Vintage Play Suit, Ready To Go Out

As you could read in some of my previous posts here, I was joining a sew along for a vintage play suit. Usually, such sew alongs are too complicated to join in. There's always coming something in between. A freezer frozen solid, kids with chicken pox, a broken toe... I could write books.

But this sew along was different. We plan to go on holiday in Italy, my husband's country. So I was very excited about the idea, and as I am in desperate need of some decent pieces for my wardrobe, I was planning to sew some clothes anyway. The sew along just came in time! I am the kind of person that needs a little bit of extra-pressure to keep a project going on (you certainly do NOT want to know how many UFOs I have...), so I was happy to join.

Creating a play suit set offers countless possibilities, in the end I just had to decide for one pattern for a skirt, short pants, a bra and a halter top or blouse. And the fabrics of course.

I chose a simple buttoned skirt from a German 1951 sewing magazine. They had lots of play suit options in there!

However, I lengthened my skirt, and I made is with pleats instead of gathering it. I wanted to use some of my vintage buttons, but I didn't have enough of the same style. (I love brown, but I wonder why I do have only so little brown buttons...) I found some rectangular, almost square horn buttons I bought about 10 years ago at a flea market, they are all handmade and differ slightly in size and shape. So even being not properly vintage, they somehow seemed to be a nice choice.

From another German sewing magazine of the same year, I took the pattern for the trousers, as they came along in a bigger size there. I planned to use a remnant piece, but in the end I had to order some more again as it was not enough. I absolutely wanted to have the red pants! They would be perfect, especially under the patterned skirt.

I also planned in the beginning to make the pattern of the striped bra, but after I copied the pattern (which is rather demanding, look at the pattern sheet!), I realised that bra would probably not fit me very well. Despite having breast-fed my two children for quite some time, I still belong to the species of small-busted gals. I needed something more cheating "shaping", so after trying to alter the pattern I threw my muslin away and then decided to give a try to the beach bustier from Mrs. Depew. Anna has lots of very special patterns available as downloads. However, in the end I made so many alterations, that not much was left of the original pattern. And it still didn't fit. Despite having fed both my kids, I'm still rather small-busted not particularly full-busted. So another muslin flew to to bin. I will do that again later. It makes no sense to lose so much time when you are in a hurry to finish a project.

As I really wanted some interchangeable pieces for this set as possible, I also made a cotton knit top to wear with the skirt. On a holiday in Italy, in certain places it is necessary to be dressed in a decent way. (And I completely agree, it's just not appropriate to enter a public location in town when you're wearing a beach outfit.) Easy to make (I have an almost antique serger machine I use for my kids' stuff micro-business), comfy to wear, and looking always neat. I do have some of those peasant blouses I bought off the shelf, but most of them have huge midriffs, or they become larger with each washing, so I decided to make my own better fitting design. I simply made a traditional peasant blouse to add some fullness to the bust (remember - small-busted gal) and made a more or less tubular lower part below the bust. That's it. This is some kind of prototype, so with some minor adjustments I will get a really decent and not so usual looking peasant top. And yes, I usually do NOT mix patterned materials, but ginghams are synonymous for summer, and gingham is probably the only pattern that goes well with many flower patterns.

So this is how my set looks like on Kunigunde. Unfortunately, she isn't able to wear pants, and I am far to embarrassed to expose my entire legs or my chubby belly on my blog. I leave this to younger and slimmer girls... :-) And as it's raining since days, I was not able to pose outside or make decent indoor pictures. And, worst of all, my mom broke her hip and we spent a lot of time in the hospital, and as I still have some holiday wardrobe projects on my table, I really have to postpone that. You will have to wait until we are on holiday. I promise to post about the fort day out of my playsuit set.

I admit, I am not a person who love to lie on the beach (I dislike being exposed to the sun, however, it can't be avoided when you doing as much garden work as I do), but it's certainly a "must have" for any vintage wearer, and as it's so versatile, it doesn't have to be worn on the beach necessarily. Wear it for the cocktails on early evening, or for a nice summer day on your holidays when you're in town!

Share In Style "Gold" - Turquoise & Gold Assam Tea Dress

Golden sunshine in the morning - perfect for my dress with golden accents

In my previous post I wrote about the "Share In Style" project I was invited to by dear Rosy. I wanted something Asian or Oriental inspired. The lanterns and flowers on my fabric looked somehow like that, and the name of the fabric (printed on the selvage) said something like "Geisha". In my previous post you can see the golden accents on the fabric much better.

