Verity Vintage Studio

2 Small Patriotic Dresses for 4th of July

A few years ago, the cutest nautical/Americana fabric line called Portsmouth came out, by Amy Smart for Riley Blake Designs. It remains one of my favorite patriotic lines ever.

I was lucky enough to snag a bunch of it, and ever since I have wanted to make the girls coordinating red, white, and blue dresses using it. I finally got it done this year!

 

I had already made a summer quilt from it a while ago. It has the loveliest sketched toile seaside prints, giant hydrangeas, gingham and plaid, tiny oars and stars and flags...so much cuteness. I also love the more faded color palette and the dash of pink. 

 

I was somewhat limited by what I had on hand, but I was quite pleased with how they turned out. For my oldest daughter, I made this sundress pattern again, only this time with a contrast yoke and contrast ruffle. Must get as many of the cute prints in as possible!

 

The yoke is double sided, so it's finished on the inside too. I also added the bow this time, squeezing it out from the little bit that was left after cutting the ruffle. 

 

I lengthened the skirt and the ruffle pieces so that it will fit her next year also. She is growing so fast, and so many of her clothes have gotten too short this summer. 

 

It's loose and breezy, perfect for the triple digit stretch of July weather we are scheduled to have next week. 

 

For my 2-year-old, I made the 1930s pattern again that I had used for her Easter dress this year. I had to go with the navy star fabric, since I had enough of that, but of course I had to figure a way to add in some of my favorite toile.

 

I fussy cut out the sleeve pieces and the pockets, to showcase a couple of the sketches, lining them on the inside with white star fabric from the first dress. 

 

The contrast sash and bows were squeezed out of a little bit I had left of the pink flag print. 

 

I also made the round neck version instead of the V neck this time. 

 

It turned out super cute and I was very happy with it.

 

I love how they coordinate even though they don't match. That's one of the benefit of using a curated fabric line where the color tones are made to look well together. 

 

Next week I will show you my 4th of July dress, but until now, here's a little of our Americana festiveness this year!

 

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". :-) 

Nature Sings Blog Tour - Quilt, Apron, and an Easter Dress!

I have been anticipating for months sewing with the upcoming Poppie Cotton collection called Nature Sings. Finally the time arrived, I completed 3 out of 4 of my project ideas for it, and today I'm going to share them all for my slot on the blog tour!

 

The fabric was so pretty, I had a hard time narrowing it down to what I did make. Such dreamy florals and a pretty color scheme. It's not quite my usual style, but when I had it in my hands I was struck by how pretty it was. 

 

One thing I knew was that I was going to do a dress for my 4 year old in the purple bird print, and I ended up making it in time for her to wear for Easter.

 

I used a more modern (but still classic) McCall's pattern, and did a contrasting bodice in the gingham. I couldn't figure out how to do the collar since I didn't have enough bird fabric for it, and more gingham didn't look right on top of the gingham bodice. I feared adding yet another print would make it too busy, but I think it works for a little girl's dress! I was able to squeeze the collar out of one of my fat quarter pieces.

 

It's such a cute sailor collar style. I really like how it looks with the square back and tapered fronts. 

 

I added a touch of bird fabric to the sleeves to tie that in, and then when she tried it on I realized the skirt was pretty short, so I ended up lengthening it with a strip of the gingham since I was out of bird fabric. It all worked together quite well, and she loves it! 

 

You can see how cute her Easter outfit was, with the little pink vintage bonnet. :-)

 

As usual, when I make a garment, I want to also make something quilty so I can play with all the rest of the fabrics I didn't use. This time I was struck by a photo of a kit by Shabby Fabrics for a rag quilt. I had never seen a rag quilt that wasn't just basic squares or strips, and was quite intrigued by the fact that you can also do this with basic patchwork, in a slightly more elaborate design. 

 

I made up my own pattern, inspired by the photo, and scaling it to fit with the fabric I had to work with. 

 

I used a floral flannel from JoAnn for the backing, and a pink solid flannel for the center layer. The last time I made a rag quilt I used batting for the center, and I really liked using flannel instead. It still has quite a nice drape and weight like a regular batted quilt does, but the triple layers fringe better, and they were easier to stack and stitch. 

 

It was very nice to finish the piecing and then go straight to binding with a nice finished back - no basting or quilting an unwieldy quilt sandwich! I usually gravitate toward traditional quilt making, but when I do a quilt-as-you-go project like this it's refreshing for a change. 

 

It makes such a pretty, sturdy, spring-colored throw blanket!

 

My 3rd and final project with this fabric was an apron. The large scale floral in blue just begged to be made into an apron, so I made up my own pattern, using 1/2 yard of the blue, trimmed with lavender gingham. 

 

The gathered top is so flattering! I was very pleased with how it turned out, especially when paired with the wide waistband. 

