Verity Vintage Studio

Pastel Pumpkin Runner for Moonbeam Dreams Blog Tour

It's my turn on the blog tour for the new Poppie Cotton fabric line called Moonbeam Dreams. It is not what I would normally be drawn to, so I was surprised at how much I ended up loving this fabric once I saw it in person, and how much I enjoyed sewing with it!

 

I was in the mood for fall sewing, and this is a lovely autumnal line with some of my favorite cooler-toned fall colors. It took me a while to settle on a project, but eventually I decided on a pumpkin table runner to be finished before Thanksgiving. 

 

Our Thanksgiving Day dinners usually end up with so much food on the table there isn't much room for decorations, but I still love a festive touch, so a table runner is perfect. 

 

The next problem was settling on a pumpkin block that I liked, since I'm not generally a fan of them. I ended up loving this free tutorial by Woodberry Way, and quickly made 6 of those big pumpkin blocks out of my 6 favorite pinks, adapting them to join side to side as a runner.

 

My temporary sewing station in action!

 

It ended up as a very long table runner, so it will only really fit my table when it's fully extended. But that's ok! This was the closest I could get to a photo of the whole thing.

 

The pumpkins were made with a little bit of improv piecing - my first ever attempt. It was rather enjoyable!

 

I quilted it with my walking foot, with an all-over wavy grid that I could do freeform without taking the time for markings. It's a very forgiving quilting design that still gives great texture. 

 

Then the extra hand quilting touch was done in a burnt gold size 10 crochet thread. I used a bowl to draw one curve on each side, and then drew the other by eye. Of course they aren't all uniform - but then, neither are real pumpkins uniform! And I am also NOT a perfectionist. :-) 

 

The colors go together so well! I love the dusty blues and pinks and golds, the florals and moths and stars.

 

Since I only used a selection of fabrics in this runner, I also whipped together a large zipper pouch, just for fun. I still have some fabric left, so maybe I can come up with something else fun to make. The green moth print is a favorite, and would be perfect for fussy cutting!

 

I'm looking forward to using this on our Thanksgiving table next week. In the meantime, follow Poppie Cotton on Instagram to see all the pretty makes using this lovely fabric line!

 

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. 

 

 

 

Sewing with Garden Party Fabric by Poppie Cotton

 

Today I get to show you what I made when playing with the lovely new Poppie Cotton fabric line called Garden Party! I really wanted to get this all quilted in time for my blog slot, but we've been moving house and it took waaaay too much time out of August and September, so I had to just take photos of the top to share.

 

But as a result, I now have a lovely yard and garden spot for photos! And what better place to photo fabric called Garden Party then...in a garden!

 

I've been looking forward to sewing with this line for a long time. I adore the little strawberry prints especially, but all of them are cute and they coordinate so well. 

 

I have really been enjoying making wall quilts for my house - they have all the appeal of making a quilt and you can still play with blocks and color combinations, but are small enough that I can actually finish them quickly, and hand quilting them doesn't take forever. Plus I can enjoy looking at them on my wall! (Of course, they are also crib sized if you want to use them as baby quilts instead.)

 

So for this one, I settled on making a small version of the Stars and Windows quilt pattern. I rescaled the blocks to an 8" size, and used the yellow color way for the diamond blocks. The blues and pinks were paired for the stars, making each one unique. And the blue-gray made the perfect cornerstone color.

 

I also have some extra of the blue strawberry fabric that I was going to use as a border...but I simply couldn't decide what I wanted to make with it since there's enough to make an apron or a baby dress or something. So I'll save that for another day since I haven't had time to sew lately!

 

Aside from the strawberries, the picture prints are the CUTEST and perfect for fussy cutting if that's your jam.

 

Looking at this really makes me miss my sewing space and time to stitch - but I know this settling-in phase will pass. Meanwhile I am starting to feel caught up with all the unpacking and organization at the new house, so hopefully I can get this basted soon! I have it all planned out how I want to quilt it. Follow along on Instagram @verityvintagestudio if you want to see the progress.

