I have one final sewing project from 2018 to show you before I do my year's recap, but since I haven't gotten photos of it yet, this week I want to share another lovely vintage suit from the 1950s.

I went from having only one vintage suit to owning 3 or 4 in just a few weeks, thanks to an antique shopping trip – and winning this suit on eBay. I got it for a very good price since it needed some TLC. One button was coming apart, and the skirt zipper was broken, with part of the side seam also separated.

The button I more or less fixed with some glue, but the zipper was easily something I could do with all my sewing experience. I just used my seam ripper to take out the broken one, and used a short vintage gray metal zipper in my stash to replace it. It took a few tries since it's a lapped zipper and I'm not used to sewing lapped zippers, but I figured it out! And of course I forgot to take before and after photos…

My other adventure with this suit was washing it by hand. I read up on washing vintage suits first, and there is so much varied opinion on if it's wise to do or not…but I finally decided that I hadn't paid much for it and wasn't going to spend the money to dry clean it, so it if it wouldn't wash then there was no big loss. I tried the skirt first, and the fabric behaved well, so next was the jacket – more nerve wracking because of those beautiful details!

Actually, the wool gabardine was just fine in the water. It was the jacket lining that didn't come out the same. It went from a silky lining to having a crepe texture, but it was good enough to wear, so I called it a success. The jacket smelled much fresher, some of the slight sweat stains at the neck came out, and the water was quite dirty when I was finished, so I'm glad to get all that gunk out of it.

It's the most beautiful woven gray and white fabric with such lovely drape and smoothness. The suit has simple lines – there is a tiny slit at the bottom of the skirt on each side, and the jacket has princess panels in the back. It's a tiny bit too tight for me, so I probably should move the buttons over an inch.

The jacket has has the pretty details, and I just love them! The double covered buttons are unique. I'm especially delighted to find a suit that fits me and has some special detailing for such a low price.

It's a perfect neutral color suitable for several seasons and many accessory colors. I tend to pair blue and gray together, so my accessories were navy this time, but I added a touch of color with this colorful patchwork embroidered purse that was gifted to me. It's so pretty!

Everything I am wearing is vintage, from approximately the same era, so I felt very 1950s appropriate!

I've said before that though I enjoy sewing my own clothes, there's something special about wearing actual vintage pieces. All the better when I can use my sewing skills to rescue an outfit that well deserves rescuing. 🙂