Verity Vintage Studio

Early Easter Dresses with My Favorite Things by Poppie Cotton

Poppie Cotton comes out with lots of cute fabric each year, but this has to be the best yet, by someone who is quickly becoming a favorite designer. My Favorite Things is aptly named as it has all of MY favorite things too! Vintage prints, florals, roses, adorable novelty prints with teacups & roses & ice cream sundaes, lovely candy colors...

 

I had so much fun sewing with it. So far I've made a quilt (can't show you yet!) and the projects you see here.

 

I had intended to make a different set of dresses for my girls for Easter, but when I saw how cute these turned out, I decided to save them for Easter instead. So you get an early look at what they will be wearing.

 

For my 3 year old, I used the blue novelty print and a vintage pattern, paired with my favorite little floral for the yoke, and some vintage lace. 

 

I altered it to button the whole way down the back, and inserted the belt in the side seams instead of doing a front sash, but otherwise followed the pattern. And I was very pleased with it - I'm finally figuring out how to get a good fit for girls' sizes. 

 

My 3 year old adores the dress. She kept checking on its progress, and loves to pick out her favorite things in the novelty print (generally the little animals, of course). She was SO excited to try it on for photos.

 

For the 1 year old, I used a 1930s pattern that I've made before and is one of my favorite size 1 patterns. It has a curved yoke in the front, and little tucks in the back.

 

Naturally, it was difficult to get her to sit still, so just had to grab what photos I could get! Hopefully on Easter Sunday I can get better pictures of the two together.

 

She is still pretty small for her age, but thankfully these loose fitting dresses are pretty easy to adjust.

 

I love how they coordinate without being completely matching! 

 

While the dresses were my main project for this blog feature, I also decided at the last minute to make something else that would show off more of the fabrics, since I had a lot of favorites not used for the dresses. A simple patchwork runner was the perfect quick project!

 

I cut a bunch of 2" squares and simply alternated them randomly with white, added a border, and then hand quilted in a contrast thread on just the white squares. I love how it turned out. I often gravitate towards the simple classic quilts rather than the more impressive, complicated ones. 

 

I didn't fussy-cut the squares (though you easily could) but it was fun to see some of them turn out as if I had!

 

There have been so many pretty projects showing this gorgeous fabric, during the blog tour. I hope you check them all out!

Monday, March 6	https://www.elealutzdesign.com/
Wednesday, March 8	https://www.cloverandviolet.com/
Friday, March 10	theredfeedsack.blogspot.com
Monday March 13	http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday, March 15	http://www.linenbouquet.com
Friday, March 17	Faith Essenburg
Monday, March 20	http://neverlandstitches.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, March 22	https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/
Friday, March 24	https://goodvibesquiltshop.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 27	http://www.gigisthimble.com/
Wednesday, March 29	https://www.nannygoatquilts.com/
Friday, March 31	http://www.abrightcorner.com/

 

1930s Inspiration

I was planning to show you my newest makeover this week, but the photo shoot didn't happen, so it will have to wait until next week. Meanwhile, here are some 1930s images that are my most recent favorites. I love to browse them for inspiration either for actual garments, or for how to put together a pleasing outfit, or how to accessorize in a period appropriate manner.

1930s designers always made good use of gingham, and this cute summer outfit is no exception! It's a fairly simple dress on the bias, with the only trim the button band and the ruffled sleeves on the matching loose jacket, and the giant bow (probably removable). I love her hat too!

 

Two piece dresses are so versatile, and this simple one would be perfect to also have a matching skirt and top in the other fabrics for a mix-and-match ensemble. It's simple, but trim and easy to wear, and really sets off her cute hat and shoes.

 

This is not a summer outfit, but I seriously need to copy her neckline embellishment on a project of mine sometime! It looks like a simple band of the skirt fabric stuck through a slot in her collar. Just adorable.

 

Another cool summer dress, doing what big prints do best. Loose fitting blouse and sleeves, simple lines. I like the wide belt and her shady hat.

 

This super simple white outfit has a few big dramatic points - the neckline and cuffs on the jacket. Looks like the jabot might actually be on the dress, but either way it has a lot of style for the simple lines of the overall outfit. Perfect to accessorize with more colorful spectator shoes.

 

And I'll end with this lovely snap of 3 happy looking tourists posing on an overlook somewhere. I love real life images because they show real women, not the perfectly posed and proportioned model with every aspect of skin, hair, and outfit perfection.

This one is cute because it shows 3 different styles of dresses, and some simpler hairstyles that I imagine were quick and practical. These ladies probably made their own dresses or bought them off the rack. My favorite is the plaid with the asymmetrical closure, but I also like the ruffled trim on the center one, and the adorable bias cap sleeves on the striped dress. They look like comfortable outfits for hiking and sightseeing, and the ladies (sisters, friends?) look happy to be wherever they are. Definitely makes me think of summer vacations!