 

There have been SO many cute makes this month with this beautiful fabric, so I hope you take a peek at everything that has been featured, and if you love it check with your local quilt shops since it is shipping to stores now!

 

Wednesday, September 6	https://www.sewmariana.com/
Friday, September 8	vanessaward
Monday, September 11	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Wednesday, September 13	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 15	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Monday, September 18	http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday, September 20	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Friday, September 22	@elliebugmakes
Monday, September 25	www.cardinalcreekquilting.com
Wednesday, September 27	@bemandythings
Friday September 29	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/

 

Country Kitchen Accessories - Prairie Sisters Homestead Blog Tour for Poppie Cotton

Fabric speaks to me. 

When I received my sample bundle of Prairie Sisters Homestead fabric by Poppie Cotton, I put it on my shelf with a plan to make a couple of woven pot holders out of it at least. More recently I had an idea for an apron made from 2.5" strip precuts. But when I went to cut out my projects last week, I ended up suddenly needing to also make a patchwork apron and some patchy potholders too!

 

So I went to town with all the cute kitchen items, as you can see. 

We are in the process of moving house this month, and one of the things I wanted to do is upgrade all my disliked or yucky potholders. I bake a lot, and am a big proponent of things being both pretty AND practical - so why give drawer space to pot holders I don't like when I can replace them with cute ones? They may eventually also get yucky and need to be tossed, but they are so easy and fun to make, and will be fun to use in the meantime.

 

I made two basic 16 patch potholders with 2" squares, following color schemes instead of going all scrappy like I originally thought. The yellow I arranged a little; the blue I just did random. 

And does it ever match to perfection the vintage tablecloth I just got my mom for her birthday!

 

The 3rd potholder in the mint color way I decided on impulse to do a fussy cut square in the center - some of these prints are PERFECT for fussy cutting! - and do the smaller mint patches around the edge.

 

I layered them all with a double layer of cotton quilt batting so they would be extra thick, and quilted them all differently. I love each of them, and enjoy seeing them side by side so you can see what a difference a little arrangement and quilting can do to a basic design. 

 

Also you have to love the coordinating chicken backings, and gingham bindings!

 

I did in fact do a woven hot pad too, though! I had seen a tutorial ages ago from Art Gallery Fabrics and have been wanting to try it ever since. Finally did it, and it's super cute! Also very little actual sewing.

 

I want to make another now and play around more with the color placement. But this one I'm very pleased with. Reminds me of apple pie. 

 

The pink apron was my "jelly roll apron" idea, made with 2.5" strips where the end was sewn like a Dresden plate to make points, and all of them joined side by side. I originally got the idea from a photo of a 1940s pattern for an apron with lots of flared gores and pointed ends, so this was my non-pattern version. 

 

I tapered the tops to make it a little more fitted and shaped, and chose the strawberry fabric for a waistband and ties. 

 

For my yellow apron, I did something quite different. I cut 4 yellow FQ in half and sewed a half of each into a large patchwork rectangle, which I then gathered into a waistband. (Yellow just seemed to be the right color for August sewing - but now I kind of wish I'd made a blue one too.)

 

Add a fussy cut pocket and ties, and a little bit of lace trim - and it's just the cutest! My mom and sister just about swiped this one from me. :-) 

 

Incidentally, it matches my mom's gorgeous yellow 1950s stove like a dream. 

 

I really enjoy working with fat quarter cuts. While they are intended for quilts, and certainly handy for that, it's also fun to work within the constraints of an 18 x 22" piece of fabric to see what all I can come up with, without extra yardage. And all of these pretty new kitchen things make me so happy as I prepare for upgrading to a new kitchen soon!

 

Check out the other bloggers on this tour to see all their makes with this sweet new fabric line:

Monday, August 7	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 9	Vanessa Ward
Friday, August 11	Website: http://blueribbondesigns.com
Monday, August 14	www.cardinalcreekquilting.com
Wednesday, August 16	https://amerooniedesigns.com/
Friday August 18	http://prettybyhand.com/
Monday, August 21	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Wednesday, August 23	@elliebugmakes
Friday, August 25	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/

 

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!

