Verity Vintage Studio

Christmas Party Dress - 1950s Cocktail

This was a somewhat last minute project, mostly because I procrastinated in buying the vibrant taffeta for the skirt. We were planning to attend a Christmas part mid-December, and I had nothing formal to wear that I could also nurse in. 

 

But this was one of those dresses that turn out quite a bit different than the original idea. I wanted to do a combination of the bodice of this pattern with a simple flared skirt with as few seams as possible. My idea was to do the bodice in black and outline the darts with black beads - something simple but with some handwork to make it special.

 

Well, the black crepe back satin I purchased online was not nearly the quality of what I had used for my bridesmaids dresses a while ago - it was thin and limp and gauzy. I knew it wouldn't work well as a stand-alone fabric, but I had no time to get anything else. So after looking through my stash and finding I had no other formal fabric to pair with the steel blue taffeta I had bought for the skirt, I decided to alter my original idea and simply do a 2 layer bodice to give it more body. The gold and black lace worked perfectly to hide the cheap satin, and I was even able to use the decorative edge for the sleeves. However, the busy lace really hides the radiating darts, especially in the photos, which is a bummer. It's a fun bodice - all the shaping is made around the neck.

 

This is one of the few times I've overlined a bodice and it worked out just fine, after I had hand basted the pieces together so I could sew them as one - they were super slippery and hand basting kept the layers together until after they were sewn.

 

When it came to the skirt, I decided at the last minute to use the skirt from this pattern, thinking that the darts would mirror the ones in the bodice. So far, so good. But I forgot to take into account that I've gone up a dress size since the pregnancy, and with all the darts in place, the skirt was way too small! So I only ended up with only 2 darts on each side of the front. 

 

The funny thing is that I had sewn the front darts before I realized I wouldn't fit in it with all the darts in place, and I didn't want to take them all out since taffeta really shows stitch lines. I studied my problem for a while before realizing that the front and back gores were exactly the same shape, so I switched the front to the back and used the back gores for the front, only doing 2 of the 4 darts pictured. Saved!

 

The sash was just a piece of the lace cut crosswise so I had a decorative edge on the ends. I pinned it and added a small cluster of vintage millinery flowers.

 

The dress opens with a front zipper, so I wore a brooch to cover the zipper tab. 

 

There was plenty of poofy skirt since the taffeta stands out on its own, and I wore it over a crinoline. 

 

The whole thing was done in just a few days since I had waited until the last minute to make it. There were plenty of shortcuts taken, I'm afraid. The only hand work was tacking down the facing and stitching the hem.

I paired it with some repro heels from Miss L Fire, and a 1950s hat I decorated with millinery flowers to match my sash.

 

But though it turned out different than my mind's picture and isn't quite as special-handwork-decorated as I had wanted, I am fairly satisfied. It's holiday appropriate with the black, teal, and gold sparkle, but I can wear it for other occasions as well. And probably the quickest-sewn formal dress anywhere around!

And it's Christmas!

The Glamorous 1940s Red Coat

This project wasn't on my to do list that I posted a while ago, but it should have been. I had this piece of red corduroy slated for a 1940s coat for a long time. It originally was going to be made up using a double-breasted coat pattern, and I actually got as far as getting ready to cut it out when I discovered that pattern was missing some significant pieces, so it was shelved again. Fast forward several years, moving across country and to several different houses with my fabric stash...

 

Then it suddenly got new life and inspiration a month or so ago when I bought this set of furs on Etsy - I was so tickled to find them. They were a really good price, and despite their edge wear, in quite decent condition. I knew they would be perfect paired with the red corduroy for a 1930s/1940s coat.

 

I ended up pulling my redingote pattern back out, since I had successfully made it up lined for winter in my brown and white wool coat years ago. I had no other pattern that would suit the furs so well, so decided to stick with the familiar, only this time make it overlap farther and add more buttons.

 

I think it looks way more impressive than is warranted by how fast and simple it was. This may have been my speediest project to date since the baby arrived. I whipped together the outer shell and half of the lining in one day. Another day I finished the lining and put it together with the facing, then all I had to do was hemming, buttons and buttonholes, and tack on the furs.

 

I forgot that for my first version I had cut the entire front panel out of the wool and used that as my facing. This time I had already cut the facing piece out of the corduroy and didn't have enough for a 2nd front panel anyway, so I just put the facing on top of the lining.

I used some cheery coordinating flannel for the lining. It does catch a bit on my clothes when worn, but it is also cozier than other lining choices, and since the corduroy isn't super heavy anyway, together they make the coat decently warm.

The princess lines are simple - the only detail is the way the front panels are cut, and I added a bit of top stitching. But that allows the furs to really take center stage.

 

I wanted a coat that could cross over 2 decades, and I think it does. The furs have a unique cut that could date them 1930s, and the coat is classic lines that work for both decades. So cheery and Christmassy in the snow! I was tickled with the way these photos turned out.

 

Here I'm styling it 1940s with vintage heels and a brown wool tilt hat.

