Antique-Retro Threads: Plum-Purple Pocket Dress - Mid Twentieth Century

                        

 I have  been thinking about adding embellishments to basic patterns lately, as I've been working on creating a rather

challenging embellishment on the straight skirt I've been sewing, using a pattern I created from my sloper. I haven't blogged about that project yet, other than a posting describing how I created the pattern.  

My own embellishment work got me thinking about this plum-purple frock,  that caught my eye at  the exhibit From Rationing to Rationing at the Museum of Vancouver. I saw it on our visit to Vancouver Canada in the fall of 2014. Yup, that's the visit, for which, I created my audio show  Embellishment Via Vancouver B.C.

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Pensamientos/Thoughts for this plum-purple pocket dress...

Fashion doesn't necessarily move as fast in real life as it does on the pages of a magazine. I recall dresses from my own childhood, in the 1960's, that harked back to many of the design elements in this dress, which is probably an end-of-the war, or just post-war creation.
* The fitted bodice is very mid-twentieth century
* Dainty collars added a popular innocent look
* No-button buttons were a simple embellishment many home sewers added. Buttons were often recycled from worn-out garments, so sewists had them around
* Short puffed sleeves stayed in style for several decades, certainly through the seventies
* Yokes also stayed popular through the late seventies
* Lots of pretty edging and trims like these, served up on plain fabric backgrounds,  are really reminiscent of the mid-century, before the mid-sixties, when dresses got much shorter and styles became all about crazy prints. Sewing up prints was in vogue, because printed fabrics were suddenly much more affordable and available.

And what about that pocket!

I created a similar pocket on my favorite black velvet bath robe, a few years back, by angling out the sides of a rounded pocket pattern. This one looks even more full. I must try fooling around with a pocket pattern to get a similar effect.

The pocket also  dips down in a heart shape in the center. And what about that beautiful embroidered velvet trim! It really tops off the pocket nicely.

* Lots of detail on the yoke was again very popular. It works because of the plain-colored background, even this peach colored lace can be over-embellished. I think that trim worked with ribbon is called insertion.
* Dark colored velvet bows at the neckline have a very mid-twentieth-century look as well. Doris Day often wore bows like this in her movies, especially black ones. Velvet bows were also popular as hair adornments. That was a signature style for Rosemarie in the Dick Van Dyke show, of course. Well into the sixties we could buy velvet bows on hair clips at the 5 and 10 cent store. I guess that would be the 5 and 10 dollar store now!

Reflecting on styles that affected fashions from my childhood, and considering embellishment elements that still work today - That's the kind of thing that keeps me ...

Enchanted By Sewing!

Holiday Crafternoon Tea - Finished my Beaded Cap (Terminado!)

First Marilyn made us a lovely festive tea! Doesn't she set a lovely table? And then we watched "Miracle on 34'th Street" (the original with Natalie Woods and Maureen O'Hara of course!), and worked on our craft projects together. OK, we also talked non-stop.

 I finished beading my faux-tapestry cap. You remember it? That's the project I started in Vancouver. I talked about sights, sounds and sewing inspiration in Vancouver in my (Episode 26) November, Enchanted By Sewing audio/podcast. You can find out more about that episode and listen right on the web, or download it to your mobile device, by clicking on the show notes at http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2014/11/ench-by-sew-026-embellishment-via.html.

Embellishment: Buttoning Up Vancouver B.C. - A Sewist Travels

 


On my recent trip to Vancover B.C., I stopped in at Button Button, a unique embellishment mecca for the sewist who just thinks she's already seen it all.

Browsing Colleen's collection of gorgeous, handcrafted buttons  is like visiting an art galley full of tiny gems - except that these jewels are more affordable than Tiffany's!

I purchased the lovelies above for future embellishment projects. Likely I'll attach them to one of my caps, or on the lapel of a jacket or shirt. Can't you just see that terrier doggie surrounded by a circle or oval of tiny seed beads, or seed pearls? 

I'll be talking more about my experiences shopping for embellishments and looking for sewing inspiration in Vancouver, in my (free) November Enchanted by Sewing audio podcast, which I'll be publishing by the end of this month. You can signup to get an email  each time these monthly audio shows are available.

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Web Resources

Enchanted by Sewing audio podcast 

http://buttonbutton.ca

Californian Visits Vancouver B.C.'s Dressew - A Sewing Mecca

How many extra suitcases are you packin', for that trip to Vancouver?

My November Enchanted by Sewing podcast will include an audio spin through these aisles.

 Wellllllll, this Californian didn't have any extra suit case room this trip 'round. But I still managed to spend about $25 on bits and pieces to fill my bags corners, at Dressew, a Vancouver B.C. store that's a lot more than fabrics.

This store certainly has tons of fabrics. On this trip I looked down an aisle of brocades that was maybe 50' long. They had an array of beautiful dotted cottons, the like of which I've never seen. And lace fabric? Don't even get me started on the lace. Into active wear sewing? They also sell power mesh that LuluLemon sells them, when they stop production on a particular color/style.

Luckily for me, I wasn't hungry for fabric. I did want zippers though. They have all those speciality sizes and types I usually have to buy on the web for a lot more money. I bought several in the 3-5 inch range for less than a dollar (lucked out on the exchange rate this time through too). Then there are buttons - over 500 tubes of buttons (with an average of probably 30 buttons per tube). There are buttons on cards as well. Trim - you want trim? Trims I've never seen before, and lots of leather trim. Great prices. I also bought needles and decorative embellishments I plan to use for jeans. They were all 25 cents. These folks are liquidators. You don't count on what they'll have, but you'll want what you see.

And of course, just hanging out with other sewists and wondering what they were going to make added a lot to my fun.

Nothing makes me bond more to a city, then finding great sewing resources.

That's the kind of thing that keeps me . . . 

Enchanted by Sewing!

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Web Resources

Subscribe to email notifications for the Enchanted by Sewing podcast, so you won't miss the show on Vancouver sewing resources.

Dressew - Gallery - Check out those buttons! http://students.bcitwebdev.com/stephanepj/finalproject/gallery.php