1940's Style Wrap Dress

I have a purchased wrap dress by a repro brand, and I love it a lot. For a long time I tried to find a similar pattern, but wrap dress patterns from the 40s are not easy to find. So I tried to make something like a copy of that dress. Which was not easy, as the slinky rayon crepe of the template dress changed shape whenever it was moved.

Ich habe ein Repro Kleid, das ich über alles liebe. Da ich keinen ähnlichen Schnitt finden konnte, habe ich versucht, das Kleid zu kopieren. Da das Material ein sehr rutschiger Viskose-Krepp ist, war das schier unmöglich.

I should have made a muslin, well, yes, you always should. But I seldom do, and I went right ahead with a gorgeous piece of 1940s fabric. I had to struggle a bit to have enough fabric for all the pieces. Luckily, it turned out quite well. There's only little that should be improved on a next version, and even though the skirt looks slightly too bulky when worn (thanks to my weight gain during the last months), I am really happy how it turned out.

Natürlich hätte ich noch ein Testkleid nähen sollen, sollte man ja immer, aber ich mache das kaum je. Stattdessen nähte ich gleich drauflos mit einem Stück originalem Stoff aus den 1940ern. Mit etwas Glück schaffte ich es, aus dem sehr knappen Material alle Teile zu schneiden. Und zum Glück ist das Kleid auch recht gut gelungen. Nur zwei, drei Kleinigkeiten müssten an dem Schnitt verbessert werden, und der Rock dürfte weniger klobig sein, was aber auch am Stoff liegt (und an meiner derzeitigen Figur).

I had to peace the back bodice and yoke.

I think the fabric is one of the loveliest I have ever seen, as the colour range is so 1940s! I guess it's cotton or some kind of cotton and rayon blend. Then there's a slight structure to the material similar to grosgrain ribbon. It's marvelous to wear and so soft, although there should be a bit more drape to it for this particular cut.

Der Stoff ist einer der hübschesten, den ich je gesehen habe, die Farbpalette ist so richtig zeittypisch. Ich denke es ist Baumwolle oder ein Baumwolle-Viskose-Gewebe, mit einer leicht gerippten Struktur wie Rips. Es ist sehr angenehm und weich, dürfte aber für diesen Schnitt etwas mehr Fall haben.

The dress was finished already in autumn, but because of my medication I put on a bit weight (others may call it fat...), but now that spring is here, it fits better, and I hopefully get back my previous shape.

Fertig ist das Kleid schon im Herbst geworden, doch wegen meiner Medikamente habe ich etwas zugenommen. Winterspeck wohl auch. Nun da der Frühling da ist, passt es aber schon besser. 

I wore it yesterday for a trip with my family. Tomorrow, they have to go back to school after their spring holiday, and it was a splendidly sunny day after a week of rain and cold. So we drove to Stein am Rhein, an ancient, tiny town near the Rhine (and near the Rhine falls). It was a bit crowded, apparently many people had the desire to spend this lovely day in a beautiful place. I didn't expect my husband to take that many pictures, I was rather surprised I didn't have to beg him...

Ich habe das Kleid bei unserm gestrigen Ausflug zum ersten Mal richtig ausgeführt. Morgen müssen die Kinder nach den Ferien wieder in die Schule, und weil es nach einer kalt-regnerischen Woche endlich mal wieder sonnig war, fuhren wir ins malerische Stein am Rhein in der Nähe des Rheinfalls. Es hatte etwas viel Volk unterwegs, offenbar hatten noch andere Menschen das Bedürfnis, den Tag an einem so schönen Ort zu verbringen. Ich war auch sehr überrascht, dass mein GöGa aus freien Stücken so viele Bilder machte...

We also visited the nearby tiny island Werd that can be accessed only by foot or boat. Having no boat, we had to cross a small wooden bridge, which was quite challenging for me. As soon as I don't have terra firma beneath my feet, I feel totally dizzy. (It get's worse with age...)

Zuletzt besuchten wir noch die winzige Insel Werd gleich nebenan. Diese ist nur zu Fuss oder mit dem Boot erreichbar. Da wir kein Boot haben, nahmen wir den schmalen Steg, was für mich ein wenig eine Herausforderung war. Sobald ich keinen festen Boden unter den Füssen habe, wird mir schwindlig.

View of Stein am Rhein from the island

This place was just amazing. It has an ancient house and the chapel of St. Otmar. The beautiful labyrinth, a copy of the one in the Chartres cathedral, intrigued my kids a lot.

Dieser Ort ist sehr beeindruckend mit dem kleinen Kloster und der St. Otmar Kapelle, und das Labyrinth hat selbst meine Kinder sehr beeindruckt. Es ist übrigens eine Nachbildung des Labyrinthes der Kathedrale von Chartres.

