Verity Vintage Studio

1920s Baby Dress in Pastel Plaid

I'm so excited to be joining Poppie Cotton for their project tour featuring the new line, Kaisley Rose!

 

I debated between making a quilty project or a baby dress. The quilty project is still upcoming, but for my turn on the blog lineup I just had to make a baby dress featuring my favorite plaid from this collection. 

 

A friend of my husband had sent me this pattern because she knew I would like it. It's probably the oldest one in my collection - my guess is the 1920s or possibly very early 1930s. And isn't it adorable?

 

I hadn't settled on a pattern for the plaid fabric, but after this one arrived I knew it was the perfect match. 

 

The yoke is supposed to be connected with embroidery stitches to make some lacework between the layers. I decided to simply overlap them instead. 

 

That altered the construction method somewhat, so I ended up mostly just glancing at the instructions and putting it together how it made the most sense to me. And it turned out pretty cute!

 

As you can see from the pattern illustrations, it's intended to hang straight from the yoke in a smock style. But the quilting cotton was stiff enough that it really was too shapeless, so I added an easy tie sash in the same contrast as the yoke. 

 

I love the yoke detail so much! They make the cutest tiny cap sleeves for summer. 

 

I had just barely enough fabric for this - I ended up having to shorten the hem and cut them cross-grain to fit the front and back pieces on. But even still I had a 3" hem, so it looks just fine!

 

My little girl loves her new dress and enjoyed posing in it. It's not quite warm enough yet to wear it out of the house, but it will be ideal for hot weather when it comes!

 

I love some of the other prints from this pretty collection, so you'll see more later - but for now, enjoy the lineup of lovely projects made by other bloggers using this fabric. 

 

Monday, April 12	http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday, April 14	www.blueberryquiltco.com
Friday, April 16	[email protected]
Monday, April 19	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/
Wednesday, April 21	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Friday, April 23	http://www.linenbouquet.com
Monday, April 26	https://thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/
Wednesday, April 28	http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/
Friday, April 30	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/

Mother & Daughter Duo in Spring Pastels

You may remember the lovely pastel fabric line Rose & Violet's Garden from Riley Blake Designs that I posted about a while back. I featured it in a quilted dresser scarf. But I had to get some of my favorite prints in yardage too, and here's what I did with those!

 

For my baby girl I made a 1930s dress pattern. It features the common baby fashion of the era - short, a straight front, and little details focusing on the neck and sleeve area.

 

I chose to do the yoke and sleeves in a contrasting rose toile from the fabric line. With something this small, you can easily squeeze it out of a quilting 1/4" yard cut or fat quarter. 

 

The back has most of the details, with those adorable tucks and a sash. 

 

It was a super quick make and I really love how cute she is in it. 

 

For myself, I used another color way of the same print and did a late 1940s blouse. 

 

I wanted to go very feminine to fit with the fabric style, but not too fluffy. This pattern with its tucked yoke and tiny ruffles was perfect. 

 

I made the ruffles even smaller than called for, and I think they are perfect. I used some ivory rose toile from the fabric line so it would stand out. 

 

The contrast also dresses up the sleeves since I thought they needed a bit of trimming too. 

 

Tiny pink glass buttons were the perfect finishing touch.

 

It's a tuck in style, so it slips over the head. But it still has some tucks shaping it, so it doesn't pull out as easily when I reach for something. 

(I had a hard time finding a skirt to wear with it though, so clearly I need to make some pastel skirts for spring!)

 

I love how we match without being completely matchy-matchy. And how spring-like these outfits are. They would have been my backup plan for Easter if I hadn't had time to make my Easter dress.

 

I have one more project planned with what's left of this fabric, so I'm sure you'll see it again. But it's so lovely, it's a pleasure to sew with! I usually gravitate toward bright vintage colors, but am rediscovering a love for pastels.

 

Happy spring sewing!

 

    Photos by either myself or Elsie's Adventuring.