 

A gathered pocket with a wide gingham band pulls it all together. I will probably try this idea again with some tweaks, but for not having a pattern I quite like the finished product. 

 

So there are my 3 most recent projects - I was sewing up quite a storm there for a few weeks! 

 

I hope you've been following along with all the other gorgeous projects made from this fabric! It never ceases to amaze me how many different looks can be created from the same fabric, depending on the individual taste of the creator. There's always so much inspiration in these blog tours, and I'm delighted to be a part of it. 

Early Easter Projects with Finding Wonder Fabric

Today I get to show you what I made with some of the happiest spring fabric around! It's my slot on the Finding Wonder blog tour hosted by Poppie Cotton to promote their new fabric line, and honestly, it was just my style. So much so that I had to make TWO projects with it, and thoroughly enjoyed each stitch on each project!

 

It has just the cutest retro prints (obviously right up my alley!), and a lovely color range. The prints work well for baby and/or girly projects, but without being super infantile, so they are quite versatile.

 

I'm not often a big yellow girl, but the yellows in this line were definitely some of my favorites! 

 

I looked forward to sewing with it for months, and then when the time finally arrived I had my projects all planned out. First up, I used this adorable 1930s vintage toddler dress pattern to make a dress for my 1 year old. 

 

I chose the blue bird medallion print and accented it with the pink star, which also stretched my amount of fabric enough to make the dress feasible.

 

Of course there had to be pockets! She is a big fan of pockets. 

 

It is a loose A shape dress that slips over the head, and the sash fits it at the waist. It was nice to need neither buttonholes or a zipper on this one. I also like how doing the sleeves in a contrast show their unique construction. 

 

Plus it's very breezy and cool, so really perfect for the warm spring weather we have been having already. It would be a great summer sundress pattern, so I may make it again before she grows out of the pattern size.

This one I will save for Easter (nice to be ahead on my Easter sewing!), but took photos for this blog post before I put it away for a few weeks. 

 

As always, though, a garment doesn't use enough of my favorite prints so I like to make something quilty in order to get a chance to play with more of them. One of my ideas stashed away was this chunky Dresden quilt by The Crafty Quilter. It was the perfect pairing for this fabric!

 

Making only 4 large Dresdens meant they worked up very fast, and then I just top stitched around the edge onto a 17" square of fabric. After that it was easy to add basic sashing and borders, so it was a very quick quilt top.

 

I fussy cut some of the bird medallions for the centers, of course!

 

Since it worked up so fast, I decided to take the time to hand quilt it. I had about two weeks, and I worked at it pretty diligently - and made my goal, finishing it the day before I had to get photos. (It actually was a good lesson to me that even though hand quilting is a slower finish, it doesn't have to take an age - if I am diligent. :-)

 

I used a heart stencil for the Dresden corners, and a diamond scallop border; otherwise just let the Dresdens guide the quilting, so there was less marking. 

 

It was really fun to make, especially during the gray days of February. Quilting on my sofa corner with such cheery fabrics under the needle was a great mood booster; and because I kept at it, I didn't have time to grow tired of it. (Hooray for the motivation of deadlines!)

 

These are the quilting tools I used. The thimble is by Dritz, and my favorite of the quilting thimbles I've tried - it's cool, comfy, doesn't slip, and absolutely SAVES my fingertips! And after some frustration with my thread knotting mid-stitch, I remembered my trusty beeswax, which helps tremendously with minimizing thread tangles. 

 

I debated doing a scrappy binding, but ended up deciding to save my fabric for something more fun and use more of the pink star. But I think it would have been cute with a scrappy binding too!

 

Anyway, now I have both a little Easter dress and an Easter-ish quilt to enjoy!

But as always, you need to check out the other makers on this blog tour, since there is SO much creativity and cuteness to be seen. 

 

Monday, March 4	http://www.creamcraftgoods.com/	Karen Pratt
Wednesday, March 6	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/	Lisa Jo Girodat
Friday, March 8	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com	Belinda Karls-Nace
Monday, March 11	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com	Dori Troutman
Wednesday, March 13	https://www.sewmariana.com/	Mariana
Friday, March 15	http://www.abrightcorner.com/	Andy Knowlton
Monday, March 18	@elliebugmakes	Ellie Bug
Wednesday, March 20	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/	Kristen Clay
Friday, March 22	@arabesquescissors	Ali Phillips

 

Girl's 1930s Blue Christmas Dress

We had sickness in the house right before Christmas, but I still managed (by cutting some corners) to squeeze in making a quick Christmas dress for my oldest daughter. 

 

I used two lovely prints from the Pixie Noel 2 line by the fabulous designer Tasha Noel. My daughter is always a pocket lover, and her eyes shone when she saw these "candy cane pockets!"

 

The 1930s pattern I used is a size too big for her, but since I didn't make it until the very end of Christmas I wanted to be sure it would fit her next year. 