Pattern: self-drafted after a reproduction 1940s dress

Fabric: vintage 1940s from Etsy

Shoes: Moheda toffeln from Sweden

Purse: vintage crochet purse with faux tortoise shell frame, Etsy

Earrings: vintage early plastic screw-backs, don't remember where from

Bangles: The Pink Bungaloo (the wide carved one), small ones are vintage bakelite from various sellers

Brooch: The Pink Bungaloo

Cardigan: H&M

Vintage Pattern Inspiration: Vintage Aprons & Free Patterns

In my last post I was writing about a vintage apron I had bought shortly before. I realized I had some vintage apron patterns in my collection, but haven't made one so far. With Christmas being close, I thought it could be nice to have a decent "pinny" to wear when having guests. I have a Christmas apron, a very plain one though, not really vintage style, and it's not flattering at all. (Makes me look flat-breasted and square…)

In meinem letzten Post habe ich Euch meine "neue" Schürze gezeigt. Durch sie bin ich wieder auf den Geschmack des Schürzentragens gekommen. In meiner Schnittmuster-Sammlung fand ich einige Exemplare, die ich alle noch nie genäht hatte. Für die bevorstehenden Festtage würde es sicher schön sein, eine dezente Schürze für die Abende zu haben, an denen Besuch da sein wird. Ich habe zwar eine Weihnahctsschürze, aber eine ganz schlichte, und sie ist alles andere als schmeichelhaft, da sie mich unförmig aussehen lässt.

But when I looked at my own patterns and compared them with some others on Etsy, I suddenly felt I would rather like to make a petal apron. For which I obviously had no pattern. But being as usual late and as usual out of money, I decided to make the pattern of my own, using a pattern illustration and especially the back of the envelope to design the single pieces.

Als ich aber meine Schnitte studierte und einige von Etsy damit verglich, kam ich zum Entschluss, dass ich eigentlich lieber eine etwas speziellere Schürze möchte, mit "Blütenblättern". Wofür ich natürlich keinen Schnitt hatte. (Man will ja immer das, was man nicht hat. Und bei jemandem mit Sammler-Trieb ist das teilweise fatal…) Da ich aber wie immer zu spät dran war und wie immer knapp bei Kasse, um noch etwas bestellen zu können, entschloss ich, selbst eine zu entwerfen, mit Hilfe der Illustration und insbesondere der Rückseite des Schnittmuster-Umschlags, wo die Schnitt-Teile abgebildet sind.

As I also found some other apron patterns, photographs of vintage patterns or free instructions from the 40s that I would like to share with you. They are really easy to use to make your own apron pattern according to the schemes, or after the small pattern illustrations.

Ich fand aber auch eine ganze Menge Schnitte und Anleitungen vorwiegend aus den 1940er Jahren für die hinreissendsten Schürzen, die frau sich denken kann, die ich gerne mit Euch teile. Ich denke anhand dieser Schemen oder der kleinen Schnittmuster-Abbildungen kann mit wenig Aufwand ein Schnitt gemacht werden.

From here - size S.

Unfortunately, I didn't mark all the sources for the patterns, so I deeply apologize for just copying them.

Leider hab ich für die meisten dieser Schnitte keine Quellen notiert. Aber ich hab ja keinen Profit davon, und die meisten sind ohnehin zur freien Verfügung.

Ich hoffe Ihr seid ebenso inspiriert wie ich!

Aprons are a great item also for less experiences sewers, as they don't cause too much troubles with adjustments and don't require much time to finish.

I hope some of them inspire you!

The Wild West Rayon Circle Skirt

Falls meine deutschsprachigen Leser sich hin und wieder eine deutsche Version meiner Posts wünschen: ich würde auch gerne jeden Post zweisprachig schreiben, aber das braucht fast doppelt so viel Zeit, obwohl ich sehr gerne schreibe. Ich werde dem Wunsch sicher hin und wieder nachkommen, aber sonst gibt es hier in der linken Spalte auch ein Übersetzungs-Werkzeug, das zwar nicht perfekt ist, aber eine brauchbare Hilfe darstellt. Habt bitte Verständnis, dass meine Zeit einfach nicht immer für beides reicht. :-)

I wanted to post about this skirt for quite some time, as I have been wearing it on several occasions before. But I didn't have time to take pictures earlier. Weather was bad very often. Or my hair. Or both. Usually it's both. As my hair is bad when weather is bad too. But my hair is bad even with good weather. It usually IS bad.

To tell you the truth straight away: Never ever again will I sew a rayon circle skirt. Ever. (Hit me on the head if I ever plan anything similar again… You have my permission.)

