1940 Lutterloh Dress and Jacket

This is a look that you have seen before but now with some more detail. This was my dress and white linen jacket look that was a part of my capsule wardrobe project. I loved this look because it oozed summer with the light mint dots on the dress fabric and then the crispness of the white linen jacket. Both pieces were from a 1940 Lutterloh pattern.

The jacket is one that you have already see before in my Casablanca Wardrobe Challenge when I recreated Bergman's white linen evening suit look. I chose this pattern for it because I thought it was the closest look and I knew that in the future I would be wearing the jacket again. I really enjoy making and wearing pieces that can serve double (or triple) duty.

The dress, from a distance looking white, is flecked with little mint dots and was so fun to make and is so casual looking. I chose to spice up the dress with mint swirl buttons along the seam of the front yoke. The dress closes at the neckline with a metal zipper. This was a first for me - using a front neckline zipper - but its quite period believe it or not.

The dress does have a collar in the illustration but I decided to omit the permanent one and go for a detachable one. To dress up the front neckline a bit, I chose a floral corsage that matched the red bonnet. You see too I chose red shoes for more pops of red but then a long white glove and pearl screw back earrings.

Working Clothes

Not only do I have nice vintage for when I go out but my working clothes are the same. Although my working clothes are not real vintage, they are made with vintage patterns to achieve the same look. I never wear real vintage while I am working because I am actually getting sweating, getting dirt on my jeans and under my finger nails, and getting the occasional rip in my clothes. No place for real vintage at all! Anyway what I wear in the summer is a basic blouse with wide legged jeans. My hair is often tied up in a silk head scarf or else confined in a similar fashion. I managed to get these pictures before the season really started so enjoy!

As you may have guessed, I'm a blue berry farmer! Not your usual kind of farmer that comes to mind I know but a farmer nonetheless. About now the season has about one week left to go an then its the off season. Once its the off season I will get some more blogging time and I have a few things I am looking forward to sharing with you such as a few garment posts and an accessory tutorial too.

The Second German Photo Album - Part 5, Family Portraits

Family portraits and individual portraits are the best and for this month a sample of portraits. These show some great detail so enjoy and take a look. Many of these are from the late 20s to the 40s. 

June/July in Review

Oops, I missed one of my "month in review" posts  . . ok two of them so I am combining them here. Right now I am as busy as can be with blueberry season going on now which means that my time for sewing, blogging, and doing other stuffs is on the back burner now. This season has been one for the books and I am really tired as I am typing this out to be frank. This season I took on a lot on my plate running both the office, the store and part of the packing facility we have. That does not count managing employees and ensuring we pass our audit each year. Of course I could not do any or all of this with out excellent help which I took advantage of big time this year. One thing that I learned was that I was more capable than I originally thought I was. I learned how to use 3 new computer programs one of which was QuickBooks. Not very tech savvy to start with I am impressed I managed it.   This summer was filled with some ups and downs. As well as being tired all the time my sister moved to Texas which bummed me out.
Anyway, back to more light hearted topics because I am sure you don't want to hear about my working life. Of course I am planning  away for my winter wardrobe. While on a brief holiday a quick trip to the thrift store yielded some wonderful finds - enough fabric for 4 blouses, 4 dresses, and maybe 2 pairs of jeans in a nice denim. What a haul! I have a blouse made up already from a piece in my haul which will make an appearance this winter. For my other winter pieces I got some nice wools.

While on holiday I gave my summer/ spring capsule wardrobe a spin.  As a quick summary it worked out really well! It make mixing and matching super easy resulting in very polished outfits with minimal effort. Also with so few pieces is made packing and un packing easy (because as we all know what goes on the suit case must come out eventually). For this Capsule wardrobe I packed lots of accessories and did not get to wearing all of those. That's how many I packed!

As an update for my Casablanca Wardrobe Challenge, because I am sure you wall want to know how I am coming along on it. . . Its coming along well. I still have the suit look and the white linen jumper look to do. I am hoping that by the end of the this year it will be completed. It took me a long time to find the right material for the blouse and when I did find it I had very little sewing time. . . and pattern making time too . . soo. . .yeah. I'll get there, promise. Actually I am kind of hoping to do a tutorial out of the blouse as I am going to be using a Lutterloh pattern for it.