My pattern, Simplicity 4087 from 1952, was till in factory folds that came in a rather large size 20, but I though it would be easier to downgrade it slightly than to enlarge it. (Wrong - I'm not good at adjusting patterns, neither this or the other way.) The oblique wrap front and the collar remind slightly of Asian dresses with frog closures and mandarin collars, but I didn't want the dress to look too much like a Chinese cheongsam. Now it's a rather "Oriental" dress in tea dress length.

I should NOT cut my fabrics in the late evening after a hard work's day... I made a small mistake, but I guess most people will not notice. :-) In the end, I even like it better this way.

I made the facings of bodice and skirt and the side pockets in a contrasting colour, and that the facings would just show a tiny bit. I love this tiny detail.

But I didn't have any matching buttons. I have a lot of buttons, but they had either the wrong colour or the wrong size. I decided not to lose too much time searching around and make some fabric covered buttons instead. You can't go wrong with them. 100% matching. Doing this, I thought I could make a fabric covered belt buckle as well, as I knew I didn't have a matching one. To be honest, I didn't wear belts very often when I was younger, but they are an absolute must when it comes to vintage dresses! And this one is even reversible! While I was looking through my buttons I found a pack of turquoise seam binding from the 1950s - and in the perfect colour.

The shoes are authentic ballerinas (if there is such a thing like "authentic" ballerinas...), made by Porselli in Milan. They also make the ballet shoes for the dancers at the famous La Scala opera house which is right next to their shop. (And they also have tutus for little girls and all that stuff that makes you want to dance...) However, today I wished I had bought a golden pair as well...

I chose a golden tan vintage hat and goldtone vintage earrings made from brass. They also have a small amber rhinestone that looks lovely with the hat and the golden accents on the fabric. In the end I forgot to take my purse with me for the pictures... But I had a lot of golden morning sunshine!

Yes, side seam pockets! I had to overcome my phobia...

Just as a footnote: the flags on the pole are from Switzerland (I'm Swiss) and Italy (my husband is Italian). Mostly it's the Swiss flag only. My husband is insisting on doing that, even though he lives here as a foreigner. The night before, there were two games for the world championship in football (soccer), and both Italy and Switzerland played. (Haha, and both lost...)

I should have "photoshopped" the wrinkles... ;-)

I got my dress finished very late somewhere between Friday and Saturday. Well, it WAS Saturday already, but it was worth working late. I definitely will make and wear more dresses again.

I love the traditional afternoon tea as it's custom in many countries, especially in GB. And I love tea! So, now I'm just waiting for an invitation to an afternoon tea. :-)



And here are the pictures of what the lovely and talented Rosy made for the "Share In Style". Isn't that dress wonderful? Just a golden ray of sunshine on a wonderful sunny day. I love the fabric that has a vintage vibe! She is very photogenic and is blessed with beautiful locations on her Spanish island to take those marvelous pictures. Isn't that gorgeous?

I love the buttons!

Rosy created this lovely collage of both of us in a similar pose with our dresses. Thanks! Of course she does much better, I guess she has far more experience than me - I usually get embarrassed when being photographed, and it will take some time to get used to pose in a decent way without making funny faces.

Pattern: Simplicity 4087 (size 20, adjusted)
Fabric: true vintage cotton print by Avon, "Geisha"
Belt buckle: upcycled vintage fabric covered buckle
Hat: vintage hat bought on Ebay
Earrings: true vintage screw-backs bought on Etsy
Shoes: Porselli, Milan

The dress is worn with a petticoat.

Photography by my husband

bbbb

Share in Style Announcement

Yesterday I was asked by my lovely friend Rosy from Sewingadicta if I would like to be her partner in "Share in Style". I had seen her wonderful contributions to those projects a few times, but had no idea what it was about really. Not before she asked me.

Just a few words about Rosy. Rosy is living on a beautiful Spanish island and she is an amazingly skilled sewer and very talented crafter. She even does hand-painting on fabrics that are made into dresses, and she makes her own hats - isn't that wonderful? (I have a vague suspect she's a master of the art, and I guess it's about time I ask her to find out. Her creations are amazing, and she makes the drafts for many of her dresses by her own! I like the fact that she proofs that women beyond 40 can look absolutely splendid. Wearing vintage inspired items is not only for twenty-something year old, but also for mature women.) So being her partner would certainly be not only a huge honour, but also lots of fun.

Now, I would have said "yes" in a heartbeat, if it had not been for the motto of the next "Share in Style" project: Gold.

I would have to lie if I said I disliked gold. Gold is my favorite materials - on jewelry. I think it has something to do with my Celtic ancestors that adored gold over any other material. (Yes, in Switzerland, we had Celtic tribes as well, the Helvetii in my region, only that they melted away to submerge with the Romans, but this is just the historian in me that goes wild once more...) I love the buttery look of pure gold.

