1940s Blouses • Made to Order

I recently made this cute little quintessential 1940s blouse for a client, and I enjoyed it so much, I decided to open up commissions for more of them!  Let me know if you are interested in ordering a blouse like this!  They are so comfy and the perfect touch for your 1940s ensemble.

If you’re interested, shoot me an email at dollycreates(at)gmail(dot)com. 

Thanks ladies!  💗

(Detail photos below)

1940s Separates • Two Old Beans-Style

Today (albeit a few days late!), I'm sharing one of my favorite outfits!!  :)  I've been wanting to get pictures of it for a long while now, and we finally got around to it this week. 

Since I make pretty much all of my clothes, it is always fun to shock someone with the statement that "No, I didn't make this!"  ;)  

This pretty little vintage 1940s blouse is one I got from Two Old Beans, when they were having an Instasale.  It was only $8 or so, and just needed a good soaking and hemming.  I would call that an amazing deal!!!

(Naturally, I had to pair my 1940s oxfords with this outfit, also from Two Old Beans)

Strangely, even though the blouse fits perfectly in the shoulders (hurrah!!!), it is quite short.  As a consequence, it had only four buttons, the last of which was the second from the bottom one that you see in the picture above.  The solution?  Make three more buttonholes and sew on new buttons!!  :)  It worked like a charm, and made it a very comfortable and practical-to-wear blouse. 

The pink piping on the center front and collar adds just enough accent to make it cute.  ;) 

Amazingly enough, this blouse has turned out to be just about my favorite garment that I own!!  I definitely am looking forward to replicating it.  It fits so well, and is *so* comfortable, which has been a must for me of late.  

I did make my jacket, and it is a definite favorite as well.  I actually made it way back in April or so, as a sort of wearable mockup for a future jacket I want to make (for my future WAVES ensemble).  You might recognize the fabric from my late 1940s dress.  Nicely enough, there was plenty enough fabric leftover from that to make a jacket! 

I used this pattern, Simplicity 4492, from the first half of the 1940s.  It is a very fun style, very comfortable, and a very easy-to-make pattern!  I actually made it start-to-finish, cutting to hemming, on a Saturday, intent on wearing it for church the next day.   It got done in plenty of time, so that kind of proves its ease of assembly!!  :)

The little tie-bow adds a fun touch, especially for a lighter weight fabric (something other than wool).  

The jacket has darts extending into tucks at the waist, as well as darts that come down from the shoulder seam in front.  The three-quarter-length sleeves have gathering at the elbows, as opposed to darts.

These buttons have to be in the Top Five category of my most favorite buttons ever.  :)  They almost look like wood, but they are in fact plastic.  And they came off of the loveliest vintage card - it's almost sad sometimes to have to take them off of the cards that they've been on for upwards of 70 years!

To my great joy, the collar was a cinch to make, just like the rest of the jacket.  And (favorite part!), it is not lined!!!!!  As you probably know, I'm always shirking having to line garments whenever possible, so to have it actually be legitimately okay to do makes me quite happy!!  ;)

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Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely weekend!!

• 1940s Summery Blouse •

Whew!! It has been a hectic week! Lots of sewing, vintage pattern buying, and fabric buying have happened. Our local fabric store had its once-a-year sale, so we had some stocking up to do. It's nice to see the fabric cabinet looking a little bit more plump! ;) And, the really good news is, I'm all ready to embark on my HSM project for next month. I have all of the necessary materials! I have one other dress I've got to finish first, but that will be my next project.

Last week, I decided that I desperately needed a casual but pretty blouse that could be worn untucked. Thankfully, we had just the pattern I needed; McCall 5138, a lovely blouse from 1943.

This has ended up being my absolute favorite blouse ever. It's very comfortable and looks cute tucked in, untucked, with a sash....just about any way you wear it!!

The design features a yoke that extends from the shoulders down the front of the bodice. The facings of the yoke and bodice front are cut-in-one, which I love! All in all, it's an absolutely lovely pattern, and I'll definitely be making more of them soon.

My mom had been working on a striped dress while I was making my blouse, and she made a striped self-fabric button for the keyhole opening. Just for a laugh, I laid the button on my fabric to see what it would look like. What?!! It matched! In fact, it did more than match....it looked amazing. Love at first sight. The crazy, stripy little button was absolutely perfect on my blouse. So I not only got to use super-cute buttons, but I got to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes! Covered-button-making!! ;)

The blouse features double tucks on each side of the front bodice, with a single tuck on each side of the back. It makes for a very pretty, comfortable and fitted style.

The fabric I used is from JoAnn; it's the American-made brand of fabric that they sell. I rather like it, and it's markedly less expensive than some of the "designer quilt" fabrics they sell. Bonus!! And the blouse only took 1 1/2 yards of fabric, so that is another bonus! ;)

The bodice is gathered onto the yoke at the shoulders. 

Oh, and I *finally* got new sandals!! They might not be the absolute epitome of what a 1940s sandal looked like, but they're quite cute nonetheless, and the only remotely vintage-looking sandal I could find that actually fit (or was sold in my size...).