Anne of Green Gables Bookmark - Tutorial

 

I am a huge fan of the Anne of Green Gables books. I don't remember how early I read them...I've always grown up with them. I consider the last book, Rilla of Ingleside, to be a quite unique and special must read - it can be read as a standalone book if desired, and certainly taught me more about WWI than all my school books put together. I re-read the series about every year, and often re-read portions or books that I've been thinking about. A trip to PEI is on my dream bucket list. 

 

All of that to say...I'm a fan. So when I saw that Riley Blake Designs had a new Anne of Green Gables fabric line, I had to find a use for some of it!

My favorite is the scenic print with scenes from the book. The people were the perfect height to do some fussy cutting, so I made some bookmarks. Here is how. 

 

First I made my template. From a piece of cardboard, I cut a rectangle, and trimmed the top corners. Mine ended up about 3 x 5".

 

Then I cut a window in the middle. It doesn't have to be pretty, just big enough for you to see the center design. If you wish, you can mark seam allowance too. 

 

See how different it can look depending on which design you center?

 

I chose 3 of the pictures and cut them out carefully with my rotary cutter. Alternatively, you could draw around the template with a pen and cut it out with scissors. 

 

Next use the template to cut out backings for each. These don't have to be fussy cut, so you can do all at once if you wish. 

 

My pieces all laid out and ready.

 

Next I used some fusible interfacing scraps to stiffen one side of each bookmark. (Here you see I interfaced the back - I wasn't paying attention, because you should interface the front.)

 

Trim the interfacing.

 

One more step before we sew - decide what to use for a tassel. It will need to be placed on the right side with the strings as shown. 

 

Now place the back to front, right sides together, and sew around it, leaving the bottom edge open.

 

At the top, be careful to catch all layers plus the tassels!

 

Now trim corners if desired, turn and press.

 

Turn up the raw bottom edges to the inside and press them too.

 

Next take it back to the machine and top stitch very close to the edge all the way around. This will close the bottom gap as well as keep it lying flat and give it a more polished look.

 

All finished! Repeat for the other two bookmarks. 

 

As you can see, it's easy to switch up the look. 

 

These are all ready for reading adventures! The interfacing keeps them stiff enough that they hold their shape, but they are still flexible. Such a fun quick gift idea for a book loving friend!

 

Then just for fun, I made a zipper bag to go with it. 

 

The larger picture from the scenic fabric was a perfect appliqué for the front (incidentally I love how true to the book these illustration are!) I stitched it on with a tight zigzag stitch to keep from fraying, then covered the edges with the sweetest vintage dainty lace.

 

It's the perfect size for lots of things like sewing notions...

 

...or the new bookmarks of course. 

 

But I purposefully made it the right size to hold a book. I like to take books along when traveling, and it's easy to mess them up in the car. This little quilted bag will keep the book safe and protected between perusals. 

 

I still have some Anne fabric left, so maybe I will come up with more projects. But for now, I'm so happy with these sweet small projects - a nice quick break from dressmaking!

 

And of course they delight my kindred-spirit-to-Anne heart. 

1930s Easter Dress for 2021

Easter sneaked up on me this year, so I didn't have time to make an elaborate Easter dress. When I realized Easter was just next week, I quickly looked through my immediate to-do list to see if I could make one of those projects do double duty.

Sure enough! I realized this lovely floral cotton would be just the thing. Even more fun? It's from a new quilting collection by Riley Blake Designs called Faith, Hope & Love. How appropriate was that???

 

I love pink and blue together; in this print the touches of gold are the perfect highlight, and the watercolor floral was so springish. It comes in several colorways, so I highly recommend you check it out if you like it!

 

I paired it with a vintage mail order 1930s pattern I have long owned and never made. It doesn't open down the front, but my baby girl is weaned enough that I knew I could wear it for a few hours on a Sunday morning.

