A Vintage Top

 

It was a windy day! Hair fail!

If you are a fan of Threads Magazine , and any passionate sewist should be, you will recognize this top. It was featured in their most recent issue, Spring 2025, Issue 225. As soon as she got her's,  my sister called me to let me know about this top and what did I think? Before we knew it we were collaborating on the pattern, it's fit, vintage linens and were sharing. She sent me the pattern, one you had to go online and down load, but quite simple. I sent her trims and hankies from my generous resources of vintage textiles, most inherited from friends and family. We were on. She finished first and it was lovely. Now I had to get hustling! 

Pattern:

This pattern was in Issue 225 of Threads Magazine, a design by Joan McGowan-Michael. McCowan-Michael's philosophy is that it is better to bring these heirlooms out of the back of the closet for the rest of the family and world to enjoy rather than have them "deteriorate under the beach towels". She does stress making use of those with stains and tears, thereby extending their lives and the possibility of appreciation by others. 

I knew I had tons of these, having been blessed with inheritance of a hoarder spinster great aunt and also the legacy of an elderly sewing friend who was dear to me. These items, and there are many, are preciously cared for and appreciated. Their line of accession is planned. 

The author/designer gives great guidance in choosing your textiles, prepping them, and working with the variations of print and designs. She makes it easy. There is a tie in the back of the top which I chose not to add. My Sis loves the tie. 

There is a schematic of the pattern in the magazine but no measurements other than for elastic for shoulders and cuffs.  You can scan the QR code offered in the magazine to access the pattern in more detail. This will bring you to the magazine site and a "Size Medium (38-40 inch bust) with half inch wide seam allowances." I could not find a size Small or anything Larger anywhere on the Threads site. I was frustrated.  My sis, who uses a 12 or 14 Big Four pattern, used the design with no changes at all. Being a size 4 in tops, 6 in patterns, I took out four inches from the bodice. I did this by bringing in the side seams and placed the shoulder seams in much closer. I figured that out with a try on. I was happy with my fit in the end and so was Sis. I think the fit here can easily be played with by utilizing a center fold and a base fabric to work on. You could place your linens on top of that as desired. The forgiving sleeves can be made longer and placed in or out as needed. Then again, maybe there are other sizes somewhere that I don't know about. 

Fabric:

 Everything in the top is cotton or linen. It was really fun going through my goodies to pull the sleeves together and then the hankies  and embroidery to work with that. Or did I do that the other way around???  It was fun. The top sleeve fabric is a micro-check, then a classic quilting cotton bought in the 90s by moi and finally some gingham.  When I had the top all done, it seemed like something was missing, like the cherry on a sundae fell off and rolled away.  I went thru more trims and laces trying to find something to finish off the bottom hem. Nothing seemed right. Then it ocurred to me that I could bind the bottom edge with more gingham. Bingo! It pulled the design all together. 

Here on the back of the shirt is one delicate hankie of the finest cotton(?) blue roses, so very ladylike. I cut it on the diagonal not quite in half and lined it up so the cut was the top edge of the back bodice. I had a ton of the vintage lace you see and used that to trim off the top edge. I think it is tatted lace. 

On the front of the top you can see a former "table scarf." It is made up of the teensiest cross stitch, with  an Asian theme, stunning hand work. Edging the neckline is the only half I owned of a beautiful lace collar. It still had its half of the snap left on it.  Never found the other half.  The bodice pieces are backed with white voile. 

Below is running yardage of a crosstitched border that I had about 7 yards of. It's about 18 inches wide.  I split it and mailed the other half to Sis for her top. 

