1952!

And here it is: The blouse from this pattern from Bella magazine from 1952!

When I asked, most commenters preferred this multicoloured, kind-of-ethnic print. Some of you thought this type of print was not very 1950's but I think I have seen enough "souvenir-skirts" and embroidered central European peasant blouses in 1950's magazines to think that it isn't far off the mark. And I thought the scale of this print would suit this design better.

As I explained in the previous post, I made the pattern up without any alteration except to the collar and neckline. Even the length of the blouse looked OK when I held up the paper pattern to my body. And it is. Especially if worn in a proper 50's way: Tucked into a high waistband (here made even higher by a wide tie-on belt).
Without tucking in, the blouse is rather loose fitting. The back simple doesn't have waist darts and at the front, the bust darts have been turned to close and their width has made the bottom of the front pattern piece flare out in a kind of A-line shape. If I were making a pattern like this, I might have tried to hide the bust darts in those yoke seams but, of course, that would remove the option of making the blouse without a yoke. 

Interestingly, even when worn loose, the blouse doesn't become a tent. That more fitted back keeps the sides fairly close to the body and allows only the front itself to flare out, as you can see in this picture (the blouse looks better on me than on the dummy).

The sleeves are fine too. The openings may not be very wide but they are wide enough and there is enough ease in the blouse itself to allow me a proper range of movement. 

All in all, I'm pretty impressed. I didn't have very high hopes for this type of pattern. I thought any pattern would have to be simplified very far to allow the reading to draft it according to the very limited instructions. Of course this is a simple design and a simple pattern but all its proportions are right and so is the size. Oh, and it is also my fourth item for this year's Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge!

Sneak peek

Obviously, this is not how you should see this blouse, but I thought it would be nice to give you a sneak peek anyway. This is the blouse from Bella magazine, made using the pattern I showed here last week. I just followed the instructions and I am not disappointed.

There was only one thing really wrong with the instructions: There is one measurement which is missing, a corner of the front hemline. It is pretty easy to figure out though. Its distance to the edge of the rectangle looks similar to that of the bottom of the sleeve, so I made it the same: 7 cm from the edge. 

Then there was an issue I suspected: A tight neckline. Many vintage patterns have high, tight necklines and this one already looked that way in the drawings. I cut the collar piece from paper and put it around my neck: the full neckline is only 32 cm. I have been told that I have a fairly slender neck and I could only just get the pattern piece around my neck. I would not wear a garment with a neckline like that. The collar size I normally use is 36 cm, so I changed the neckline to allow for that. Like this:

After that, I made a different collar. Even re-sized, I wasn't very keen on that the standing collar with fold-over tips in the original design. Instead, I made a convertible collar. Simple and not out-of-style for the period. 
This type of collar is drafted, and sewn, from center front to center front. It does not touch the front overlap pieces. 

Draw a rectangle with the length of half the neckline measurement and the height you want as the height of the collar. In this case, the height is 7 cm. The collar folds so that is not very high. Then curve up the front edge of the collar piece by 0.5 cm and draw its point.
When sewing, sew up the top edge of the front overlap first, clip the seam allowance to the end of the seam so it can be pressed to the inside while the rest of the neckline seam allowance is still free and then sew on the collar. 

Oh, and because this collar folds back, it also shows more of the front facing than other collar styles. It is best to extend the front facing around the neckline, like this:

Next weekend will be really busy but I hope I will find some time to take pictures of me wearing the blouse. It looks so much better tucked in.

1953!

Today, I have one more project for my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge. A simple blouse from Marion magazine. 

From July 1953, to be precise. It's a basic 1950's blouse: Short kimono sleeves, convertible collar, French darts at the front, half darts at the back (darts from the bottom to the waistline, open from the waist up. that would make the blouse smooth to tuck in while giving it a nice bit of blousing above the waist).

I had wanted to use a different fabric, an off-cut I got for free at the fabric stall, but it was too small. Then I remembered this stuff, a fine cotton blend, a millefleurs print in brown and purple with a stripe-and-flowers border print. It's not a print I would usually pick. I bought it on one of the rare occasions I was shopping for fabric with a friend. She mentioned that the colours of this print would suit me and I agreed, so I bought a meter of it. 
It has taken me two years but now I've finally sewn something from it. I used that border print along the front edges. 

Unfortunately, this blouse proved difficult to photograph. Maybe there were just too similar colours together, with me posing in front of the purple-ish wall. 

