1950s Ballet Shoes Dress

My husband and me, we both love operas and ballet. Before we had the kids, we went to the opera house from time to time, mostly with some of our friends from Ireland who are living in Switzerland or came here regularly.

Mein Mann und ich, wir lieben beide Opern und Ballett. Bevor wir die Kinder hatten, besuchten wir gelegentlich mit unsern irischen Freunden, die entweder hier lebten oder regelmässig in die Schweiz zu Besuch kommen, Vorstellungen.

Some time ago, our friends gave me  an envelope full of vintage craft magazines they had found when their mother passed away, and there was also this lovely pattern.

Bei einem ihrer Besuche bekam ich von diesen Freunden einen Umschlag mit Vintage-Handarbeitsheften, die sie nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter gefunden hatten. Darunter war auch dieses bezaubernde Schnittmuster. 




Having sewn rather 1940s clothing recently, I wanted to make this typical 50s dress in a particular fabric I had in my stash for an opera event. As you can tell from the pattern pieces display, it's a fairly simple design and should be really "quick and easy", just as stated. So, perfect for a super quick project, as currently I don't have much time for sewing.

Nachdem ich in letzter Zeit eher Kleider im 1940er Stil genäht habe, wollte ich mal wieder ein typisches 50er Kleid machen,  in einem speziellen Stoff zu einem bestimmten Anlass. Wie man schon an der Schnittübersicht sieht, ist es ein ziemlich simples Design und sollte wirklich "schnell und leicht" zu realisieren sein, wie auf dem Umschlag angegeben - perfekt für meine ohnehin schon knapp bemessene Freizeit.

I decided on Wednesday morning to make this dress for the public opening event of the Zurich Opera House on Saturday, as my husband was going to perform with a choir of non-professional singers. After bringing the kids to school and came home, I spent one hour trying to find the fabric. Duh...

While the kids were having lunch, I cut the fabric. I had to do it on the floor, as the fabric was 6 yards long, and the pattern piece for the skirt was huge.

Am Mittwochmorgen beschloss ich zum Eröffnungsevent des Zürcher Opernhauses, wo auch mein Mann in einem "Laienchor" mitsingen würde, ein Kleid zu nähen. Nachdem ich die Kinder zur Schule gebracht hatte, suchte ich eine Stunde lang meinen Stoff. Bäh...

Während die Kinder zu Mittag assen, schnitt ich den Stoff zu. Ich musste das ohnehin am Boden machen, denn immerhin waren es 6 Yards Material, und auch das Muster für den Rock war enorm. 

Quick and easy. All too often this is not really the case, but this time, at 10 p.m. I had an almost finished dress, besides all the family and household duties. Almost finished means: only the skirt left to hem. Making a circle dress, you should know you have to let it hang for at least 24 hours because there are more stretchy parts cut on the bias - you have to allow the bias to "fall", otherwise your hem will be uneven.

Schnell und leicht. Allzu oft trifft das ja leider nicht wirklich zu, oder ich vermassle es durch einen Überlegungsfehler, aber um 10 Uhr abends hatte ich dann ein fast fertiges Kleid, nebst allen Familien- und Haushaltspflichten.  Will heissen: es ist nur noch der Rock zu säumen.  Das ist gut so, denn ein Tellerrock muss ja bekanntlich mindestens 24 Stunden hängen, damit sich die Rockteile, die schräg zum Fadenlauf sind und somit leicht dehnbar, strecken und ausgleichen. Ansonsten hat man einen unregelmässigen Saum. 

While my skirt was still hanging, I made a belt with a fabric-covered buckle. Just in case, if you ever find a vintage kit for a self-covered belt buckle, grab it! These are amazing! I was lucky and bought a huge lot some time ago. I sold most of them, and I tell you, they sold pretty fast. Of course I kept some of the buckles for myself, and I tell you, they are fantastic. Such a belt is just the cherry on top for your home-sewn dress! But for this project, I wanted a larger buckle, so I picked a used one where the fabric already came off. I took it apart, removed the old material and covered it with my new ballet shoes fabric. The buckle is a bit bent, but as it's larger, you can recognise the print also on the buckle, not only on the belt.

If you ever find some of these, grab them!