Source

But gold on clothing? An absolute no-go. As you may know, I'm a curly red-haired, and it would simply look too exaggerated on me. I once bought in what I recall a fashion frenzy a golden lamé shirt for Christmas. Believe me: I never wore it. I had it in my wardrobe for about  two years, feeling guilty about the purchase, and then I gave it away to some charity shop.

Now, as dear Rosy came up with the question and I always love a good challenge, I had a look at my stash to get some idea if a participation for that obviously rather delicate motto would still be possible.

Guess what I found? Not only one, but two authentic vintage fabrics that had golden accents on them. (I have a few more, modern ones from Japan.)

The first one is an amazing barkcloth I bought on Etsy, and compared to other bark cloths it was almost ridiculously cheap very inexpensive. For a stay-at-home mom of two little ones - I have no proper income - it was a lucky find! It is 5 yards long, and it has the most adorable pink flower sprigs on a decent grey background and golden splatters all over the fabric. The fabric is from the 1950s, and even after such a long time and having been laundered after I got it, the print, including the olden accents, looks so gorgeous. And I'm absolutely in love with the "rough" structure of the material!

However, as it's a barkcloth - therefore rare - and also suitable for a less summery project, so I would like to save it for a different project.

The other fabric is an Asian inspired turquoise dress cut print, also from the 1950s. It seemed to be new, newer used nor laundered when it arrived. Still so beautiful after so many decades!

Dress cuts were pre-cut pieces of about 5 yards length that could be bought back in those times to make a dress. This makes sense, as most patterns of the 1950s require 5 yards of material.

The aqua blue background features white flowers and oriental lanterns in shades of purple and blue. The motives are highlighted with metallic gold.

It still had this paper tag pinned to the selvage...

I bought this fabric because of it's Oriental touch, not being sure what to make of it, and certainly not because of the golden accents that require the right pattern to avoid being too tawdry. I guess this will be a lovely material to create something nice. Otherwise it will be in my stash for another 60 years...

So I agreed to join this "Share in Style" with Rosy. I even think I have some lush gold jewelry to accomplish my outfit once it's finished.

Wish me luck I make in time. I still have to sew a pair of bermuda shorts for my husband's upcoming birthday!

If you're interested to participate, there are only very little "rules". Create your outfit from "off-the-rack" clothes or by making it yourself, have fun and share it with other that love to dress in a special way. Doesn't have to be vintage. :-) Just check Rosy's post about the guidelines.

Vintage Playsuit Sew Along - Fabric Inspiration

Stripes are always nice - perfect for that nautical look!

Large florals for a summery flair

Border prints! 

And Hawaiian prints for a perfect tropical look! 

Looking at photos, pattern envelopes and drawings in sewing magazines as in my previous post can provide you with loads of ideas about the materials and patterns that could be used on a playsuit set. Of course, as a vintage lover and historian, I have a small "collection" of true vintage fabrics, but I guess for a play dress that is made of several garments as a short suit, a skirt, a top just need some more yardage than an "average" vintage dress. And not knowing if I will love to wear that playsuit, I'm not really sure if it's worth using my treasures for it.

So I decided to look through my fabric stash. There are some fabrics that are out of print since years, like this gorgeous Japanese Hawaiian print in navy and white. Just for that extra bit of summer feeling on a playsuit... Just like one of those amazing Alfred Shaheen Hawaiian dresses from the 1950s I adore. And not just a dress, but a whole playsuit set!

I have a re-print of a Shaheen fabric, but I would like to use it one a proper Hawaiian dress and not for the playsuit set.

Or shall I make a rather tropical suit, but in decent colours? One that could be worn even in not-so-tropical Switzerland without being ridiculous?

These two-toned fabrics have a rather classical Hawaiian look, even though the green one is more in a damask style, but pine-apples are so typical for Hawaii, but then, this is too much Aloha for my project. 

Shall I go for this one? But it doesn't drape as nice as I would like for the skirt.

Or I could use this one. Making a full skirt and pair it with solid short pants and halter top in green or teal. Or even purple.

I guess it will be either this one or the following. They both have a summery look without looking too tropical and they offer many possibilities to be combined with solids. Besides that, they are both of the right quality, not too soft, not too stiff, not too thick or thin...

Did I ever mention I have troubles taking decisions?

New Skirt Project For My Birthday and A Gift

I don't like being celebrated on my birthday, but I love to make treats to myself. Yes, I'm a big girl now and it has become kind of a tradition to spoil myself on that occasion.