Construction:

Making this top was really quite simple. The designer thought out of the box with the sleeve installation which added greatly to the charm of the top. It also facilitated the ease of construction. While it did that, I felt that the area where the sleeve corners connected to the bodice had vague directions and felt a bit clunky. It was one of those situations where you move things around till they worked and then sewed them together. In the end, it all looked good. I did go back and do a narrow satin stitch where the elastic ended on each of the sleeves and  met the bodice. It just seemed more secure and looked fine. I liked the bound hem on my version and think this is an idea that could be added to the directions. The repetition of the fabric enhances the overall design, IMO. Will I make it again? Not sure. I have many more vintage linens, including some lovely tablecloths calling me. I may leave this one as a unique expression of upcycling and look for another type of expression for the next go round. In the end, it was a really fun make, particularly collaborating with my Sis. 

Would I recommend this pattern and design? Somewhat. I like the design. It is creative and out of the box. It really utilizes the vintage linens well. I feel the directions, at least where you are directed to the Threads website, could be a bit more logical and clear. But, that's me and how I like things presented to me. Others may feel otherwise. For a true newbie, well, I think they might need a little coaching. I am also disappointed in the lack of sizing other than the offered Size 8. Not everyone has the chops to move out from this.  But, in the end, I felt this was worth it and recommend it for those with patience who appreciate creativity and upcycling. You won't be disappointed. 

When I originally went out this morning to set up my camera, this is how I was dressed. It is how all my neighbors currently dress outside. We wear net suits to save us from the scourge of black fly bites. They are heinous, truly heinous. Net suits get very hot, even on cool days. Once the camera was all set up, I went back inside and changed into my little vintage top. You don't want to visit NH in May, you really don't........Happy Sewing!.............Bunny 

Sew Chic Patterns

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Laura Nash of Sew Chic Patterns. She is an Indie designer who brings a depth of knowledge and experience to her designs that is very impressive and it shows in her patterns.

I first discovered Laura's skills when I saw a review on Pattern Review for her Fifth Avenue dress design.  Do Laura's patterns have a vintage vibe? Yes, most definitely. But they are not the nod to simplistic fifties fashions that so many indies have over saturated the market with. Laura's vision is one of femininity with a big dose of elegance, the type of garment you could wear to a wedding or evening out and turn heads. Even with the backwards influence of fashion  her looks feel fresh and original. Just look at her pattern called "Phantom". This design can be a swing coat, a top, or something as elegant as what you see below.

This bit of sheer froth can be even more appreciated in the line drawings where you will see the shape and detail built in as well as how easily it could be interpreted into much different looking garments.

With that bit of tease I would like to share with you an interview with Laura that she was so gracious to accommodate. 

When you were sewing in your younger years did you have one particular project or garment  that you were particularly proud of?  Or that was particularly difficult to complete?

As a teenager, I think my sewing was fairly inventive. I also enjoyed coming up with costumes for school plays, performances, and Halloween. Of course I didn't know how to make a pattern from scratch like I do now, but I would use a fashion pattern as a base and create something completely different from it.  I don’t recall it as a challenge, but my best project from that era would be the wedding dress I made for my mother.  She had a dress in mind when shopping the pattern books, but couldn't find anything exact. She ended up buying a Vogue pattern as a base, which was really quite extravagant for her budget. I changed quite a few things adding in a yoke with mandarin collar and full sleeves with cuffs accented with rows of tucks, ribbons, lace, and buttons, and sleeve and skirt overlay of white striped chiffon.  My sister was married in the same dress.

What fabric has given you the most difficulty?

I really dislike brocade. It’s beautiful, but I just can abide the constant unraveling!   People complain about chiffon, but I don’t mind it at all.  I find that careful preparation of the fabric with attention to the grain when time to cut makes everything else go smoothly.

Your business is quite comprehensive and must be quite time consuming as well. Any hints for getting it all done? Do you find much time to sew now?

Oh Yes! I have found out for myself that running a company is more than full time work! And at least for a perfectionist, getting it all done just doesn’t happen, but at some point there is “acceptable.”  Being organized is critical to being efficient no matter what the job.  I wear a variety of hats, of course, and I can’t be without sewing completely but I don’t get to sew as much as I’d like. However there is a bright side to the situation; I see from my helpers what their difficulties are, which makes it easier to anticipate and look for solutions in assembly and techniques for best end results for people of all skill levels.