As I had enough fabric left, I made a reversivel bag for my vintage lucite purse frame. I even managed to make the matching handles for both colours of the bag. And I still had enough material for a circle dress for my girl.

Während nun also mein Rock hing und sich streckte, habe ich einen passenden Gürtel genäht - mit einer stoffbezogenen Schnalle. Falls Ihr mal diese alten Sets findet, mit denen man selber Gürtelschliessen mit Stoff bespannen kann, greift zu. Die sind nämlich toll! Glücklicherweise hatte ich mal ein ganzes Konvolut ergattert und grösstenteils verkauft - die gingen weg wie warme Semmeln. Natürlich habe ich einen Teil behalten, und ich liebe sie! Ein solcher Gurt ist einfach das Tüpfelchen auf dem "i" bei einem selbst gemachten Kleid.
In diesem Fall aber habe ich eine alte bereits benutze Schnalle genommen, demontiert, den alten zerfetzten Stoff entfernt und mit meinem neuen Material bespannt. Die Schliesse ist noch immer etwas verbogen, aber zum Glück ist sie gross genug, dass man auch auf ihr die Ballettschuhe erkennt - nicht nur auf dem Gürtel.

Und weil ich noch Stoff übrig hatte, machte ich noch einen wendbaren Beutel für meinen Vintage Lucite Taschengriff. Ich habe es sogar geschafft, dass es für jede Seite die farblich passenden Henkel gibt. Und ich hatte immer noch etwas Stoff, um meiner Tochter ebenfalls einen Tellerrock zu machen.

Unexpectedly we had decent weather that day. It was unusual for me to match my daughter's outfit, but she enjoyed it so much to look "like her mom", and she loves her circle dress.
As I mentioned, it was a public event, and people were not dressed nicely. I mean, people in general do not care much about their style, and dressing in Vintage style is a different matter, so I always differ from the crowd, but you could say we really popped out.  But it was a wonderful event, and my husband as his fellow choir members made an amazing performance.

And if you ever happen to be in Zurich, I highly recommend to visit the opera house, it's a beautiful historic building with lot's of amazing details.

Wir hatten etwas unerwartet gutes Wetter an dem Tag. Etwas ungewohnt war für mich, wie meine Tochter gekleidet zu sein, doch sie genoss es sehr, "wie Mami" auszusehen, und ihren Rock liebt sie nun ganz innig.
Wie erwähnt war es ein öffentlicher Anlass, und so war denn auch das Publikum nicht wirklich gut angezogen. Die Leute hier pflegen im Alltag nicht wirklich einen gediegenen Stil, und wenn man sich wie ich im Vintage-Stil kleidet, dann ist das ja nochmals eine andere Sache. Insofern hebe ich mich ohnehin schon etwas von der Masse ab, und an diesem Tag stach ich ebenso hervor. Doch es war ein ganz wunderbarer Anlass, und mein Mann und sein Chor haben eine ganz hervorragende Performance geboten.

Und falls Ihr je nach Zürich kommen solltet, lege ich Euch einen Besuch im Opernhaus nahe. Es ist ein sehr schönes historisches Gebäude mir ganz vielen hinreissenden Details.

Pattern: Butterick 7201, ©1950s, a gift from friends
Fabric: Robert Kaufman "Sugar and Spice", bought on sale on Etsy
Belt: self-made with a vintage fabric-covered buckle
Shoes: modern platform sandals
Purse: self-made with a mid-century lucite frame bought on Etsy
Earrings, necklace: vintage mid-century Guilloche screw-backs and pendant, bought on Etsy

Goodbye Sew-Along, Hello Vintage Purses!

I am disappointed and a little bit sad. I entered my first sew-along, and what happened? I broke my toe. Then I got sick, for about 2 weeks a ghost. My daughter got sick too. And now September is over. That's life. I'm glad the little girl is well again, the toe is healing (it was the second accident this year...), and a missed sew-along is no disaster. I will finish my dress, promised. Maybe next year, in spring, as autumn was here so quickly with rather low temperatures that it's not really tempting to make a sleeveless cotton dress.

