Verity Vintage Studio

4th of July Vintage Toddler Dress Makeover

Some time ago, I got this vintage toddler dress from a seller on Instagram. It was priced low because the skirt was badly rust-stained, but I knew I could do something with it so I kept it until my oldest daughter grew into this size.

 

The thin cotton had leaked the rust stains through, so it was stained both front and back, and the buttons had disintegrated. But all the stains were on the lower 2/3rds of the skirt, so the bodice (which is where all the cute detail was) was untouched.

 

It was a simple matter to trim off the skirt a few inches down, and using that to measure, cut a length of contrast fabric to replace it with.

 

Of course the shoulder button replacement was super easy - so here it is with a fresh life, just in time for the 4th of July festivities!

 

She calls it her "parade dress", and loves it - though I couldn't get her to smile for these pictures. :-) 

 

I like it also as an example of how versatile a basic pattern is, as a background canvas for creative trimming. 

 

Here's an actual smile!

 

We are having a low-key 4th today, but the children got to jump in a bouncy house and gathered up their long-awaited buckets of candy from the parade, so they are happy. 

Happy Independence Day!

 

"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

...There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

-Patrick Henry, 1775

Quick & Easy Pullover to Cardigan Makeover for Christmas

Due to a crazy fall – deadlines, house renovation and moving, and a family loss – I have not sewn anything since the first week of October. This means I haven't even started on my Fall/Winter sewing list, and the winter is half over. But on the other hand, it also means I have enjoyed getting more wear out of previous makes. And also did more small projects, like turning this pullover into a cardigan.

 

This sweater is a duplicate in ladies' size of one my brother got last Christmas. I liked it so much I tracked down one for me, but when it arrived I wasn't sure if I wanted to try to shorten it to a more flattering length, or turn it into a cardigan.

 

It stayed on my mending/alteration rack for a whole year.

Just before Christmas when I was thinking about what to wear Christmas Day, I remembered this sweater. After some debate, I decided that I would get a lot more wear out of it as a cardigan, so here's how I altered it.

1. I matched the side seams (you can also measure & mark the center) and cut it down the center.

Next, I fused a 1” strip of fusible interfacing to the underside of each cut. I've tried making pullovers into cardigans before, but this is the first time I used fusible interfacing – and it makes a huge difference! It keeps the edges from fraying while you work, and keeps them from stretching out of shape.

 

At this point you could just fold over the front edge and hem it, but this sweater was already a bit small for me and I didn't want to take any extra fabric. So I sewed single fold bias tape to each raw edge, unfolding it all the way out and stitching along the fold line.

 

Next all I had to do was fold it in, tuck down the top and bottom edges, and hand stitch it. Catching just the underside of the knit makes an invisible seam.

 

All done! I could have added buttons and buttonholes at this point, but as I said the sweater was already tight for me, so an open front cardigan was best. I definitely would try the buttonholes for another project though to make it a true button-down cardigan.

 

There are lots of other ways to make pullovers into cardigans, including totally unpicking the seams and cutting it down if it's too large, or adding decorative stitches or trims to the front to hide your seams. This is just the way I did it for this one.

 

And as I anticipated, it gets a lot more wear as a cardigan. Already it's my go-to winter sweater.

 

I just love the vintage styling of the decorative yoke, while at the same time it looks festive for Christmas but not so Christmassy that I can't wear it for the rest of the winter.

 

So there's a quick and easy sweater refashion for the colder months! Next time when thrifting if you see a pretty pullover but you're a cardigan girl, you can go ahead and get it, having the confidence that you can turn it into a winter closet staple.

 

I may have a few other sweaters that need this treatment now that I know how fast and effective it is!

 

Mini Makeover: Decorating a Thrifted Blouse 1950s Style

Today's post is the last one of the photos I took while on vacation in Oregon in August. It's hardly worth calling a makeover, but I decided to go ahead and share the process even though it's a simple one, in case you need some easy inspiration for how to make a modern wardrobe more authentic.