Your garments have a vintage vibe but in an elegant way. I love the tailored extras that you are unafraid to incorporate. Who or what inspires your designs?

What a nice compliment! For me, vintage means elegant, though you won’t find that in the dictionary! It’s kindness, poise, restraint, modesty, classic, gentle, beauty.  I hope my designs speak well to that definition. I try to create styles that are wearable in the marketplace as well as the workplace for the 20 and 60 year old alike.  Simple silhouettes definitely have their place, but I hope that adding special and even unusual details, it brings them to a new level of excitement. All of my designs are directly inspired by the first half of the 20th century.  Though I have bookshelves full inspiration by way of scrapbooks, notebooks and books about designers, old sewing manuals, and anything associated, I rarely need to look at any of it. It’s in my veins now!

Everyone loves a peek into the sewing space of other sewists. Care to tell us what your space is like? Do you work better with a bit of clutter around or must you have everything in its place to be creative?

In my main work area, I do have a certain amount of clutter because I like things to be near me and stored near first use. Some things never get put “away”, but I cannot operate in chaos, so I must stay with a certain level of of organization. All works in progress, along with the project materials, are kept in Rubbermaid plastic bins with lids, of which I have two sizes.  I keep all of my everyday sewing tools lumped together in a large plastic school box case, and have a tall portable stacking bin for things that may need to move with me, but things I need less often such as sewing feet, bendable rulers, electric shears, push pins and such. My cutting table is always layered with two cardboard cutting boards (Dritz Superboard) and elbow lamps and ironing board nearby.  To tidy up, I have a computer armoire that I have converted into sewing storage. I stow my sewing machine in the compartment where the computer tower would normally go, and notions and tools are contained on the pull out drawer where the keyboard would usually sit. Project bins stack below and the upper area is tall enough for narrow bolts of fabric I am working with.  I have three other rooms that get used for printing, packaging and storing supplies, materials, and equipment to vendor, teach, and produce product.

Can you give us any hints about upcoming patterns? What is your favorite to design?

I admit a weakness for dresses.  Pants and tee shirts are a necessary part of our modern life, but I don’t find them interesting to make or to wear.  I have several projects in the works, but the one I can tell you about is a redesign of the Pendleton pattern.  As one of the first to be published, it’s been on the market for quite a while, and rather than retire it, I decided to give it a refresh. I’ve finished the first sample and it will have a view B option as well. The dress has a much younger look to it and a whole new personality that I’m really excited about. The only thing left to decide is whether I should also give it a new name too!

Thank you so much, Laura, for taking the time for this interview. It is my pleasure to introduce you and your work to my readers. With that in mind, here are a few of Laura's designs, some for day, some more for evening, and others that can be interpreted either way. 

 The Tia Dress 

The Fifth Avenue

The  Pendleton

These are just a few designs from Sew Chic Patterns. Others include hats, luscious lingerie and more. Laura is truly a gifted designer. Her experience and skills are obvious. I look forward to making one of her designs in the near future. Get to know her work through these links and I trust you may feel the same. 

So elegant!

I just had to share these three short videos. They were on the RTW Fasters group on FB thanks to Deborah Jones.

It is hard to believe such elegance existed but clearly it did. I found myself smiling serenely as I listened to the speaker's detailed descriptions. His use of  the model's names was surprising. That Delouri  had quite the hand action!

I loved that these women looked healthy and were not babes plucked from high school. I would say most were in there thirties with stunning figures.

The elegance of the audience was rather amazing as well. I loved the  grey striped dress on the woman on the  right. Everything is so exquisitely tailored. Was I born in the wrong era?

What is your favorite? I had several but loved the blue coat, black dress in video three.

