Rethinking a decade

I used to think that I wasn't a fan of any 1960s fashions, but I'm starting to realise that it's the later styles which I dislike. A-line and shift dresses do me no favours whatsoever - Butterick 4384 is going to be rehomed the next time I go to visit the friend who really likes it. Earlier sixties fashions however are another matter - for example Vogue 5215 has become a firm favourite in my wardrobe.

So with this in mind, when I spotted a January 1960 Vogue counter catalogue for sale, I bought it.

Sadly, the cover is a bit damaged

For this post, I'm just looking at the 'new releases' section of the catalogue, before the tabbed sections. It starts off promisingly.

Vogue 9818 - would make

There are some patterns which have been 'chosen' by the editors of women's magazines.

"Selected by the editors of Vogue Magazine"

Also selected by the Vogue editors

Vogue 9854 is described as having a "detachable yoke". I've come across some vintage patterns which make this claim, but turn out to have a piece which can be sewn in or unpicked as desired. Which is indeed detachable, but hardly straightforward.

Make the yoke matching or contrasting

Judging from the drawing of the yoke piece, however, this one is truly detachable.

Small circles indicate buttons or snaps

There are some colour coordinated double page spreads.

Harmony in brown and pink

While others are not. As with my 1940 Vogue catalogue, some of the patterns include a small schematic of the pieces, so you could attempt to draft your own version.

Pattern piece details for the truly confident

There are only two Vogue Paris Original designs featured.

1468, Guy Laroche

1469, Jacques Heim

Fitted dresses with short jackets appear to be very much in fashion.

Pattern on the right is "Chosen by the editors of Glamour Magazine"

I don’t really do frills, so Vogue 9872 fills me with horror. However if I came across a copy of the pattern, I would be tempted to make it up out of curiosity!

Frilled to bits

Statement sleeves also seem to be quite the thing.

You would never get a cardigan over that!

The drawing of 9857 view A is clearly based on the made-up version which appears on the cover.

Cover image, and more big sleeves

The schematic for Vogue 9866 seems a little unnecessary - perhaps it’s there to demonstrate just how simple the pattern is?

Only five pieces! One of which is a rectangle!

Of the tabbed sections, one in particular has caught my eye.

Mrs Exeter gets her own section

Expect a post about this in the future!

How to make a hizem

This is a real blast from the past. Way back in June 2013, I made a traditional Tunisian dance costume. Because the associated blog post was about the elements which fitted into a Squares, Rectangles and Triangles sewing challenge, the other parts, including the yarn belt or hizem, were only mentioned in passing.

Part of the costume

However, I was recently asked about the belt in the post comments. I always read comments, no matter how old the original post, and will always try to help with queries if possible. So here, finally, is a post on making the hizem.

The hizem laid out on the inches side of my cutting board, for scale

It was made from Aran weight wool, which I believe is Worsted weight in the U.S. The belt should be 1½ times your hip measurement, with a further 70 cm / 28" added on for the tassels. The wool needs to be wound into a hank the length of the finished belt, and should consist of around 150 lengths of wool - i.e. 75 loops. I made mine by winding the wool round two chair backs - if you do this, make sure that the chairs don't start to slip closer to each other as you are winding.

The red line shows the belt length

Once the hank is completed, tie off the wool 14" from each end to form the tassels. The ties are made by wrapping a length of wool tightly round the hank around five or six times, tying the ends in a knot, and then using a bodkin to 'lose' the ends of the wrapping wool in the hank.

Then make another tie at each end, 2½" up from the first one, to form the tassel head.

The knot is visible on the tie on the right

On one end only, make a further tie, 6½" up from the tassel head. This is to form the loop. Split the 6½" section into two halves, and tie each half into five or six sections. If preferred, all of these ties can be mde using one long length of wool, run from one tie to the next within the hank.

The completed loop

There are two further ties to add, A and B. Where they are placed depends on the length of the belt. To work out the position of tie A, hold the belt behind you, bring the tassels to the front, and pass one end through the loop on the other end. Make tie A where the belt will pass through the loop.

Bringing the belt through the loop, tie A is shown with an arrow

Another view of tie A

Make tie B midway between tie A and the end of the loop.

Showing the lengths of all the different sections

Finally, cut the ends of the hank to form the tassels, and trim any uneven strands of wool.

A hizem in action

Hopefully I have covered everything. As ever, if anything is unclear, please get in touch.

January 1964

It was my birthday last week. I'm now 60, and delighted about it. My fifties began with what was, in hindsight, an ill-advised weekend away (by then Mr Tulip was far more unwell than we realised, and the whole trip was pretty stressful), and things went downhill from there. The entire ten years haven't been unremittingly dreadful, of course, but it's not been my best decade and I'm happy to make a fresh start.