Another 1950s Rose Dress

Everything's coming up roses, apparently! Actually, since I was pregnant all spring I didn't get any of my dress ideas for my spring-ish fabric made, so now I'm hurrying to stitch some of them before fall arrives. As a result, you get the 2nd large rose print dress in a row.

 

This one was sewn with fabric and vintage glass buttons from The Timely Tailor, and I have to say it probably is my favorite sewing project so far for the year. I was so pleased with the fit (important since most of my Sunday dresses don't fit me again yet!) and the style. 

 

This is the first time I've made this 1950s pattern, and I usually shy away from something with a lot of fullness in the front. This time, though, I decided to risk it, and top stitched the pleats down for a few inches, which really helps keep the waist looking trim.

 

It has double slanted side darts to add some pretty detail, and my favorite kind of fold back collar. 

 

Funny story though - I was having a bit of a day when I cut this out. Everything was going wrong. And when I went to cut out this dress, I found that the front bodice piece was missing. That was a bit of a poser, since it's harder to swap out a bodice piece, especially when I wanted the details of this particular one. I ended up going through my patterns, finding one similar, kind of cobbling together a front piece that I HOPED would work out like the original, and cutting it out. It added quite a bit of hassle and time to the cutting out process.

I carried the stack of pieces to the sewing room, turned around - and there on the floor was the missing bodice piece. :-) 

 

Thankfully the rest of the process went a lot more smoothly! But because of the substitution and my size adjustments, the collar piece ended up too short to overlap in the back like it was supposed to. It didn't even meet - there was 1-2 inches of gap that just didn't look right. So I had the idea to make a separate tab to cover it, and actually love how it turned out. It makes a petal collar that fits with the fabric very well.

 

Narrow white cotton lace trims the sleeves, and I went with classic white glass buttons. 

 

The skirt is super full and swishy - even though I took out quite a bit of width to fit it on my fabric! - especially with a small crinoline, but I really like how it adds that feminine silhouette while still being trim and flattering.

 

I will definitely make this pattern again...THIS time with the right bodice piece!

1950s Dress and Basket Quilt with Poppie Cotton Delightful Department Store

 

Time for sewing with one of my favorites ever of the new collections by Poppie Cotton! This one is all about midcentury, which of course was right up my alley. Of course I had to make several things with it. First I'll show you a 1950s dress made in my favorite print.

 

There are several charming color ways of this rose fabric, but naturally I gravitated toward the teal. It's so lovely! I especially like this rose print in yellow too, but unfortunately yellow is not a good color for me. 

 

I made this from a 1950s pattern in my collection, only adding contrast piping and a tie belt in the pink gingham print. The tie belt can also double as a hair tie if preferred. 

         

 

I really like the collar shape, which makes this pattern a bit more unique. Otherwise it is just a straightforward A line dress with a nice full skirt.

 

I had to piece the underside of the collar - that's how close I came with my yardage! But I'm so pleased to have such a pretty, wearable floral dress in my closet now for the rest of the summer. 

 

I had to pair it with my favorite pink 1950s hat, of course.

           

It feels so good to be back to sewing garments! 

 

But there were too many sweet prints that I couldn't use for a dress, so I also had to make a little wall quilt out of my FQ bundle. 

 

I've never done basket blocks before. Normally I would say they aren't my favorite, but I had this idea to use vintage cutter embroideries for the backdrop to make it look like flowers in a basket, so I did some experimenting to come up with a basket block I liked. 

 

It was fun to sort through my stash of stained embroideries (they are too pretty to throw away but in too bad condition to use) and find ones that would work in the baskets. Then give them new life!

I joined the blocks with basic 1" sashing, and custom quilted it on my Juki sewing machine. I was pleased with how my free motion quilting skills have improved enough that I can like the result!

