A Red Silk Taffeta Christmas Dress

About three years ago my best friends gave me a length of red silk taffeta for my birthday--real silk taffeta! I quietly determined that I wanted most of it to go towards my first Civil War ballgown (which, sadly, has yet to materialize) but couldn't help wishing for a vintage-styled Christmas dress.

Voila!

The design was heavily inspired by Audrey Hepburn's 50s dresses and some vintage pattern covers. I used a 1950s mail order pattern from the stash (my grandparents found it in the dumpster!) for the princess lines, drafted the yoke myself, and shortened the sleeves from the jacket in the pattern. The pattern was just my size and fit perfectly, no adjustments. I love vintage patterns!

This dress was a dream to sew up. I had never worked with silk or silk taffeta before so I was a bit nervous starting out, not knowing how the fabric would react to my handling, cutting, marking and stitching. If you've never sewn with silk taffeta before, I would highly recommend it! The taffeta gives it a subtle texture so the pieces aren't slippery at all; it cuts precisely, presses neatly, doesn't wrinkle badly (at least mine didn't) and has a lovely sheen and rustle.

Four cautions: the silk does show pin/stitch marks (I would recommend silk pins--also, this does make ripping/resewing a bit of a stresser); don't get water on it (it will spot, so watch that steam setting on your iron to see that it doesn't drip!); the fabric does fray, so you will need to finish your seams; and if you wash it, I am told it will lose its crispness.

Eventually I hope to add a large bow to the back waistline, redo the zipper and make a headband or hairbow to go with it!

I wish I had pictures of me wearing the dress; I actually didn't get to wear it the past two Christmases so it has only seen the light of one Christmas Day and a couple of swing dances. Maybe next year I can get together a photoshoot!  That would be so fun.

1940s Style Swimsuit

Marie Antoinette models the finished product. Isn't she a beach beauty?

I think this has been my favorite project this year. It was immensely fun to sew and I must say, I am quite proud of the way it turned out. XD


Inspiration
I knew when I started this project that I wanted a two-piece suit for ease of use and wear. And I most definitely wanted a vintage-styled suit, or at the very least a vintage-inspired suit. I thumbed through countless Google images searches and Tumblr searches and vintage pattern searches looking at the different styles of the decades.

The swimsuits here are from 1946. I really liked the white one on the left.

The 1940s suits definitely attracted my attention and I finally decided (after taking inspiration from these gorgeous images) that I wanted a halter top with a skirted bottom. The bottom had to be high-waisted, of course!

Simplicity 1022 from 1944. Halter top, high-waisted skirt.

Research
I looked at a lot of extant swimsuits from the 40s and 50s (mostly on etsy) and discovered one very important thing: they were not made of spandex like today's suits, as spandex didn't exist at the time! Instead they were constructed of materials like wool, wool jersey, and even plain old cotton!

"Feather print" halter and skirt made of cotton; found on etsy.

Thus my conundrum: I could purchase a vintage pattern that was meant for these fabrics and try to make it up in spandex, hoping the difference would not be too great; or, I could buy a modern pattern, alter the heck out of it to make it look vintage, and then sew it up in spandex. There was no way I was going to make a swimsuit out of cotton or wool jersey!

Blue halter & skirt, c. 1946.

Pattern
So in the end, I chose no pattern, I just winged it mostly. That's the great thing about spandex, it's so incredibly forgiving. I had a lot of help from Olivia's Swimsuit eBook, which takes you through the entireties of swimsuit drafting and construction. Reasonably priced (I thought) and great for the novice like me. Obviously my swimsuit is a lot different from hers, so even if you're not planning on making one pictured in the eBook, I would definitely recommend checking it out!

I also traced a pair of my grandmother's vintage swim shorts (which, quite happily, fit me perfectly) to make the underwear for the skirt.


