1943!

And here it is: My dress from the magazine Beyer's Mode from the summer of 1943! The fifth item for this year's Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge (I didn't pledge a specific number of projects this year, but in the past two years five was the target number. So, I am doing pretty well when it comes to vintage sewing).

I have talked about the magazine, the pattern and my alterations in earlier posts. I didn't mention before that this dress is supposed to have thin shoulder pads which you can make using the pattern piece from another dress pattern from the same magazine. I didn't make the shoulder pad. The shoulders don't look too high or too wide (and I know my shoulders are just a little bit on the square side for some patterns) so I only found out about the pads when the dress was almost finished and I read the four, very short, lines of instructions printed on the pattern sheet. 
Of course, small shoulder pads might give the dress a more full-on 1940's silhouette but to me, it is much more wearable without.

And even without that added shoulder shaping, I was actually surprised at how closely the end result resembles that little drawing. Fashion drawings are notorious for giving an idealized image which may have nothing to do with the real item of clothing. Illustration ladies tend to be so tall, thin and curved that no real person can hope to live up to their example. It is one of the great issues for anyone who is starting to sew: You pick your pattern based on those nice pictures and get disappointed by the results again and again (I am among those who would recommend beginners to start with patterns illustrated with photographs but for vintage patterns, that is often not an option).

I've never worn a dress with such a bloused bodice before so I didn't really know what to expect. I was afraid it would make me look to bulky up top (even with my small bust size!) but the toile already told me this one doesn't. And if you belt the dress (like you're supposed to do) that wide top really helps to give the impression of a tiny waist. To allow the blousing to work well, I made a complicated side closure for this dress: There is an invisible zipper in skirt part and a snap placket in the top. 
Oh, and the original design has pockets. I love pockets as much as the next girl but I decided against adding them in this dress. Double welt pockets in a fairly slim fitting skirt in linen seemed rather risky AND I didn't think their position, pretty much directly over the wearer's groin, would be very flattering. 

The fabrics I chose both came from my stash: the yoke (which is cut in one with the sleeves, even though the illustration suggests an inserted sleeve) and collar are made from the mystery blend I bought for my 1929 dress and for the rest of the dress I used a blue/purple linen which I think I bought in the summer of 2014. Being linen, it does crease easily but it is also very comfortable in warm weather. 

Oh, and of course, like we all do, I tried the dress on as soon as I possibly could during construction. And doing I wasn't so sure about the style... 
There is something I always slightly worry about with color-blocked designs. Star Trek uniform. I loved Star Trek as teenager, still do when I happen to watch it again. However, that doesn't mean I want to look like I am on my way to a fan convention on any random day. It is one of the reasons why I've always stayed away from black clothes with colourful yokes.
In this case, I hadn't really thought about it when sewing or when picking fabric. And there it was... Without the belt, this dress really reminds me of the uniform worn in the first four seasons of Deep Space Nine (and in Star Trek Voyager). The command colours...
When the dress was finished and I tried it with a belt, the similarity was a lot less. I don't think I have a problem with it at all. This would only remind a proper "trekkie" of a Star Trek uniform and I'm fine with that ;)

Summer fashion in 1943

The dress I'm making is coming along nicely but it is not finished yet. However, I thought you might like a look inside the magazine the pattern came from.

Beyer's Mode for summer 1943. In more quiet times, this magazine was published monthly but wartime imposed restrictions (This is a German magazine  which came from the collection of a professional seamstress in Noord-Holland. I have written about the consideration of a Dutch woman buying German wares during the occupation before but I think she was always going for magazines with lots of patterns and Beyer's Mode was strictly a-political as far as I can tell from the magazines she owned) and it was reduced to just four issues a year.

Some of the designs are illustrated with photographs.

But the vast majority with fashion drawings. 

There, on the bottom left, is the dress I'm making.

Like all sewing magazines up to the mid-1960's (based on my experience, that is) Beyer's Mode does not include multisize patterns. Each design was available in two or three sizes and included on the pattern sheet in one of those. The bust measurements are printed next to each design and the underlined number is that of the size on the pattern sheet.
My size is bust 88 cm. Which means that this magazine includes several nice dresses for me. And with the first one looking promising, I am starting to eye up others.  

The dress on the bottom right of this page is also in my size. I'm not so sure about the tiered skirt. The bodice would required a soft, drape-y fabric but I think that would make a skirt design like that look a bit sad. I like the bodice though. Such a quintessential 1940's shape. And I think it would also look very nice with a skirt like that of the dress next to it (which is not in my size, but such a shape would be easy to make using the pattern pieces of the dress I am making now).

And then, there is the dress in the middle of the bottom row on this page. So lovely...