I didn't even attempt to make anything new for the occasion. I celebrated with a day in Liverpool with friends, went on the big ferris wheel (quite an achievement, as I'm not good with heights), and wore the vintage winter coat that I mentioned last week, a hat which I made four years ago, and the nine-year-old dress which was the prompt for my new green velour dress.

Trying not to look nervous at the top of the wheel!

So in the absence of any sewing, here's the Vogue Pattern Book for the month of my birth, January 1964.

Apparently this is an "at-home dress"

Because the issue is actually December 1963/January 1964 there are some Christmas features, but I have skipped those. The January element of the magazine starts off with clothing for your winter travels.

Sadly, I never look this chic when travelling

The latest Vogue Paris Originals are shown with a couple of Couturier patterns.

Patterns by Grès (left) and Fabiani

I'm starting to develop an appreciation for 1960s suits; they look smart, but not nearly as rigid as 1950s ones. I'm not convinced by the hat in the image above, though.

Patou (left), Forquet (top right) and Pierre Cardin

While most of the magazine is printed on thin, glossy paper, there are a few thicker matte pages almost like pattern envelope paper. The illustrations are taken from the pattern envelopes, and the inclusion of yardage information adds to the effect.

Feature

Pattern envelopes

Another odd hat appears in the feature on 'country clothes', along with some text in French. As this and a piece on evening clothes are the only two bilingual features, and only the pattern descriptions are translated, I'm not sure how much use the 'en Français' mentioned on the front cover would be to French speakers.

Spot the French text

More drawings, this time not from the pattern artwork.

Basic information on some of the newer patterns

The right hand page has a fold-out section, with order forms for patterns and subscriptions. On the back is this guide to the coming issues.

The template for Pattern Book issues

There are few advertisements in this issue; just a couple each for fabric, sewing machines, and alarmingly sturdy-looking underwear. There are also two, on following pages, for my dressform (formerly my mum's).

Buying direct from Adjustoform is slightly cheaper

Mum bought hers well before 1964, so clearly it was a popular design. Hopefully mine will be put to use again before too long.

Review and plans

Last week's post got taken up by my last-minute green velour dress, so here is a rather late review of 2023, with a brief look at my plans for 2024.

I didn't make a lot this year, for a variety of reasons, but I'm happy with that.

Completed 2023 projects

Looking back on my post for 2023, it's fair to say that my plan to finish my winter coat, Vogue 1266, has been a complete failure. Nothing has been done. Mainly because I bought a beautiful 1950s black coat from the wonderful FantoucheVintage, and all my winter coat needs were instantly met. In fact, I almost enjoy cold weather as an excuse to wear it! I've not got very far with my 1930s Butterick dress, either.

On a cheerier note, looking at what I did make, my version of Simplicity 4463 (top left) was a definite success and gets a lot of wear. I much prefer its flared skirt to the pleated version of its reissue, Simplicity 1777. Style 1571 in a vintage glazed cotton (top centre) has become something of a 'best' dress, as I don't want to lose the fabric finish through too much laundering. Meanwhile, Style 2911 (top right) continues my love affair with 1979 Style patterns!

My sewing triumph of the year, however, was the Peppermint Batik dress (second left, bottom). It was totally unplanned project, created from someone else's part-made skirt found in a second-hand sewing box, and a bodice made from deadstock cotton found in my local fabric shop (which never normally sells deadstock) in colours which blended perfectly with the skirt. It's super-comfortable, especially in hot weather - of which we had a lot this summer.

My non-dressmaking sewing consisted of some soft furnishings, and a new workbag.

The workbag was needed because 2023 was the year I took up knitting. Yes, I had made a couple of minor attempts before, but nothing very complicated. This time, thanks to a fantastically well-written pattern by Tasha, a whole potential world of knitwear which actually fits has opened up to me. I made a blue version first, and then a pale green version, and as a knitting newbie marvelled at the effect that different yarns can have on the same pattern.

So what are my plans for 2024 (other than actually knitting the tweaked Wondrella which I have been planning for ages)? Not a lot for the first few months, as I am doing a college course and my assignments are due this term. After that - more of the same, really. I have realised that there is no point in my planning a 'Make Nine' or similar, as my ability to go off on tangents knows no bounds. Instead, I want to continue to concentrate on slow sewing and stash reduction. I do want to finish my Riviera dress, but there is no need to tackle complex trim application until the weather gets warmer. I'm slowly documenting my stash in the 'stash shop', and have quite a lot to choose from.

The 'stash shop' so far - a couple of items have sold out

The Stashometer has been reset for 2024

On the subject of which . . .

Whoops!

I do have projects in mind for all of it, but I can see that I'll have to make sure that my new yarn stash doesn't get out of hand!