First of all, I plan to make a new skirt. I need new clothes as I lost weight (guess I mentioned it), and there's a gorgeous fabric I have in my stash that is perfect for summer. So I want to have that garment ready when summer is here. The fabric always was a little bit on the more expensive side, until I finally found a seller on Etsy that had it on sale.

It's "Frida's Garden". I guess I never wrote that in my youth (haha, I'm getting older!) I had a soft spot for Mexican culture and food, and I guess I somehow still have, even if not so much for the food anymore. This fabric is so gorgeous!

I bought 4 yards, knowing it should be enough to make a lovely full skirt. I was very happy when I got my order, as the seller sent quite a few inches more (how generous!), but I knew it was going to be difficult as it's a large-scale print. This is not the easiest fabric to deal with if you want the finished garment to look really nice.

I chose Simplicity 3033 from 1949 for the skirt. However, when I wanted to prepare my stuff for cutting, I found that my measuring tape was destroyed by my little son...

The pattern was still in factory folds. I think this is always one of the most amazing moments, unfolding  such pattern pieces that have been untouched for so long... Like opening Tutankhamun's coffin. Or almost. (Ah, the historian in me...)

I spent almost 2 hours placing the pattern peaces on the fabric and moving them around, again and again.

Finally, after discussing it with my husband, I decided not to make the pockets as shown for view 1 on the pattern envelope, but to rather chose the other style without. That made it easier and I finally could cut the fabric.

Now the pieces are ready and I almost can't wait to sew. And I still have some fabric left to make a halter top or a bolero to go with the skirt. However, we have still some garden projects to finish today and some laundry to wash. And tomorrow it's my mother-in-law's birthday, so we will be out. Argh, bad timing.

Finally, I would like to share a picture of another vintage fabric I found on Etsy some days ago. Yes, right, that's my own gift to myself, and it arrived so super-fast! I love border prints, but they're not easy to find, or they're incredibly expensive. I was lucky to find this one, it was affordable for my rather small budget. And it was in decent black and cream, colours that match well with others and are always nice to wear. A wonderful 1950s or even older cotton... The lace border looks like an applique, but it's only printed.

I'm looking forward to show you the finished skirt. In the meantime, while working in the garden and doing the laundry, I can think about the final decisions for the VPSA. 

Vintage Scottish Skirt Out

I promised when I finished my skirt made from a 1950s vintage fabric with a lovely Scottish pipers and drummers print to show you later some pictures when I wear it. It was made for a special event, and as usual there was no time to make some pictures before, during or after.

Today, Ascension Day, it's a public holiday in Switzerland and my husband has a day off. As the weather was sunny in the morning, we decided to go to the Zurich airport which is a 10 minutes drive from our place away. There's a huge terrace for visitors and you can show your kids all the things that are happening. Even if they don't yet understand (like our son) or don't are too much interested (like our daughter), there are some attractions for kids that are fun for them.

This is my family. My 3 treasures.

Is there a better place than an airport where people leave for their travel destinations to wear this Scottish themed skirt? Scotland is my favourite country one of my favourite countries, so we hoped to take some nice pictures there.

In the end is was rather difficult. Wearing vintage is a bit of a dare in Switzerland. People stare. Always. Mostly women wearing leggings. I let them stare, but being photographed is intimidating anyway for me. So I thought it would be nicer and more relaxing to make some photographs in our garden, as it's in full bloom currently.

So here you go.

I am wearing a petticoat, but it's not very full, and I will have to try how it looks with another one.

The waistband is a little bit on the wide side, and unfortunately it's even made of a poplin that has some stretch to it (totally not-vintage, I know, but it was the only fabric that matched the black of the skirt and the fabric weight). As I still would like to lose 3 or 4 kilos, I maybe will have to make it a little bit smaller later. Until then I feel quite good with the skirt, even with the petticoat. A little bit "poofy", especially as the skirt is white.

Looking at the pictures now I think I will cut my hair by some centimeters... And I realise wearing this kind of skirt I look smaller somehow. Is this normal?

Ok, I can't pose, but I can make silly faces...

A detail I love particularly is my 1940s celluloid jewelry. The earrings have roses, and the clamper even has some orchids on it! As you may guess from my garden, I love flowers. 

skirt: made by me after this pattern

fabric: vintage fabric form the 1950s found on Etsy

peasant top: off-the shelf

shoes: Swedish clogs from Moheda toffelen (my favourites, veeeery comfortable!)

jewelry: true 1940s celluloid jewelry from Ebay / Etsy

lipstick: Russian Red by Mac