I did get some stuff accomplished on here though. I showed off some of my 50s frocks this spring and I used some pretty bright colors this time. 50s summer dresses are so pretty but I will confess 40s summer pieces are really the most practical.

Anyways with blueberry season in full swing now I am not doing a lot of sewing and that also explains a lot of the silence here on the blog. This fall and winter that will change I hope as I get back into a regular routine with dressing up and getting pictures. Oh! and you might want to keep and eye out on a product review of Beseme cosmetics soon! I was gifted a violet brightening powder and was so impressed that I ordered some more goodies to try out.

Capsule Wardrobe Summary . . . .How It All Worked Out

Ready to see how my capsule wardrobe worked and some of the outfits I was able to whip up? If not that's too bad. I will admit that I was not able to get pictures of all of my looks this wearing but I got what I could. I managed to create a few really nice looks and I got lots of positive remarks (so that's a plus!). The choice to use white linen for the summer heat was a good idea as it meant easy to live in clothes for the heat. One downside was that the white and super light color selection did get kind of boring after awhile even with my colorful accessory choices. I chose a lot of red, white, and blue with a bit of tan to spice it up. I tried to choose a lot of variety as you can see from my gloves, hats, shoes, and jewelry. I picked out jewelry with bold color and then subtle sophistication.  . . .Just to be sure I had what I would be in the mood for. . .

As for the outfits I was able to capture on camera I chose a cotton dress topped off with a white linen jacket, then the dress as it was alone, and also a white linen skirt waist dress that was in two parts. I made mine in two parts so that I could wear the skirt alone with a fun blouse. For these as you can see I chose my red pumps and other bits of red for a pop of color.

The first look is the more formal of the three and was the most popular one when I was out and about. And of course as it was so lovely and ideal for summer. I think this was my favorite look as well. The pattern was a 1940 Lutterloh pattern. The second look was just the dress alone which I trimmed simply with a detachable collar and buttons to enhance the mint green in the print. I think these pieces, either together or alone, are so lovely and so warm (or hot) weather friendly. The jacket I am sure you remember was from my Casablanca Wardrobe Challenge - the white linen suit. I really love the dress. Its smart enough for street wear yet casual for around the house. Of course, I will be blogging about this look in more detail at a later date and show you the original illustration. For now, a teaser. . .

Another outfit that was a knockout was my white linen shirtwaist dress. I made this one in two pieces - to be worn as a blouse and then as a plain skirt. These pieces worn together as a dress worked really well and looked so chic (in my opinion anyway). Paired with chunky jewelry this plain dress became a fun canvas for exploring with accessories.

So there you have it. At least 3 looks I was able to create from my suit case and from my monitor capsule wardrobe. I did get a few more looks like a blouse and the white linen skirt worn together which was not photographed. I think in the future this will be a great way to pack for vacations. It was so easy to assemble outfits.

A 50s Full Skirted Slip

For my sheer dresses I do not line them. Why? Well to be honest its takes time and money and to make a new slip for every dress I so make is silly when they can all share one. That is how this piece was created. I wanted to make a slip, a full skirted one, for my sheer 50s dresses to be interchangeable with all my dresses if need be. The pattern for this one was a vintage 50s slip pattern for a princess slip but it was not one for a full skirt. So, I used the bodice of the slip and added a full circle skirt to it to make it work for me.

I chose a light blue taffeta because I liked the texture, it had some good body, a fun rustling sound, and the light blue? Well, they did not have white  . . .figures. . . To make this slip was so easy even with my alterations so I added some lace frills to it. I added the lace to the top of the neckline, the shoulder straps, and a hand appliqued bow to the skirt for fun. To the center front neckline, a little pink ribbon rose.

There is not too much to say about this piece other than it is both practical and really pretty (well I think so) and I have a feeling this is going to be a very good wardrobe addition. Actually, I can see myself making a few more of these in different colors because a good slip is so handy to have.