 

The waist is intended to be loose and fit with a tie belt. One of the corners I cut was to use a ribbon instead of making a belt.

 

I didn't like the look of inserting a zipper at the neck, so I went with making tiny buttonholes and lacing it up instead. I like how it looks with the cute red and white twine yarn - and I've seen this closure used in extant dresses so I know it's accurate for the 1930s. The down side is that it's harder to get over the head: note to self - if lacing, make the opening longer!

Rather than doing a contrast collar I opted to make some binding to edge it. 

 

I love this fabric - it's subtly Christmassy without being so Christmas-specific that she can't wear it for the rest of the winter. She was very pleased with it even if it is a bit big for her!

1950s Girl's Fall Floral Dress

Still trying to catch up with documenting my fall sewing before I start the holiday things... This week I want to show you the fall-floral dress I made for my oldest daughter for Thanksgiving! 

 

I had these two Riley Blake Designs fabrics from last year paired together for a dress for her for ages. Finally I made it happen, since right now she is growing out of all her clothes and needed new Sunday dresses anyway. 

 

I found a vintage dress pattern from my stash that would work well with adding contrast, and I love how it turned out. It has super fun inset dolman sleeves (no setting sleeves!) gathered into a sleeve band - sure wish I had an adult pattern with sleeves like this! Doing them in contrast helps emphasize the cute details of the pattern. 

 

It is loose and slips over the head, fitting at the waist with a sash, so it's very adjustable. I made it extra long too so she can wear it for a while. 

 

As you can see from the dimples, she was very pleased with it!

 

I have a hard time getting perfect corners when I do an L shaped inset seam like this, so I covered the front corners with little buttons. Decorative and practical too. 

 

I really enjoyed this pattern. It was unique, quick to make, and has lots of fabric combination options with the way the pattern pieces are done. Meanwhile she loves wearing it, and I am glad to see it finally take shape!

 

1950s Girl's "Dandelion Dress"

Fall project finish!

I actually made this dress several months ago, but it still needed a sash - and I didn't get around to spending 10 minutes making the sash until this week, so here it finally is. We snapped pictures on a mild November day, taking advantage of all the crispy leaves on the ground.

 

I loved the pattern I used for my oldest daughter's Easter dress this year, and wanted to use it again before she outgrows it. This time I did the top section of the skirt in the contrast color too, and love the color blocking!

 

These two fabrics go so well together. They are from a cute quilting line last year called On the Wind, by Riley Blake Designs. I loved the dancing dandelion print, and though there were a lot of options for contrast, for some reason the yellow argyle spoke to me to be paired with it.

 

Since I had made this pattern before, it was a quick project. I omitted the trim, so all the interest is just in the fabric. As before, I changed it to button all the way down the back.

 

I also added the tie sash on top instead of the side belts, and of course a little patch pocket since this child adores all the pockets.

 

She is growing so fast and is hard on her clothes, since she loves to be active outside as much as possible - so it was high time to get this off my stack and into her closet!

 

(I know I've been showing a lot of girl clothes and quilt projects lately, but there are definitely some more fun vintage dresses for me coming up! I'm in a sewing mood right now, and completing a bunch of things as fast as I can, so stay tuned! :-)

Sundress and Zipper Pouches - Hide & Seek Fabric Tour for Poppie Cotton

The newest Poppie Cotton line called Hide & Seek is not my default style, but I loved the butterfly prints and instantly knew I wanted to make a sundress for my 4-year-old out of one of them. I also picked out a few others to play with, so here they are!

 

I still don't have a sewing room yet, so I finally set up my machines on my dining room desk area and got to work. It felt so good to be sewing again, even in a temporary space!

 

For once I did NOT use a vintage pattern, believe it or not. I pulled out a modern children's pattern I picked up years ago at JoAnn which had the overall look I was thinking of. It was perfect for this fabric.

 

A lot of A line dresses are too tent-like for this size of child, in my opinion, but this one had a nice flare. Roomy but not too enormous. 

 

She LOVES pockets, so of course I had to add pockets. I had seen a photo of a vintage dress with quilted pockets once, so I decided to try it here. It makes them nice and sturdy for her, but also adds some fun texture. 

 

I finished all the edges like any quilted project and then just top-stitched them to the dress. 

 

I really liked the way the sleeves were done here, and how there was no facing since the yoke was two-sided. Definitely keeping this pattern! It's cool for warm weather, and can be layered with a shirt now that it's cooler.

Even with the quilted pockets added, it was quite a quick make!

But as usual, with the main project finished and out of the way, I wanted to play with some of the other prints, so I also ended up doing some last-minute quilted zipper pouches. 

 

I had to watch a tutorial for how to insert a zipper in a pouch since this is the first time I've done it! I still need to work on perfecting that technique, but they turned out cute and usable, which was the main thing!