Nevertheless, this is item number nine, or six if you don't count the reproduction patterns. It is also the third garment sewn from a pattern by Marion magazine in a row. And that has taught me something: In Marions from the 1950's and 60's, size 38 just fits me. No issues with the position of bust darts or shoulder width or back length, it just fits. Ok, I may need a tiny bit of extra space at the hip (2 cm in total, which is half a size in most sizing systems) and I guess I should still try a fitted 1950's dress to see how the waistline fits (which might have a bit too much room, based on the sizing chart) but that's still pretty amazing. I don't think I've ever had such a good fit without alterations from any modern pattern...

Marion magazine was first published at the end of 1949 (it's a monthly magazine and my oldest one, from February 1953, is nr. 55) so I think it's safe to assume they started with the same basic fit they were still using in July 1953.   The sizing chart didn't change until well into the 1970's and that may just have been a vanity sizing operation. 

I don't think I've made my last Marion dress this year either. There's a very nice little dress from 1970 too. And yet, I think it's enough for now. One of my goals for the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge is to use different kinds of vintage patterns. So far this year, I've used three repro patterns (two EvaDress, one Vogue), two from Gracieuse, one Lutterloh and now these three from Marion. There were two hats, one robe, five dresses and a blouse. Of course, that means I have more than met my goal for this year's pledge. It doesn't mean I have to stop though. There is still a 1970's Frohne suit I would like to make for winter and I think I should try out an original 1940's pattern too. And maybe another 20's one...

1918/22!

Ok, I'm not going to wait another day to blog this. After all, I've also taken these pictures today. 
This blouse was actually finished before the 1957 outfit but I didn't have a chance to take pictures and then I had given the other thing such a build-up (with the belt tutorial mostly) that I felt it had to be shown off first. 

I did talk a little about my intention to make this blouse here on the blog. Mostly about how watching a lot of Downton Abbey gave me a whole new appreciation for the fashion of the late 1910's and early 1920's (if you've missed that post, I've shared some pictures of designs from 1918 here). 

I had noticed a particular style of blouse which is often worn in season two. Both by the young ladies and by Anna when off duty. This very style was also featured quite often in my Gracieuse magazines from that time (I only own two from 1918, the others are from 1920 and later). It looked very nice, so why not try and make it?

The pattern I used was the bodice of this dress from 1922 (the one in the middle). I would have preferred an actual blouse pattern but each Gracieuse magazine includes just one or maybe two patterns per size so this was the closest I could get in time, style and size.

The fabric is some black crepe left over from my 1929 dress and I decorated it using black satin piping and some beige-ish/pink-ish crochet lace ribbon which I've had in my stash for years. Black ribbon would have been more in line with the original design but I didn't want the end result to look like a mourning piece. 

I only realized later that decoration on these 1910's/1920's blouses always matches the main fabric... The contrasting stuff and the placement of it might even look a bit 1970's even though the shape doesn't really.
And then there's the lack of any instructions with these patterns. During construction, I wondered about the need (or lack of it) for a closure. I tested whether or not I could get the blouse over my head without. Because I could, I didn't make any kind of closure. Since then, I've noticed that the Downton blouses usually have a concealed button band at one side of the central panel. 

The collar is a separate piece. Normally, I don't like that for a shawl collar. It just seems like either lazy drafting or an assumption of ignorance of the seamstress. In this case however, the curve of the pattern piece makes this collar behave and look different to a cut-on one. So here, it's functional and that makes it OK.

The blouse is very roomy and really comfortable. I had some trouble finding a way to wear it. I like the look with these trousers but all my high waisted skirts have rather clear 1950's silhouette and just look weird with this blouse. I don't mind it though. I was already planning another pair of trousers using this pattern (in black wool crepe) and I could always make a more period accurate skirt. 
I don't think I'm done with this design either. There's a lot of charm to it and plenty of potential to update it and make it work in a modern wardrobe.

And this completes my Vintage Pattern Pledge! I've sewn five items from vintage patterns. They've been kind-of spread across the decades between 1910 and 1980 and I've used some of the different pattern media at my disposal (I could have done better at both of these points but I have moved out of my comfort zone in both areas so I'm not judging). 
It took me a long time to get going with this pledge. I've been drafting all my patterns for so long that I really had to struggle to get back to using pre-made ones. Even if I was curious about period fit and drafting style. 
In the end, four of the five items were made this past month. After I had decided to throw caution to the winds and just go for it. And now, I find myself thinking about vintage patterns much more. I want to use my raspberry pink wool crepe for a mid-1920's dress and the table in our living room is filled with early 1950's Bella magazines which include some amazing dresses...
Of course I won't stop making my own patterns but I this challenge may just have helped me get over the barrier and use my lovely vintage patterns the way they were meant to be used.
So thank you Marie, for coming up with this great idea! 