 

It started with this striped cotton blouse that I found at the thrift store. It's a nice fabric and perfect for everyday. Also it had some cute details! But it looked too shirt-like for me, so I decided to dress it up.

 

It had a classic collar and yoke, both common elements in vintage styles, and while most vintage blouses are darted or tucked to be more fitted at the waist, the tuck-in style does exist. Also the cuffs were already cute!

 

So I took advantage of the double top stitching lines and made them more noticeable with some hand work. Just 2 colors of embroidery floss - running stitch around cuffs and collar edge, and some little bound bows on each pocket and sleeve. 

 

To make the bows, I just stitched long straight stitches back and forth, then bound it around the center with a contrast color. 

 

Just for fun, I reversed the colors for one bow only. This was inspired by all the quirky random novelty sweaters I saw on Pinterest.  But of course you could make them all match, or go with another style of embroidery entirely. There were so many possible options!

 

I also did a running stitch on the back yoke, to make the yoke more noticeable. 

 

I wore it the morning we did our train ride, and the train made such a lovely backdrop! I wish I had an old train car like this close by for photo shoots, but we can't have everything. :-) 

It's a nice casual 1940s or 1950s style that can easily cross back to modern if desired. Here I paired it with a skirt I made a while ago from a 1940s pattern, and of course my favorite white casual shoes from Rocket Originals. 

 

It's amazing how much more feminine the blouse is now with just the simple addition of some easy freehand embroidery. Someday I'd like to do something more elaborate, but for now this works just fine.

Though I remember now I had also intended to swap out the buttons for something nicer and totally forgot! But that's another great way to change a garment's style or make it more feminine, as well. 

 

So if you are looking for a cost-effective way to add more vintage to your closet, keep an eye out for classic styles at the thrift store - and add some little touches yourself. It's a great way to build your vintage wardrobe, make it entirely unique, and budget friendly too!

Makeover: Maxi Dress with 1930s Inspiration

I hesitate to even call this a makeover, since it wasn't that involved. I didn't even get a "before" picture because I didn't think it would be worthwhile. But I found that even a little creativity can make a big difference.

 

This started out as a modern dress, picked up at a thrift store because it was dirt cheap, I like polka dots, and the waist detail was cute. It went into my alterations/mending pile where it stayed for over a year. Not long ago, towards the end of my pregnancy when I had outgrown a lot of my other clothes, I realized it had potential for a maternity dress and pulled it out to see what I had to work with.

It's a polyester knit, which I would never sew with and don't usually buy. However, the flow is nice and the print is very vintage. It's quite stretchy, so that worked well for maternity. It was a basic sleeveless maxi dress with a plain, lined bodice, and it went to my ankles or past. Maxi dresses aren't my thing, so I started with the makeover by cutting off about 4 inches. 

 

The nice thing about knit is it doesn't ravel, so I could just turn up and top stitch the hem. I left it long but not almost-puddling-on-the-floor long. I had faint hopes of making at least look 1930s inspired, but wasn't sure I would achieve that.

The shorter length helped to make it more wearable, but it still could use some help and I had the 4 inch strip I had cut off, so I put my mind to what I could do with it. The plain neckline could use some jazzing up...neck detail is huge in the 1930s, and I had plenty of leftovers for a nice size bow. It was a pain to work with since the fabric was so limp and slippery, but I persevered and ended up stacking hemmed circles to make a generous double bow, which I tacked to the center of the neckline. Suddenly it looked a lot more 1930s!

 

Styled with a pearl edged sweater left open (partly to hide the slight distortion of fit and partly since so many of their outfits were fitted under a boxy jacket), I accessorized it with 1930s accessories and actually think that in the end I achieved my hopes for a 1930s overall style, though it's far from period correct. 

