Verity Vintage Studio

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

1950s Wintry Dotted Dress

I'm still catching up with my 2022 finishes so I can do my yearly recap. This dress I made at the end of last year took a while to get photos of - and these were taken in a hurry so they aren't great, but at least it is documented!

 

The fabric is from Riley Blake Designs Winter Wonder collection. This is not my usual color to wear, but I loved the cheerful scattered dots that looked festive but not too Christmassy, and decided to experiment with wearing by emphasizing one of the cool colors to accent. I'm still not sure it worked, but it was fun to try. 

 

The 1950s pattern I used called for a lot more fabric in the skirt than I had, so I adapted the skirt width and pleats to fit with what I had. 

 

Wing cuff details. I added tiny buttons to help keep the cuffs in place.

 

The fun part of this pattern is the asymmetrical tab closure at the top, which also holds a scarf. I matched the scarf with one of the dots in the fabric. Of course if you wanted to switch out scarves for different looks, you could. It would be fun to try that with a solid color dress and various printed scarves.

 

Along with the unusual color, I didn't get the fit as good as I wanted it, even with tweaking. So I'm not sure it can be considered a real success...but that's ok. Not every project needs to turn out amazing. 

Sunshine & Camomile Blog Tour: Polka Dot Blouse & Ruffly Dress

 

I got the opportunity to play with a few prints from the new Sunshine & Camomile fabric line by Poppie Cotton. As usual, I gravitated toward garments. First I made myself a classic blouse from a 1950s pattern. 

 

Polka dots are very classic, and the one vintage-appropriate print that is usually pretty easy to find - but not often found in a larger, more scattered dot like this one is. It's a great scale for a garment!

 

The blouse pattern I used has a cute tie sewn into the shoulders. Next time I will make it double sided so I don't have to be so careful how I tie it.

 

The combo of pink and navy blue is a good one, but not one I often use. I really like it though!

 

For my second project, I chose a cute little 1950s girl's dress pattern that was given to me by an older lady at church. I've wanted to make it for a while before my oldest daughter grows out of this size. I made it roomy enough that she should be able to wear it for the next year or so.

 

I don't know if I'll make it again, because it was pretty tedious. I finally cheated on the ruffle and just did freeform pleats instead.  Gathering two layers of hemmed fabric was just not working. But anyway, it sure turned out adorable!

 

This fabric isn't particularly vintage in style, but it was so cute that I decided I wanted to sew something with it, and this is it. The contrast honeycomb in navy is perfect for the collar and under-ruffle, emphasizing the navy in the print. The darker colors makes it a bit more suitable for fall and winter too, rather than if I had gone for one of the lighter colors in the print. 

 

I did a lot of changing things around to do what made the most sense to me, rather than following the pattern, which wasn't super clear. But as long as it doesn't look like it's patched together, I'm happy!

 

The back closes with a button band. I used navy buttons too, and sewed them on with my favorite method for four-hole buttons. It can look like little flowers, if you use different colors of thread!

 

The skirt took forever to hem since each of the 2 ruffles had two edges to hem, and they are so much wider than the skirt width. But I love the effect!

 

My sweet 3 year old is very pleased with her new dress, which is what counts the most!

 

Check out the other lovely projects on this blog tour! It's always so inspiring to see the different projects creative people come up with, using the same fabrics. 

Wednesday, November 2	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Friday, November 4	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Monday, November 7	http://happylittlecottage.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 9	http://prettybyhand.com/
Friday, November 11	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 14	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 16	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/
Friday November 18	https://thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/
Monday, November 21	https://www.lambfarmdesigns.com/

 

1950s Amethyst Daisy Dress

I have to say this is one of my favorite things I've made this summer. It turned out exactly how I had envisioned. 

 

I had wanted to use this 1950s pattern for a while, and when I got a length of lavender daisy quilting cotton from the new line Forgotten Memories by Riley Blake Designs, it was the perfect match. 

 

This fabric has a fall flavor to me, but it could be worn in other seasons just as suitably. The all-over daisy print has a pleasantly vintage style, and the busy print makes it a great match for a simple, classy pattern with few details. 

