Hello everyone!
I am really loving being part of this group so far, as none of my
friends are really into sewing, and while they are very kind about listening to
me talk about projects, I can tell they don’t have a clue what I am banging on
about! So it is lovely to read the
posts here, and to have met some of you at an outing.
I have been sewing since I was five years old,
when my mother bought me my first little hand crack machine and showed me how
to make outfits for my dolls. I love to
upcycle items, play with different ways of putting patterns together (is it
called pattern hacking these days?), and to clash fabrics and colours. I am very inspired by the fashions of the
1920’s to the 1960’s. I have a
particular love of very finely finished garments, and I am always trying out
new seam finishes, and ways of making the inside of my pieces as beautiful as
the outside. If you want to know more about me my new website is at www.jennstitches.com . I also really enjoy taking
old garments and remaking them into new ones, especially as I hate to see
fabric wasted. Therefore Make Do and
Mend is right up my street, and that combined with my love of vintage fashion
made me eager to see the exhibition I am writing about today.
Fashion on the Ration: 1940’s Street Style is
currently on at the Imperial War Museum.
As a lover of all things from the first half of the 20th century, I was
eager to see it, and hopefully get some inspiration for my own sewing.
During the Second World War, women showed great
ingenuity in clothing their families despite the rations that were placed first
on ready-made clothing, and then on dressmaking fabrics. By re-using and adapting clothes that were
already in their possession they created new garments, and I would say a very
personal sense of style. I was really
taken with how unique the women looked in the photographs in the exhibition,
much more so than in group photos from earlier decades.
There are a number of homemade garments on
display in the exhibition as well as a series of uniforms for various branches
of the services, although the actual garments are outnumbered by photos of what
was worn. There is however, an excellent
section on Utility clothing.
The Utility scheme was introduced in 1942 as an
attempt to create more equality in the clothing available to those in different
financial strata. When rationing was
first introduced an article of clothing required the same number of coupons
regardless of the quality. Therefore
someone who could afford a high-quality, robust garment would have it last much
longer, thereby freeing up future coupon allocations for other wardrobe
pieces. Those who had to purchase much
cheaper versions would find themselves needing to replace the garment a great
deal sooner. By introducing the Utility
scheme the government was trying to standardise the quality of clothing, and at
the same time save even more fabric for the war effort by limiting the amount
that could be used for any particular kind of garment.
The range of clothing on display in this part of
the exhibition is a testament to how much you can do design-wise with very
little material!
Seeing the exhibition inspired me to have a go
at a vintage pattern I had bought last year.
This is a reproduction of a 1943 McCall’s dress pattern, and it uses
surprisingly little fabric for the amount of style detail that is in it.
As you will see from the images, it is a lovely
curved neckline, which is finished with a rather scanty facing - but why waste
material on the inside! I will say that
the neckline was the hardest part of the dress, and I did have to baste it into
place twice before I got it to sit nicely.
This is because the shoulder seam is sitting to the front of the
shoulder and has a curve in it as well.
There are several large dots close together on the pattern at the
shoulder, and it took some time to work out which ones were supposed to match
up! I did burst out laughing at my first
attempt and I wish now I had taken a picture of it on the mannequin!
The fastening on this dress is a placket
fastening. Some of you might remember
seeing the contestants on GBSB Series Two grappling with this on the vintage
blouse they made. Essentially the way it
works is that the seam allowance on each side of the opening is faced with a
small rectangle of fabric, one folding inside the garment and one extending past
the edge. These then overlap and have
hooks and eyes or poppers attached to close the gap when the dress is done up.
The bright red button and the buckle on the belt
were both vintage items I found at my great aunt’s home. She was a seamstress as well, and I love
adding little bits and pieces I found in her stash to my own garments.
The exhibition at the IWM is on until the 31st
of August and is well worth a visit. I
particularly liked the recordings of real people sharing their experiences of
Fashion on the Ration! If you do go and
get inspired to try a vintage make, then do post a picture of it so we can all
admire.
P.S. from Barbara- Do check out Jennifer's web site and all the fantastic things she has made in the photograph Gallery there.
