Vintage May guest: The Cottage Home

I’m pretty sure our first Vintage May guest doesn’t need much introduction! Lindsay writes The Cottage Home blog, and she is one skilled lady! She is always designing the most lovely clothing for her two adorable daughters and son! She has put out some fantastic patterns (I so respect people who can do pattern since I can’t!! yet…), and I just can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. On top of all of that, she has lots of yummy recipes on her blog (I’ve tried a few-delish!), and she is one of the sweetest bloggers around! Without further ado, here’s Lindsay!

Hi, my name is Lindsay and I am visiting today from my blog, The Cottage Home.  I’m so excited to be here kicking off the ‘Vintage May’ series!  Jess and I have a lot in common when it comes to our love of vintage styles for little girls.  Most of the designs that I create on my blog as well as for my sewing patterns and shop have little touches of vintage inspiration here and there.  I often wonder if I was born during the right era?  I feel like I would have fit in just right during the 1940’s.  But I digress…..

My collection of vintage children’s patterns is constantly growing.  I am always on the hunt at flea markets, antique stores and thrift stores for new patterns to add to my collection.  I don’t think you can ever have too many!  I just love holding and touching the patterns imagining the women of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s sewing these sweet garments for their little ones.

One of the things that really attracts me to vintage children’s fashions is the fact that during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s women really dressed their little girls like little girls.  I kind of feel the same way with my little ladies, there is plenty of time for them to dress like adults, but I want to preserve their girlhood for as long as I possibly can.  And vintage inspired children’s fashion is a great place to start!

Today I’m sharing a little dress I created that I like to call ‘Classic Vintage May’.  When I think of a classic vintage girls dress, this is what comes to mind………

My interpretation of a classic vintage-inspired girls dress is an a-line dress with puff sleeves, a peter pan collar, an inverted front pleat with fabric covered buttons up the back.

For a little vintage detail I used a fabric yo-yo that was reclaimed from an old vintage yo-yo quilt and placed a vintage button in the center.  I always think it’s really fun to mix a little new with the old, so this was my little piece of ‘old’ that I paired with this more bold fabric choice.

To me, one of the special things about vintage fashion is the attention to details.  Women in generations past took lots of time and care in the details of their children’s clothing.  One of my favorite vintage details is piping and I truly believe it can take an ordinary garment to extraordinary.

I added a classic puff sleeve to the a-line style dress, but inserted some deep plum piping into the seam between the sleeve and the binding.

I echoed the same plum colored piping from the sleeves and inserted into the peter pan collar.  Is there anything sweeter on a little girl than a peter pan collar?  I don’t think so and adding piping is an easy detail that can add a lot of wow factor to your vintage inspired children’s fashion.

And finally, let’s talk a little bit about fabric.  A great way to update a vintage look is to use more modern patterned fabric.  I’ve certainly see some absolutely adorable reproduction vintage fabrics on the market, but my style is a little more bold.  I chose this larger print for the main dress and a slightly smaller scale accent fabric for the sleeve binding and collar.  The only real vintage fabric I included was the fabric yo-yo in the center of dress.

Some people shy away from using large prints in children’s garments, but I think you can make it work if you use these fabrics strategically.  Also the modern fabric that I chose had vintage influences in its design as well, so I think it pairs well with this style dress.  Using modern fabrics helps bring the classic silhouette into modern day.  Fabric is from Tula Pink’s ‘Parisville’ line.

So I leave you with some pictures of this sweet ‘Classic Vintage May’ dress that were taken out by the well in front of our house.  The well no longer works, but back when our cottage home was built in 1934 it was visited and used daily. I can just see a little girl wearing this style dress running around our front yard playing while her mommy and daddy gathered water from the well.  Those were simpler times, but it sure is fun to bring a little of that vintage back!

I cannot wait to see what these other amazingly talented bloggers share with us for the rest of the ‘Vintage May’ series.  I know they will be incredible as the talent in blog-land is out of this world!

Thank you so much to Jess for including me as part of this series.  
And a big giant congratulations to her and her family on baby #3 due in November!!
For free patterns, tutorials, recipes and craft ideas, please stop on by The Cottage Home: www.thecottagehome.blogspot.com and to purchase sewing patterns as well as finished garments, please visit my shop, The Cottage Mama: www.thecottagemama.com.

Comments

  1. Holy cats! I am in love with this, can you buy this pattern somewhere? I didn’t see it on her sight.

  2. Love the dress. It’s adorable. Great fabric choice too.

  3. Growing up, these were the dresses my mom made for me. The cottons in those days didn’t give a good edge without careful pressing constantly so the use of piping, in addition to adding a huge “cute” factor, was a perfect way to create and maintain a crisp edge on sleeves and collar curves. Awesome post!!!

  4. Lindsay, I loved reading your post and feel exactly the same way about wanting to dress my little girls like little girls–they are only young for such a small time…anyways, you’re awesome.
    liZ

  5. Lindsay, I loved reading your post and feel exactly the same way about wanting to dress my little girls like little girls–they are only young for such a small time…anyways, you’re awesome.
    liZ

  6. Lindsay, I loved reading your post and feel exactly the same way about wanting to dress my little girls like little girls–they are only young for such a small time…anyways, you’re awesome.
    liZ

  7. Lindsay, I loved reading your post and feel exactly the same way about wanting to dress my little girls like little girls–they are only young for such a small time…anyways, you’re awesome.
    liZ

  8. Such a sweet interpretation of a classic style! I, too, love when little girls are dressed this way. This type of dress was often called an apron style. Today, that term usually conjures up a different style. One of my favorite lines of traditional patterns is Children’s Corner. Their Carol pattern is very similar to this, and one I use very often. Thanks for sharing such wonderful inspiration!

  9. Darling, as always, Lindsay. This is such a signature look for you – I would know it was a Cottage Mama piece anywhere. 🙂

    xo,
    Stef

  10. How pretty! Love the purple piping and I think little girls should be dressed like little girls too. 🙂

  11. I have never tried piping, but I really want to 🙂

  12. simply beautiful, lindsay! love those tula pink fabrics and you paired them so well.

  13. What a lovely little dress! Wish it came in a size 10. Like you I think the color and sleeves make the dress. Beautiful! Parisville is my favorite line. I have two f/q bundles I’m saving.

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