 

It also turns out I have been sewing with purplish for the entire month of September! Definitely unusual for me since I rarely can make more than a couple garments without gravitating towards something blue. But it just felt like the right color for this time of year, so it got bumped to the top of the list.

 

My first try-on proved that I had cut out the dress a bit too big, so I took the bodice back off the skirt, trimmed the side seams, and reassembled it. A much better fit this time!

 

I had a little bobble with the collar assembly (always a challenge for me), but it turned out well enough. Otherwise it was a pretty basic and straightforward pattern. And some long-hoarded vintage plum colored buttons were a great match.

 

I love the soft folds under the collar line. Very flattering and feminine. 

 

 

It's still summery enough here that I wanted to squeeze in another wearing of my favorite ivory 1950s heels, but for later this fall, it would pair well with brown. 

 

This dress was a great pleasure to make and wear!

Forget-Me-Not Dress

Yet another versatile basic...pin dots! Poppie Cotton has a lovely quilting cotton basic called Country Confetti, and with some new Bright colors coming in, I had the opportunity to make a dress with one of them. Of course I had to pick the forget-me-not color... a lovely light periwinkle sprinkled with tiny pastel dots. Perfect to make a dress with some details!

 

I have a long love for this pattern. In my early sewing days, it was one of the first more complicated patterns I tried, and also one that I actually took more pains with... and appreciated the result. It made me begin to realize that taking more pains with the process was actually worth it, and more than that: even could be fun!

 

I don't have that first dress any more, and I did make it again with vintage semi-sheer fabric years later, with lovely results. BUT the pattern doesn't have a  front opening, so I haven't been able to wear it for a long time. So with this remake, I altered it to have a front opening.

 

My very first version was made from a thrifted periwinkle sheet, with an embroidered border that I made into a belt. I re-channeled that same look with this periwinkle version, by making a floral belt that I embellished with 2 strands of floral lace overlapped and sewn down with seed beads. 

 

Instead of using the roll back collar on the pattern, I recut the front bodice to not only open in the front, but also trimmed off the collar part and made it a V neck so I could use some of my vintage collars. 

 

 

It is indeed a late '40s or early '50s pattern, but doesn't it have a Titanic or teens era feel?

 

It's quite a unique construction, since the front skirt (in two horizontally pleated pieces) wraps around to the back darts, so there are no side seams in the skirt. And I just love the back details!

 

I also skipped the cuffs on this make, because I wanted a light summer feel. AND since I'm using a vintage collar, I can swap it out for different looks if I want.

 

This fabric is perfect for this application, since to the eye it reads like a solid, but it is more interesting with all the tiny dots than a plain solid fabric. I have used it before for a background fabric on a quilt, and also a backing. It just works well for everything!

backing on my puff quilt

background for my 2 stars a day quilt

 

 

I'm super pleased with how it turned out! It's one of my favorite makes this year so far.

Versatile Basics - Gingham 1950s Summer Suit

I thought it would be fun this summer to do a hit-and-miss mini blog series featuring quilting cotton basics. Every fabric company has their own version of basics - including a solid, some other classic prints, and perhaps a few novelty prints that are company-specific - that they keep in stock constantly. I wanted to show how some of these could be utilized for garments as well as quilting and other projects, since basics are often easier to source and less expensive than some of the fancier prints. 

Starting off this series with one of my favorites - gingham!

 

Gingham is surely one of the most versatile prints, and never goes out of style. Red and white gingham will always be a kitchen accessory classic, and the fun pattern shows up perennially everywhere in clothing and home dec. It can be ultra girly, like pink gingham baby dresses, or more sophisticated - suitable for holidays or year round.

Generally, though it may come in different sizes of pattern, the 1/8" gingham is most popular for quilting because of its small scale - but fortunately that's also a good scale to use for clothing too!

 

For my outfit featuring this print, I was inspired by this vintage image from Pinterest and decided to do my own spin on recreating this lovely ensemble. 

 

I chose black and white gingham from Riley Blake Designs, and picked out from my vintage pattern stash three patterns - a narrow skirt, wide skirt, and jacket - to make a 3 piece mix-and-match outfit. 

 

It was so fun to sew and style! The jacket has so many cute details, especially the little petal inserts which I decided to cut on the bias. 