And this is the pattern sheet. Quite densely printed but at least the ink is still black. I have an issue from the late 1930's in which it has faded a bit. And I didn't have much trouble tracing that first pattern.
In fact, this magazine originally came with two pattern sheets. Sides A,B,C and D. Only one, with sides A and B is still there. Luckily for me, this one sheet contains four of the five dress patterns in my size (both dresses in the photographs are in my size but the one on the left is not there) and a blouse. The only thing really missing is that cute two-piece beach outfit.
  

Not too bad...

Before you get into this blog post, let me just apologize for the pictures... I asked E to take some quick snaps of my toile for the 1940's dress and he did. Very quickly. Clearly, he never zoomed the camera out of its wide-angle setting which causes weird distortions and neither of us noticed how the light seems to highlight my bare feet (made to look even larger by the already mentioned wide-angle effect...). But despite all that, these pictures do work to illustrate the fit of this pattern.

And in fact, I was pleasantly surprised. I have often read about how 1940's patterns can have huge amounts of ease in the bodice. This one is blouse-y but not crazily so. And I sometimes have issues with pattern companies assuming proportions which are very far from mine. This thing seems to be fairly close at least.

There are a couple of issues, which you will no doubt spot, but they all seem to come from the thing. An issue I definitely didn't expect: The front bodice is too short. That is an issue I would mostly associate with the problems of larger bust sizes so I didn't expect to find it on little old me. And yet here it is, clear as day. 
It didn't seem so bad before I pinned the opening at the back neck so I wondered if it was just caused by a too tight back neck or a short back pulling at the front. However, with the back opening closed, the seam over the top of the shoulder and arm looks pretty straight so it really is a front issue. 
Based on the fit like this, I will have to add about 2.5 cm at center front, tapering to nothing at the sides. And I'm not even wearing a bra here so I guess it might be wise to add even a little bit more. I think I will add about 2 cm of that at the front yoke which seems to be pulling up a bit.

The other issues visible here look like consequences of the too short front bodice so I think they will get solved automatically when I solve that. They are a weird flare to the front in the skirt and too wide bit of skirt just below the waist seam. 

The alteration shouldn't be difficult and I think I will have time to sew tomorrow. Now I just have to decide on fabric. I may have blue and white stripes and solid blue, to make a dress like the one in the illustration but I had kind of earmarked those for different projects. I've also been thinking about combining two solid colours: blue or blue/purple or black bodice with and orange, grass green or bronze/brown yoke and collar. And I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of a black or blue dress with a yoke in a matching lace. Because the collar is a separate piece, it would be possible. I just don't have suitable lace in my stash...

a summer dress...

Yesterday I remembered: I already traced a pattern for a summer dress during my pattern tracing marathon back in March...
In fact, there are two items from that effort which haven't been sewn up yet. There is the lovely dress from Bella magazine, for which I made a toile and there is a dress from Beyer's Mode from 1943 which has not seen any progress after tracing.

I still love that dress from Bella and I have made the necessary adjustments to the pattern but I'm still not sure about what kind of fabric would be best for it (other than the dress-weight wool it is described for). And it actually is a winter dress. A different choice of fabric could, of course, shift it to spring or autumn but making it suitable for summer would mean cutting those sleeves short. And I think I rather like them the way they are.

The dress from Beyer's Mode is a very different story. It originally came at the bottom of the to-make list because it is a summer dress. In early March, summer seemed far away. 

So, NOW seems like a perfect time to get started on this little number. It will be my first "real" 1940's dress. By which I mean that I may have made designs from after the introduction and acceptance of the New Look (Dior's bold break with the fashion of the previous years initially met with a lot of resistance but after about a year, most ladies did agree that the longer, fuller skirts and sloping shoulder were actually pretty) at the end of the decade but of course, those already have the silhouette the 1950's are known for. I have never before made a dress which was designed just before, during or a short time after the Second World War. And this one has all the hallmarks of the era: shortish A-line skirt, slightly bloused top with square shoulders and it uses two different fabrics which makes it a very suitable design to update an old dress or to use up left-over bits of fabric. It is not a look I am sure about. I have seen other ladies who look great in their 1940's dresses but I'm not sure the look will suit me. So, all the more reason to try it out!  
- Oh no, that's not true: I made a dress for last year's Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge using a reproduction of a pattern from 1946! 

Oh, and you may have noticed from the title (or you may be familiar with it) but Beyer's Mode is a German magazine. I have written about this before: Despite being published throughout the time the nazi's were in power, Beyer's Mode is strictly a-political. In fact, the references made to the "challenges of the time" are very similar in tone to those in Dutch magazines which were published during the occupation. 
And, interestingly, fashion in the 1940's doesn't seem to pick sides... The looks in this magazine are very similar to those in fashion images from the UK and the US in the same year. It's not really surprising I suppose, common fashion history states that, with the exclusion of austerity measures, fashion kind of "froze" during the war.