Materials
The spandex was purchased from Spandex World. They have a wonderful selection of prints and patterns but I would not heartily recommend purchasing from them unless you see something you can't live without. The fabric samples were free, arrived quickly and were a great help, but the fabric took its own time and when it arrived, didn't even have an invoice in the package! I still have not received one. Customer service is, needless to say, not that great. The fabric itself is priced fairly reasonably especially since you only need 1-2 yds for a suit.

I loved Maureen O'Sullivan's suit in this picture!

Thread was regular cotton blend in a matching color; I used only one piece of elastic (to gather the center of the halter) in the entire suit and it was not swimwear elastic so I hope it holds up.


Construction
The halter came first and was incredibly easy to make.

 I used one of my old bras as a base and simply took a rectangle of fabric, as per Olivia's instructions, and gathered it with elastic in the middle, and again on the sides.

From here I snipped off the bra's sides and straps and attached my own, simple rectangles that tie at the neck and back. Easy peasy.

The skirt and undies were a bit harder. As aforementioned, the undies were traced from my grandma's pair of swim shorts so they fit in true vintage fashion!

The skirt is simply a half-circle (drafted to fit me from Olivia's instructions) and the undies and skirt are sewn together at the top with a waistband. There is no elastic in the waistband; I just made it tighter to fit me so I wouldn't have to fuss with all of that. Luckily spandex stretches.

And there you have it! A 40s style suit with the convenience of modern fabrics. It all came together surprisingly fast and was so easy to make; I think I have a love affair with spandex. You don't have to hem it, you don't have to worry about your garments fitting perfectly because it's so forgiving, and it whips up so quickly! See you at the beach. ;)


*Please note that I am in no way compensated and/or affiliated with the companies/products listed above.

Fifties-Does-Thirties-Does-Bohemian Sundress Set

Long title, no? There's a bit of a story behind that. I found this lovely, rather wild orange & cream print cotton on sale at JoAnn's and just had to get it for one of the many sundresses I plan on making. I started out with a 1950s mail order pattern in a plain princess line style and it looked rather fifties/modern/vintage-does-bohemian.

Then I added a self-fabric belt with a small buckle (courtesy of the ever-generous Becca :) and a short-sleeved bolero jacket, and suddenly it looked very 1930s inspired! Which doesn't bother me in the least, except I am now trying to figure out exactly what this sundress set entails. ;)

The pattern is Mail Order 9183, circa 1950s, which I have used before and have been very pleased with. (I did end up altering the neckline from a square shape to a more flattering scoop neck.) It's a simple curved princess seam pattern, sleeveless, with binding on the neckline and sleeve edges, and goes together very quickly. I believe I cut the pieces out on Sunday and had the dress finished by Tuesday. If I had a full day of uninterrupted sewing time I believe I could finish it in a single day. :)

The pattern includes a bolero jacket but I didn't exactly like the looks of the one in the pattern and preferred something more relaxed. So, out came Butterick 6877, which is actually from 1993, but which had a nice relaxed bodice with cut-in-one cap sleeves that was extremely easy to alter into a bolero pattern. It worked up very quickly too--the entire bolero was done, pattern altering to final touches, in the space of an evening.

I lined the bolero with a lightweight linen (actually my mom's capri pants which got a hole torn in the knee) and since the dress fabric is 100% cotton, it makes for a very cool summer ensemble. Those waffly front edges have me rather annoyed, though. I blame it on the very flimsy, drapey linen. I should've used a sturdier weave but one must roll with the punches, musn't one?

And there was enough leftover linen to line the little matching purse! This one was whipped up in about an hour using this awesome tutorial. Very cute, non?

All in all, very pleased with this ensemble. It's casual enough to wear most days both at home and out & about and can be dressed up or down all sorts of ways. :)

Green Sundress & Bolero Jacket

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, perhaps the greenest thing I have ever made!

Inspired by late 50s/early 60s sundress styles as well as Casey's cute boatneck dress. This green sundress features a high square neckline, waist and bust darts, and a very full twirly skirt. The fabric is a twin-sized flat sheet, cotton/polyester blend, from the thrift store. $3 dress!

