Verity Vintage Studio

June Tutorial - Making Plain Heels into Titanic Era Court Shoes

Vintage shoes from the 1900s-1920s are hard to find in good shape and in modern sizes, so what to do when you want Period shoes for a Titanic or Downton Abbey costume? Shoes from that era were mostly similar in general shape, with lots of strap and toe detail. No sandals yet, but cut-outs, embroidery, multiple crossed straps, bows and buckles, and similar features on their high heels were all popular. The main distintive of shoes from this era is the heel shape. So when you're looking for costume wear, the first thing to look for is heels of the right shape.

 

I found these 1980s heels at a thrift store. Their heels are perfectly shaped. In the 1980s when throwback fashion was common, many styles of shoes were made with this kind of heel. The rest of the shoe doesn't look so Period, but the heel is great.

 

So I did an internet search for photos of shoes from the era - Edwardian-Titanic-Roaring '20s - I was hoping to copy. Most times the decorations were of the same material as the shoe, but I did find some with contrasting ribbon bows, which inspired this project.

Here's how to make costume-worthy court shoes out of an existing modern pair. Plus, with detachable brooches, make them to match any outfit and switch the colors whenever you feel like it!

 

You'll need:

1 pair shoes

1 1/2 in. wired gauze ribbon

3/4 in. matching solid ribbon

felt scraps

glue gun

brooch/pin backs

scissors

2 buttons (or more)

needle and thread (not shown)

 

Now, about the buttons. First I had intended just gluing a button to the front of each shoe, but since I am picky about matching metal tones, I didn't want to put a silver button on them in case I wanted to wear gold jewelry, and vice versa. That's when I had the idea of making them brooches, to be removable.

And there are no better buttons to use than La Mode's Vintage line. These are super great buttons for costume work, since they are copied from originals and each card is dated with the approximate era the buttons are from. These are circa 1860-1900, which is perfect for the style of shoe I'm working on.

 

Besides being unique and good quality, they are beautiful!

 

So, to begin.

 

Here's the starting place - the plain shoe toe.

 

1. Lay the wider ribbon across the toe, where you want it to end up. I chose wired ribbon for this because it would stay where I put it better and keep its shape, but you can use a soft ribbon.

 

The shoe is slanted and the ribbon will need to be too. So lay it across the top and and cut it along the sole on both sides, including an extra inch to roll up on each side.

 

2. Keeping the same slant, roll up the ends until the cut part is hidden.

Match it against the shoe to make sure the slant is right.

 

Fold up the tip that sticks out. Secure the whole edge roll with a drop of glue.

 

Repeat for the other side. Here's what it looks like now.

3. But because the end doesn't look very neat and we can't tuck it between the sole and upper as a shoe maker would have done if decorating it originally, take the narrow ribbon and wrap each end, keeping the slant the same. Secure with a drop of glue on the wrong side.

 

Here's what it looks like when finished:

 

4. Now lay it across the shoe and secure each end the whole way along, and one drop in the center to keep it in place.

 

5. To make the bow, just take a doubled piece of wide ribbon as wide as you want, and cut it to that length. 

 

 

Wrap the center with the narrow ribbon, to form the bow shape. Secure the narrow ribbon with a drop of glue on the back side where it won't be seen.

 

6. Glue the bow to the center of the ribbon on the shoe.

 

Repeat all the steps above for the other shoe.

 

Now to add the right silhouette to the shoe, we'll make detachable brooches with the buttons. There are two styles.

 

#1 Brooch - Plain

First I had La Mode's 170001703 buttons, which are a 1 in. cupped shank button in antique gold.

 

 

 

To make these into brooches, I cut rough circles of felt a little smaller than the button, with a slit in the center for the shank to go through.

 

I stacked 3 of them together with dots of glue between, and glued them to the button. This builds up the back and makes a place to glue the pin back.

 

I glued the pin back to the top of the button. 

 

Yet from the front it still looks like a plain button.

 

#2 Brooch - Ruffled

The other two buttons were La Mode 170001706, which is a flat-backed shank button...

 

 

...and La Mode 170001718, a flat button with 2 holes. Both of these I needed a backing for, which I did the same way.

 

Tie a knot in the thread end, and weave your needle through one side of the narrow ribbon, gathering it.

 

All you want is a circle, which may take about 5-6 in. of ribbon. Keep gathering it until when you pull the needle through and tighten the thread, it makes a ruffled circle, similar to a yoyo.

 

Secure it with a few stitches so it stays shut, then use the needle and thread to sew the button to the center front and the pin back to the back. This adds a nice soft ruffle outline the whole way around the button.

