Verity Vintage Studio

1930s Purple Floral Dress & Jacket

This spring has been long and chilly. We get a taste of summer, then we get a cold front. It's the perfect time for a versatile outfit, which is what I had in mind with this 2 part sewing project. 

 

I used a lovely purple floral repro print from Riley Blake Designs (one of the Bee Vintage basics, which means it is more readily available than some of their fabrics!). I cut a cap-sleeved 1930s dress from it, and one side of the bolero.

 

The other side of the bolero I cut from a white-on-white quilting cotton, and that way when both sides are put together, it made a completely reversible bolero, thus giving me 3 looks from 2 garments.

 

I can wear it white side front with purple (matching) revers...

 

...or I can flip it around and have a matching jacket with white revers! 

 

The white side has a little of the purple showing at the sleeve hem, which was a nice way to finish the cuff tidily. The cuffs were kept open so I could turn it right side out.

 

Quilting cotton does make it a bit bulky, as it's not ideal for a lined garment, but it also is definitely warm enough for an extra layer on a cool day.

 

I think after looking at these photos I liked the purple side best; but it's still fun to have the variety available.

 

I really like the large scale of the print - it really is a good choice for garments. 

 

The dress I had made once before, so it was fairly easy to remember how to put it together. I think I did a better job on the closure this time around, since I knew what I was doing.

 

I wanted to use more buttons, but have a very limited supply of purple buttons - and this amount had to do.

 

It's a princess style, so it can be worn with or without a belt.

 

It's easy to go casual, without the jacket, or to dress it up a bit. 

 

I couldn't get the corners very clean, when inserting the top yoke, so I covered it up with a bit of hand embroidery. It's mostly hidden by the print, but still adds a little cute detail.

 

A bit more involved than my usual quick projects, I did enjoy making this duo. I had intended in the past to make more matching jacket and dress sets, so it's nice to finally add one to the finished list.

 

 

Girl's 1950s Jumper Dress

Today is my slot on the blog tour for Sweet Tooth, a new retro fabric line by Poppie Cotton. It is a Halloween fabric line, and though I don't celebrate Halloween at all, I thought this little kitty print was adorable and instantly knew it would make a perfect novelty print 1950s dress for one of my girls. 

 

It was hard to choose which pattern to pair with it and I debated over 3 different ones...but I finally settled on this adorable jumper dress that I'd copied from my sister-in-law years ago.

 

It turned out to be super fast and easy! I put the whole thing together in an hour or two. It was lovely to have no buttonholes or sleeves to set. :-)

 

You cut double the amount of top pieces and use them as facing, so the bodice inside is nice and tidy, and the V front has no troublesome facing pieces. 

 

I lengthened the skirt as much as I could fit on the width of my fabric, and it still ends up just below the knee - but for an everyday dress for an active girl, that works fine!

 

It's a circle skirt, so I opted to turn up and top stitch a narrow hem.

 

I definitely hope to make this pattern again. Think how cute it would be in wool plaid for the winter! But meanwhile this adorable kitty print is perfect for summer and fall...and since this girl needed some everyday clothes, it was quite a timely sew for me despite the fall fabric! 

She loves it a lot and calls it her "ginger dress". :-) 

1950s Teal Floral House Dress

I'm finally catching up with my burst of spring sewing! This time it's a classic 1950s house dress.

 

I used a dreamy teal floral repro quilting cotton from The Timely Tailor, and this vintage pattern I got from the UK years ago. Turns out it had extremely little instructions and no diagrams, so I was basically on my own. Thankfully I'd made some dresses in a similar style before.

 

Even still, I don't think I did the inserted pockets right, because they don't lay correctly. After these photos I ended up sewing another button on the pockets to keep them in place (they wouldn't hold much anyway!)

 

The skirt has a nice flare even though I took some width out of it to fit on my fabric.

 

I used an off-white contrast for the collar and cuffs, and decided to add a little embroidery just for fun. it makes a nice finishing touch, but it definitely added some time to an otherwise quick project. 

 

The buttons are the larger size vintage white glass ones also from The Timely Tailor, from the era that the pattern is. It's fun to match things that belong together. :-) 

 

I really like the raglan sleeves. Sometimes I don't like how they look on me, but these look fine and are definitely more comfortable than set-in sleeves, besides the assembly short cut.

 

Since I've made it, it has already gotten a lot of regular wear. I hope this inspires you to do some fun house dresses for spring!