Verity Vintage Studio

A 1930s Christmas Dress

Merry 3rd day of Christmas!

Christmas is far from over at our house on the 27th so it's still quite season-appropriate to post about the dress I made for Christmas Day this year.

 

Last year I made a festive dress that was more dressy and elaborate, and actually wore it the Sunday before Christmas instead of the day of. This year I wanted something more comfortable, for chasing children and getting meals all day, so I opted for a house dress with a lovely 1930s reproduction print.

 

This print is not so obviously Christmassy as many holiday prints...I actually didn't realize it was until after I bought it and saw somewhere that it was once part of a Christmas line. I looked at it closer and realized, Oh, it is red and green! But that gave me hopes that if I accented the green instead of the red, I could potentially wear it for other seasons as well.

 

I needed a pattern that was suitable for the era of the fabric, and also one that had some contrast, because I was trying to squeeze out a dress for me and my baby girl from just 3 yards. Thankfully, the 1930s abounds with contrast detail. I settled on a pattern with contrast yoke and half of a sash; that plus cutting the sleeves from the infant dress out of contrast, was enough to squeeze the rest of the pattern pieces onto my length. But it was close! No room for error here.

 

I would have liked to match the medium green in the print, but was working with my stash like a good little seamstress, and didn't have anything the right color. So I pulled out my dark green cotton pique for the contrast.

 

(Incidentally, I find that dresses often look less homemade when you use something textured as a contrast, instead of another color of quilting cotton. Something like corduroy, velvet, embroidered eyelet, linen, or in this case, pique, is often a better choice that really upscales your finished garment. So there's your sewing tip of the day.)

Also incidentally, I realized this is my 3rd project in a row that features a contrast yoke! Funny how that accidentally happens...I often tend to sew in groups, it seems - whether era, color, or some other factor like yokes in this case.

 

This was a pretty basic pattern with a few cute details. I loved the little points on the yoke. I didn't feel like switching out my thread - and also had none the right color - for top stitching the dark green, so I left my light thread on and made it look purposeful by using a decorative stitch. I haven't used this stitch before, but I really like it. It looks a bit like tiny feathers and adds just a touch of trim to the bodice.

 

The sash in half a contrast is something I'd never tried before, but it was sketched in on the pattern picture, and I decided to try it. I do like how it looks. Definitely something unusual, but it actually works. I love how creative fashion was - another reason to love vintage style.

 

I tied in the green with bands on the sleeves, but used white buttons - cute vintage ones thrifted for just 50 cents at my favorite thrift store back east. I think overall it does look Christmassy, but not so much that I will mind wearing it at other times. Just what I had hoped.

 

Of course, paired with vintage holiday jewelry and my red Marilyns from Royal Vintage Shoes, dressed up with vintage bow shoe clips, it does pull out the Christmas theme. It was so bright outside I could hardly keep my eyes open, but with the busy madhouse here on Christmas, it's lucky I had time to snap pictures at all! :-)

 

I also made a matching infant dress for my baby girl. I messed up the closure on the inside, but thankfully since it was on the inside it doesn't really matter. I was really happy how it turned out overall.

 

Our first matching mother-daughter outfits!

 

I made it big enough that she should be able to wear it for a while. Green is such a good color for her!

 

Thankfully they were both easy and quick projects, because though I left myself a week before Christmas to stitch them, with all the other Christmas baking and events, a serger that stopped working, as well as a crochet deadline rapidly approaching, I began to wonder if I would have time after all. But once I could block out a few hours during children's nap times, I was able to get most of the major construction done - a weight off my mind. I did finish up just two days before Christmas, but without too much stress involved.

 

I'd had this pattern for a long time and it never got pushed to the top of my queue, but I'm happy I found a good match for it. The dress was festive, comfy, and fun to wear on a busy family Christmas Day with all its food prep, eating and drinking, games, dishwashing, baby nursing, and curling up for Shop Around the Corner. Yet I expect to get more wear out of it than just one season a year.

 

Besides, it's so nice to find a suitable use for this adorable 1930s print!

