Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Art Deco Applique

Ruth Wyeth Spears describes this Art Deco applique as "futuristic" - it must have seemed a striking design at the time! Use this tip to create a colorful, silky, appliqued handkerchief. Perfect for bridesmaid gifts, don't you think? Relatively small effort, with an authentic result! Just remember to use vivid contrasting colors, as Ruth suggests.

1929: Ethnic Prints for Spring

Ethnic prints are popular this spring, so it seems very appropriate to post this striking image from Fashion Service Woman's Institute Magazine and March 1929. It is a beautiful advertisement that features the "Indu-Chi" series of fabrics, "Parisian in design, latin in feeling, and inspired by the vigorous, joyful, decorative embroideries of Hungarian peasant festival costumes." Simply gorgeous.

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Lace-Trimmed Frocks for Evening Wear

While the title indicates this topic is directed at a bride, when you read this very interesting tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears for her 1920s audience, it seems directed at anyone with an interest in the right frock for evening wear. And according to Ruth, the right type of frock depends on your age and body type. If you have a youthful, slim figure, the dress on the right is perfect. Otherwise, choose the dress on the left. ;) Read on for enlightenment!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s: A Ribbon Rosette for Your Evening Frock

With the holidays approaching and all the festivities that this season entails, another tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears for her 1920s sewists on the subject of evening frocks seems appropriate! This tip is for creating a large ribbon rosette with streamers to accent your 1920s party frock. Key to her tip is two-toned or double-sided ribbon (a different color on each side, not two colors on each side). You create knotted loops and sew them in tiers to a circle of buckram - easy-peasy!

I love Ruth's tips. Enjoy!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s: Dress Up Your Frocks with Lace Medallions

It's "blond on blond" in this inspiring tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s. The tip is perfect for making a special holiday frock. The insertion of medallions of filet lace adds an elegant touch. The thin bands that trim the front bodice and dropped waistline are of filet lace as well. All the trimmings are placed on the fabric itself, rather than being see-through. Don't forget to add the satin ribbon bow & streamers of "deep strawberry tone"!

Dreamy fashion for the 1920s home sewist!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s: A Ruffled Summer Frock with Picoted Edges

While Ruth Wyeth Spears feels that this style is for the "sub-deb" (that is, sub-debutante, so pre-teen girl), I think this very feminine summer frock would be lovely fashion for almost any age. Aside from sewing this frock from soft georgette, Ruth describes a technique for creating a picoted edge - very clever, our Ruth!

To learn more about hemstitching (which in the 1920s was evidently something the home sewists paid for, rather than created themselves) that you can create yourself, check out this very informative Youtube video from Professor Pincushion.

Sew a 1920s Wardrobe in a Weekend Using Ruth's Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s

So sorry that I disappeared for the summer! What can I say? Life took over and left little energy for my blog. Life hasn't slowed down any, but items keep popping up and I just have to get back in the groove. Besides, I have missed you all!

So I resume my blog with this shout-out for Costume Academy! They are hosting a "1920s Wardrobe in a Weekend" retreat this weekend! What a fantastic idea, I only wish I could attend. Wouldn't it be fun to sew a one-hour day dress, an evening dress, and an accessory, all from the 1920s, and all in one weekend? Be sure to check out their website, and all their period costume events. They are surely a place to put on your "must-visit" list! I love too, that they have events for other fashion periods as well. Something for everyone. :)

In honor of Costume Academy's event, here is a post from our beloved Ruth Wyeth Spears and another tip for home sewing from the 1920s. Use this tip to inspire you to "jazz up" your 1920s frock with lace!

On the subject of Ruth Wyeth Spears, I was contacted by one of the organizers (Nicole Carlson) of this weekend's event at Costume Academy, asking to know more about her. While I do not consider myself an expert on Ruth, I shared what little I do know. 

Ruth learned her craft first by serving an apprenticeship in a dressmaking shop, and then went on to art school (with her goal being a career in fashion). In 1921 she launched her career in fashion through illustrating sewing directions and the processes of sewing. Ruth's fabulous syndicated series began to appear on the women's pages of small and large newspapers throughout the US in 1925. I do not know the year that her series ceased publication, but I think she continued publication through the 1930s at the least. Ruth created the topics based on questions from her readers. Her illustrations were so popular that they were widely copied in books, booklets, classrooms, and patterns.

Hats off to the successful career of Ruth Wyeth Spears - inspiring fashion in her readers all the way to the present!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s: Upgrade a Plain Dress to a Plaited Frock

I just love the way Ruth's mind works! In this tip for her 1920s audience, she solves the problem of wanting a pleated (or should I say plaited?) frock when all one has is a plain dress pattern. The solution? Pleat the fabric first, and then lay the pattern pieces! So clever. :)

Ruth Wyeth Spears is such an inspiration!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - a Smart Box-Pleated Skirt

Well, a bit of life got in the way of my regular posts, so sorry for going silent for a couple of weeks! Let me resume with a tip from our favorite 1920s sewist and fashion advisor, Ruth Wyeth Spears. :)

Delivering "preppy" style, this tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s describes how to create a box-pleated skirt that is attached to a camisole. The skirt is intended to be worn with an overblouse and a sweater. Note the rule of three times your hip measurement for determining the width of the fabric for the skirt. I love the tip of hemming the skirt before pleating, and then adjusting the length where the skirt joins the camisole (rather than in the hemline). I just love Ruth's tips. Enjoy! Oh! And refer to my post on sewing a 1920s tunic dress foundation garment for a better understanding of the garment construction in this tip.