As I couldn't sew I planned tried to tidy up my studio. "Studio" is a big word for such a tiny room, but it's all I have, and I even feel privileged to have it. I didn't get far, as the two little ones were just to demanding. But I managed in the time between cooking and doing some laundry and playing with the little monsters to surf a little bit around the wide world of the web. And I was very lucky to find some rather inexpensive vintage items. Some were on sale, some were just lowly priced, but all, according to me are real bargains. As a stay-at-home mom I'm living on avery limited budget. (This is probably better. We would end up with Switzerland's first and only Vintage Hat, Purse and Pattern Museum.)

Some of my purchases arrived today. Have a look.

I found this crochet cord purse on Etsy. The condition is rather good. There are no damages at all on the crochet part. The handles still close well, even though the closure latch is missing. The screw is still there, so I guess it broke and fell off. But as I will have to keep the purse anyway in my hands, that's no big problem at all.

The handles show a pair of exotic birds, maybe peacocks. Made of cordet yarn, it shows the common pop-corn crochet pattern that can be found on many purses from the 30s through the 50s. The lining is made of black acetate, without additional pockets.

This darling is very clean (I wouldn't wear it if it was dirty or smelling), the handles have some wear from use, and the cord is partially a little bit discoloured, so that the purse is not deep black anymore, but shows some brownish "highlights". But these can bee seen only if you take a very close look.

After having bought this purse I found an almost identical one on Etsy too. It has clear handles, but is the same purse in navy blue. I even saw later more such purses, mainly in navy and black. I imagine this type was very fashionable and widely diffused.

Sometimes I wonder if these purses were handmade, and only the handles were bought, or if they were produced by manufactories. The handle is marked, it says "Made in the U.S.A.". I am not sure, but I once read that this mark can provide an indication that the item was produced most probably after WW2. I really don't know, I'm no expert. But the style is definitely suitable for the 30s, 40s and earyl 50s.

 Shipping was in the end more expensive than the purse itself, and each time this happens I get upset. Shipping all over the world is just a nightmare if you depend from international sellers. No, there are almost no vintage items for sale in Switzerland. I often wonder if everyone has thrown away their 30s and 40s stuff or if all 50s items are locked up in some private collections. Of course we are a small country, but from a vintage collector's point of view, Switzerland is a desert.

And I bought this little purse as well. 3, 2, 1 - it's mine.

I am not yet THE expert for vintage purses, but I'm getting better. You can learn a lot about such items by taking a very close look at them, how they are made.

This purse for example seems to be of a different making than the tiny coin purse that came with it. I bought them together, just like on the picture, and most probably they "belonged" together once. But the outer fabric of the coin purse is completely different, a kind of moiré taffeta. The lining of the purse is plain acetate taffeta and slightly more creamy coloured than the coin purse. Maybe the coin purse and mirror were bought items, whereas the crochet purse could as well be handmade. The snap fastener is sewn-on in a very bad way (I will have to re-do it soon), but this could be the work of a previous owner of the purse who was probably not the most brilliant sewing talent.

The crochet pattern is similar to the popcorn pattern of the navy purse, less puffy. I love the crochet covered button of the closure.

The closure, by the way, is a feature rarely seen on such purses. Most of them had the handles only. As mentioned previously, many handles had a closure latch. On most vintage purses of that type, the latch is missing now. So if you see a purse still featuring the latch, you have found a purse frame in an excellent condition. Consider to buy it.

The black purse is probably slightly younger than the cream one. I think the handle plastic, at least it feels and looks like it, and I guess the cream purse frame is made of celluloid, which was very common during WW2. At least it was sold like as a celluloid frame, and I can clearly feel a difference of material when I touch it, and there is a difference of weight as well. To my guess, the cream purse is older. The frame also looks kind of carved, and the black handles are definitely pressed or cast material.

It was a little bit spoiled, nothing serious, just dust from the decades and numerous touches, and a slightly greasy feeling on the crochet closure. It could be just my imagination, as I am very picky when it comes to smelly or dirty vintage textile items. At least there were no odours, but usually it doesn't do damage to clean vintage items. Just be careful! I soaked the purse in lukewarm water mixed with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), it came out very clean, and all the yellowish parts and what I thought seemed to be slightly greasy had disappeared. But it takes quite long for such a material to get dry again, so if you plan to clean you bag before using it, keep that in mind.

Now my two new old purses are carefully stored in a box. They are waiting for their first big day out.