It's Tulip Time!

It is spring here in the Pacific Northwest (at least I try to tell myself it is spring, it has been so cool and damp), and the tulips in my garden are in bloom! So I thought I would dedicate this post to the tulip, a popular motif for women throughout the decades. Women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and beyond loved to adorn their dresses, skirts, and aprons with applique tulips, and used multiple methods to decorate household linens with tulip motifs. :)

1940s Tulip-Adorned Frock

 

1950s Skirt 

 1950s Apron (note the bib itself is tulip-shaped)

1960s Dress

Lovely tulips decorated household linens using colorful embroidery, and even crocheted edgings.

And now, for the real thing - a few tulips from my garden (on a grey, rainy day in Seattle). :)

Mother-Daughter Fashions - What a Delight!

Mother-Daughter Fashion month was great fun! A bonus for all who purchased a mother-daughter pattern was a free 1950s pattern for mother-daughter purses.

If you didn't find a mother-daughter pattern that you liked, but *would* like the free pattern for the mother-daughter purses, just send me a message via Conversations on Etsy with your email address. I will gladly send you a copy.

Let me conclude with a few more of the mother-daughter patterns that you might have missed:

Before and After - In Search of Style Results in 1940s Spectator Dress

The Seamstress: LadyKatza
The Pattern: Vintage 1940s Anne Adams 4549 Misses' Dress

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for summer. And this is a great story about summer fashion and a great customer who was inspired by a Ralph Lauren dress. She found a match in a 1940s dress pattern in my shop, so this is both a "Before and After" post AND an "In Search of Style" post. :) Here is the dress that inspired Lady Katza with its wonderful style:

Then she found the pattern Anne Adams 4549 from the 1940s in my shop, and she wrote "I have to tell you I went SQUEE! when I saw this because it is almost an EXACT match for a Ralph Lauren dress I have been wanting to copy. It's from his spring 2010 collection."

And here is Lady Katza in the inspired and adorable result, a simply wonderful summer dress done up in a charming fabric. Sweet style in red, white, and blue!

A fab ensemble! Let's look closer at the details...

Lovely piping in contrast red trims seams and edges, the sleeves have scalloped edges, and those cute vintage red buttons are perfect.

And note those super cute shoes, which are perfect with this ensemble. Lady Katza got those from the wonderful www.modcloth.com. You can read more about Lady Katza's sewing adventures on her blog, peanutbuttermacrame.blogspot.com. 

Scraps from the Past - 1960s Girl's Formal Dress

Looking at this pattern, would you have picked orange polyester knit?

 Imagine my surprise to find a collar piece, with pattern piece still pinned to it, in the envelope!

In a way it is not surprising, as orange was a very popular color in 1969 (along with pink, yellow, and green).  And polyester knit fabric was also becoming common. I can only wonder - was the collar a contrast fabric or was the entire dress made from orange polyester knit? It would be fun to imagine this charming dress pattern in different fabrics. What would be your favorite?

In Search of Style - 70s Bridal Beauty

In a Simplicity 9608 pattern were tucked two clippings, both of which have elements found in this pattern's wonderful bridal gown styles.

One clipping was from a Wards catalog, and this "Belle of the Ball" gown is a clear match for view 1, with ruffles on the scoop neckline and on the skirt hemline, and full sleeves with ruffles at the wrists.

The other clipping (from the newspaper Grand Rapids Press from May 30, 1970), the lovely bride on the right is circled. The upper bodice detail (a little hard to see) is very similar to the upper bodice of view 3.

The mystery is which did wedding gown did she pick? Neither? The pattern is uncut. Did she go with something else altogether? Or did the wedding plans get canceled? We will never know. But we do know that this seamstress found the best pattern that matched her ideal wedding gown.

Mother-Daughter Fashions - How Sweet They Are!

While certainly not limited to the 40s, 50s, and 60s, matching mother-daughter fashion was enormously popular in those decades. What could be more appealing to mothers sewing for their families than sewing up matching outfits for their daughters and themselves? Whether featured as specific patterns, or just to illustrate advertisements for products, mother and daughter in matching outfits appear in the fashion and popular magazines of the day.

 In honor of Mother's Day next month, I will begin posting mother-daughter patterns in my shop in the coming weeks. Here is a preview to entice you, so be watching! :D

 

 

While most mother-daughter fashions consist of a separate pattern for mother and a separate pattern for daughter, some patterns include patterns for both mother and daughter in the same envelope.

 

 

Before and After - A 40s Party Dress for a Girl with Timeless Fashion Sense

The Seamstress: LadyKatza
The Pattern: Vintage 1940s Mail Order 2319 Girl's Dress

This sweet dress was purchased by LadyKatza from my shop back in January 2010. As she was pouring over the patterns for herself in my shop, her daughter said she wanted a dress too. LadyKatza, being the wonderful mother she is, let her daughter pick any dress she wanted. LadyKatza said when she bought it, "She has a pretty strong notion of what she likes at the age of six."

The Result: An adorable dress with charm to spare!  I love the colors and the fabric choices. The iridesence of the sleeves and bodice insets adds delicious sparkle, and the flower buttons are the icing on the cake. :D Felicity was a couple sizes smaller than the dress size, but Mom chose to sew the pattern size as-is, since she knew Felicity would grow into it quickly. Here are the first photos she sent me of Felicity in her beautiful new dress, looking super fashionable, complete with stylish boots, purse, and hair ribbons.

 And now, two years later, a recent photo now shows the dress fitting perfectly and Felicity still looking superb. Should she choose, Felicity could easily have a modeling career ahead of her! She has adorable looks and such excellent taste in fashion. :D

You can follow the sewing adventures of LadyKatza on her  blog: peanutbuttermacrame.blogspot.com/ .
And you'll be seeing more of Felicity and her mother too in future posts. Stay tuned!