Just in case you needed to see my buttons. Again. :)

Mother's Day • 1950s Blouses

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms! We had a lovely day yesterday celebrating my mom, with lots of lemon-butter chicken, (chocolate) pie, and (vintage-sewing-related) presents.

A few weeks back when we were shopping for May-Day basket fillers, we happened to see a little bundle of fabric marked "remnants" for sale for $5. We opened it up to discover that these "remnants" were actually four pieces of fabric, two 1-yard pieces, one 1/3 yard piece and one 2/3 yard piece. 

Yes. We bought it. Of course!

The fabrics are two different color variations of the same pattern, perfect for my mom and I to make "matching" blouses! We decided that Mother's Day was the ideal day to wear said matching blouses, so we got them made up last week.

My mom chose the blue-flowered fabric, and I chose the teal. They're so, so pretty and although the material is lightweight, it's very good quality.

I had never made this pattern before now, and I must say I am quite impressed with it. It's very well-made, and the design is gorgeous!

Since the blouse can be worn tucked or untucked, I can wear it with my doesn't-fit skirt! I love the style of it; the pleats are so 1930s-40s.

This blouse marks a very momentous occasion: my first time matching up a pattern! I'm quite happy with how it came out. It's so satisfying that I actually don't despise the idea of pattern-matching any more! Yay!

Hmm. Notice a difference? My mom made her blouse the right way, and I made mine the wrong an alternative way. Genius that I am, I laid out the left front and right front pieces upside down on the right side of the fabric, which resulted in making my left front the right front, and vice versa. Thankfully it wasn't an issue, and I actually rather like having two ways to style the neckline. Just being creative, right? ;)

I just love that hemline detail!

We used the sleeve from Butterick 5920, rather than the pattern sleeve to allow for a little bit of gathering at the sleeve cap.

Last week, Lily of Mode de Lis had a post full of lovely hats for sale! We purchased three of them, one of which is this lovely brown velvet style with a gorgeous braided trim. It's a great addition to our hat wardrobe (there is such a thing, I assure you!).

Thanks for the gorgeous hats, Lily!!

I don't usually wear tulips on my hat, but this is no ordinary tulip. It is called an "Esther" tulip.

They are a beautiful shade of pink, with slightly orange edges, and the inside has highlights of blue! It's really a very aptly named tulip since pink, orange and blue are my favorite colors! :)

I hope you all have a lovely week! The summery, warm weather and green foliage is so gorgeous! 

• I'll be back Friday with part two of the baby gift post! •

When It Rains • 1940s Blouse

....it pours.

It has been quite the momentous week, between having sewing sessions with friends, kitchen appliances breaking down, and some other very interesting happenings. I was intending to wear and photograph my new 1930s dress yesterday, but I did not end up finishing it in time. I did manage to get this blouse finished, however, and I just love it!

My mom and I have been wanting and needing a nice vintage-style button-front blouse pattern for a very long time. We finally discovered one - Simplicity 3847 - and after searching multiple stores, found it in the right size. We weren't sure how it was actually going to look, considering the dreadful pattern cover art, but last week I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl.

As it turns out, it's one of the easiest to make, most comfortable blouses I have ever made! I like it very much, and can't wait to make some more renditions of it.

I was on the hunt last week for a suitable blouse fabric, and when I saw this cute umbrella-laden material, I just couldn't resist. Every girl needs an whimsical umbrella blouse, right?!

It pairs quite well with my trusty 1940s skirt, and my favorite red hat!

I found these lovely red rose buttons at an antique shop months ago, and they happened to match this fabric quite well! The bonus is that I still have 9 of them left to use for something else!

Oh, and I made bound buttonholes...again. They're so addictive! Whether I am getting better at making them or not is a whole different matter. ;)

I lengthened the sleeves 2 inches, but other than that there were no alterations. Yay! 

As you may have guessed, these photos were not taken by my lovely mom. I tried my hand at taking some self-portraits with the tripod, and they just aren't up to the mark.

In any case, I am looking forward to finishing up my 1930s dress and photographing it! It came out even better than expected, so I am quite excited! :)

Also, I am a little behind in the comment-responding department, but that will be remedied very soon. Thanks for bearing with me!!

Sew & Tell Saturday

1940s Separates • Afternoon Floral

I never dreamed that my wardrobe would consist almost entirely of dresses, but it does nowadays. I love dresses, but sometimes it's nice to have a skirt and blouse to wear as well! I have struggled to find patterns that I liked for both items, but I finally found a couple that I like very much!

It all started when I found a remnant of fabric at our local quilt shop for free. I didn't think when I found it that it would be enough for a skirt, but when I got home, I discovered that it was a yard and a half of 60 inch fabric! I was overjoyed to find that Vogue 1019 would fit in that amount perfectly, and so started sewing.

 The total cost of the skirt was $9.45; the cost of 1 3/4 yards of lining and a packet of seam tape. The thread and zipper were from the stash. The great part about the fabric is, it doesn't wrinkle! I believe it's a polyester, judging from the feel of it. 

