1940 Valerie jumper - bodice, up to the armholes!

Just a quick catch-up before the weekend on the Valerie jumper:


Knitting in round this is what the sides look like. I increased by make ones, picking up and knitting the loop of the previous row. (more details on how to do this under the tab 'knitting hints'.


At the end of skein 3 (at about armhole height). I really love the 'dense'  structure and the 3-dimensional effect of the diamond pattern:




The front neckline, slightly altered. I widened it a bit but kept the shape which is somewehere between a V and a U




finished front:

vintage 'kick-proof' baby bootie pattern from 1963

Continuing the big baby bootee project, may I present this weeks free and tested baby bootie pattern, from the early 60's. These booties have turned-down cuffs with a lace pattern and a 'kick-proof' construction. Quite different from the other patterns I tested! This bootie takes slightly more time to knit due to more stitches and the extra-long cuff, but the main part is knit in garter stitch, which speeds up the work a little. The pattern suggest to use white wool, but again, I used my grey test-yarn with a contrasting color for the ties.

"Kick-proof bootees are knitted in garter-stitch with turn-down pattern trimmed cuffs"

The secret of the kick-proof construction lies in the ingenious elastic ribbing hidden under the cuffs. Very smart indeed!


close-up of the lace 'leaf' pattern:
  

material & sizing:

• The original pattern instructs to use 10 sts to 1 in (=40 sts to 10 cm). This is lace weight yarn in combination with no.13 needles (=metric 2.25) and should result in a 4 in (10 cm) length of the foot.
• I made my sample with the usual, sport/fingering weight yarn and a gauge of 26 sts=10 cm (6,5 sts to 1 inch) with metric size 3 needles and these booties turned out quite large indeed. They measure 14,5 cm (=5,7 in) from heel to toe! For a smaller size you should either use the suggested, much thinner yarn in combination with the 2.25 needle or modify/resize the pattern. Resizing is possible, though using another yarn is a much faster solution. 

construction:
These booties are knitted from the soles up to the cuffs. There is a seamline running from the back of the booties through the soles. Below a picture of the instep front (left) and back (right). You can see that the toe shaping is made by yarn overs which result in two rows of small holes:
   

toe shaping front and side view:
   

the little lace pattern on the cuffs:


the bootie before sewing up with the ribbing:


the cuff folded down:


abbreviations for beginners:
k = knit
p = purl
k 2 tog. = knit two together
the instructions use different abbreviations, I just did the same 'yarn over' every time:
w.r.n. = wool round needle
w.o.n. = wool over needle
w.fwd. = wool forward

suggested pattern modification:

• when knitting the last repeat of 1st and 2nd row of the cuffs, repeat it 2 times instead of 3 and then continue with 5 rows of garter stitch before finishing. I feel that 3 repeats would be too long to balance out the lace rows properly.
• use metric size 2.5 needles and fingering weight yarn for smaller size, to fit 3-6 months old baby.

the original pattern:

source original pattern and newspaper images: AWW through Trove

Schiaparelli's 1936 wardrobe plan

"If you own a fairly large variety of cheap clothes and change them a dozen times a day, you will never appear chic; cheapness is always apparent."

I hate when this happens but last year I accidentally deleted a complete post with text and a bunch of pictures I've prepared!!! It took hours to find and edit the best pictures and to write the text, but with one mistake it was all gone. Finally I had the time to prepare a new version, hope you like it!

As I wrote here fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli was often asked to contribute to fashion articles in the 30's. In a 1936 magazine interview she advised on building a basic wardrobe from scratch: "how to dress inexpensively and yet look smart as a star" (link to full text: click here) The article only describes the main clothing items, basic things like underwear, stockings and blouses are not listed. Her most important message is that good,  simply made clothes never date. You can better invest in quality than quantity. So true!

did you know...
...that Schiaparelli had her own signature shade: shocking pink? The color is said to be inspired by a pink diamond by Cartier. Schiaparelli used it often in her collections and for the packaging for her 1937 fragrance, named Shocking. She asked Surrealist designer Leonor Fini to create a perfume bottle imitating the curves of movie star Mae West. She once called the shade "life-giving, like all the light and the birds and the fish in the world put together, a color of China and Peru but not of the West – a shocking colour, pure and undiluted."

If you want to start building your own (vintage) wardrobe, these are the key items she suggests to start with:

• a good suit
• a good coat
• two plain dresses for afternoon and dinner
• a smart evening dress and an evening wrap
• sweater
• shoes
• hats, bags, jewelry

So, how to be chic on a small income? To give you an idea how such a mini-wardrobe would look like, first an impression from an 1936 AWW issue:


Sounds easy, right? Now let's see the comments of Ms. Schiaparelli on every item, plus more inspiration from the late 1930's!

suit:
"Buy a good suit and live in it, rather than a lot of cheap clothes.Let it be a good, tailored suit, carefully made, with beautiful material and don't be afraid to be seen in it too often."


coat:
Preferably a black coat with a fur collar. "For winter you should have a 3/4 fur coat, if you can not afford fur, a heavy tweed." Add for a cool summer climate a 3/4 cloth coat.




dresses:
"For the first dress I would suggest a good crepe, with two different scarfs to be worn with."



evening dress:
"Add a little jacket for informal parties and leave it off for the formals."


sweater:
"A good sweater for weekends in the country and general sports."


shoes:

- 1 pair of Oxfords

- 1 pair of pumps with Cuban heels

- 1 pair of evening sandals (in either silver of gold, they last a long time)
"Shoes should never be conspicous. a shoe to be really smart should be as pain as possible, with a heel that suits the girl who wears it."


shoes, hats, bags:
- a minimum of 2 hats, one felt and one dressy hat
"Shoes, hats, bag and gloves ar frightfully important and should be considered together. All should match in color."

newspaper images: AWW through Trove
jewelry:
"Cheap jewelry should never be worn, unless it happens to be something that you positively know suits your type. Pearls, including cheap imitations are always in good taste. Plain gold jewelry in a modern design is always good."

