• Favorite 1930s Floral Dress •

Eeeek!! I'm so excited about today's post! (However late it may be!)

I just made this dress last weekend, and let me tell you; it is my absolute favorite. Whether it's because of the style, the simplicity of the pattern, the comfortable-ness of the dress, or just because I'm so in love with the 1930s right now, I just love this dress.

We've been finding some exceedingly scrumptious patterns of late, one of which is this raglan sleeve dress pattern. I used it for the bodice and sleeves, and used the skirt pattern from vintage McCall 9225. 

The sleeves were too full to be left open and "fluttery" with the alterations I made, so I pleated them onto a band. I love the effect!

I knew this dress was going to need pockets (what dress doesn't?!!), so I dug around on Pinterest for inspiration. I finally found this pin, which I really liked! I was delighted to find that not only did I have the perfect amount of fabric left, but that this style of pockets were also very easy to make! What might seem to be a complex design at first is actually very simple; the pockets are just squares of fabric folded to the desired angle, and stitched up to the fold. The angle of the pocket echoes the sleeve seams very nicely, and it's also got that great 1930s flair!!

These buttons.

I know, I am rather susceptible to expounding ridiculously over all of my buttons, but these truly are favorites!! They were originally intended for my 1940s blouse, but I'm very glad they didn't end up on there. They're just so perfect on this dress! Although the original pattern called for eyelets and laces, buttons seemed more appropriate for this fabric.

This fabric was originally my mom's, but after a little bit of trading of partially-made-dresses and fabric pieces, I ended up with it! Thanks, Mom!! I love this fabric SO much, and it seems to have been made for this pattern! There were only 3 1/2 yards of it, but I managed to sneak the whole dress out of it; facings, an un-pieced belt, and all!!

It's always good to have another go-to dress pattern that takes a relatively small amount of fabric.

This whole dress was somewhat of a miracle: the bust measurement of the pattern was some 5 inches too small, while the waist was almost perfect. I made a mock-up first, just increasing the side seams, but never expecting it to actually work! Miraculously, however, it did work, and ended up fitting perfectly.

The next problem was, I had to take the front bodice-sleeve seam in a bit near the neck edge, which rendered the dress almost impossible to get over my head. There were moments when I pictured my mom having to cut me out of this dress. 

Not good.

So as I was pondering this not-so-little dilemma, I suddenly realized that a keyhole was the perfect answer! I was able to use the facing that was already attached to make what's probably the smallest keyhole I'll ever have on a dress! It's only about 1 1/2" long, but it makes the difference between getting the dress on-and-off easily and not getting it off at all. 

As a result, it's been affectionately nicknamed, "The Emergency Keyhole." 

;)

And last, but not least, my hat!! About a year ago, I purchased the 1940s Hat Wardrobe Pattern from Wearing History. I always wanted to make this fedora, but never got around to it until a few weeks ago. It ended up being a very easy pattern to make! I used a thicker-weight fabric from the Famous Makers line at JoAnn, and lined it with some canvas-type fabric from a local colonial shop. The brim is made of crinoline, also from JoAnn.

I made a few foibles, like not stitching the seams of the lining and outer fabrics together and making slightly crooked darts and seams, but nonetheless, it's still a very nice hat to have! I can't wait to make one (or three!) out of felt for winter. 

Have a wonderful week! I'll probably be posting our latest antique finds on Friday (eeeeek!), so come back soon! :)

In the Apron Stash • Feathered Friends

A month or two ago, I found an adorable vintage girl's apron at an antique store. Never before in my life have I actually bought an apron! The old line of "Oh, I can make one of those!" usually prevails. This apron, however, was an exception. Its adorableness was just too irresistible.

So, a few days ago when I got the itch to sew up something for the shop, I decided to sew a little apron patterned after my vintage one!

The original apron. The style is so cute!!

Look. At. That. FABRIC. If only I had about 500 million yards of it. Yes, I would make 100 million dresses out of the same exact fabric. And like it!

Actually though, I'd even settle for just one yard of it. ;)

The apron itself is in perfect condition; no stains whatsoever, no tears, no rips. The only part of it that is worn is the seam binding, which I can easily replace.

The fabric I used is slightly less vintage-y, but still absolutely adorable. I bound the apron with some yellow/mustard polka dot fabric I had in the stash. I had never thought of putting them together, but they match perfectly!

The apron ties at the back neck and around the waist.

I love the look of narrow seam binding, however finger-scorching it is to make it! It looks so much more vintage than the wider widths, at least for a little apron.

I can't wait to make more of these little aprons! They're absolutely adorable, and quite fun to make.

Check out the listing for this apron in my shop here.

• Summer Etsy Sale & New Patterns in the Shop •

We've recently been adding to our vintage pattern stash, so we needed to purge some of our old stash of patterns. I just listed over 30 of them (whew!!) in the shop, so head over there to check them out!

Don't forget to use the coupon for 10% off!

Most of the patterns are out of print, and some of them are rare 1980s and 1990s patterns like these.

From tops to bottoms to dresses (and corsets!), there's bound to be something for everyone.

And don't forget, there's some lovely clothing, both historical and vintage, waiting for a new home as well! Be sure to take a look here soon!

• 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. :)