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Trimming a Satin Frock

Reverse pin tucks! AND hand-embroidered panels! This is a win-win tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears for her 1920s audience. Can you visualize it - a black satin frock with panels embroidered in peacock blue and gold? I simply love Ruth's ideas.

Do you think it's better to embroider the panels and then stitch them to the dress, or complete the sewing of the dress and then embroider it? My guess is the former, but I could be wrong. :)

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Embroidered Collar & Cuffs

Well, I adore hand-embroidery and deep collars and cuffs, so this is superb tip from my point of view! Thank you, Ruth Wyeth Spears for this tip for your home sewists of the 1920s! I love the Napoleon-style collar and the deep contoured cuffs - so totally elegant. The hand embroidery uses simple stitches (single stitch, cross stitch, and satin stitch) that produce a beautiful, rich look, especially if you include gold thread in the pattern, as Ruth suggests.

I definitely want to try this one! Perhaps on a jacket - don't think I could pull off a full coat. :)

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Adding a Crystal Beaded Accent to Your Chiffon Dinner Frock

Imagine this dinner frock in "crayon blue chiffon" and then add this beaded bow knot, bead by bead! Ruth Wyeth Spears tells you how in this very fine tip from the 1920s. The instructions look like a snap (well, a relative snap) and I love that "simple one-piece dress" with shirred fullness at the sides. Delightful!

Enjoy!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - A Hand-Made Medallion Trim

I am way overdue for another post from Ruth Wyeth Spears and her wonderful tips for home sewists in the 1920s! So here is one for adding a home-made yet dramatic accent that is perfect for blouses and frocks. As described by Ruth, this is designed as an open-work motif. Whether you make it open-work or add a contrast fabric as a background, you'll have an eye-catching accent!

Have fun with this one!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - How to Make a Coat, Step-by-Step

This tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s must be her longest ever. If you feel that sewing a coat is a challenge, Ruth is here to walk you through it! The steps have not changed throughout the decades - the construction of a tailored coat is timeless. Well, except, perhaps, Ruth's suggestion that you take the coat to the tailor to make the button holes and give the coat its final pressing. :)

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Add a Detachable Collar and Matching Tie

Make a detachable Chelsea collar and matching tie with this great tip from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s! In this tip, Ruth refers to foulard, a lightweight fabric (often of silk) and usually with a small printed design of various colors.

This collar and tie has such a jaunty air. :)  Quick to sew and a great way to use a remnant, don't you think?

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Refashion a Smart Jacket

As long as we are on the subject of refashioning old clothes into new, this post from Ruth Wyeth Spears and the 1920s is very timely! In this article, Ruth describes how to make a new "mannish" jacket for yourself from an old jacket of your husband or brother or dad. She describes two ways to go about it, depending on the size of the old jacket you are working with and the size you need.

Autumn is the perfect time for tailored jackets and blazers, so definitely give this a try!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Scalloped Trim for Summer Silks

This very charming frock is trimmed with scalloped edging - a very wonderful tip well illustrated and clearly explained by Ruth Wyeth Spears for her 1920s audience. The contrast fabric make this technique especially distinctive and appealing. Kudos for a great tip, Ruth!

And if you need a template for the scallops, just check this earlier Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s post on adding scalloped trim.

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - How to Line a Coat

We can infer from this post by Ruth Wyeth Spears that folks in the 1920s folks kept their coats to the point of wearing out the lining. We can also infer that pattern pieces for linings were not typically included in a pattern (which is true for patterns well into the 1940s and  even the 1950s).

Read Ruth's instructions carefully. I found most interesting her tip about placing plaits (pleats) in the fabric (not the pattern piece) near the hemlines before cutting. This enables the lining to fit the coat loosely. This method works well for lining any garment, including jackets, skirts, you-name-it. :)

She makes it sound so simple. :D Another winning tip from the 1920s!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - A Nifty Tip for Measuring Skirt Length

In this tip, Ruth Wyeth Spears gives her 1920s audience a rather clever technique for accurately measuring an even hemline for a frock or skirt when you have no one to help you. This is such a timeless and handy tip. Thanks, Ruth!

Home Sewing Tips from the 1920s - Fitting the Frock for the Stout Figure

Okay, for any of you who have "bulges", Ruth explains how to ensure that your figure too can have long, loose lines. 1920s fashion may have favored the slender or "average" figure, but Ruth finds a way for those with less-than-ideal figures to "look inches taller and pounds thinner".  Sound familiar? It's the goal of many women throughout the decades!