The fashion show consists of three short videos.  Enjoy! I sure did.........Bunny

"The Lost Art of Dress" Book Review

"The Lost Art of Dress" by Linda Przybyszedwski, PHD 

I will refer to the kind Dr. as Dr. Pski hence forward. Dr. Pski is a professor at Notre Dame, noted historian, and a woman who loves to sew. Don't you just love that combination? She believes she is the only woman to present before the Supreme Court in an outfit of her own making. Our kind of woman, right? In this book she introduces us to the "Dress Doctors", a group made up of retailers, extension agents, home economists, writers and designers. The Doctors taught the nation how to dress for most of the twentieth century. They had rules but it wasn't just about dress either. They insisted that a knowledge of how to dress appropriately was all that was needed, not money or a large wardrobe. In wartime they taught women how to make do and espoused recycling long before the current craze we are  now witnessing. Their rules for dress were the rules of Art: harmony, proportion, balance, rhythm and  emphasis. They believed in occasion dressing. "Happy" garments were worn in the home while caring for family. In the evenings dinner required a change of dress. The workplace required another, and so on. They taught women how to live with very few garments but  they would be quality, well made items of clothing. Variety would be supplied by a varied assortment of cuffs, collars, hats and gloves. Don't you wish we wore gloves again? Love my lovely leather winter gloves but today that is as close as I will get to what the Doctors ordered. 

This is a fascinating and entertaining read. What makes it so is Dr. Pski's humor and wit. She is really fun to read. Her account of the Biennial Dress alone is worth the price of the book. What's a Biennial Dress? It was an attempt, one I still find hard to believe, to get all women in America to wear the same dress. This really happened and it was a big deal. It was to encourage thrift. There was a national competition to design it and the design had to be flattering to every shape and size of female. The goal was to own just this one dress and change it up with accessories. I will leave the outcome for you to discover!

Any sewist will appreciate the detail in the garments above. Whiles styles changed detailing continued until the 1960s. At that time dresses morphed to plain little mini dress A lines, a look that had grown women matching the style of their five year old sisters. It was the beginning of the end of great fashion detail and Dr. Pski documents this landslide beautifully. 

Dr. Pski takes us from the 1890s to the present as any Dr.'ed historian would. There are details, footnotes , quotes and pictures. Reading it all from the vantage point of 2014 makes it all seem a bit unearthly yet quite entertaining.  It is really hard to believe this went on given the state of dress today. But Dr. P provides lots of interesting facts and anecdotes to shed light on this history of garments, their design and construction. 

Really fabulous is that this historian is a sewist and can provide an accuracy to her viewpoint that a non sewist couldn't. She talks about the sewing through the decades up until the present with humorous opinions freely expressed. She brings us to the sixties, the Baby Boomers and the end of it all and how that affects what we are making and wearing this very day. We Baby Boomers blew this one as she will prove to you when you read the book. And aren't we paying the price today as an oft described nation of slobs? 

Raw edges, unstitched hems, cleavage and poor fit that is seen as the norm today---the Dress Doctors would be looking for the nearest fainting couch. What could have been a really dry college text on fashion history, this book is not. The humor and wit supplied by the doctor make it a thoroughly entertaining read. It really makes you crave a spot in one of her classroom lectures. 

Here are a few quotes from the book:

In a description of a 1970s sewing manual, "Clothing Liberation' we have this, "But the piece de resistance of Clothing Liberation consisted of six dish towels sewn together to create a dress. Don't forget to hack a hole for your head. Now you can walk the streets and everyone will want wipe their hands on you. It is a waste of good dish towels."

On cellulite: "The word "cellulite" was introduced to the United States in the late 1960s, when curvaceous women were passed over in favor of underweight teenagers. Vogue magazine wrote of a young woman who had not undertaken an exercise regimen as a teenager, had waited too long to be "diagnosed" for cellulite, and feared it was "too late"  to do anything about the disease at the ripe age of twenty two. Fortunately, she had managed to reduce her 39 inch hips down to 34 inches through exercise, "standing correctly", and using "a special rolling pin". If you didn't want to rub your butt yourself, you hired a masseuse to do it for you. "

Dress Doctors Mildred Graves Ryan and Velma Phillips wrote, "Dress is more than practicality. It is the means of expressing your love of beauty and of life". I like that one. 

