Weldons So Easy 86 – 1940's Wartime Silk Blouse

Back in 2013, I bought a rather large suitcase of 1940’s fabric at auction.  I paid a pretty penny for it, in excess of £100, but the case had some beautiful dress lengths of novelty rayon silks and autumnal shades of crepe.  In amongst the fabrics was a small piece of 1940’s silk in a delicate shade of duck egg blue.  Over time, silk can rot.  I’ve had silk in the past that I’ve been able to tear as easily as I can tear a piece of paper.  Structurally, the piece of silk I had was strong, but it had a 1” tear, a couple of holes, and a few water stains, so it got put in the back of the cupboard until the right pattern came along. 

Always on the lookout for new patterns of the sewing and knitting variety, I recently picked up a wartime Weldons pattern, a Special Coupon Saving Design!

Designed to save the original purchaser valuable clothing coupons, the fabric usage was very economical indeed, requiring just 1 1/8yds of 36” fabric for the 34” bust.  I had about 2yds of the silk, but with the damage that I had to work around, it was still quite a squeeze to get all the pieces cut.  This was the sort of damage I was working around.

The blouse I went for was the green one, as I liked the idea of trying a neat little collar, and challenging myself to add a pocket, something I’d never done before.  The blouse required bias binding to keep the sleeves neat, and although I didn't have exactly the right shade for a perfect match, I was able to find some vintage binding in my stash that did the trick.

I think the “So-Easy” is very misleading.  Actually, it’s a total fib!  I’ve worked from plenty of vintage patterns in the past, but this one proved a real challenge.

Unlike today’s patterns, most vintage patterns are unprinted, meaning they have no written markings on them at all, they have punch holes instead, and that’s fine, but this one had absobloominglutely no chuffing punch holes at all.  Absolutely didly squit!  It had me turning to my sewing bible, The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Dressmaking, and when that didn’t help; I had to turn to my sewing guru, my mum!  A quick over the phone sewing lesson, and I was sorted.

Plenty of head scratching, chalk marking, tape measuring later, it was done, and I’m really rather pleased with it.  Teamed with the skirt from one of the 1940's suits I have in stock, I think it really looks the part. 

I originally planned to add glass buttons, but the 1930’s buttons I had were slightly rounded on top and therefore a little too heavy for the silk so, for now, it has faceted plastic buttons on.  If I find more suitable buttons before I sell it, then they will be swapped.

I strayed very slightly from the pattern.  I top stitched the yoke to the blouse front, because, personally, I think it gives a cleaner finish.  I also top stitched around the collar and cuffs because, again, I prefer that kind of finish.

The pocket was far easier to add than a thought it would be, it just took patience, lots of measuring (note the no markings comments!!!) and plenty of tacking and pressing. 

The photographs don’t really do justice to this exquisite piece of fabric.  It’s genuinely far nicer “in the flesh”, and I hope it finds a happy new home soon, as it would be perfect to wear in the summer sunshine. 

Vintage Haberdashery Heaven - Christmas come early!

What an incredibly lucky lady I am. 

In this previous post I told you about the kindness of a stranger and how they had generously given me a collection of knitting patterns, including issue 1 of Needlewoman and Needlecraft.  Well, last week, the same amazing lady contacted me again with the offer of some knitting and crafting things.

Delivered this morning to a very excited household were two rather large heavy parcels.  I had been expecting them but what was contained inside them was far more than anything I had imagined.  The collection of items was so vast that it took me a very happy 2 hours to sort through everything.

It would be impossible to show you everything that arrived, such was the volume of items, but I have picked out some of the most pretty and colourful things and hope that you like them!  Here goes!

Along with lots of little squat balls of thread, there were over 120 embroidery silks which means my 1930's sweet jar is now perfectly full!

Some pretty pastel crochet threads, so incredibly fine.  In the central part of two of them I found some delicately crocheted edgings; stored away and forgotten about maybe?

A vast range of shades of the most beautiful threads.  I've never seen anything like them before.  They are delicate and fine yet have a wool like texture.  There were over 50 of them but the amount wound on the cards isn't great so I wonder what they were meant to be used for. 

Various mending threads including wool for Chilprute underwear, the needle still threaded and slipped into the wound wool by the hand of it's last user.  Stocking threads, darning wools and my favourite of all, the little green and navy Greenwoods card with the rather dashing sailor on the front.

Two items were still in the bags they were originally packaged in.  One still with the receipt from a shop in Hanley, close to Mr Y's old stomping ground from when he did his teacher training.

More amazing examples of vintage packaging, so much more appealing than the ones we get today.  My favourites are the two Newey's ones.  The blue one from the 1930's and red from the 1940's - stunning in both colour and design.

Numerous bindings, grosgrains, ribbons and lace!  All so pretty and many in shades that you simply cannot replicate today.  Matching binding to vintage fabric should be a whole lot easier now.

In an old cardboard box, there were crisp wrappers containing clean, white starched collars new and never used.  Delving deeper, I discovered four CC41 collars, again, unused.  Precious clothing coupons would have been exchanged for these simple pieces of white cotton yet they, too, look unused.

The most delicate of collars.  Dating from, I believe the 1930's, these collars are simply splendid.  So pretty, feminine and fine, obviously belonging to one incredibly petite person, so tiny in size.  I hope to have them cleaned and then frame them, they're too pretty to be in a drawer somewhere.

Last, but by no means least, a little collection of small, pretty things which were discovered  among the various paper bags and mountains of threads.  I love the little handmade flower pins, the green bakelite needles, the pretty box of pins, well, all ok it really!

The owner of this amazing collection certainly took great care of all she had.  Tiny pieces of embroidery silk wound round pieces of wrapper, carefully kept.  Threads shorter, I'm ashamed to say, than I throw away.  A mended stitch ripper laid alongside another, new in it's wrapper.  Items kept until they could no longer be used, because they had to be, the result of living through a period of great austerity and rationing, nothing like the throw away society that we live in today.

It was an immense gift from an incredibly generous, thoughtful couple and one I'm truly grateful for.  Some things will, obviously, be used to create vintage inspired pieces.  Others, like the packaging and collars, will be kept and used for display purposes, meaning that the items treasured by this amazing woman, can be enjoyed by many more people in the years to come.