 

I also added white piping to the collar and cuffs, to bring it a little closer to the inspiration image, and had the perfect tiny white buttons in my stash - again, to match the photo. The piping added some nice structure to the collar shape.

 

It went together remarkably fast, and I really love the jacket pattern. Another time I'll tweak the fit a bit, but it's definitely a good go-to 1950s dressy jacket pattern!

 

The wide skirt is a simple 6-gored 1950s skirt. I am wearing a vintage crinoline over it, and it has a nice amount of swoosh.

 

For this styling, I went a bit more formal so I paired it with black satin heels by American Duchess, and black accessories and a corsage from my vintage collection. 

 

For the other wearing option I wanted to feature, for a slightly different silhouette, the narrow skirt has a pleat in the back to add fullness when walking.

 

I changed up a few accessories to show some of the versatility of this type of outfit, which really can be suitable for many different occasions! This is just a tiny sample of the different looks I could create.

 

So this quilting cotton is perfectly suitable for adult clothing - and it goes without saying that it's extremely common for baby and toddler clothes as well. 

 

What about other uses? Here is just a small sampling. Gingham in a baby quilt I made recently...

 

...and as an embroidered curtain for the nursery.

 

One of my favorite uses is not just an all-over main pattern, but as an accent. See how cute this vintage apron is with the gingham used as a contrast rather than the main apron?

 

But honestly, this just scratches the surface of the possibilities for this fun print. The shortest web search will give you more ideas than you can possibly need. Use it as an accent or a main theme, for clothing or anything else! Gingham quilt binding or quilt backing works just as well as gingham in the blocks, or for smaller sewing projects like pencil cases or bags. I'm sure I'll never run out of ideas for it!

4th of July Vintage Toddler Dress Makeover

Some time ago, I got this vintage toddler dress from a seller on Instagram. It was priced low because the skirt was badly rust-stained, but I knew I could do something with it so I kept it until my oldest daughter grew into this size.

 

The thin cotton had leaked the rust stains through, so it was stained both front and back, and the buttons had disintegrated. But all the stains were on the lower 2/3rds of the skirt, so the bodice (which is where all the cute detail was) was untouched.

 

It was a simple matter to trim off the skirt a few inches down, and using that to measure, cut a length of contrast fabric to replace it with.

 

Of course the shoulder button replacement was super easy - so here it is with a fresh life, just in time for the 4th of July festivities!

 

She calls it her "parade dress", and loves it - though I couldn't get her to smile for these pictures. :-) 

 

I like it also as an example of how versatile a basic pattern is, as a background canvas for creative trimming. 

 

Here's an actual smile!

 

We are having a low-key 4th today, but the children got to jump in a bouncy house and gathered up their long-awaited buckets of candy from the parade, so they are happy. 

Happy Independence Day!

 

"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

...There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

-Patrick Henry, 1775

1950s Gray Floral Blouse

I splurged on this lovely piece of vintage cotton from https://makethislook.com during the launch of their new website. It was just a perfect length for a blouse, and I loved the larger scattered print and the unusual combo of gray & yellow colors together.

 

 

Instead of stashing it on my shelf when it arrived, I cut into it right away.

 

I wanted something simple to let the print have center stage, so I chose a 1950s blouse overblouse pattern that had a wide wing collar and raglan cap sleeves.

 

It had a front seam, though, so I did a simple alteration to make it open down the front instead. 

 

I made it in one day; definitely nice to have a quick and easy pattern like this. I had to alter it somewhat after the initial try on, and tweaked it again after taking these photos. But I just love the fabric!

 

It's a cool and comfortable summer blouse that can work well for casual too. Here I paired it with a navy pencil skirt from a 1950s pattern, and a new to me 1950s hat I got recently. 

 

Isn't that polka dot veil the cutest?

 

I can't splurge on vintage fabric very often, but I'm glad I got this one - and also enjoy supporting a new small business.

1950s Teal House Dress

I have been on a sewing spree lately, cranking out lots of quilts and garments, with multiple projects on the go at once, and a couple dozen clamoring to be next on the list. My latest finish was this dress made from a mail order 1950s pattern.