Anyway, this dress is going to be my next project. Beyer's tracing sheets are unusually densely printed but despite that wasn't very difficult to trace the pattern. The relatively small pieces helped, and the fact that I bought my new roll of tracing paper at a different place than usual and their product seems to be a bit more sheer. 
I will have time to make a toile tomorrow, then I will try and find some suitable fabric in my stash and hopefully sew it up this weekend.    

More 1956

The little casual suit from Beyer's Junge Mode from 1956 is finished! It stayed on my sewing table in an almost completed state for a week because I was hoping to find some nice buttons for it. Something contrasting, like in the picture. Maybe silver-coloured but light enough in weight so they wouldn't pull too much on my fairly thin fabric... I didn't find any and went with black plastic instead. 

In the magazine, this picture is part of a spread about summer fun in and near the water, so I really felt that it belonged outdoors. Of course, it should actually be worn on the sunny-yet-windswept shores of a lake, while you are getting a small sailboat ready for a day on the water (I'm not a boat person, but I have seen scenes like this). Instead, I took pictures on my tiny balcony where the light is never quite what I'd like. 

Anyway, I made toiles for both trousers and jacket. I ended up taking the trousers in by an amount which is basically one dress size (which gives me a useful idea about Beyer's sizing for bottoms). On the jacket, I only took in the sides at the bottom by 1.5 cm, creating a slightly tapered shape which I prefer over all-out boxy. The jacket is supposed to be loose so although I guess I would also fit me if I had sized it down, I'm fine with the straight-from-the-pattern fit. And I like the drop-shoulder look and fit more than I thought I would. 

There is one alteration I had to make though: The jacket didn't have pockets. That, in my opinion, is, quite simply, ridiculous. I added two simple patch pockets.

I made the suit in my go-to summer fabric: a cotton-linen blend in very dark blue with thin stripes in a lighter colour (I have used this stuff for several things in the past. I liked it so much I bought the rest of the bolt last year. More than 12 m of it...). In the magazine, they used a contrasting, white fabric for the collar a facing. It looks nice but I thought the jacket would be more versatile and easier to mix with my normal clothes if I made it all from the same fabric. 

I am pleased with the end result. The cropped trousers have a nice fit. It's a very retro look but not out of my comfort zone. The jacket is so wide that it will be easy to wear over all kinds of tops and I think it should look good with a lot of my trousers and maybe also with pencil skirts. 

Of course, this is also yet another item for my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge. Although I made two garments here, they share a pattern number so I think I should count this suit as one (not that it really matters because I didn't set myself a specific number of things to sew this year). 

Vintage progress

Last week, I had a bit of a pattern tracing marathon. After making that simple top from Beyer's Junge Mode, I also traced the patterns for this simple, casual little suit. 

Capri-length trousers and a boxy jacket. A sporty, youthful style in 1956 and still wearable today (maybe not for everyone but I think it will work for me). It is a bit summer-y but it will be spring soon...

And then, moved on to another magazine I haven't really sewn anything from yet (I tried out a dress pattern last year but it was just a bit... meh): Dutch sewing magazine Bella.

From my small stack of Bella's, I picked this lovely dress. It one in the middle. It should be in my size (the one that didn't work was a bit too big) and the princess seams should allow for easy adjustment, if necessary. 
It is actually a real winter dress and I am not sure about fabric yet but I am really curious about this design.

This week, I am sewing up quick muslins for all three garments. With some luck, the sizing in these magazines will be consistent so these will give me an idea about how their other designs might fit me. 

And finally, I had a bit of luck regarding my issue with fabric for the 1920's dress: When I was at the market on Monday, I found this fire-y orange fabric. It has an interesting texture which reminds me a bit of raw silk but it is really drapey. I think it is viscose/rayon, probably blended with polyester. Importantly, it has non of the static cling you usually get with polyester fabrics. Oh, and it was only 1 euro a meter so although it is a bit of a bold choice there is really nothing to loose. 
I am very glad I had a look at those historical dresses. I'm not sure I would have been willing to go with orange otherwise. 
Still, I think I will need some kind of trim on the dress, probably just in a contrasting fabric. From my stash, this blue satin would be best but I have seen another fabric at the market which might be better. A bit darker, slightly more towards turquoise and not shiny... I'm still thinking about it. 

eh.... 1950's!

May I present my first finished item for the 2016 Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge? It is not an exciting project by any stretch of the imagination but I think it is something I will wear a lot. 

