Forties fashions, Swedish style - part 1

My latest vintage fair acquisition is this magazine from winter 1947, in what I think is Swedish.

I think that it is a catalogue of patterns. There are only a couple of advertisements, no editorial content, and a range of different illustration styles from flats through to detailed drawings. There are however back views of pretty much everything, so you can get a good idea of what the finished item would look like. So here are the first few pages, full of late 1940s fashion goodness. Click on any of the images to get a larger version.

Feathery fabric

I've mentioned before that as well as fabrics on the roll, my local fabric shop also sells remnants by weight. They are folded up in bins according to fabric type, and the 'craft cottons' section in particular has been responsible for a lot of my clothes over the years.

The last time I was in there, one of the staff (it will surprise no-one to learn that I know all the staff there!) pointed out a large remnant in the 'wool mix' section. It was an attractive raspberry/heather-ish colour, but nothing remarkable except that it was machine-stitched into 2" squares.

Move along please, nothing to see here

Once turned over, the reason for the stitching becomes clear. It is backed with black organza, and trapped between the two layers is a scattering of pink feathers.

Feathery!

I loved it, so it has been added to the stash. I had already decided that it would be perfect for a coat, as it is in effect self-lining. But it would need to be a simple coat, with minimal shaping, preferably no facings, and definitely no shoulder padding. Then I remembered that I have this.

Simple shape, and no facings

I think I may have found the perfect match!

Dark lovebird

One side-effect of buying vintage patterns at auction is that you tend to acquire 'sewing ephemera' as part of the lots. This has included my Art Deco repair kit and some of my vintage haberdashery stash, but also numerous old reels of cotton.

Different brands, but the same size of reel

There is just something about old wooden cotton reels which takes me back to my childhood. Having a mother and grandmother who both sewed, they seemed to be everywhere. There were even some in the coal scuttle in my grandparents' house: I'm guessing that they were used as kindling. Looking at the reels now, as well as the chunky shape and the tactile quality of the wood, part of the appeal is that the shades had names, not just numbers.

The Dewhurst spools have shade numbers only

Dewhurst's 'Sylko' brand, which was the most widely used at the time, seems to have started off with shade numbers and it was other brands ('Sylviette' is a new name to me) that used names. But then Dewhurst's joined in. Most of the names are fairly descriptive, but occasionally you get something wonderful, like 'dark lovebird'.

All the greens - I have no idea what 'reseda' is

Dark lovebird is in the centre, light reseda below it

There were slight changes to the label over time, but the brand remained largely unchanged. Even when the new synthetic 'Trylko' thread was introduced, on up-to-the-minute blue plastic reels, the shades were still named; 'blue cactus' is a another favourite of mine. I would love to know how the names were chosen; did Dewhurst's have an official 'shade-namer'?

Newer reels at the front

We hear so much about the environmental impact of single-use plastics now, that I feel guilty whenever I throw an empty plastic reel away. I get through a lot of thread, and there are only so many reels I can re-use for storing ribbon etc. I wonder if we will ever move away from single-use plastic cotton reels; either by encouraging re-use (returning them to the fabric store?) or replacing them with something more sustainable?

A few have been re-used to store a second thread

Finally here's a sneak peek at another recent auction buy – a wooden sewing box on legs. It's a bit battered, and in need of some TLC, and will get its own post at some point. For now though, here's a picture of how the dimensions of the lidded top section seem to have been specifically chosen to accommodate wooden cotton reels.

Form following function!

Spring fashions, 1966

After last week's horoscopes, I thought I'd look at the actual patterns which appeared in that issue of Vogue Pattern Book - the Spring 1966 issue.

Vogue 1569, by St Laurent, on the cover

The contents page shows another view of the suit, and the hat.

The blouse is also from Vogue 1569

Two fabulous hats appear in this feature, 'Spring in Town'.