 

It was a bit more of an adventure than usual because when I went to cut it out, I found that the front bodice piece was missing. I ended up using the back piece as the front piece too, but had to rip it apart after the first trial and redo some things before it fit reasonably well.

 

This pattern reminded me of my yellow dress made a few years back, but without such a slim skirt - definitely more flattering for right now post baby 3. I really like it, but don't know if I'll ever cobble it together again since I know now the bodice piece is missing.

 

I think a gathered yoke is so flattering!

 

I top stitched it with a narrow zigzag to add a little extra interest. (Well, to be completely honest, I topstitched it with a narrow zigzag because I didn't want to change my thread color, so decided it was easier to look like a design choice instead of laziness. :-)

 

The fabric is a quilting cotton basic in a pattern now discontinued from Riley Blake Designs. But there are a lot of this type of print as a quilting basic by various fabric companies, and it really is a good fit for vintage sewing. The random scattered lines are very reminiscent of some vintage fabric I've seen. Another example of how, if you train your eye, you can find possibilities in modern fabric.

 

I also knew it would look nice with white cuffs, but the wing cuffs on the pattern are not my favorite to make, and certainly not practical for a wash-and-wear dress, often with sleeves crammed into a sweater. So I opted for a simple white band, so I still had my white sleeve trim. 

 

The raglan sleeves are very comfortable and not restricting at all.

 

The neck turned out too low, and also sitting a bit wide. Rather than tear it all apart, I tried something new - adding a tab detail at the neck, to help pull it together a little, while adding more coverage. It's sewn to the dress on one side, and snapped on the other. I think it works reasonably well. 

With all my seamstress experience, I still have not figured out the right way to do this type of skirt closure. This one is kind of cobbled together. Someday I want to learn how to do it properly from someone who knows how!

 

But regardless of all the adjustments and tweaks, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and love the color & print! I'm happy to cross this one off my list, and head on toward the next one, which I had cut out before this one was done.

 

Easter Dresses 2022

I had a number of options on my to-do list that were good possibilities for Easter, but since we went on an extended family trip and got home just a week before Easter (plus dealing with sickness that week) I opted for the easiest, more low-key option. One that I had a better chance of actually completing before Easter.

 

I had already cut out and started on this dress before we left on our trip, so it was a relatively quick finish. I used the same 1950s pattern used for the gray cherry dress, but left out the collar option this time.

(Yes, the sun was bright, but the hills are GREEN again and I'm so excited to take outside photos again!)

 

I made a few tweaks, including doing a wide sleeve facing so that the wrong side of the fabric isn't visible when I lift my arms, since the sleeve is wide. 

 

I also added a few neck darts to make the neck a better fit in the back. 

 

Otherwise it was quite simple and straightforward. The large floral is from a lovely new quilting line called On the Wind, and I thought this print had a definite 1950s vibe, but also needed a simple pattern. This was a good match, especially since I realized while working on it, that both the fabric and the kimono-type sleeves conspired to give it a slight Oriental influence, which was fun. 

 

Yellow is not my usual color, so I was happy to have such a cheerful addition to my wardrobe. I was surprised how much the coral belt picked up the scattered coral flowers. Again, not my color, but as a touch of accent it works well and gives me more variety.

 

It will be a quick zip-and-go comfy dress for this summer. I brought back a number of fun vintage finds from my vacation, including this lovely midcentury white purse, so of course I had to use it right away.

 

For the girls, I had already saved the 1950s floral dress I made earlier for the oldest's Easter dress. For the baby, I used the same print in another color way (from a fabric line appropriately called Easter Parade), and used my single baby pattern that is smaller than 1 year old. It turned out pretty cute!

 

I had made this one before for my oldest daughter, but this time I added the bow and love it. 

 

To close it, I stitched snaps on and added the buttons just for show, and to cover up where I had sewn the snaps. 

 

They were so cute in their coordinating dresses. We were blessed to have a sunny Easter, since the previous day (and several other days that week) we had awakened to inches of snow. But Sunday was a beautiful day!

 

Now home and mostly caught up from our long vacation, I'm looking forward to getting back to my sewing list. I have some fun things planned.

 

But meanwhile - Happy Easter!

The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom. . . .

It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven.

The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it. ―N. T. Wright