1930s Purple Wool Jacket

During the summer I thrifted a piece of gray faux fur that I really liked - I'm picky about faux fur, but this one felt quite realistic instead of like plastic fuzz, and was a low, textured pile in a tonal color - both of which I loved. It's probably quite expensive to buy by the yard, but I only paid a few dollars for a pretty large piece. I knew I would have to use it for some contrast in winter outerwear, so here is the first project that features it. 

 

The jacket was actually a 1940s pattern, but by the time I was finished with it, it looks more 1930s to me - though I will use it for both eras, I'm sure. 

I used 2 small pieces of vintage wool I'd thrifted some time ago, which used together was just the right size for making a jacket, so it was a nice stash busting project. I really like the weave and color of the fabric, but it is pretty heavy, so it makes the jacket feel and look a little bulkier than I prefer. At least with outerwear, such things don't matter as much.

 

This was my very first time to work with faux fur. It sure makes a mess when you cut it! But it wasn't actually that hard to work with, which was a pleasant surprise. I cut the yoke pieces out of the fur, and did self drafted decorative sleeve caps.

 

I'd intended to just do a band of fur across the top of the sleeve to line up with the yoke, but at some point in the process, I decided that the sleeves needed more than just sleeve caps across the top, so I added dramatic points, and really love how 1930s they look. 

 

To do the sleeves, I first cut the entire sleeve pieces out of wool, then stitched a piece of fur directly to the sleeve, right sides together. Once I flipped the fur up towards the sleeve head, I could trim it down to match the sleeve head easily. Because of the deep pile, faux fur hides a lot of seam mistakes and is easier to fudge a little when matching lines. The sleeve caps are actually 2 pieces, yet you can't really see the seam at all, even under close inspection. 

 

I recently got these gorgeous vintage coat buttons of the perfect shade of gray at a steal, but there were just 3 of them. I had nothing else that would work so well. But I also didn't want to do giant buttonholes in that raveley wool, (and have been too lazy to get around to learning bound buttonholes...) so I ended up sewing the buttons on just for decoration. The jacket actually shuts with hooks and eyes, and snaps.

 

Again, my stash dictated my closure as well, which ended up being more creative than originally intended. I planned on using big snaps like you see on coats, but didn't have any. Instead of spending more money and ordering some (and having to wait to finish the project until they arrived) I used what I did have on hand. I only had 2 large hooks and eyes, so those I put at the most stressed places - at the bust and at the waist. Between those, I used smaller snaps, with a small hook and eye in the fur to keep the neckline in place.

 

There is no way the smaller snaps would hold the jacket shut on their own, but the hooks and eyes take most of the strain, and the snaps do their job of keeping the edges in place quite nicely. 

 

I did not line it, but I did interline the sleeves with some satin, so I would not have the itchy wool next to my bare arms and could slip sleeves in more easily, since this is to be worn over dresses and not as a suit jacket. It's still quite warm, even without lining, and I like light coats for long car rides (of which there are plenty, when you live out in the back country like I do).

 

The short length makes it not exactly ideal for skirts and blouses, but it will work well to wear over dresses, which is what I had intended it for. It didn't quite turn out as I had envisioned, but I'm reasonably happy with it - and quite happy with the fur part, which is all my own addition to the original pattern. Not every project is a resounding success, and that's ok.

 

The beret I cobbled together at the last minute so I could coordinate with the jacket. Again, the faux fur hides a lot of mistakes; but I have a good idea of how to better it another time. 

 

I wanted to get pictures of it in the snow, but after our Thanksgiving snowfall we haven't seen much snow so far, so these photos will have to do. 

 

And I have to put in a good word for my new Aspen boots from Royal Vintage Shoes. I didn't think I would wear their boots, though they certainly were cute, but when they came out with a brown and white combo it was too cute for me to resist, so I pre-ordered them this fall to try. I knew from my first wearing that I would definitely not be returning them, and they would be an absolute favorite for winter.

 

They are warm, stylish yet comfortable for long periods of time on your feet, and while they are definitely more weather/snow protection than regular shoes, they are lightweight enough you could even dance in them if you so desire! Absolutely ideal for shopping trips in messy weather, or even church if it's snowy. I am definitely sold.

