Verity Vintage Studio

The Polka Dot Project - 1940s Skirt

Recently I have become enamored with polka dots...and I realized I had a deficit of that charming, oh-so-vintage print in my wardrobe! So I promptly bought a variety of polka dot fabric, and am starting what I call the Polka Dot Project - to add polka dots to my closet. Throughout the summer you'll see more of them - I'm almost finished with my second one already. But the first installment was this 1940s skirt along with a new blouse. 

 

I was going for a very simple, schoolgirl look for this outfit. 

 

The skirt was made with 2 yards of an Ebay fabric - I don't know what kind it is, but it's fairly heavy and drapey - perhaps even a home decor fabric - with my favorite size of polka dots scattered on it. I don't like huge ones usually - 1/4 in. or smaller is my preference.

 

It was quite easy to make and a pleasure for a quick sew - I cut it out and had it sewn in a few hours. The fun detail is the top-stitched pleats on the front that gives it more fullness.

 

I did French seams and when I sewed my waistband down I used an invisible stitch, so it looks almost as nice on the inside as it down on the outside! I forgot to take a photo of it, so you'll have to take my word for it. :-) But it is so satisfying to take the extra time for those little details.

 

This was the pattern I used - I have a complete matching suit in mind for this fall, so this was also the trial of the skirt since it had to be sized up 2 in. (It turned out a perfect fit, which made me happy.)

 

I always try to find 1940s skirt patterns that are a little wider than the common silhouette, and it's certainly possible, despite the fabric rationing of that time. 

 

The blouse was a good match, though I remain undecided if it is a pale blue, a bluish gray, or a grayish blue! It also was quite simple but with some fun little details. 

 

It also looks great untucked!

 

 

I made View A of this pattern.

 

I had to make up for the boring background by experimenting with photo editing! Black & white?

Antique?

 

Or maybe just a more normal coloring. :-)

 

Polka dots figure prominently in vintage fashion photos and advertisements, and one thing I love about them is how versatile they are. You will see them from the 1930s-1950s in everything from home decor to aprons, from cotton house dresses to Dior's taffeta formal evening gowns. Sometimes (though I don't know if I'll be brave enough to try it) they are combined by a daring designer in the same dress as two different fabrics. They can stand out alone, or be used as a background on floral fabric. By themselves, they are not too busy a print so often they can be combined with other prints instead of just solids. I'm looking forward to more sewing with this print and really excited about my current polka dot project which you'll see soon!

Item of the Week - Toddler's Crochet Pinafore

This adorable crocheted pinafore, size 16 mo., is Item of the Week in my Etsy Shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $20.

(And of course since the model, showing where the chickens live, is my baby niece when she was 1, I have to share more than one picture! :-)

 

 

Why I Love Thrift Stores - The Novelty Border Print Skirt

After reading Joanna's posts about her love of vintage novelty print 1950s skirts, I started keeping my eye out for them too. This one is not vintage, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was close enough!

 

It's poofy and looks like a circle skirt, even just when worn with a tiered cotton slip instead of a crinoline, the right length, and the wide, colorful border is a little abstract...but in the 1950s that works.

 

This one was a modern skirt, however, and way too big for me, so I had to take in the skirt yoke in pleats. That meant I wanted to cover up the skirt band, and after some thinking of what to pair with the skirt, I remembered I had the perfect 1950s style just-past-the-hips pullover made several years ago from this free pattern, in a coral the exact shade of the coral in the skirt design!

 

It was the perfect pairing.

 

The sweater covers my altered waist band, and the V neck, elbow raglan sleeves, and all the details are just perfect. I'm so glad to find something it goes with so well! Worn over a white collared blouse, it tied right in with the skirt, though I also think a black lace blouse would work with the skirt for more of a formal look instead of the springish color scheme I was going for here.

 

I just love modern finds which are easily laundered and more likely to fit me, that are as good as reproductions. And when it costs practically nothing, that's even better!

Item of the Week - Lot of 3 Vintage Patterns

Need to add to your vintage pattern stash at a great value? This lot of 3 vintage patterns from the 1950s and 1960s are Item of the Week in my Etsy shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $13.

Green Dress and Kooky Hat

Recently while stopping at the same vintage clothing shop where I got my wide-brimmed brown hat worn in the Traveling Dress post, I found another hat I had to add to my collection (especially, or perhaps only, because it was 60% off!) 

 

I have a feeling it was quite a pricey hat in its day...probably the late 1940s during the New Look era. Come to think of it, it would have been quite a pricey hat in this day, if it hadn't been on sale!

 

But it's just so...interesting! I call it my Kooky Hat. The unusual shape, and the curled ends, and that unexpected tassel!

 

The lady I bought it from said it always reminded her of George Washington, and his curled wig!

 

After debating over it, I finally decided to get it and wore it to church a few weeks ago, pairing it with the dress I had made for Palm Sunday this year. I love the dress and have worn it a few times but until now it hadn't made it to the blog.