I made the skirt exactly like the pattern, except for lengthening it a few inches and adding a zipper. I had never put a lapped zipper in a skirt before, but I'm very happy with the outcome. I used muslin for interfacing the waistband, as the pattern called for. 

The only thing I would change about the skirt next time is putting the zipper in the back, rather than on the side. It lies fairly flat, but it would lay even better if it was in the back. Other than that, I am perfectly happy with the pattern!

Look! Me, knitting!! If I live long enough, it's going to be a '40s jumper. I'm almost done with the ribbing.

After I finished my skirt and discovered just how much I loved it, I decided a new blouse was definitely in order. Only, we don't really have any blouse patterns that work.

Or so I thought.

I decided on a whim to pull out the mockup of Simplicity 1692. I had made it early last year, and tried it on untucked. The result? Not very pleasant! The picture on the pattern cover shows it untucked on the model, but if you look at the picture of the original pattern cover, every view is tucked in.

I tried it on tucked in, and loved it!

Four hours later, I had a blouse.

Hence the name, "Afternoon Floral."

Happiness.

I made view C, making the sleeves 5/8" longer. The neck opens with loops and buttons on the shoulders, and the side opens with a zipper. I very much like this blouse because although it's simple, it's very comfortable and stays tucked in perfectly! I'm already planning a nautical blouse from view D, with that adorable ric-rac around the neck.

The only thing I'll change about the blouse is sizing down half of a size (I'm slowly learning to always go by the finished garment measurements), and making the sleeve holes slightly smaller. They are a little bit bigger around than I prefer them.

Aside from that though, I'm very excited to finally be building my "separates" wardrobe! I can't wait to wear my jabot blouse with this skirt!

With the cold, snowy weather outside, we were forced to take pictures indoors....again. It's not an easy task at our house; we have no dreamy empty rooms with picturesque windows to pose by. Hopefully the weather will warm up sufficiently soon so we can go outside for photo shoots.

• Photography by my mom •

• 1940s Jacket and Blouse •

Back before vacation, I knew that I had to have at least one blouse to bring along. The problem is, we literally have no decent vintage blouse patterns! After much deliberation, however, I finally decided to use Vogue 8767 (which I already have a dress from and need to take pictures of) as a base for my blouse. There were a number of alterations, obviously, like omitting the front and side openings, creating a back button opening, making the collar open in the back so that there could be a back opening, etc. 

I only made one jabot for the blouse, rather than two as the pattern calls for. It drapes quite nicely all by itself (except when you're out in the ridiculously freezing cold wind). 

Since there wasn't going to be a skirt connected to the bodice (obviously), I cut a front and two back pieces to sew onto the bottom in order to keep the slight gathers at the waist. I should have made the bodice a little longer, as it does sometimes show if I have the blouse tucked in. That's all part of the learning process though!

The sleeves. Hehehe. These sleeves are a conglomeration of three different sleeve patterns. Simple, right? I used Simplicity 1459 and Vogue 8767 for the top of the sleeve, and Simplicity 1692 for the rest of the sleeve and cuff.

I got the blouse fabric - 3 yards in total - at an antique store for $9. :)

As for the jacket, which I so wonderfully forgot to take any closeup pictures of, I used McCall 6995, from the wonderful and amazing "Archive Collection" which consists of about 4 patterns, last time I checked. Such a HUGE collection! Oh well. I am just glad to see them come out with something vintage.

They are trying to call this a 1933 pattern, but you know what? I call it 1940s. Or 1950s. Because it really does represent any of these decades.

I got the wonderful, knit, soft, thick, non-made-in-China fabric for it from JoAnn. It was even on sale at the time, so we got it for a great price! And the color is so perfect! It matches virtually anything. I didn't have any trouble with the fabric stretching on me other than on the pockets and the topstitching, but even that wasn't anything major. It was suprisingly easy to work with!

I would definitely recommend this pattern. It's comfy, versatile, and even though it's rather involved what with the lining and such, it's quite easy to make. Next time I might lengthen it by a couple of inches, but other than that, I have no complaints!

The collar of the blouse is not interfaced, which makes it incredibly comfortable. 

Instead of using a narrow bias facing like the pattern calls for, I just cut a regular facing to match the neckline shape.

Closeup of the waist seam. As with some other vintage patterns, the skirt (or blouse bottom, in this case) is sewed on top of the bodice, rather than the ordinary way of sewing with right sides together.

Shoulder darts!

I got these scrumptious buttons at an antique store. I love them. I just happened to have the perfect amount of big buttons for the back and little ones for the cuffs. I love it when that happens!

As you might have noticed, I committed somewhat of a trespass against the rules of vintage fashion by wearing a rather 50s-ish skirt with this 40s outfit, but it was what I felt like at the time. And my 40s skirt needed to be ironed. Good reason not to wear it, huh?

I have my mid-1800s stays almost finished, so my next step is to make the mockup of my 1860s gown. Yay!

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