 

 

 

 

If you can sew them both on at the same time, so much the better. (I love short cuts. :-)

 

So there are your brooches, and they can be interchanged on the shoes depending on what style or color you want to accessorise with. And of course, worn separately as brooches on collars, lapels, handbags, hats, gloves, etc.

 

I loved the painted shell button brooches!

 

Styling:

I had to see what they looked like in costume, so here are some pictures of them with my Titanic skirt and accessories. Enjoy!

 

 

 

That's it for now. Till next month!

~Kristen - Verity Vintage Studio

 

Look for my new tutorials posted sometime during the first full week of every month. Hairstyles, crafts, repurposing, etc.

January Tutorial – How to Make a Titanic Hat from a Wool Cloche

Less a Tutorial than a Project Journal

I am not a person who can wear bucket cloches. Very few people can wear them well, and I am not one of them. So when I got a navy blue bucket cloche with a lot of other hats from an auction, I didn't know what to do with it. I kept it for years without wearing it. I did try crumpling down the center, and it looked like a fedora. Not my type of hat either. 

Skip ahead a few years...Recently I've become interested in hat making. I've been reading articles and how-tos on different types of hats, and also hat forms or molds since to buy one is so expensive. I've become more and more fascinated by how easy to shape wet wool felt is. But being impatient me, do I wait until I can find or order some hat grade wool felt? No...

Instead I get the brilliant idea to reshape my vintage cloche – especially since that means all the seams are done already and the hem.

It also means I have less scope for creativity because I have to work with what is there. I have to take into account the decoration already around the crown. But I figured I could do something better with it, and here is how I did it.

(I'm so sorry I don't have a before picture – I didn't think of using this for a tutorial until it was already finished. But here's a picture that shows the approximate shape of what it was before I started.)

 

The Hat Form

Basics first. After researching how to make your own hat form, I decided to do it easy and found that this works well, though it's not the prettiest hat drying form around, and only takes a few minutes.

 

First, I took a Planter's peanut can, which is about the right size and lightweight. Many other types of cans should work – I had this one on hand.

 

I folded styrofoam packing on the bottom of the can (now the top of the hat form) and used packaging tape to tape bubble wrap all around it to make a dome. This is to keep the hat from having a square top.

 

 

Then I covered it all over with plastic wrap to keep it dry when the hat is on it.

 

And the best part is - it only took me a few minutes!

 

The Hat Shaping

For the cloche, I first soaked it good in water. I ran water in it and outside it, all over it, until it was completely soaked through. It still retained its shape – it just looked like a very wet, heavy cloche.

I put the hat form on a bath towel and put the dripping hat on the form.

 

Then the fun part started. I had the decoration on the side to work around, so I knew what had to be front and what was back. Also the length of the brim was slightly different in front and back. But with those considerations in mind, I could play around with it, folding it different ways and pinning it.

 

 

I pinned up the brim on one side to make it look a little like a riding habit hat, then pinned all the wrinkles how I wanted them and smoothed out the ones I didn't want.

 

 

Since I didn't want the hat so tall, I punched the top in a little and sculpted the wrinkles that created.

 

With all the padding on the hat form, you can stick pins into it and they'll stay. So when it was all pinned, I set it – still on the bath towel – in front of a fan and let it there all day. It felt dry by the evening, but I left it on the form overnight, just in case.

 

The next day I took the pins out and this was the result:

It held its new shape perfectly! Hooray!

  

Hat Trimming

The fun part! I wanted a Lady Grantham style sort of hat for my Titanic costumes, and this hat lent itself well to that. I won't say it in the end it looks completely period, but it's close enough for the time being.

My favorite hat trimming devices are vintage millinery flowers and berries. They just look more authentic than modern ones, for some reason. But I also like hat trims that don't have to be sewn or glued on, since that way I can change them around to match my costume if I like. With that in mind, I keep a supply of decently-authentic looking flower clips and brooches (cheap in craft stores), which are admirable for times like this.

 

So first I wanted a dash of color. The millinery berries did that well, and with the turned up brim I could hide the stems easily.

 

Feathers are always appropriate, especially for this time period. I liked how this looked on the hat, but it came down over my eye too much, so I decided to wait until later to place it.

 

 

Then I had an idea to use a jewelry component of a strip of rolled ribbon flowers I've had for a while. I tucked one end under the side decoration, and the other between two folds on the crown of the hat. That makes a nice asymmetrical look.

 

But it needs more poof. Time to bring on the clip-on flowers.