 

It's from a 1950's pattern. The skirt has a yoke and cute little pleats in the front. I pressed them, since they appeared to be pressed on the pattern illustration, though there were no instructions for doing so.

 

The pleat detail is also incorporated into the yoke on the bodice.

It was a bit of a learning curve, doing the pleats that way, but it all went smoothly. I love the feminine detail they add to the bodice.

 

I like 3/4 sleeves so that was my first choice with this dress, also because the fabric was a color I can wear from spring to fall. It fits me well and the solid-tonal cotton blend fabric is comfortable, so I was very happy with it overall.

 

And my new hat was a good color to complement the green.

 

I debated taking off the tassel, and I still could while leaving it intact in case I wish to put it back, but decided that the tassel was part of the unexpected element about the hat which made my buy it, so I let it on. What do you think? Tassel or no tassel?

Item of the Week - Vintage Book

This vintage novel is half price in my Etsy shop, discounted for 1 week only - slashed from $6.

May Project Journal and Tutorial - Partial Shoe Make-Over with Leather Paints

A while ago I posted a tutorial on using leather paints to refashion a pair of leather shoes from plain to special. But sometimes an entire shoe doesn't need to be repainted, yet needs just a bit of upscale. Or you just feel like having fun!

Like these Hush Puppy mary janes...I love the wingtip detail. But I didn't need a plain brown pair of sandals, so I decided to see what I could do to make them more interesting.

 

I debated over what to do...thought about doing them colorful with little flowers, but I'm not good at freestyle painting and besides, these already had a design on the toe. Then I decided they lent themselves to a two tone shoe, with the toe and heel cap another color.

  

 

Meanwhile I also had this pair of black heels – cute knot detail on the toe, but I wasn't wearing them because I have some black classic pumps I prefer. I thought of selling them, but when I realized they were leather I decided to have some fun instead and draw attention to that toe detail by painting just the knot.

 

So for these two projects I used the same tools as my others – a rag, the Angelus deglazer, Angelus leather paints, and the satin finish.

It's easy! 

First you have to strip the factory finish from the parts of the shoe you want to paint. This means you need to rub them with the deglazer, to prepare a base for the paints. But you do not want to get the deglazer on the parts of the shoe you are not painting, so be super careful.

A little of the finish color will come off on the rag - that's ok. You should see a difference in both texture and finish after a few seconds of rubbing. It's hard to see in the photo, but the rubbed areas have less shine, and feel different – not so smooth, more like unfinished hide.

 

For the knot part, I had to rub as well as I could in the wrinkles.

 

Then you start painting. For the brown pair, the wingtip detail made it easy since it was raised above the rest of the shoe and you just have to be careful along the edge.

 

 

But the knot part of the black pair I could lift the edge of enough to slide scraps of paper underneath, which meant I didn't have to worry about getting paint on the shoe. The other possibility would be to hold a piece of paper right against the edge as you paint above it.

 

 

Then you just start painting. If you are doing more than just one color, do the base color first - all coats necessary. I only needed 2 on the brown pair. It took more like 4 coats for the black pair since light on dark always takes more coats.

 

Then you can do the detail. This paint dries quickly. By the time the one shoe is done, the other is dry, so you can pretty much keep painting until you're done.

If you get a little of the contrasting color on the shoe, don't panic - it's easy to touch up.

 

The wingtip design I did with a toothpick, filling the holes with tiny drops of paint. And after the white was dry, I touched up the places it had run onto the brown by carefully edging a drop of brown paint over the trouble spot.

 

The back part was more of the same, without the toothpick. It was much easier to use dark paint against a dark sole because I could overlap the sole with the paint and it wasn't visible!

 

First shoe done. Now the unpainted one looks kind of...boring!

 

As for the black pair, when they were quite dry I pulled the paper out, tugging it down and out so it didn't tear the paint along the edge. 

 

Again, from blah to unique!

 

I'm still on a search for the perfect pair of black and white (or navy and white, or red and white) 1940s spectator heels, but until then, these will do. 

 

Just make sure when you're doing a wrinkled detail like this knot that you get your brush in all the wrinkles and crevices. If you get a little paint on the sole, try scraping it off with your fingernail right away. Usually it will scrape off of rubber or even a leather-edged sole if you get it right away. Fabric or jute would not be so easy.

 

Then I repeated the steps on the second brown shoe, and the pair was complete.

 

I let both pairs sit overnight to completely dry before rubbing the satin finisher on with another rag. And they're ready to wear!

Hopefully this will inspire you not to throw out your boring pairs of shoes, but instead to re-imagine them! Believe me, it's addicting. You start looking for leather shoes you can paint. Did you say I need a pair of pale pink heels? You're right, I do!

 

Till next month,

~Kristen - Verity Vintage Studio

 

Look for my new tutorials posted sometime during the first full week of every month. Hairstyles, crafts, repurposing, project journals, do-it-yourself vintage or alterations, etc.

Item of the Week - Teal Cotton Tam

This fun slouchy tam, perfect for spring with a vintage button cluster ornament, is Item of the Week, half price for one week only in my Etsy shop - slashed from $10.