Verity Vintage Studio

2020 Sewing Roundup

As always, I like to do a little roundup and recap of my sewing adventures at the end of the year before I start documenting the next year's projects. I like seeing them in one place so I can see repetitions and spot gaps, tracking my progress and maybe see what I need or want to fill in during the next year's sewing. 

 

This year I had a few prolific spurts of sewing when I got a lot done in a short amount of time, and other sections of time when I did little to none. As usual, cotton prints figured largely – as well as a number of new patterns from various eras - some of which I made more than once because I liked them so much.

1940s bark cloth blouse

1950s slim house dress

pink and gray 1950s dress

 

Also as usual, blue is a favorite choice. Though I also see a lot of green and gray, and a few other more unusual colors for me mixed in there, like brown and pink.

late '30s green house dress

1940s rayon dress

1950s house dress

 

Most of these are one piece dresses, but I also did a few 2 piece dresses or suits (which are so handy for mixing and matching), and a multi-piece 1930s set.

1930s 3 piece outfit

 

I tried a lot of new patterns, experimenting with more styles that open down the front other than the traditional shirtwaist, but also brushed off a few I had made early in my sewing journey. It was fun to redo them with a fresh look, better fit, and higher quality of construction.

1930s color block rayon dress

1930s navy rayon dress

1940s gray house dress

 

One redo didn't work out so well for me and I ended up passing it along. But still it's a success in a way, since I now know a lot more about this particular pattern and what will work for it.

late '40s suit

 

I also had fun using some vintage fabric out of my stash. Vintage cotton I can use without too much mental stress since it handles much like modern cotton. But this viscose crepe fabric was a 99 cent find for 3 yards at a thrift store, and was so lovely and unusual it made me nervous to cut into it. Thankfully it turned out quite nicely!

1930s green rose viscose dress

 

Some of these dresses are constantly in rotation in my closet. Others are little worn. Some were passed along after the first trial, while some are top favorites, like this umbrella dress – made from an out of print modern fabric line that I tracked down online until I could find enough to make a dress, because I loved it so much. Happily the pattern I chose worked well and turned out with a perfect fit.

late 1940s rainbrella dress

 

I also had a little more creative fun last year with my photography, since I took along a number of new garments to photo at the seashore during our vacation at the Oregon coast. I will definitely do that again and plan out outfits to wear when I will be going to any interesting places that I can use for backdrops. Overall, I am much more pleased with the quality and variety of my photos, and see improvements in my modeling, hairstyles, and editing.

1950s magnolia dress

1940s striped blouse

 

My 2020 sewing was shy on fall-winter garments, since I did no sewing at all after the beginning of October due to suddenly getting slammed with house renovations, moving, a family loss + traveling, and then the holidays - but that also has it's benefits since I can enjoy wearing some of my previously made dresses more often.

1950s Valentine's dress

1940s 2 piece dress

 

I also made my first fancy slip!

 

The year also included some baby dresses for my little girl. 

I do have a few more garments that I got to hand work stage, and another few that are cut out and didn't get sewn. Hopefully those can be crossed off in 2021 - I dislike having so many in progress items lying around. Usually I work through one or two things at a time, but this year several plans had to change due to more pressing things, so now I have a larger WIP pile than I would like.

Of course, this roundup only includes my garment sewing. I was also quite prolific with quilts and quilty projects all year long. Last year one of my goals was to learn patchwork and free-motion quilting, and make a few quilts from start to finish. I certainly have met some of those goals, piecing and making more than a few quilts from start to finish, though I have not yet become accomplished at free-motion quilting.

Yankee Charm Quilt, published in McCall's Quilting

 

With having quilting fabric on hand in small cuts, I also enjoy turning some of those adorable prints into wearable things as well, like this apron, using a 1930s inspired quilting line called Figs & Shirtings.

 

My other sewing goal from last year was to work through my long-time queue of patiently waiting patterns and fabric, working for the fun of it and shopping my own shelves.

I'd say I partially met that goal. Some of these projects certainly were made from old patterns and long-time pairings; some used fabric that has been in my stash so long I don't remember where I got it. I did buy less fabric this year, though went through a couple of seasons of purchasing new fabric – mostly vintage fabric and feedsacks (which I had little of) off of eBay. I even made this one to list in my Etsy shop, out of a vintage feedsack, for 100% wearable authenticity.

 

This coming year I can already tell will be busy. I am almost always juggling more than one quilt design deadline in addition to my steady employment as a crochet designer, stretching my boundaries and learning all sorts of new techniques in the process, have also started designing counted cross stitch patterns as well, AND have an exciting new collaboration coming up (more on that later!) which will bring me back to garment sewing on steroids...so as a result I don't know how much I'll be able to sew from my stash. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a few, because I have lots of lovely fabric, some of it vintage one-of-a-kind, that I would like to bring to life.

Sugar 'n' Spice Pincushion, published in McCall's Quilting

Plaid Cot Quilt, published in British Patchwork & Quilting 

 

Vintage Baking Day cross stitch pattern, available on Etsy.

 

(If you are interested in finding out more about all these subjects, following along with all my many projects plus a glimpse of daily life & homemaking, give me a follow on Instagram @verityvintagestudio.)

New kitchen renovations: Before and After

 

One just-for-fun project I'd love to make in 2021 is a copy of this dress from The Donna Reed Show and I even have vintage wide-striped cotton saved to do it in!

