1940s Apron • Peaches 'n' Cream

What?!! No magazine scans? 

Don't worry! They'll be back next week. Friday is my magazine scan/whatever other random project that's worth blogging day, and this apron was just begging to be posted.

This lovely fabric started out life as a blouse. I had just finished making my very first blouse and thought that I loved it, so started cutting out another. Just about then, I figured out that I actually didn't like the fit....at all.

So, the poor pieces of fabric languished in the scrap box until a few weeks back, when I wanted to make an apron for my mom. The blouse bodice pieces ended up being the perfect size to form the skirt of the apron! I wanted some sort of accent fabric with it, but nothing that I had remotely matched it.

We happened to be going to JoAnn a few days later, so I was able to find the lovely floral fabric to go with it.

Even though I had sewn the skirt together, I really had no idea what design I was going to make; I didn't want it to be like anything we already had. I finally decided to make a simple bib-style apron with seam binding on all of the edges.

I didn't use a pattern for the top, so genius that I am, I cut it out so that it laid perfectly flat when on a flat surface. Not a very good idea. Sewing the seams at an angle, and a couple of darts fixed that problem, however, and made it lay quite nicely! There's no law against darts in an apron, right?

I used a seam binding foot to sew the binding onto the skirt, but it actually didn't work that well. I just hand-folded it onto the bib of the apron when I sewed it, and it worked great, even with all of those curves.

Ordinarily I sew seam binding on invisibly, but for an apron with this much binding that had to be finished in an evening, I wasn't about to attempt it.

I just love that floral fabric! I have its twin in a darker shade that I have made into a 1900s-ish skirt and a 1950s blouse.

It was so much fun to turn this fabric into something so useful and pretty! I'm so glad it never got made into a blouse. :)

The dress that Thelma Lou is wearing is one that my mom made recently. She found the pattern picture on Pinterest, and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, the pattern is no longer available, but she was able to reproduce it without one!

Just look at that pattern matching! She's so good at that sort of thing. I have yet to attempt it, but I'm sure my tries won't be near as good. I didn't inherit her perfectionist trait, I'm afraid, so it's something I have to work at. She is a constant inspiration! :)

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 •

Excerpts From the Past • 1940s Pattern Book

I can't believe it's already been a week since my first "Excerpts From the Past" post!

Today I am sharing a delightful pattern book that actually has no date on it, but looks to be from somewhere in the mid-1940s. It is a book showcasing "Laura Wheeler" Designs, which you could then order the pattern for through the mail. I wish the patterns were still available!

I am having a blast coming up with photo props for these magazine pictures! Today we have my little tomato pin cushion, which I searched for for days before I found it. I ordinarily use a little cupcake one that a friend gave me, so I hadn't seen this little guy in ages! He is pretty iconic.

The bird scissors is a gift from my dad.

The spools of thread are from a very dear friend who passed away last year. They sit up on top of our sewing room ribbon board, reminding us of her.

The needle case is actually full of sewing machine needles for my great-grandma's treadle machine. 

And last, but not least, is the doily made by the same great-grandma. We have bunches of them; I am determined to learn how to make them sooner or later and carry on the legacy!

Unfortunately, this book is in rough shape, but I tried to retouch the scans as much as I could. I hope you enjoy!

First off is a "Jiffy-knit" blouse, which looks very fun to make. And really, crocheted shoes/slippers? That's amazing! Especially when they look so cute!

This weskit is very pretty; someday perhaps I will conquer cables. Right now, however, cables have the victory over me.

This page showcases all kinds of doilies and embroidery patterns. I love seeing the pineapple designs! When we were on vacation, we visited a mansion in which we learned all about pinapples and hospitality. That mansion had pineapples on bedposts, chandeliers, chairs and doilies!

Pineapples hold so much more meaning after hearing that! Not only do they taste good, but they're friendly too. ;)

Ooooh! An apron! With ruffles!! I can't believe I haven't made a pinafore apron yet. That's definitely going on my "make" list right now.

I have never made a slip cover, but as the magazine says, they are "magic to a faded room - the answer to a housewife's prayer." That sounds like it could come in handy someday!

This is one of my favorite pages; the apron is of course adorable, but the hats are so lovely! I love those "fascinators" that they wore back then. So cute!