The pattern comes from a German magazine called Beyer's Junge Mode (the "young fashion" edition of Beyer's Mode) from 1956. For me, there is a clear advantage to sewing from a "young fashion" special. More choice of patterns in my size!
The sizing in German magazines was/is very similar to that in Dutch ones which means the information from the previous post also applies here. As far as Beyer is concerned, I have the smallest of women's sizes. So, that size gets a lot more attention in a magazine which targets an audience under the age of 25... 
This particular magazine includes patterns for bust sizes 84 to 96.

What did I make?

Well, I loved this simple top from the first time I opened the magazine. A simple jersey top with a V-neck at front and back. And in my size! 
I was a bit worried about the jersey though. I always get the impression that vintage jersey was completely different from the modern version. A lot less stretchy, for one. And probably less inclined to be bulky either...
After a bit of stash diving, I found the dark brown cotton pique which I had used to make trousers for climbing before. Fairly thin but strong and not very stretchy AND a super-wide and knitted in the round which made the fabric lay-out for a top only two parts which both had to be cut on the fold a lot less awkward. It is not the most interesting of materials but this was very much a test so that didn't really matter.

I didn't make any alterations to the pattern, I just cut about 4 to 5 cm hem allowance because it seemed quite short. When I started sewing it, I stitched the bust darts at an easy-to-remove long stitch length first because I was fairly sure they would be too high for me. At a first fitting, they looked just fine so I stitched them properly. 
If I understand the instructions correctly, you are supposed to face the neckline and then stitch down the facing. Which is what I did.

It is a rather loose-fitting top, clearly intended only to be worn tucked-in. I actually have the largest size the pattern was made for and I took the body seams in by 1 cm at each side (not the sleeves or the curve to the sleeves though). This only confirms my suspicion about period jersey...
I have plenty of high-waisted skirts and even some trousers so I think I can put a top like this to good use.

Beyer's mode 1942

This time, I wanted to share pictures from Beyer's mode, from the first autumn issue from 1942 to be precise (Beyer's mode was a German magazine. I have about 12 issues in my collection, ranging in date from 1937 to 1957. They came in a big box of other patterns which I bought through a local Ebay offshoot. The magazines originally came from a Dutch professional seamstress. I'm sure I posted about these magazines before and discussed the issue of a Dutch lady buying a German sewing magazine during the occupation but I can't find the post. I will repeat one little fact about Beyer though: These magazines are completely a-political. There are no symbols, no flags, no uniform patterns) 

I'm not a huge fan of the pre-New Look 1940's fashion. I know there are lots of vintage style seamstresses who love this era and make great dresses from patterns like these but to me the designs always seem a bit bulky and oddly proportioned.
Of course, that may just show how much I'm used to both 1950's and modern fashion. In my experience, you always have to "attune your eyes" to a seriously different silhouette.

This coat looks great and I think it would not seem out of place in a 1970's magazine. 

One of the great things about Beyer's mode is the generous use of photography to illustrate the designs. This provides so much more information about what those clothes would really look like than the usual fanciful drawings.

On these pages, you get them side by side.

Sometimes, the real garment looks pretty much like what you would expect,

sometimes, it has a lot more bulk.

And of course, there are also great drawings. I like the fitted coats, the dresses not so much.

Summer fashion from 1957

Today, I walked into town (I had to buy hiking socks ;) ) and noticed the streets were very busy again. Clearly, a lot of people have returned from their summer holidays. There were also groups of new students touring the city center and most stores were either pushing their end-of-summer sales or introducing autumn stuff.
As I may have mentioned before, I refuse to plan for autumn until I have been on summer holiday (which we tend to do before or, more often, after the big holiday rush in mid-summer). And the weather certainly wasn't autumn-y today either...

So, I thought it would be nice to have a look at some summer-y fashion from years gone by. These images come from the June issue of Beyer's Mode from 1957 (I'm not sure the magazine was published monthly at the time. Back in the 1940's there seem to have been only four issues a year).

 Beyer's Mode was a German magazine but, at least in the 1950's and early 1960's, Dutch and Belgian buyers (and maybe French ones as well) could buy it with an instruction booklet in Dutch and French and a word translation list to make sense of the text which accompanies to pictures. 

Another great thing about this magazine is that all the designs featured in it are included on the pattern sheet (OK, each in only one size, but still) and, as mentioned above, in the 50's they even included proper instructions in the languages of the countries they were selling in. I really should try out one of these patterns... So I could tell you whether these translations are better or worse than the Burda ones we know and love/loathe.

The looks are very typical for their time: lots of big dresses which have to be supported by very big petticoats. It's great to have so many photographs, most magazines at the time relied mostly on fashion drawings, which can be very misleading. 

And don't these models look wholesome? Yes, there are quite a few streamlined shapes which suggest they are wearing girdles and waists are small but they are no-where near as petite and wasp-waisted as their French contemporaries (and let's not even get started on the subject of today's models...).