 

The front has some cute neck detail with the pleats and shoulder yoke, but overall it was definitely one of those quick and easy dress patterns that only take a few hours to make. Which was good, since Easter was rapidly approaching!

 

The front and back bodice gather into the skirt, so for a good fit I just made the skirt fit me, then gathered the bodice into the skirt. Easy peasy.

 

The illustration showed buttons on the neckline between the pleats, and I liked the idea. Instead of using matching ones, though, I chose several of my different white ones so I could use up some orphans.

 

Trust the 1930s for their attention to sleeves – this pattern did not disappoint. It also had a flutter sleeve option, but I love the darted V sleeves the most.

 

Things are slow greening up this year, and no flowers are blooming yet here, so I wasn't able to get the kind of Easter photos I would have liked. But I didn't want to wait to document it and I have enough flowers on my dress to make up for it!

 

I love the longer length of this decade's fashions. I did a 2” hem and still had a nice graceful length to the skirt. BUT I did have trouble squeezing it all onto 3 yards. I ended up having to cut the sleeve cross grain as well as taking a big pleat out of the height to fit it on – but it turned out just fine. You would never know!

 

So another long-hoarded pattern finally sees the light of day! I am thoroughly enjoying my spring sewing thus far. It's a delight after several months' break to have lots of ideas and motivation.

 

Since I have started sewing, I've made 4 1950s patterns and 1 1940s pattern for Easter. It was definitely time for a 1930s style Easter dress.

 

Happy Easter!

 

His glories now we sing

Who died and rose on high -

Who died eternal life to bring,

And lives that death may die!

 

1950s Sailboat Dress

I have always loved nautical prints, especially those that are not obviously for children. When I saw the adorable tiny sailboat prints in the Set Sail America quilting line by Riley Blake Designs, I had to snag some for a dress!

 

I wasn't going for a sailor dress, so I looked through my patterns and found a 1950s one I've long wanted to make. It has a slender skirt, and a bodice that folds back to make a deep collar, with an insert.

 

It wasn't intended to open down the front, but it was super easy to simply sew the insert on one side and attach snaps to the other side so it's functional for nursing yet without the traditional buttons-down-the-front look. 

 

My favorite detail though are the buttoned pockets! I don't think I'll ever use the pockets as pockets, because who wants to unbutton 6 buttons to reach in their pockets? But the detail is so fun. Contrasting buttons would make it stand out more, but I wanted a more subtle look since this was a dressier style.

 

You could totally do the same thing without a pocket, just facing. I had a little difficulty figuring out the instructions at this point, because each side was done differently due to the left side also zippering. But after laying it out and studying it, it clicked, and was pretty easy to do after all.

 

There are several sailboat prints in this line, but the others were red, white and blue. I wanted to go with the blue, blue and white print so it wouldn't look strictly patriotic - though of course adding pops of red would make it perfect for 4th of July!

 

I triple top stitched the collar with thread that matches the light blue in the print.

 

 

This pattern went together fairly well, though I had a few hiccups in the process, mostly from me not paying attention and making a rookie error. 

 

I did end up being very pleased with the fit. If I do this pattern again I will be able to do a better job on the trouble spots, of course.

 

 

Obviously a sailboat print should be photographed at the ocean or some body of water. But the reality is that it will be worn on a farm, so I chose a more realistic background!

 

I know. Landlubbers. 

 

The rest of the quilting line is more geared for children, but I am so happy with this cute print, which is very vintage appropriate for adults as well. (There is a very vintage style novelty print which I'll feature soon as a baby dress too!)

I accented with blue and white, with just a touch of red because I had to pair with my vintage anchor button necklace by Timeless Trinkets. It will be fun to accessorize in the future.

 

Plus it's cool for the summer. The dark cotton needs no under layers.

 

My hair was a bit precarious this day but ended up looking better than I expected.

 

These vintage gloves matched perfectly with their navy blue top stitching!

 

So all in all I'm happy with the dress, and summer-ready now!

 

Photos as always by Elsie's Adventuring.