 

I took step-by-step photos of the basket blocks, so someday I may get around to sharing the pattern. Basic piecing, with a hand appliquéd bias handle.

         

Each basket is unique, and I used almost all of the line in it (not the large novelty prints - I have another idea for those), so I can enjoy these favorite cheerful and old fashioned fabrics on my kitchen wall! Some of them remind me of vintage wallpaper. 

 

If you love this fabric as much as me, it's shipping to quilt stores now, so ask at your local shops! There have been so many adorable makes in this beautiful collection, so I hope you check them all out.

Friday, July 7

Ori AOK Sews

Monday, July 10

Charise Creates

Wednesday, July 12

Dori Troutman

Friday, July 14

Lisa Jo Girodat

Monday, July 17

Belinda Karls

Wednesday, July 19

Angela Hernandez

Friday, July 21

Kristen Clay

Monday, July 24

Kristyne Czepuryk

Wednesday, July 26

Faith Essenburg

 

1930s Parasol Dress

I'm so glad to be back sewing garments again! Our sweet little son was born on June 18, and now that I feel back to normal I'm taking advantage of the long newborn naps to get some summer sewing done. A lot of these have been on my list for a long time, delayed because of the pregnancy, so I'm buzzing through them as fast as I can until the next big project comes along. 

 

This fun fabric is an adorable novelty print by Liberty Cottons in the UK. Riley Blake Designs distributed it in the USA in several colors, and I had to snag some of my favorite for a dress. (It's out of stock now, but if you want some, I still have some yardage available in my vintage sewing shop The Timely Tailor.) 

 

Because the print was so busy, I needed a pattern without a lot of details - something that most 1930s patterns often feature. So I pulled out a dress pattern that I've made twice before and knew would fit me well, without a lot of tweaking. 

 

As usual when I make a duplicate, I try to change it up a bit. This time I added rickrack points to the collar, made the neckline different with the placement of the panel, and tried a new sleeve pattern.

 

I didn't end up liking the sleeve pattern as is, but I tweaked it until I liked it. A knot of rickrack trims it, and ties in the collar edging. 

 

Since I had already made it twice, it was super quick and no-fuss to make again. I hardly had to look at the instructions.

 

Though I will wear this as a house dress, I wanted to photo it a little more formally since a lot of my accessories don't come out of the closet as much as I would like.

 

Whether you think it's beach umbrellas or Japanese parasols, I think it's the perfect summer fabric!

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

 

Two Little Bunny Dresses

I finished another coordinating dress set for my two little girls last week. I had intended to do these for Easter (because bunnies!), but when the last set of dresses turned out so cute, I ended up using those instead. But these did finally get done!

 

More cute prints from Poppie Cotton's Poppie's Patchwork Club fabric line, perfect for little girl dresses. I made the 4 year old size from a 1940s pattern. I really like the inset belt and the square neck.

 

This color of green is such a good color for my little redhead!

 

A touch of vintage rickrack ties in the pink accent fabric.

 

It was a fairly basic shape, so it didn't take long to put together once I buckled down and started it.

 

My 1 year old dress used a 1930s pattern, and I really like it!

 

She didn't cooperate very well for photos, but it does have super cute pointed yoke and pleat details on the front.

 

It is loose enough to pop over her head without a waist opening, and cinches a bit with a sash. I made it a tad long for her so she can wear it all summer.

 

I opted for ruffles instead of sleeves, and used a long-hoarded card of vintage pink bunny buttons that were the PERFECT match. Rather than fuss with buttonholes with that shape of button, I closed the back with snaps and sewed the buttons on top. Much easier to fasten a wiggly toddler in a dress with snaps, and the buttons cover the snap stitches – double win!

 

This pattern has several sleeve options and different looks depending on how you use fabric in the yoke. So I want to make it again while she will still fit in it. Meanwhile this one is a fun warm-weather addition!

 

One of the fun things about having little girls is that I get to play with fabric that is too juvenile for myself. It's enjoyable to make up this cute little bunny fabric into something that they love.