 

I did 3 different quilted panels, quilting them differently on my machine, and made 3 different sizes. I didn't measure them precisely, but it turned out perfectly sized for pencils, books, and a project bag to help keep my crochet bag in order. 

 

For the largest bag, I decided on the spur of the moment to save a cute little appliqué on a stained baby T shirt I was ready to throw away. I cut it out and top stitched around it twice on my bag panel - the colors go so well!

 

It was a fun little upcycled addition and gives a more elaborate look to a simple bag in minutes. (The blue butterfly was my favorite print in the line, so I saved it for the largest bag. :-) 

 

These prints are so perfect for fall! I love the saturated shades. 

 

 

 

1950s Birthday Girl Dress

The week my oldest daughter was turning 4, I pulled out some girl size patterns and asked her which one she would like for a birthday dress. She picked the one with pockets, of course! And when I let her choose some fabric, she gravitated instantly towards the purple floral - which did not surprise me. :-)

 

This floral is one of my very favorite prints from the recent Bee Vintage line by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs. The good news is that it is one of their basics, which means that it will be available for a much longer period of time than usual, and they will keep it in stock!

 

This is a pretty standard 1950s girl dress, with a basic shirt-dress style made interesting by a yoke and those cute pockets. I cut down on the skirt width a bit, believe it or not. There were 4 entire widths of fabric in that tiny skirt!

 

Some lavender rickrack was the perfect edge for the contrast yoke, which I had the ideal fabric for in my stash. 

 

The little gathered pockets are the cutest. And she loves them so much, I will probably have to put pockets on all the dresses I make for her in the future!

 

I altered it to button the whole way down the back, and omitted the ties since this will be an everyday dress. Otherwise I followed the pattern. It was pretty quick and easy to put together.

 

The bodice pattern pieces were slashed and spread to make a bigger size, so this is actually a tad long-waisted for her. But that just means it will fit her longer, and she is growing so fast that is a definite plus!

 

The fun thing is that I have some of this fabric set aside for a 1950s house dress for me, so once I get around to sewing it, we will have matching dresses! I'll have to take more photos then. 

 

She was super pleased with her dress, and took interest in all the fittings and progress I made. She will be sewing her own as soon as she can, I'm sure. Meanwhile I can hardly believe she is 4 already!

Christmas in June - Oh What Fun Tour with Poppie Cotton

I am very particular about the Christmas fabric I like, but I always love retro Christmas collections - and this new one by Elea Lutz for Poppie Cotton is one of my very favorites ever! I was so happy to get a chance to sew with it, even though it's currently a green and lovely June outside. 

 

(Actually, I assembled the quilt top while there was still snow on the ground, so that made it feel more Christmassy. :-)

I ended up making two projects with this beautiful fabric, and am excited to share them today on my blog tour slot!

 

I really loved the companion pattern for this collection, called Snowflake Heaven. It's so very vintage! So I decided to make a smaller throw size version out of my FQ bundle.

 

The colors are just so pretty. I always love pink and aqua mixed in with the traditional Christmas colors, and the touch of navy is such a great addition!

 

The blocks are slightly more complicated than I gravitate toward, but I really like how they look. Doing a smaller version, I was able to make each block out of a different fabric in the collection.

 

I had it quilted in a Baptist fan design to go with the vintage style. Often I find that vintage quilts are custom quilted because they are hand done, but the few times I do see an edge-to-edge design, a Baptist fan is one of them.

 

I backed it with a thrifted sheet in a classic dark green gingham which is a great choice for Christmassy backing, and bound it with another Elea Lutz fabric from a different line.

 

I'll have to store it away for now, but I can't wait to style it for this next Christmas!

 

I also went ahead and made my smaller daughter her Christmas dress. The plaid is perfectly classic, and I cut the yoke out of some of my leftover fabric. This is a 1920s or 1930s pattern and I made it once before. This time I made it with a few tweaks, and it has such a cute little smock shape.

 

It may feel strange to be sewing with Christmas fabric this time of year, but it also is nice to get ahead on my holiday sewing. She did not cooperate for modeled photos this time, but I will take more later when she wears the dress!

 

Enjoy all the other lovely projects using Oh What Fun, and keep an eye out for it arriving in quilt stores! It's soooo good - either for quilting or sewing.

Friday, June 2	http://prettybyhand.com/
Monday, June 5	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, June 7	http://www.abrightcorner.com/
Friday, June 9	https://bretquiltdesigns.com/
Monday, June 12	https://www.sewmariana.com/
Wednesday, June 14	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Friday, June 16	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Monday, June 19	http://www.gigisthimble.com/
Wednesday, June 21	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Friday June 23	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/
Monday, June 26	http://www.linenbouquet.com
Wednesday, June 28	www.cardinalcreekquilting.com
Friday June 30	Instagram: @emmas_crafternoons