I like adding the special touches.

 

 

 

Of course this is only my garment sewing for the year. I also did a lot of craft sewing, including tutorials on this blog not shown in this post, and a lot of quilt designs. My sewing machine got quite a workout!

1950s pastel blouse

 

My count for 2021 is:

    8 1930s adult garments

    1 1940s    

    7 1950s

and 7 baby dresses

 

I have a lot of ideas and a long to-do list for 2022, but I also know that flexibility is key since I now have three small children and a very busy design schedule. A lot of my personal sewing I have to fit in around deadlines - but I have some exciting projects I want to get to, and it's amazing how that motivational that can be!

Hope you all are having a lovely January.

~Kristen