Other links about this book and author:

Professor Pski

Interview with Dr. P 

Boston Globe

Mad Men

NY Times Book Review

I highly recommend this book. It is entertaining, easy to read, very informative and explains why we dress the way we are doing today. Yes, this art of dress is lost. Sad thing.........Bunny

Vintage Gifts

 

Is this piece of bark cloth from the fifties not spectacular? A friend was cleaning out his deceased Mom's attic and she was an avid sewist. He brought me quite a few fabrics and offered to bring any I didn't want to the dump. I could have taken the whole pile but made a conscious decision which I shared with him  that I would only take what I would actually sew. I would sew this bark cloth into something in a heartbeat! I am thinking two large pillows for the living room couch or a big slouchy bag or a bag with some brown leather mixed in. What are your suggestions? I have always been crazy about bark cloth and in our last home did custom drapes in the living/dining areas out of a black bark cloth with giant white and lavender hydrangeas. Walls were soft yellow, white trim! 

This next one is a thin, but not too thin, missoni-ish knit. It is really nice and took the wash well. Maybe a sarong for the beach to hide that cottage cheese fermenting beneath my bum? OK, a bit too graphic so let's move on.....

 This one is so sweet. The dark areas you see are little tufts of fabric, sort of a dotted Swiss on steroids, very third dimensional. I think it could make a cute little summer top for Sophie or Carly.

They will sit out in the sun for the day just to make sure all attic odors that could be hiding are gone. Then on to the shelf. I just love me that barkcloth.....Bunny

Lots Going On!

And the WINNER of the set of pewter clasps is, tah dah,,,,,,,,,,,,(tension building).....Joyce in NC!!!

Email me, Joyce, at bunnypep at wildblue dot net with your snail mail address. I am changing my ISP next week and will have a new email next Thursday so get in right away on the old addie. Our little village is going BROADBAND, YAHOOOOOOO!!!! More on that next week.
 

Tonight at Eight O'Clock I will post the winner of the  pewter clasps! I will stick the announcement right at the top of this post. 
 Above you can see a mint condition 1950s card table cloth. I picked this up in a yard sale down in No. Andover, Mass. What you can't see here is the lovely texture and heft of the fabric. This is not thin cotton but more like a huck cloth.  The minute I saw it I knew it would be perfect for a dress for Carly, my granddaughter with the big blue eyes and platinum blond hair, just perfect. The challenge has been to figure out what to make and how to get what I need out of a 54 inch square with serious borders. It's a bit of a puzzle but today I figured it all out. 

The X'd out areas will not  be used in the dress but every other rectangle is a particular part of the design. So I have enough! I will be using  just a small part of Butterick 5020, the tiny bodice.  I wanted smocking on this and it will fit right into that center bodice section. Now I have my handwork project and will try to get it pleated tomorrow. I will be trying a new sort of smocking here, at least new for me, so we will see how that goes.
*************************************************************************************

My BFF has 5 weddings to attend this summer, pretty much among the same crowd. I fixed a hem issue on this bias skirt of the dress and did a refashion on the top she will wear with it as it will be a nightime wedding for this garment. Here is the original cardigan. It is an olive green rachel knit and has the tiniest olive green sequins in it, lovely fabric hard to appreciate on camera.

The dress is cut on the bias with an asymmetrical layered hem. The fabric is silk chiffon print with a few sequins here and there on the motifs. The bodice is a very low cowl and the sheer dress has a lovely higher necked black lace slip underneath, very pretty. She is small like me. We both decided the cardigan had great fabric but would look a lot better if cut to the shape of a shrug. Here is the result. I like it and she is very happy.

This appears much dressier when you see it in person and it is really pretty on her with her green eyes and blondish hair.

See you at eight o'clock!...Bunny