 

Regardless of that, however, it's much more feminine and wearable now - much more my style - and all it took was a few minutes to shorten and hem it, and a bit of thought on decoration. Maximum rewards for minimum effort! 

 

Again, I am encouraged to look for potential in thrift store finds, especially if I'm short on time for a whole new project. No need to settle for plain or boring!

 

Now I just wish I had altered it earlier so I could have worn it more while expecting. Oh well, it's served me well already in the past few weeks and probably will in the few remaining.

Modeled: 1950s Polka Dot Ensemble

Last month I posted about the blue polka dot skirt I refashioned, and the 1950s blouse I made to match using the trimmings of the skirt for contrast. The process photos were just mannequin photos, but I since have had a chance to get proper modeled photos, so here they are!

 

I did wear the ensemble a little differently than shown on the mannequin. I omitted the crinoline since it made me look like a balloon (I am not the size of the mannequin anymore, currently!), and wore the blouse out overtop in a much more pregnancy friendly fashion. This is not quite so period correct, but all 2 piece maternity outfits did have the blouse worn out over the skirt, so that isn't so unusual.

 

I have a box full of navy blue hats, most of them 1950s, but this one is the one I find myself wearing the most often - I love the little daisies and the way the contrasting brim turns up in the front. 

 

There isn't too much to tell about the outfit since I already blogged about it, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

But I do have to say - I've now joined a lot of other vintage dressers and bloggers and jumped on the Royal Vintage Shoes bandwagon. I did a shoe purge a while ago and saved up for some reproductions. Among them and the first on the blog, the Marilyn in red, which I have already worn quite a bit - they go with everything! I love the shape and color (just the right shade of red). 

 

While I still love and collect true vintage shoes, it's nice to have some that I don't have to worry about dancing in or wearing out of doors. Also to have shoes that fit perfectly, have modern comfort elements like padding, and come in different sizes! The customer service there is awesome, they have rewards and pre-order sales for their new styles, and I so appreciate their commitment to accuracy - so many "repro" brands really just have vintage styling elements and are not truly historically accurate. These I think are closest to late-'40s/1950s shoe styles and are so elegant, classic, and feminine!

(If you are sighing over Royal Vintage shoes but find the price tag prohibitive, I will tip you off that Unique Vintage also carries their shoes - and they often have 20% off sales around the holidays!)

 

I look forward to wearing the outfit with a crinoline and the blouse tucked in once my waist is restored, but for now, I'm still quite satisfied with the refashion.

Polka Dot Skirt Makeover into 1950s 2 Piece

I've already mentioned that I've been searching for elastic waist skirts lately, and began to re-appreciate tiered skirts when I found the 1940s style Mexican skirt. Lately, still thinking along those lines, I pulled a skirt out of my closet and looked at it closely - I've had it for years and rarely wear it because it's just too long for practical everyday wear. I step on it. Yet it is one of my few skirts with an elastic waist and is a lovely navy blue and white polka dot rayon fabric. Surely I could do something with that!

 

Because of its style, I immediately thought "1950s" and tried it on over my crinoline.

Some promise, but way too long. It looks more like a Civil War era skirt at this point.

 

Trimming it shorter was the obvious answer, so I pinned it up to see how it would look. I decided 6 inches needed to come off.

 

But wouldn't that look strange to have just a 6 inch piece on the bottom when the other tiers are much wider? 

The answer presented itself in the form of rickrack, which if I put a strand on each seam and one in the center of the center tier, would break it up fairly evenly and be very 1950s appropriate. More pinning ensued...

 

I measured the bottom tier and marked with tailor's chalk where the 6 inch line was (it took forever to go around that skirt) and then cut, serged, and top-stitched a narrow hem. Thankfully it was a straight edge so the hem didn't pucker for me.

It looks better already!

 

The rickrack took a while as well,  but it was simply top stitching. It just took 3 trips around the width of the skirt.

There! Already I have a much cuter and more wearable vintage style skirt, and it took just a short time to alter, compared to making a new one. No more wasting time in my closet, unworn.