 

I really have transitioned to winter sewing now, after working with cottons much of the time recently. Wool and fur are about as wintry as you can get, and I have some plans for some of the other cool-weather fabrics in my stash, though I will still sprinkle in some cotton here and there. Speaking of which, I must get back to working on my Christmas dress...because Christmas is next week already! 

A 1940s Color Block Thanksgiving Dress

This 1930s reproduction cotton is long out of print and hard to find, but I loved it so much I tracked down a few yards. The trouble is...it's orange! I knew if it was going to work for me, it would have to majorly feature another color close to my face. So I looked through my pattern stash for patterns that would work with that element in mind.

 

I finally settled on an early 1940s pattern that I've had for years, and never got around to making before. I hadn't even noticed until I took a closer look that adorable belt detail, and that instead of a shaped yoke, the color triangles on the top are actually pocket flaps. Definitely time to pull it out and give it life. With the fall-ish color scheme, I decided it would be a good Thanksgiving Day dress.

 

I couldn't match the blue in the print exactly, but got fairly close. I forgot what I was doing and cut the sleeves out of the orange print first, and had to recut them in the blue. Otherwise it was pretty straightforward.

The bodice has princess seams, so you sew those first and then add the yoke. Because of the strong difference in colors, I had to switch out my thread several times - even left half the facing unsewn for a while until I had that color of thread back on the machine. So I didn't follow the pattern steps exactly. 

 

My first try-on showed that the skirt was too tight around the hips, so I let out some of those seams, and also had to take off the basted skirt and trim the bodice shorter (which is pretty standard procedure for me...) By this time it was the day before Thanksgiving, and though I usually finish things well ahead of my mental deadlines, for this one I dawdled too much and ended up having to stay up late the night before, despite being tired, to finish up the last few things. I was too tired to try on and press it that night, so it was going to be how it was going to be!

Thankfully I had no major issues. The fit isn't quite perfect, but overall I am happy with it.

 

I rarely take time to make matching belts, but this one was too cute not too. It's could be buckled, or alternatively buttoned shut with a button at each point, but I decided to leave it more adjustable (you know, as waistlines come and go...) and just close it with a hook and eye under the tip instead. 

Nobody needs to know that because of how short on time I was, it actually closes with a safety pin instead, for now! :-) 

 

Instead of buttoning this all the way up like is shown, I folded down the mandarin collar. My neck is too short to work with most stand-up collars, and this just looked better. Plus it meant less buttonholes and buttons to sew on. 

 

I used a few buttons from my stash - the amount was determined by how many I had, that were the right color. I was debating between using 3 or 4, but when I had 3 of something that matched, that's what I went with. Being in a hurry, as I already mentioned.

 

I almost forgot about the pockets! I realized the pieces were still lying there after the dress was almost finished, and almost decided to omit them. I'm glad I didn't, because they are some of the cutest details. I don't like pockets over the bust area, however, so I ended up stitching them down flat so they aren't actually pockets - more like fancy trimming. 

 

They were really fun though...just squares faced with the opposite color, then arranged so that one point falls down and shows the facing. Because the facing is the same color as the yoke, it makes it look like an elaborate double point, but it's really super easy!

 

The sleeves were darted - my favorite way to do sleeves - and the skirt had some simple gores. Oh, the back skirt piece was missing, so I had to substitute one from a similar pattern...but so often these patterns from the same era are so similar it's not hard to substitute without any other alterations, and doesn't change the finished look materially at all.

 

I like how the belt mirrors the points on the bodice AND ties in the blue yoke in such a perfect way. 

 

So despite the few hiccups in the process, I did have a new dress to wear for Thanksgiving, and felt very festive in it all day. Though that may have been the result of our first snow of the year, so we had a white Thanksgiving. A background of autumn leaves would have matched this dress better, but we were one day too late for that. Incidentally, sandals with leather soles are NOT the best footgear to wear in the snow. :-)

 

This is probably the closest I'll ever get to wearing orange, so I'm hoping my little fashion trick worked out well enough that I'll enjoy wearing the dress once warm weather comes again. Next I'm putting away the cottons and doing something fun for winter, because it is definitely here.