Vintage Clothing Tidbits

So, I thought I'd follow up the previous post, about a lovely 1920s beaded purse, with some more vintage clothing repair highlights.

The first tidbit is a photo of "how we do it".  I don't know if we've ever had a photo together like this before.  This is Julia, proprietress of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion, and me sitting at my living room worktable.  I am gradually taking over the whole house with my repair work, supplies, and storage.  The living room has a wall-size window, which gives lovely light for handwork, so the table is nearly always up.  Julia had brought over a pile of  "broken" clothes, and here we are, going over each piece and I'm taking notes on what each one will need.  From the way we are dressed, you can tell what kind of winter we had this year in the Chicago area! 

It's a Wedding Dress!

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My daughter Katrina came to me last spring, asking me to be an advisor for a wedding dress one of her best friends had asked her to make.  Of course I would!  We have known Hannah, the bride, and her family since the grade school years. 

What ended up happening was two long and intense and super fun weekends of dress planning and construction.  And after that, a most wonderful wedding! 

100-Year-Old Christening Gown

      

This christening gown is a family heirloom with a full pedigree.  The left photo is the front, right photo is the back, third photo is the matching slip.  Here's what the current caretaker knows about the gown:

Lovely Laces and Buttons

Here's a lovely little chiffon blouse from the Basya Berkman Vintage collection.  The only mending help it needed from me was re-attaching loose snaps.  I'm sharing it here because the laces and buttons are so delightful.

The buttons, which are decorative only, are sweet little crocheted covers over solid bases. (The front placket snaps closed.)

 

A House, A Book, Zippers, and Buttons

I popped in to an estate sale at this historic register house near my neighborhood as much to visit the house as to shop.  The house was built in 1860, with a single story addition just visible on the side that was built in the 1950s.

The previous owners had collected wonderful antique furniture and accessories.  Their daughter was there and said her parents had moved there after their children moved along, and lived there for 30 years.  The house is in great condition, small rooms, loads of wood.

Repairing Broken Lace

This is a lovely Edwardian dress with loads of lovely lace.  The lace was broken in a few places.  Here's how I repaired it.

Break #1
Petals had broken away from the borders, leaving the flower crumpled and fraying.

Before

I decided not to cut any of the dangling thread ends, so as avoid risking more unraveling.  I whipstitched the broken thread ends to the remaining lace.

Luxurious Vintage Lace Jabot

One of the best things about repairing vintage clothing is getting to examine the items so closely and learn from them.  In this case, I took notes all long, and now have a pattern for making a really cool accessory that isn't exactly common these days. 

Goodies

Gleanings from this weekend's estate sale shopping:

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