 

(I think I've already mentioned that I love polka dots!)

 

But there was more. With the wide strip cut from the skirt's hem, I had some polka dot fabric on hand. I wanted a blouse that I could use the polka dots as a neck tie and narrow sleeve bands (both something that could be cut from the width I had to work with) and found exactly what I needed in view 3 of this pattern. I had made another view of it previously, so I knew it was comfortable.

 

I picked up some white linen from my stash and cut it out, making it a tad larger so it would fit me, but otherwise not changing it. It's meant to be worn tucked in so if it's a little too big later on it shouldn't be noticeable.

The only change I made was just to do plain sleeve bands instead of overlapping and buttoning them.

There's always a strange moment before sewing the side seams when a raglan sleeved blouse looks so confusing!

 

The rayon and linen behaved and pressed beautifully, the pattern was easy yet fun, and everything went together without a hitch. Also it fits, at least for now.

 

I used some perfectly matching buttons from my stash, and had exactly enough left of the skirt band after cutting out the blouse accents to make myself a nice long sash that can be worn several ways. No wasted scraps here, and it ties the look together perfectly, though a white belt would also look nice. The sash and elastic waist means it's adjustable for maternity wear as needed.

 

I haven't been able to get pictures of me wearing it yet - hopefully soon! But I'd call it a definite success as a makeover. Not only do I have a skirt I'll actually wear now, but I have a cute blouse to wear as separates (taking less time than making a whole new dress) - and worn together a lovely 2 piece set! All from the stash, and without me having to buy most of the fabric or make the skirt. I can see myself actually hunting in thrift stores for too long skirts now!

Gray Skirt Makeover

This has been a very procrastinated-upon project. I started the makeover several months ago, then left it lay around without being finished for a long time. Finally I buckled down and finished it, and in less than a half-hour it was completed! Another reminder that procrastination never pays. :-)

 

Anyway, this skirt started out as a thrift store find: a very long, straight skirt I used to wear a lot in the summer. A solid gray that goes with anything, in a non-wrinkling fabric (though after being stuck in a redo-or-mend stack for a long time it did get some wrinkles in it). I had dressed it up years ago by doing some embroidery on the front above the hem, so it was also personalized.

 

Yet it was always too long to be practical. After I lost weight last year, this skirt settled down around my hips and what had been an ankle length skirt now puddled on the floor! It went from being impractical to being impossible.

 

I considered just getting rid of it, but liking the color, fabric and embroidery, I decided to try doing something else entirely. My first makeover.

 

I cut it off just under the zipper, which made the length about right. I wanted to cut the waistband out of the remnant, but the darts made that impossible. So I cut out a waistband from another fabric. Not the closest color, but close enough. I usually wear my blouses out over the skirt band anyway.

 

Marking the center of the front of the skirt, and the waistband, I pinned it together and began to play with the extra fabric. 

 

I tried several ways of pleating the extra fabric.

 

And decided on just a single box pleat in the front. For the back I did long darts to use up the extra.

 

From there on, it was just like finishing any skirt. I put in a short zipper by hand, and whipstitched down the waistband. 

Now I have a much more practical skirt that will actually get some wear!

 

I'm quite pleased with my first attempt at a makeover. I think there are more pieces in my closet that deserve a new lease on life as well. 

 

It's nice to have what feels like a new addition to the wardrobe without all the work of making it from scratch. 

 

Since I'm wearing it in these photos, I have to show you another favorite thrift store find - a classic pullover sweater. It's another one of those modern pieces that can easily become vintage with the right accessorizing.

 

A simple V neck and pretty puffed sleeves make it suitable for 1930s and 1940s wear. Plus it's comfortable! One of my favorite ways to dress vintage even when I don't feel like dressing up.

 

I think more makeovers are on the radar for the future! (After wedding sewing, though, I think. :-)