I know, there are different type of rayon fabrics. Those from the 40s sometimes have a more "cotton-like" feel to them. The one I have used on this skirt was slightly stretchy and slippery. Almost like chewing gum. A marvel to wear. A nightmare to work with.

But let's start with the beginning.

Since I was a little girl, I liked Western movies, and I was fascinated by the myth and heroes of the Wild West. John Wayne was my hero. No joke. I dreamt of living on a ranch somewhere in Montana or the Southwest. I deeply love the vast landscape of Northern America, and the history of these regions will always be one of my major interests.

So when I saw this vintage rayon print with lots of Wild West motives, I absolutely HAD to have it. I bought it on Etsy, and I was lucky the seller was willing to ship to Switzerland. When the fabric arrived I realized there where different meanings of vintage. Items from the 1940s definitely ARE vintage, but so are also items from the 1980s - as for example most probably this fabric. It just didn't have that 1940s touch to it, even thought the seller sold it as a supply from the 1950s - it looks like that old from the print, but isn't. And it's much wider than vintage fabrics usually are…
I certainly could be wrong, but it's just not the real mid-century stuff - but despite being much younger, the print looks very 50s like, and I love it nonetheless. The colour palette is adorable (perfect for a red-head like me) and great to find matching tops and accessories.

As a circle skirt is a must-have for a vintage wardrobe, I decided to make this skirt in one day. Plus. Circle skirts are sooo easy to sew. Well, things turned out a little bit different. First I calculated the dimensions of my "pattern" according to my measurements. Cutting the fabric would probably have been an easy thing, but not with this fabric. To lay out the material and cut it on the grain was almost impossible. I needed tons of pins and a lot of time. Jeeeez, you really don't want to spend 2 hours to cut a circle skirt, do you?

Stitching the side seams together was the easiest part, as they were made from the fabric selvages. Thanks to my miracle tape the zipper went in better as easy as ABC despite the "slipperiness" of the fabric. But sewing the waist band was a nightmare, and in the end the skirt turned out a bit too wide. I love skirts with a snug fit around the waist. But this skirt just keeps sliding down to my hips. It's also the drape of the material that somehow seems to make the skirt "hang" down more than probably a cotton fabric skirt would do.

As to the hem - well, sadly the hem doesn't look even at all. I let the skirt hang for almost two days. (So far to the one-day-project…) I have read once that you should give the fabric some time to "fall" properly so any differences due to drape and bias and stretchiness etc. are leveled. But the length of the skirt altered whenever I moved the skirt, and they remained uneven for  all those  hours. So in the end, I just took up a hem of a little bit more than one inch - and that's it. My husband of course noticed the uneven length (sometimes I curse his awareness of "sewing-stuff"), but I'm sure most people won't. And I will not mention how dreadful the waistband was to make. It WAS dreadful. And also looks like. The best thing about it is the button. A vintage button from my grandmothers button box. She will sit gladly on a cloud and look down on me, using all the buttons she inherited from her mom. I feel very gifted whenever I look at those treasures.

On the pictures I'm wearing a self-made knit blouse. I used a high quality cotton knit fabric from a jersey manufactory nearby, very light-weight but solid. A dream to sew and wear! It is made from a patio dress pattern (Advance 6760). I changed the length of the sleeves. It's a nice match for a western themed skirt, don't you think?

I will make the same pattern certainly again, but a little bit smaller. It is a pattern for wovens or knits, but as knits today maybe have more stretch than in the 1950s, there's no need for so much extra-space. A little bit too large, however, very nice to wear. I love the collar (front and back)  and the comfortable fit of the top.

This is the jewelry set I am wearing on the pictures. Well, it was, when I bought it. Even though sold as "shell jewelry", the seller pretended afterwards she "didn't know it was made from shell" and therefore breakable. As it was not wrapped properly for shipping, some flowers of the brooch unfortunately broke. Stupid cow.

In person the jewelry matches the colors of the fabric much better...

I can swirl and twirl, and it's really a great thing to wear such an amount of fabric. And so comfortable - it almost makes me forget the troubles I had…It feels cool and smooth and drapey... And it has all that Western stuff on it, wagons, yuccas in bloom, cacti, cowboy boots, bulls' skulls, a "hacienda"... I really like it!

Skirt: me-made, self-drafted circle skirt (incredibly slippery rayon fabric)

Blouse: me-made after Advance 6760, Swiss cotton knit fabric

Jewelry: 1950s shell earrings & brooch set, bought on Etsy

Watch: Italian Murano (Venice) millefiori glass watch, gift from my lovely husband

Glasses: repro eye-cat glasses, don't remember anymore where exactly from

Shoes: Moheda Toffeln from Sweden - they ship worldwide, and no, I don't get any money from them for promotion… But they are great and comfortable to wear, so why shouldn't I tell about it?