1957(ish)!

Well, thanks to the vagaries of Dutch winter weather (not cold at the moment but windy rainy and generally rather glum) it took me a while to get pictures of this outfit. On the other hand, I was lucky that E has taken this week off work and didn't mind being forced into the role of photographer on Tuesday morning. 

This is my 1957 outfit, made using a tutorial for the skirt and belt from the issue nr. 4 of Libelle magazine from 1957.

The whole look is based on this picture, from the mailorder pattern section from nr. 5 from the same year. I tried to get a picture in a similar pose but that proved really difficult. I didn't have anything with the right height to lean on so it felt really awkward. Looking at the my attempts when sorting the pictures for this post just made me feel scruffy and waistless... 

To complete the look, I obviously needed a blouse pattern. One from the same year would have been ideal but my collection didn't provide one. 

This little number (on the right), however, is from sewing magazine Marion from 1955. From the March issue. It shares a lot of the characteristics of the blouse in the picture: kimono sleeves (at least at the front. The Marion blouse has set-in back sleeves), no button band and less-than-full-length sleeves with turn-back cuffs. I chose not to mind about the fact that it has tucks at the waist instead of darts but of course, I did feel the need to alter the collar. I kept the original neckline and button positions (those three are the only buttons at the front of this blouse. Obviously it was meant to be only ever worn tucked into a high waistband) and drafted a very simple convertible collar to use instead of the stander and mini-size rounded collar the pattern came with. 

Skirt and belt were made following the tutorial but adapted to my waist size and didn't really cause any surprises (and I've made my own, more detailed, tutorial for this belt in the previous post). It was a bit of a shame the instructions didn't bother with enforcing a particular skirt length. That would have been interesting. On the other hand, I've read enough 1950's (and 1940's and probably from earlier times as well) fashion news to know that a truly stylish lady defines her skirt length by the distance from the hem to the ground. Measured while wearing the appropriate shoes for that outfit, of course. 

I was pleasantly surprised with the blouse. I've tried Marion patterns twice before and both of those times, I was rather underwhelmed with the result (a dress and a coat which didn't get beyond the muslin stage). I guess this teaches me not to go for the size 36. That may be very close to my bust measurement, it's considered to be a 'transitional' size, a point between the sizes for girls and women and apparently, that means a seriously shorter back waist length. Part of the difference will also be down to rather simple matters: for a blouse like this, the fit has to be right through the shoulders and bust, the rest doesn't matter as much. For the coat, it was mostly the lack of shaping at the waist and flare of the skirt that disappointed me. Oh, and in this case, the picture from the magazine was definitely not what drew me to this pattern.   

For the purpose of the Vintage Pattern Pledge, I'm counting this outfit as two patterns, because it is. 

After 83 years...

This blouse has finally been sewn up!
The pattern sheet of this particular issue of Gracieuse magazine, which was published when my grandparents were toddlers, doesn't show the marks of a tracing wheel. So, I can only conclude that none of these patterns were ever traced, none of its lovely designs turned into garments. Until now, that is.

May I present to you design no. 22 from Gracieuse no. 1 of 1930 (which was the 68th year of publication of this magazine). It's a blouse which should be worn over the waistband of one's skirt and the pattern was for size 42 (= for those with a halved bust circumference of 42).

I'm pretty pleased with the fit. Based on the look of the back pattern piece, I was worried about the angle of the shoulders and the width of the neck, but, as it turns out, the shoulder seam is placed more to the back than I'm used to. And it sort of angles down a bit further yet at the outer edge, just like in victorian jackets. 

The back width is about right too, and so are the length and width of the sleeves. They even provide a proper range of movement.

The loose shape makes it hard to judge the torso. Yes, there are some very minor drag lines from the front pintucks to the apex of my bust, but I think that my just be a result of this particular form of shaping, rather than an indicator of size... I guess I should just pick a more fitted design to find out about that. 

I made everything the way I thought one was supposed to, except for one thing: You are even told in the instructions (which are very limited) to put elastic in the entire bottom edge of the garment. I did that, and didn't like the look at all. I ended up putting it only in the back. This gives me a full, bloused back and a more smooth and fitted front. It may not be period acurate at all, but this minor alteration has turned an 83-year-old design into something I can easily wear without looking costume-y (your costume-y may vary... I am aware of being quite tolerant of unusual looks).

In retrospect, I should have picked another fabric for this project. I like this linen, it works well for the blouse and, at the same time, makes it look a bit modern. However, it doesn't photograph well... 

Nevertheless, I've made some detail shots, so I could tell you about some of the more unusual and tricky features of this garment.

