Sunday, September 26, 2010

Late 1940's black jacket

This is one of two gorgeous jackets I picked up at the Love Vintage fair earlier this year. The fabric is a black worsted wool. The collar and cuffs have this lovely pin tuck treatment that makes the jacket this much more distinctive.

Here it is, and pardon the less than enthused expression on my face, I was doing these after faffing about doing the swimsuit shots so was getting tired.
I think the shot from the back best shows just how nipped in the waist is. The construction of the jacket is beautiful. It is a joy to wear such a well tailored garment. As I commented to a friend, it feels a bit like being hugged all day, it fits that snugly around the waist.

And onto the detailed shots for the sewists out there who love to see how things are put together.
The label - mornessa. I haven't been able to uncover much about this label on the internet so I doubt it was a high fashion label. It's made in England so I'm guessing the brand is also British. Next to it is the tag from the stall I bought it from, which gives the rough date and size. And the very reasonable price, considering what I've paid in the past for suit jackets from DJs or similar that have not been any where near as well made.
The lovely pin tuck feature on the collar and the cuffs. It's the same fabric as the rest of the jacket, just with gorgeous rows of pin tucks.

Fabric covered buttons and bound button holes.

The shape of the back and sleeve pieces is interesting. It's a bit tricky to show the seam in the photos, but the centre back piece and the top of the sleeve are all one piece, rather than a separate back piece and set in sleeve. I haven't seem this style of pattern in a jacket before.

Also in the shaping, the nipped in waist is very obvious in the side seam. And even the sleeves have darts in the them to add to the very fitted style. The jacket has two vertical pockets at the front, with a little flap that sits perfectly flat with the jacket.

I *love* this jacket. I've worn it to work a number of times and always get compliments on how beautifully it fits. I'm on the look out for any patterns from that era that are close to this, and particularly have that interesting centre back and sleeve piece as I'm curious as to how that affects the way you construct and fit the garment.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Vintage-inspired Cherry Print Apron

A while ago I was inspired to make a vintage style cherry print apron. It started when I saw this apron in a magazine and also came across some vintage cherry print fabric at a market.
I started looking at pictures on vintage apron patterns to get a feel for what style of apron I would make. These three where the main ones that I ended up used for my pattern shape.


I decided to go with a sweetheart neckline and princess seams down the front, with the shoulder straps being part of the centre bodice piece. The back is the same as vintage patterns above, with a button up the top and ties at the waist. I decided not to go for pockets and not to have a ruffle around the edge.

The pattern process was probably a tad over-engineered, but it had been a little while since I'd drafted something from scratch, so it took a bit for my patterning mojo to kick in. Once I was happy with my muslin of the top half, I drafted the skirt and tie pieces.

The cherry print fabric I had was cotton and quite light weight. I was concerned that with frequent use and washing it would tear easily, so I decided to back it with some white cotton duck I had in my stash.

I cut out the pattern pieces in each fabric and then used the overlocker to sew them to each other and finish the raw edges. I then proceeded with the construction of the apron. As the cherry print isn't as bold as the original source of inspiration, I decided that it needed some trim to make it "pop" a bit. I used red bias tape around the edges and across the waist seam.

For the button closure at the back, I decided to use a fabric covered button. I played around with both a cherry print and plain red fabric button and decided the plain red button looked better. The button hole is bound with red bias tape to match the edging.
And here is the finished product, as modelled on Daphne:

And here it is modelled by yours truly*

*I should note that I am not in fact naked under the apron. I was modelling my newly acquired vintage bathing suit when I realised that I hadn't taken any photos of me in the apron, so I quickly threw it on and took a few shots (I couldn't be bothered getting into a frock). I realised later that it looks like I'm only wearing an apron. Think of it as an apron pin-up if you like :)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Catch up posts!

I had a lovely day out at another Lindy Charm School for Girls workshop today, this time in Melbourne with the fabulous Ms Belle as my companion in charm. It reminded me that I haven't actually gotten around to doing a number of vintage blog posts! I'd finally gotten around to taking some photos, and have talked about them with friends, but had forgotten to actually post.

So shortly I will post about:
  • The completed cherry print apron (which I wore over my frock tonight while making lamb roast post-charm school)
  • The two gorgeous late 1940's suit jackets I picked up at the Love Vintage Fair earlier this year.
  • The fabulous vintage (1950s?) swimsuit I bought from a friend recently that fits beautifully and has interesting construction.
  • A vintage frock from bought from the same friend as the swimsuit that is lovely, but a little big and I'm debating to alter or not to alter.
Stay tuned.