 

But with so many other deadlines and the busyness of life with two toddlers and a new home to work on, self-imposed deadlines will likely be few. So I will just enjoy the ride, and see what gets done! (I do know there will certainly be more quilty projects featured on the blog this coming year.)

I do have a lovely new sewing room to work in, which is such a blessing.

 

Meanwhile, my final garment count for 2020 was 7 1930s outfits, 7 1940s, and 6 1950s. I always enjoy the variety of textures, prints, colors, and silhouettes, even within eras or decades. Rayon, cottons, crepe, satin, seersucker...no wool, flannel, or linen this year, however. I did keep on experimenting with trims and decorative techniques, which I hope to continue. 

1930s bluebird blue dress

1950s gray dot suit

1950s blue raspberry dress

 

I usually try to do this earlier in January, but at least I can move on now to 2021's projects with a clean slate. Hope you enjoyed this roundup of my creative endeavors for the year!

 

 

Catch Up Post: Pink and Gray 1950s Dress

I was going through my projects from 2020 in order to do my annual yearly sewing roundup, when I realized that had never posted photos of this 1950s dress I made last spring. So this is a catch up post to get all my finished projects out there!

 

This was the trial of a new 1950s dress pattern, and there were so many fabric combination possibilities that it was hard to decide. But this pretty pink quilting cotton had been on my to-do stack for a while, and I decided this would be a good fit since I could put another color close to my face. 

 

That other color was the actually the wrong side of the gray cotton jacquard I used for my Palm Sunday outfit. I don't usually mix prints, but once in a while I get adventurous. 

 

The jacquard raveled really easily though, which made it hard to work with while doing the scallops and points on the yoke. As a result, the points aren't as pointy as they should be. Another time I should be able to do a better job if I use a crisper fabric. 

 

I top stitched it with a decorative stitch on my machine, and also top stitched the cuffs to add a bit of trim.

 

Other than fiddling with the scallops, it was a basic make. I did not get the fit perfect - again something I would tweak if I make it again. (And with so many color possibilities, I probably won't be able to resist!)

BUT I did get a fabulous photo prop with the vintage truck that my brother owned at the time. Look at the details! Sun was a little bright, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for fun photos. 

 

This was also the first outing for my now favorite shoes by Rocket Originals. Can't recommend this style highly enough. Comfortable and classy, butter soft suede with adorable toe and strap detail. I've worn them all day when I was on my feet a lot, and they performed better than most heels. You can dance in them too!

 

Despite the imperfect fit, this project turned out nice. I intended it for a house dress, but I like how dressy it can be too, with the right accessories. 

 

Imagine how cute this would be in blue and white gingham with white eyelet for the yoke and sleeves. Pretty sure that's going to be on my list for spring!

I'm always looking for interesting dress patterns that open down the front, and this was a fun variation. Can't believe it took me this long to blog about it!

Quick & Easy Pullover to Cardigan Makeover for Christmas

Due to a crazy fall – deadlines, house renovation and moving, and a family loss – I have not sewn anything since the first week of October. This means I haven't even started on my Fall/Winter sewing list, and the winter is half over. But on the other hand, it also means I have enjoyed getting more wear out of previous makes. And also did more small projects, like turning this pullover into a cardigan.

 

This sweater is a duplicate in ladies' size of one my brother got last Christmas. I liked it so much I tracked down one for me, but when it arrived I wasn't sure if I wanted to try to shorten it to a more flattering length, or turn it into a cardigan.

 

It stayed on my mending/alteration rack for a whole year.

Just before Christmas when I was thinking about what to wear Christmas Day, I remembered this sweater. After some debate, I decided that I would get a lot more wear out of it as a cardigan, so here's how I altered it.

1. I matched the side seams (you can also measure & mark the center) and cut it down the center.

Next, I fused a 1” strip of fusible interfacing to the underside of each cut. I've tried making pullovers into cardigans before, but this is the first time I used fusible interfacing – and it makes a huge difference! It keeps the edges from fraying while you work, and keeps them from stretching out of shape.

 

At this point you could just fold over the front edge and hem it, but this sweater was already a bit small for me and I didn't want to take any extra fabric. So I sewed single fold bias tape to each raw edge, unfolding it all the way out and stitching along the fold line.

 

Next all I had to do was fold it in, tuck down the top and bottom edges, and hand stitch it. Catching just the underside of the knit makes an invisible seam.

 

All done! I could have added buttons and buttonholes at this point, but as I said the sweater was already tight for me, so an open front cardigan was best. I definitely would try the buttonholes for another project though to make it a true button-down cardigan.

 

There are lots of other ways to make pullovers into cardigans, including totally unpicking the seams and cutting it down if it's too large, or adding decorative stitches or trims to the front to hide your seams. This is just the way I did it for this one.

 

And as I anticipated, it gets a lot more wear as a cardigan. Already it's my go-to winter sweater.

 

I just love the vintage styling of the decorative yoke, while at the same time it looks festive for Christmas but not so Christmassy that I can't wear it for the rest of the winter.

 

So there's a quick and easy sweater refashion for the colder months! Next time when thrifting if you see a pretty pullover but you're a cardigan girl, you can go ahead and get it, having the confidence that you can turn it into a winter closet staple.

 

I may have a few other sweaters that need this treatment now that I know how fast and effective it is!