Left to right - 1559, 1566 (both by Dior), 6680

'Spring Colours' shows some of the fabrics available this season.

Left - 1563, right - 6691

Left - 1560, right - 1562

St Laurent's 'Mondrian' dress appears in this issue.

Left - 1556, right - 1557

There are also patterns by Italian designers. (So. Much. Hair.)

Left top - 1564 (Galitzine, 2 photos), left bottom - 1552 (Forquet), right - 1555 (Fabiani)

The feature 'Evening Extravaganza' does not use the pattern art, instead the models are completely redrawn.

Left to right - 6636, 6628, 6634

The article on how to sew lace has little in the way of actual instructions, but lots of pictures of Vogue patterns made up in lace.

Left to right - 6630, 6635, 6629, 6642

'The Vogue Touch' is all about embelishments: replacing buttons with frog fastens, adding trims etc.

Left to right - 6683, 6722, 6692, 6716

Bold fabrics and another amazing hat in 'The Softened Look'.

Left - 6719, right 6686

And finally, back to colour (and big hair) in a feature on suits.

Left - 6696, right - 6712

It's all in the stars

Hedy Lamarr in 'Ziegfeld Girl', costume by Adrian

Something a bit different this week. It's actually nothing to do with actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr; but I needed a star-related image, and this one was too fabulous not to use.

When I was looking through some of my old copies of Vogue Pattern Book I came across a lighthearted article, 'An Astrological guide to your sewing personality'. As I did learn to sew very young, from watching my mum, my assessment seemed quite accurate. So read on, and see if yours is a match as well.

Aries - 21 March to 20 April

Taurus - 21 April to 21 May

Gemini - 22 May to 21 June

Cancer - 22 June to 23 July

Leo - 24 July to 23 August

Virgo - 24 August to 23 September

Libra - 24 September to 23 October

Scorpio - 24 October to 22 November

Sagittarius - 23 November to 21 December

Capricorn - 22 December to 20 January

Aquarius - 21 January to 19 February

Pisces - 20 February to 20 March

Finishing with Hedy again

Retro in the round

Yesterday I had a day out to Morecambe and the wonderful Midland Hotel to go to the vintage festival Vintage by the Sea. As my dissertation is about vintage dressmaking, I counted this as a research trip! A little shopping did get done as well. Meanwhile, earlier in the week I successfully bid on a lot of sewing items which my friend F had spotted in a local auction. And the thing which connects these two events? Many of my acquisitions are circular.

First up is this lovely little box from the auction lot.

So deco!

Around the side of the lid is a list of the contents.

Some of the contents

The full list is: Needles and Cottons, Safety Pins, Hair Grips, Silk Hose Mending and Darners, Knicker Elastic and Threader.

When I opened the box, I found this.

Threads for every possible colour of hose

Underneath were two other items.

The complete contents

There was a final surprise when I took out the spool of hose mending silk, with its packet of 'Flora MacDonald' needles.

Advertising opportunity

The sewing box also in the lot included name tapes for 'Mary Timm'. Judging from the remaining contents of the Handy Pack, Mary never laddered her stockings, but did use a single hairpin (I'm really hoping that it was to pick a lock) and needed to replace her knicker elastic. The mind boggles!

Moving swiftly on to my Morecambe purchases.

Most of the vendors were selling clothing, but there was one stall with a good collection of buttons. I bought a few cards, but my favourites were definitely these, which carry on the Art Deco theme.

I really need to make something which uses these beauties!

The complete button haul

My final purchase was this. My hats all currently live in cardboard boxes, but this is a far more stylish storage method.

It even has the keys for the locks

Admittedly not entirely round, but it would fall over otherwise

I especially loved this luggage label, from the days when rail travel involved suitcases being placed in a separate luggage coach.

Case to be taken off at Sheffield

All I need now is a wire-haired fox terrier, and I'm well on the way to recreating this 1930s poster for rail travel!

From the days when dogs needed tickets