The neckline and armscyes are piped, and the bodice is lined in natural-colored linen. I flat-drafted the bodice pattern to my measurements and used Casey's bodice piping tutorial for help and inspiration with the details. Bodice zips up the back.

I used Butterick reprint B4792 for the bolero jacket, made of white twill. The jacket was incredibly easy to make--I would definitely recommend this pattern. I self-lined it with the twill and finished all the edges with whipstitches. I was going to put two gigantic buttons on the front but decided to leave it plain.

The jacket emphasizes the waist quite well and I love the fresh contrast of green and white. Such a lovely summer dress to wear!

Simplicity 3775, c. 1951

This lovely skirt pattern was lent to me by a friend. I used View 2, with a shaped waistband, back zip and no pockets.

Simplicity 3775, copyright 1951

It was an extremely easy skirt to make up, the instructions were simple and thorough, and that made it fun. One of those projects you just love doing. ;)

The fabric is a cotton/polyester sheet from Goodwill. I was fortunate enough to find a nice navy belt that exactly matched the sheet during the same trip. So the total for this skirt-and-belt combo comes to less than five dollars. :)

The waistband, since it's so wide and faced, acts almost like a waist cincher and is extremely flattering, especially when worn with the belt. I love this skirt. It's easy to wear, not too full, and it goes with practically anything. Definitely a favorite in my wardrobe. :) And I still have extra fabric, so I'm planning a matching blouse for a one-piece look!

Hat: thrifted
Blouse: borrowed from my mom
Skirt: made by me
Belt: thrifted
Peep-Toe Wedges:thrifted

Stashbuster Project: 1930s Apron

I decided to use up some scraps and make my mother a 1930s-style apron. The fabric is vintage, from my grandmother, and is left over from a project. The bias tape I made myself from scraps.


I didn't really use a pattern, since I didn't have one; I found a 1930s apron diagram on the internet and altered up an existing apron to look like it. The straps criss-cross in the back and there is a tie at the waist. The pockets are trimmed with bias binding too. All in all, this project cost me exactly $0. Using up the stash gives you a good feeling, doesn't it?

A 1950s Valentine Dress...for a Valen-tiny Girl!

 I made this dress for a little girl who loves pink. It's based on this 1950s pattern (below), which I only had a photo of. I used an old girl's dress pattern (out of print) for the bodice front & back, a drafted sleeve pattern, and made a circle skirt from these instructions. Put it all together and voila!



I based it on a combination of the two white dresses, except I forgot to dart the bodice! The belt snaps in the back. The buttons are all different vintage buttons from my stash. None of them have matches.



The dress fabric is actually an old pink cotton sheet that my mother no longer wanted, and the red pocket and belt are some scraps of silk taffeta from the stash. The lace was given to me by an older lady who no longer sews and the belt buckle is from my grandma. All in all, a $0 project!



Doesn't it go fab with the red gloves and sweet little sweater? Oh-so-fifties. There's a little petticoat under there too, to make the skirts stand out just right.





xoxo

1940s Overalls

I needed something warm, cute and practical to wear down to the barn on chilly winter mornings and vintage overalls seemed to be the perfect garment. :) I loved Solanah's pair and decided to order the pattern she used, Eva Dress 4536.

The pattern was extremely easy to follow, even though it's unprinted, except for the back fastenings/buttonholes. That was not explained clearly and so I just winged (wang? wung?) it and everything turned out satisfactorily. :)

The fabric is 6 oz. (very lightweight) denim from JoAnn's, lined with a flannel print from same. I believe I was able to use coupons on both. The cute square buttons are from the stash--I bought a jar of vintage buttons from the antique store once for $5.

These overalls have certainly been a Godsend! I wore them almost every day last winter and they are SO comfortable and cozy! The flannel lining makes things just about perfect. Very pleased.