I have been doing a lot of sewing lately and will soon have several maternity outfits to share with you, but for now here's something a little different.

This outfit is what I call vintage inspired, not close enough to the real thing for a vintage reproduction. 

I had posted about it a few years ago when I first bought and altered the skirt, but this is the first time I've gotten photos of it when worn.

I've been thinking a lot lately about vintage knit and crochet wear, especially inspired by Vintage Gal and her gorgeous 1930s knitted jumpers. It's such a great way to dress authentically, there's an endless amount of garment and accessory options for any decade you wish, and is more portable than a sewing project. It adds versatility to a vintage wardrobe, especially for fall and winter months. Plus you might have just the right color of yarn for a badly needed wardrobe piece, and not have the right fabric!

This sweater is not quite close enough to 1950s for me to call it that, but it definitely fits the right general overall style. I am in the process of making a second version with some alterations to make it closer to authentic. Also a better fit, since this one was made when I was several sizes larger – hence the belt, which still works because belts were occasionally worn with sweater blouses. 

I will say that comfort is a big plus with knitted and crocheted vintage garments, since they are easier to move around in than a snug-fitting similar garment in fabric and usually were not worn with belts. So especially now when I am growing and changing in size, I'm thinking more about adding some crochet pieces to my wardrobe. If I knew how to knit, I would totally want to make some knitted ones, but there's a large crochet spectrum to keep me busy at the moment without repining (too much) for those amazing knitted garments.

There are many patterns in existence from vintage magazines so with patience you can make exact replicas of what they would have made and worn then, but the patterns back then were much more sketchy, general, and hard to follow, often with a single fuzzy or distant photo to illustrate. Challenging, to say the least.

In fact, the difficulties associated with vintage patterns have given me the idea to do my own line of pattern reproduction crochet designs for authentic garments and accessories but that are written with modern terminology, photos, and pattern details. More on that next month, hopefully.

The skirt has a lovely border print similar to 1950s novelty skirts, with lots of color in it to choose for accents. And it fits me comfortably just now. One benefit of changing sizes is that some my favorite clothes that used to fit and were too big for me, now fit again…at least temporarily.

So while it's a combination of modern garments (other than the undershirt, which I made from a 1940s blouse pattern), it still has the classic femininity of vintage styles…and is about as modern as I get! 🙂