First up, there's the front closure. Button tabs on the outside. Not standard, in wovens today,  but not that unusual either. 

But they're facings on the inside... I have never seen this before. It wasn't hard to understand how the pattern pieces were supposed to work but sewing it together neatly was a bit more complicated. I understand why it was made this way: It's the perfect finish with the open collar. 

The most difficult bit of construction were the cuffs. They are quite nice: Like facings on the outside, with button tabs which lead up to the elbow dart. 

The problem is this: they go over the underarm seam, so that has to be sewn first. This leaves you with just a tiny space for the tricky manipulations with the dart, the top of the button tab and the little extra facing you have to add at the other side of the slit for the buttons. 

Also, the instructions tell you that bit should be 2 cm wide (which is what I made it) but in the illustration it looks about as wide as the outside tab, which is almost 4 cm.
The narrowness of the sleeves and the necessary order of cuff construction are the reasons why I only put one button on each sleeve. I don't think I could have convinced my sewing machine's buttonhole programme to work in such a confined space.

About those buttonholes, and any serged edges you may have noticed, I didn't even try to go for period finishes here. I respect anyone who does, but to be honest, I don't even know what the period acurate way of doing any of this would be. And I was only trying out the sizing. And, like any vintage (inspired) garment I make, this blouse wasn't made to be worn to a period dress event but for my everyday 21th century life.

To review my first experience with a Gracieuse pattern: sewing a garment from this magazine is not something even an experienced seamstress should take lightly. 
Even tracing the pattern takes time, patience, good light and up-to-date glasses. There are unusual design and construction details and the instructions, if any are provided, are very sketchy. Figuring those out is certainly not impossible but a wide range of sewing experience and some improvisation skills come in very handy. And patience, of course. 

1930's sewing

 I haven't just been looking at those splendid designs from the 1930's. This week, I've started on my first Gracieuse project. 

Like all other Dutch (and French and German) vintage sewing magazines I've ever come across, all the patterns included in the Gracieuse are in one size only. As is usually the case, there is something in each of the magazine's regular sizes in every issue. Gracieuse sizes have no relation to any modern sizing system. They do, however, relate directly to the sizing chart. Your size is half your chest measurement. My chest measurement is 87 cm, which puts me right between the sizes 42 and 45. 

Because I found such unexpected amounts of ease in the vintage patterns I tried before, I decided to start out with the smaller size. 

I picked a blouse as my first pattern. This should give me some insight into the amount of ease used, the back length (the sizing chart mentions only a front waist length but doesn't explain how to measure it) the shoulder width and shape, the ease (or lack of it) at neckline and armscye and the length and width of the sleeves. 

It's the one on the left. Cute collar and button band, something which looks like pintuck shaping, elasticated bottom edge and slim sleeves with buttoned plackets.

This is what the pattern sheet looks like. I wasn't too intimidated because of my earlier experience with 1950's Marion. I should have been. Apparently, 1950's patterns sheets were made to be used by anyone and everyone, these from 1930 however, seemed to be geared towards the consumate professional (there are adds in the magazines which specifically adress professional ladies' dressmakers...) 

There were two different markings used within this five piece pattern. All pattern pieces were intersected by others with only very subtely different markings. And both bodice pieces had to be lengthened.

I managed to trace the blouse pattern using tracing paper though. I have come across several pattern sheets with clear, deep marks from a tracing wheel, so I don't think the original owner was as careful not to damage her patterns ;)

The blouse in the illustration seems to be made from a finely pinstriped fabric, so I cut mine from my only stash fabric with thin stripes: this black linen with narrowly space white pinstripes. This was another bargain fabric, so I just cut out the pattern I had traced and didn't bother with making a muslin.

Unlike Marion, Gracieuse offers some instructions on the pattern sheet:

This is including the warning to lengthen the bodice pieces and the description of the materials required. The instructions brilliantly skip over those issues on which I would have welcomed some information, such as the number of pintucks and how to apply the button band, and suggest a rather counter-productive order of construction, finishing the entire bodice and setting the sleeves before sewing the sleeve darts and cuffs...

I sort of winged it, I used the prescribed width of the pintucks and the area appointed for them in the pattern and sort of cross-referenced that with the difference between the front and back shoulder and the neckline and collar and compared that to the illustrations. I quickly decided not to look at the illustrations anymore. As lovely as they are, their information didn't add up with what measuring the pattern pieces told me... And oh, if the center front is to be cut on the fold and both the front shoulder and the area marked out for pintucks are at an angle, there's just no way those tucks are going to line up with the stripes, is there? 

By now, I have the pintucks done and the button band is on. It's time for the all-important joining of the main pieces...