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.

Pattern additions for my collection

I recently bought these patterns and wanted to show them to you as I'm really excited about them...

The first one is a Simplicity 2718 from 1938, and it will probably belong to the oldest patterns of my small but growing collection... (Besides the whole Lutterloh pattern I own, which contains all patterns since the very beginning of Lutterloh, which is, since 1936.) I was fascinated by the way how the darts are arranged in a very special way and form a lovely bodice. I'm not sure if I would ever make an overskirt, but the dress is very nice and so is the bolero jacket. Simple, but sophisticated somehow...

Ta-daaa, and it has  a back zipper. I don't like side zippers so much.

Ah, and yes, I know, this Pattern (Simplicity 1777) is not a real vintage pattern, but... It's a retro pattern, and it's nice. I'm not sure how much they "copy" an existing old pattern, but in the end I just liked the design of the dress and thought I could give it a try... It was not very expensive, and if I don't like it, I could easily  give it away with no regrets.

I have never sewn one of these retro patterns before, so I'm quite excited how it will work and how the dress will turn out. It will certainly be interesting to compare the fit of vintage patterns with "modern" ones, and to see how the instructions are written etc... I guess home-sewers from the 40s and 50s were more skilled than many sewers of today, which is obvious as the vintage instructions are rather meagre compared to today's instructions.

I even think it could be possible to make a jersey know top after this pattern... 

And then I found this darling, Simplicity 3846, dating from 1952. I fell in love with the rather wide collar that makes the neckline quite interesting. Yes, I guess I have many, many similar patterns in my collection, and I could add a wide pointed collar to one of them easily, but this dress is designed like that and everything is "harmonious" and - well, perfect just as it is. Why change another pattern and run the risk of spoiling it when there is actually a pattern like this one? Hehe, and what a good excuse reason to buy another pattern...

Funny thing is that Becci of Sew Retro Rose just made an outstandingly beautiful dress after the very same pattern - what a coincidence! One of my heroines of vintage sewing has the same pattern as me. (This makes me slightly nervous, as it will take some courage to make my own dress after this pattern...) Have a look at the story behind her dress - it's really a story worth reading and her post is very instructional as well for vintage sewers. Her blog is highly recommendable anyway. 

As I'm getting deeper and deeper in this "hat-making and millinery thing", I bought this pattern booklet as well as it was from the same seller and made it worth the rather expensive shipping costs to Switzerland. I hope to find here some more lovely hat ideas for vintage outfits. And it's even my first hat pattern book that's not a PDF file. It will be nice to have something to hold and look at and feel some vintage spirit. A piece of history. (Yeah-yeah, I know, I'm getting pathetic... But I'm a historian, what can I do? Deformation by education, somehow.)

Aw, this pixie hat, doesn't it look adorable? 

 Well, I hope you can see one or another piece made after these patterns. Currently my limited time is consumed by the kids and the reorganising of my "studio" (sigh, a big name for a tiny room). I have to much materials. Well, not really too much, but a lot.

Hope you like my new old patterns as much as I do!

In the mood for a snood...

When you are interested in vintage clothing or even sew your own wardrobe after patterns from the 40s or 50s, you sooner or later are confronted with the question how to "dress" your hair. Of course you can wear a hat (more to that subject will follow). But if you prefer a more casual look or something simple, there's the snood. For some people a snood is a kind of loop worn as a scarf, for others it's a kind of net to put your hair in. Depending on which side of the great pond you live.

Snoods were not only worn in the late 30s and in the 40s, but are an accessory that was common even in medieval times.

There are many, many pictures that show women wearing such snoods. As in modern times, it was probably always a question of fashion, when snoods were worn or not, how big they were, combined with other head-dressing items as hats etc. Of course, these snoods always reflected always the status of the women that wore it.

I am sorry I cannot mention sources for these pictures, as I just dragged them to my desktop and forgot to copy the links... :-(

Medieval drawing showing woman with snood / hair net

Modern samples for Renaissance snoods

Snoods were again of fashion in the victorian age respectively during the Civil War era. Some early photo portraits show women with snoods.

And then, of course, one of the most famous women of the Civil War era, Miss Scarlet O'Hara (as a widow) in "Gone With The Wind"...

I think that the snood in those times still was also an accessory to cover the hair and therefore show some modesty and decency. Yes, uncovered hair was also regarded as unseemly or even indecent even in Western cultures - for women, of course.

This scene obviously was NOT decent at all. :-) Aaaw, how much I love this movie... It was shot in 1939, a time when this accessory became a fashionable and practical item again!

During the WW2 era,  many women worked in jobs usually done by men. But men were off to the war, and handling all those heavy machines in sometimes dangerous environments called for a solution to cover the women's hair. So the hair was save from being entangled in machines.

I can imagine that women soon realised that this could also be a nice item to vary their hairstyle. There are snoods in different types, colours, and they also offered a nice solution for "bad hair days".  Your hair always looks neat.

 Snoods could be fixed with a ribbon and bow...

...or only with hair pins for a more simple style.

There are even beaded snoods...

... and some with sequins or rhinestones for evening wear.

As crochet and knitting was much more common for women to make their own clothing and accessories than today, there was a huge variety of patterns for hats and of course for snoods. (If you're interested, you can find a lot of these patterns on Etsy.)

There were also finer versions available like this hair net.

There are also the more sophisticated snoods with hats or with headbands, also in smaller versions for chignons.

The last picture is a modern sample of a chignon snood for bridal wear.

And of course, many today Vintage lovers and pin-ups still wear snoods, matching their outfits! These two are from wonderful Kitten von Mew. Thanks. 

If you would like to make your own snood, there's a simple crochet pattern on Ravelry.

And some more will follow here on my blog - I found some lovely ones I would like to make and show to you!