 

This one? Nope. Definitely not polka dots. And the rose shape doesn't fit right with the style of the hat.

 

This one's better, but almost too much poof. It makes the hat look more steampunk, or gothic. Which is fine if that's what you like, but not what I'm looking for. Besides, I thought it added too many colors in a jumble.

 

 

Ah, now this is better! It's close to the ivory of the roses, but more of a champagne, to add depth of ivory shades. It will match anything and is more the right size. It's on an alligator clip, so I can move it around as I wish, or replace it if needed to match an outfit.

 

The feather adds a finishing touch. And all I need to do is stitch down the ends of the rose strip and maybe a berry cluster to keep it in place.

 

 

Hat views:

 

 

And of course, even though I am not in costume, I had to try it on.

 

 

I flatter myself that it really does look like a hat Lady Grantham would wear. And even if not, it's much better than the bucket cloche it was, when it sat in a hatbox for years!

 

 

Now I am excited about buying up all sorts of wool hats in antique stores that I wouldn't normally purchase, just so I can reshape them; and am sorry for all the ones in the past I decided I didn't like after all, and sold or gave away!

Just to demonstrate shaping a different style, here's the before and after pictures of another hat I at first didn't like and had the inspiration to turn it into a ritzy looking (and even more Period than the cloche) '40s style tilt hat - one of the more expensive styles to buy vintage and incidentally one of my favorites.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

I don't know if I'll get into actual hat making - shaping straw, for instance - although I do think I want to try making a hat from scratch eventually, maybe cutting up wool coats from a thrif store (not too nice coats, of course!). But I am looking forward to being able to make my own unique creation out of ugly or unwanted hats – and give them a new life.

 

See you later!

~Kristen - Verity Vintage Studio

 

 

Look for my new tutorials posted sometime during the first full week of every month. Hairstyles, crafts, repurposing, vintage themed, etc.

 

Verity Vintage Studio Hosts a Christmas Tea

It all started with a menu, which became spattered and written over and wrinkled before it came to pass...

 

Then too, there was a lot of baking. Some was also for Christmas, but a whole day was devoted to making things like these amazing cream-cheese icing topped gingerbread cupcakes (mini version), and a first try at petit fours.

 

Finally the day came. Some things could be done ahead of time, like arranging the glasses on the punch table...

...setting up the centerpiece...

...and hairstyles. I went with a Downton Abbey (Titanic Era) look and borrowed my hairstyle generally from that time period as well, aiming for a Lady Grantham style.

Side:

Back:

Other Side:

Then it was time to work on the tables and slowly start filling them up with things that could sit out, breaking out all the heirloom dishes and fine china. 

Also arranging forks can be done earlier. This was the handiwork of my 11-year-old brother, Bobby.

Spiced iced tea preparations:

And the iced tea ready to drink (I did alter the original recipe quite a bit to make it taste how I wanted - I'll post my version in time for New Year's.)

 

As the hour to expect guests approached, we could put more dishes on the table and start the tea water boiling.

 

Once things were mostly put together, we could change. Here's one hostess/guest in her Edwardian costume:

 

I wore a modern formal taffeta skirt bought at a thrift store, and a vintage blouse from the 1980s that looks quite Titanic with its gold and black over-lace, assymetrical V at the neck, and loads of trimming.

 

This was a ladies only tea, so the gentlemen of the house were glad to escape outside and be otherwise occupied (although they appreciated the leftovers!).

 

Finally all was prepared.

 

Waiting for the guests to arrive is hard work!

It also makes you hungry, apparently.

 

Some of the guests also kindly brought some goodies.

 

And one guest brought *gasp* a gentleman!

 

We had a very enjoyable time chatting, sipping cold and hot tea, and enjoying the wonderful spread and soft Victorian style Christmas music in the background.

 

 

Also baby holding. Who could resist beseeching blue eyes?

 

When it grew dark and the guests left, we enjoyed the candlelight for a while and snacked from the tea table for supper. We were tired, but it had been fun. And the holiday season had been brightened.

 

After all, things worth having are worth working for - and an elegant celebration with friends is worth having.

Maybe we'll have another one next year! Thanks for allowing me to share it with you.

 

Thanks to Jamie for suggesting this post!

Lady Grantham 2-in-1 Earrings Pattern

Inspired by the jewelry worn on Season One of Downton Abbey by Lady Grantham during the Titanic era, these earrings you can wear 2 ways are the perfect way to make your own elegant jewelry for your Victorian, Edwardian, or Titanic costume - or just for fun.

Read more about the pattern and where you can buy it on my other blog.