vintage inspired Archives - Be Kind, Thrift and Rewind

Recently I finally got around to shortening this April Cornell skirt I bought sometime around 2001. Originally it was floor length but for one thing it couldn’t really fit my waistline anymore and for another I thought I’d wear it more if it was mid-calf length. I have always thought the blue velvet around the lower part of the skirt was gorgeous. It really makes the skirt elegant. The skirt always lent itself to a 1930’s look even when it was longer. When I shortened the skirt I took the fabric from the waist area. Then through the years I managed to find this black cotton blouse with the black embroidery along the front. Together I think they really create a nice pair for a 1930’s looking outfit.

I am not sure how old the blouse is. I think it may be from the 1930’s due to the pleated sections on the right and left of the blouse, in the front and back. The length of the blouse is short. At first I was tempted to add some black lace to the bottom to lengthen it but then when I was at the Pier Antique Show back in November of 2015 I saw a few very similar blouses and they all were this short length. So I decided to preserve it the way it was when I found it. The only other thought I had was to perhaps sew a small ribbon on the back so as to be able to tie it in the back. I did see one like that at the show but I still couldn’t bring myself to alter the original design of this blouse in any way. The blouses I saw that were similar to mine at the show cost anywhere from $125 to $200 dollars each! Recently I have, for the most part, been wearing the blouse with this skirt. I have also worn it with black jeans for a mix of modern and vintage. When I worked in the fashion industry I liked to wear it with a black pencil skirt. I always feel like my blouse is very unique.

The embroidery is what confuses me most about the timeline for when this blouse was made. I found on a fashion archive website that Joshua Heilmann designed an embroidery machine back in 1848. By the 1870’s there were apparently fourteen companies manufacturing embroidery machines in Switzerland. So this blouse could easily be from the 1930’s. The embroidery does look like it was sewn with a machine. If any of you reading this think the blouse is from a different timeline let me know in the comment section. I like how the black embroidery on black fabric kind of lends itself to white work, which was a type of embroidery very popular in the 1800’s, particularly with white stitches on white fabric. They were typically buttonhole stitches. White work is a fading craft and I myself hope to get into it someday before too long.

I haven’t been able to find any pictures of women wearing boots with their 1930’s dresses or outfits. They must have been cold at times and worn them. In the winter I tend to wear my outfit with black lace-up boots, which gives it a slight grunge look. I really like the grunge-vintage floral mix so that is fine with me.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post. Spring should be approaching soon but we have still had some bitter cold even as recent as last weekend. So I am still wearing my winter clothing and enjoying wearing my vintage sweaters and lots of layers.

1930's look vintage outfit

April Cornell skirt

1930's embroidered blouse

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My daughter asked me to make her a Dottie Angel dress so I decided that was my task for a Christmas present. Meanwhile I had not made a dress from a pattern in about thirty years. Simplicity pattern 1080, known as the Dottie Angel Dress, has twenty-eight steps in order to make dress A, which is the one my daughter wanted. I literally worked on about two steps at a time or the whole thing would have seemed very overwhelming. I had never worked with bias tape before but with patience it all started to make sense. My mother, who has far more sewing experience than I do, was surprised I was working with bias tape – she thought it over-complicates things. I do think it helps keep things neat and tidy once you get used to it.

My stitching is not perfect and there were a few times I took out a seam and redid it to attempt to get it in better shape. I need more practice! Anyway in the long run the dress came out lovely. Emily likes muted colors and I thought the orange sherbet colored bias tape perked up the brown floral background. The pink pockets were made from Liberty of London fabric, which has small bits of that orange sherbet color in the background. I am a complete sucker for any fabrics with brown background and florals as the print. Emily wears a lot of brown as well.

When I first came across Tif Fussel’s website I of course wanted her dresses, which she refers to as “frocks,” as apparently many women do. Her dresses are vintage-inspired and feminine and have that soft, relaxed, country look to them. They tend to remind me of German dirndls when they are made with florals or small prints, and the strap that ties at the back accentuates the waist. As a child I wore dirndls for several years when we lived in Germany. When I used to work at April Cornell as a sales lady many women spoke about the modern workplace’s clothing being so androgynous. These women were coming in looking for floral dresses that captured a softer, feminine look. Tif has mentioned in her blog that she thinks she “was a farmer’s wife in another life.” She also refers to her style as “granny chic.” Well she has definitely done her part to make granny chic popular.

I plan on making a Dottie Angel dress or two for myself as well. Emily bought me some fabric for a Christmas present that I plan on using for one dress. She took me over to Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver with my gift certificate and I picked out a soft grey print fabric with little navy and red bicycles. I might even make a couple that have solid fabric on top and a floral or patterned print on the bottom since some offices are very conservative about prints. I will wait and see where I am working to figure that out. One of the things that is so nice about making your own clothing is that you can choose the fabrics and how you want to arrange things. I also think this dress would be beautiful if upcycled from a vintage sheet set.

Emily wanted to illustrate how she winterized her dress quickly for a snowy, winter Colorado day. It was Christmas Day in Denver. With her sweater, scarf, hat and army jacket she looks cozy, comfy and pretty in her Dottie Angel dress. I like the mix of army jacket with floral. It transforms the outfit to a grunge look from the late 1980’s to early 1990’s. Emily has long been a fan of granny type boots. Plus she is a crazy for hats, which seems to run in my family. Whenever I am in Colorado I always love how once winter hits it is so common to see people wearing their hats indoors as well as outside. There is something so peaceful about being wrapped up in a hat and a warm sweater.

I hope you enjoyed this post about the Dottie Angel dress. I certainly enjoyed making it and hope to make a few more. The design is a classic and therefore is a wonderful addition to any lady’s wardrobe.