"Buy good clothes only and never be afraid to wear them too often, or of not being in style."

above: Ms. Schiaparelli herself

40's starlet: the beautiful lauren bacall

Who do you think is the most beautiful 40's Hollywood starlet? My favorite is Lauren Bacall. She has a beautiful face and the most fabulous eyebrows ever!

"Lauren Bacall, glamorous 20-year old newcomer, made a sensational screen debut with Humphrey bogart in 'To have, and have not'. Bogart wants to marry her as soon as his divorce from Mago Methot is final. In 1943 Mrs. Howard Hawkins, wife of producer-director, saw Laren's photo in a magazine, and persuaded her husband to give her a screen test. Under contract to Warners', Lauren has just finished her second film, 'The big sleep', and is scheduled for the lead in 'The Fountainhead'." (march 1945)

A scene from her first movie with Humphrey Bogart. The story was based on a novel of Ernest Hemingway. The 20 years old Bacall and 45 years old Bogart met and fell in love on the set. She was is fourth wife, but also the last one. Their dream-marriage ended 13 years later, in 1957 when he died of cancer at the age of 57.

did you know that...
... the famous, mysterious 'look' of Bacall we see in many pictures (when she tilted her head and looked upwards, like below) was caused by her nervousness? Lauren Bacall was so nervous on set, that she had trembling head. "I found that by holding my head at a certain angle, and looking up I could hold it still, so I could either look to the side or look up, but I held my chin down. And that's how that became the look" she said.

"Lauren Bacall, most publicised feminine star of 1945, and wife of Humphrey Bogart, started her career as a model for Harper's Bazaar. Known to all her friends by her real name of Betty, she confesses she is not the fussy type in cloths, and prefers plainly cut frocks and slacksuits. She never wears a hat, and all her jewellery is gold. Since her marriage she has become adept at sailing her husband's yachts and skiffs. Her newest film is Warners' 'Confidential agent' with Charles Bogert." (february 1946)

A documentary about her life and career she built on her own, after her Hollywood years and the death of Bogart:

Source newspaper images: AWW through Trove

1940 Valerie jumper - Introduction

Here it is, a new jumper post!
After knitting my first three 40's jumpers I must say I really enjoy the knitting process and love the fit. Can't wait to make more!


The first pattern above is from an online, 40's edition of the Australian Women's Weekly magazine, the second one was a free pattern, shared by a kind person on the internet and and the third one is from the website of the Victoria&Albert museum. After knitting those you might conclude that I love free patterns, bright colors and my current fav. yarn to use is the drops baby merino, knit with metric size 3 needles.
As you know I'm a bit torn between the 30's and the 40's for various reasons. For the next jumper pattern I went back to the AWW. Let me introduce you Valerie:

color: 33 'electric blue'

"Start knitting this attractive Valerie jumper now: a jumper that combines with your tailored tweeds to serve you smartly all winter through. Note the uncluttered neckline with it's quaint new trim. The pattern is a semi-open diamond stitch with ribbed neck tabs."

'Valerie' appeared in an early 1940 issue of the AWW, but it certainly could be a late 30's pattern. I think the unusual ribbed neck tabs (which I love!) are a rather 30's looking feature. 40's jumpers often have plain, rounded neck finished with ribbing and various versions of scarfs, ribbons, bows are one of the most common 30's feature i.m.o. Just think of Miss Lemon's style!
There are no puffy sleeves yet, and the sweater features a pretty overall diamond pattern too. The original color is blue, looking at the BW picture it could be a lighter shade, but I choose a vibrant 'electric blue' from drops baby merino which I've bought on sale. How about a pretty sweater for about 20 euro's?!!

the pattern chart: 

The pattern is rather simple but very decorative. You only need to use knit and purl stitches. You need to pay some attention, but after the first few repeats it is easy to memorize. You can spot mistakes right away and correcting them is easy as well.


the pattern diagram:
The AWW patterns don't include pattern diagrams though they can be helpful to understand the construction of a knitted garment. As you can see the sleeve-cap is quite different from the other two jumpers I made, because Valerie has a normal sleeve-cap with flat shoulders, without puff:


planned modifications:
- knit round (that way it is even easier to follow the pattern and there are more knit stitches which is faster for me)
- make the jumper with 3/4 sleeves
- use my 'standard stitchcount' for the bodice, since I need to enlarge the pattern a bit
- add more stitches towards the bustline if needed - the original pattern doesn't include increases

Next time I show you how pretty the diamond pattern looks!