 

I had originally planned to put 3 buttons on it, but when I tried it on I thought I couldn't get the top one shut - the coat is cut in a deep V anyway, and I was afraid I had made it a tad too small to shut it up higher. However, after wearing it for one weekend I found I can fit in it after all and think I will add that 3rd button, both to make it more symmetrical and also to keep it shut all the way up to the furs. 

 

I can wear the neck fur keyhole style here, even or uneven, or let them lay open on the front of the coat along the V neck for more of a 1930s look. (I'm bummed that I forgot to photograph it that way during the photo shoot!) The cuffs have the most wear, but again, I'm not complaining. I'm picky about how my furs feel, and these are lovely.

 

I'm so glad I hung on to that length of corduroy all these years, and even more glad that now I can actually get some wear out of it! I've wanted a cherry red coat for a long time, sighing over the beautiful vintage ones on Pinterest that cost hundreds of dollars  - and now have a pretty decent facsimile for less than $30 - almost all of that cost just in the furs, which of course I can always remove if I want to wear them on another coat or make this one plain.

 

I didn't think I'd get it done before the holidays, with everything else going on and my holiday sewing queue already lined up, but I'm glad I did squeeze it in. It's perfect to wear this time of year, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of it this winter.

Makes me feel like a wintertime princess!

Item of the Week - Broomstick Lace Vest Pattern

This crocheted broomstick lace vest pattern (tutorial for the broomstick lace included) is Item of the Week in my Etsy shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $5 per download.

1950s Plaid Housedress

My 2nd project from my to do list was made quite a while ago now but I haven't been able to take photos before now. Incidentally, my mother's new 1950s kitchen full of vintage furniture makes a fun backdrop for photographing house dresses!

 

Especially the Maytag gas range from 1954. Yes, it does work, and they do actually cook on it! I'm so jealous. :-)

 

This particular dress was a bit more involved than I would have anticipated from how simple the pattern looked. First of all, it turned out to not be a princess style dress, but instead each bodice and skirt piece were separate, which meant all those vertical lines to match at the waist seam. I wasn't about to be cheated out of a princess style dress, so I pieced the top and bottom pieces to each other and then sewed them vertically anyway. That would make the size adjusting easier if I needed to take in some seams, and I knew the waist line would be covered by a belt. Another time I would just overlap the pieces when cutting it out to make a true princess style dress.

 

Then there was the fit issue...this was only my 2nd project since the baby and I was still discovering my new size. This dress initially turned out way too big. I could fix the fit by taking in the seams, but the shoulder seams were way down my arm. In trying to fix that problem, I went too far the other way and now the seams are too high on my shoulders, so they still don't fit right. Oh well...it's not that big of a deal for an everyday dress, and now I know for next time.

 

Plus the waist was way too high. I mean way too high. Usually I take a pinch out of the bodice pieces when cutting them out, but this time I must have gotten too much, or it was already a shorter waisted pattern than most. The waist turned out so high that the only way I could disguise it and make a waist at the proper place was to wear a wide belt - not period correct. It bugs me.

 

The fabric is a rayon/polyester suiting and it must be mostly polyester, judging by the synthetic feel. (I've had it in my stash for a long time - I've learned a lot about buying fabric online since then!) Despite being brand new, it has little thread pulls here and there. But it is washable and doesn't wrinkle - a big plus for an everyday dress. 

And since I had so much trouble with the fit of the dress, it's a good thing I didn't use a fabric I really, really liked anyway.

So this project is more of a wearable muslin than anticipated.

 

But despite all these mishaps, overall it did turn out looking much like I had envisioned it. The blue cotton perfectly matches the blue lines in the plaid, and I love the covered buttons and the pocket detail.

I had actually forgotten about the pocket flaps when I was putting it together (probably because I was in a hurry, snatching a few minutes to sew while the baby napped) and had the side front seams finished and serged when I realized I had missed the flaps. I debated just omitting them, but decided that they were the only plaid play and detail the dress had, so I took the time to carefully rip out that section of seam and insert the flaps before re stitching it.

 

I've found it is a hard fabric to coordinate with. I finally picked navy blue, since there is blue in the fabric, but it still doesn't really seem to match. I can't decide what would. Ivory would probably be better, but not quite autumn appropriate.

 

Altogether, this project was a Lessons Learned project, which is good to have every so often to remind me to keep grounded on the basics. And while it's not the prettiest construction job I've done, this dress does end up getting used, which was the point after all.

 

Coming soon I have some more elaborate projects to share that were not on my sewing list, but managed to slip into the queue anyway!

Item of the Week + New Listings for the Holidays

These lovely red and white earrings from the 1960s are Item of the Week in my Etsy shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $6.

 

And there's till time to shop for the holidays! I have some brand new jewelry in my shop, some of it holiday themed. I have a whimsical stocking stuffer assortment of earrings at affordable prices...

 

...and a growing collection of vintage button pieces. Hop on over to the shop and browse a while!