The pillbox hat on the left reminds me very much of Sense & Sensibility's Pearl Harbor Hat Pattern. I need to wear mine again!

Ahh. More aprons. The little girl's apron is just too cute!! What could be more adorable? The other pinafores are equally as pretty with the lovely rose, zinnia and "luscious fruit" designs.

I have to confess, this is my favorite page out of the whole book. These have got to be the cutest little dolls I've ever seen. And the neat part is, they're not all just for girls! Look at those soldier and sailor dolls! I always am pondering what sort of things a person could sew for a little boy, and this has most definitely made the list. I can't wait to make one (or two...) someday!

• Broccoli and Gingham 1940s Dress •

Otherwise entitled, Make Do & Mend, Of Fruits and Vegetables, How to Get a Dress Out of Two and a Half Yards, or Historical Sew Monthly #2.

Now that all that's settled, I can continue. :)

This dress is indeed a tale "making do and mending." Making do because of a definite shortage of fabric, and mending because of some mistakes that I made.

I originally intended this fabric for a blouse, but I loved it so much that I really wanted a dress out of it. I laid out pattern after pattern, thinking that there had to be something that would work out of 2 1/2 yards. No. Nothing would, it seemed.

But, stubbornness prevailing, I had one last pattern to try laying out. Vogue 8728. It almost fit on the fabric, which gave me enormous hope. Determined to make it work, I decided that I could use a contrasting fabric for parts of it. Enter the famous blue gingham! That fabric has been used for so many things, it's just crazy! My mom has a 1950s dress that has a gingham belt and piping, I made a blouse out of it ages ago, and recently, a baby dress.

Obviously, after all of those projects, there was not much of it left, but there was just enough to get the front and back bodice bottom (on the bias) and seam binding! I never thought of the two fabrics matching before, but they really do go together beautifully. It's ironic, because the broccoli fabric itself is on a light diagonal gingham background. It seems they were made for each other!

I had to make several alterations to the pattern; since the pattern sleeves are awfully short and large, I extended them up and out into kimono-style sleeves. I also made the neck about 1 1/2" higher.

Through trying to remember to do all of these alterations, I managed to forget one very important one; making the neckline narrower! I was so mad at myself. I was beginning to detest this vegetable-laden dress! What would fix the very wide neckline? A neckband? Big bias binding? (Wouldn't that look just lovely....)

I finally decided to sew in a piece on each shoulder in order to make the neckline narrower. It seemed like a rather ludicrous idea at the time, but it actually worked quite well! It is not, perhaps the most desirable thing to have to do on a dress, but under the circumstances, I'm pretty happy with it!

We found this delicious green bakelite buckle at a local antique shop recently, and it adds the perfect touch! I just love it. And it's our first bakelite item of any kind, so it is definitely exciting.

I pieced the back of the bodice out of necessity, but I'm actually very glad it worked out that way. It makes it look like an intentional continuation of the contrasting bodice front. 

My mom decided to make a dress out of this pattern as well, using some gorgeous matching fabrics that she had in the stash. I just love those fabrics together! We affectionately named our dresses "Blueberry" and "Broccoli."

Oh, and did you see her shoes??!! They are too stinkin' cute! I realllllly want them. I'm not entirely jealous, however, because I actually have a little surprise of my own in the shoe department. But that will have to wait until next week when I have a matching dress to photograph them with. Bright orange somehow doesn't quite match this dress. *tear*

Yep. We're weird like this. Proud cow pose followed by Roman soldier. How delightful.

;)

And now, for the delightful HSM details!! I have been frightfully delinquent in participating in the HSM this year, so I am excited to be back into it! 

The Challenge: Colour Challenge Blue

Fabric: Cottons purchased at two different quilt shops. 2 1/2 yards of the broccoli, and leftover scraps of gingham.

Pattern: Vogue 8728

Year: 1943

Notions: Zipper, thread, belt buckle

How historically accurate is it? Mmmm...85-ish%. There is some serging, and the zipper may or may not be correct.

Hours to complete: 8(?) It would have been less if I had not taken some detours into mistake-land.

First worn: Last Sunday, to church. (And this past Sunday, to church.) I guess I like it. ;)

Total cost: $35

I'll be back on Friday with either another Excerpts From the Past post, or an apron!

Thank you all for the delightful comments on the magazine scans - it gives a girl the incentive to keep it up!