Make do and mend: 3-for-1

I have been running a chemistry experiment of sorts for a week.

I have three very favorite vintage white blouses (two made of cotton and one poly/cotton blend) dating from the 1940s and 50s. All three of these I wore quite often more than six years ago. Their lengthy careers ended abruptly when somehow they got into a warm wash load with bleach.

Have you seen what happens to very subtle underarms stains when they are bleached? Those subtle underarm stains turn an angry shade of yellow that refuses to be removed.

Yes, denisebrain sweats. There I said it.

However I love these three blouses so much that I kept them on the off chance I would find a new solution to their problem.

Because of my resolve to help my fix-me pile this month, I decided to give many solutions a try on these blouses. I like to start from the least toxic alternative and work my way into the nasty stuff.

First it was baking soda paste (with water). If you have unbleached fairly recent underarms stains this can work, but for me this time...nada.

Then it was a slightly diluted white vinegar soak. The blouses smelled like tossed salad and the stains didn’t budge at all.

Next I got out other non-bleach stain removers. Ammonia has been recommended to me by dry cleaners for washable sweat-stained clothing. I gave the ammonia several chances. Then I used Pit Stop, among other things.

PitStop (now called Raise) is, for many cases of recent sweat stains, very effective on washable clothing. However, I’m truly disturbed that the ingredients are not listed on the bottle. Thanks to an about.com page by Mary Marlowe Leverette, I know that the active ingredients are:

- sodium hydroxide, also known as lye or caustic soda

- cocamidopropyl betine, a synthetic surfactant derived from coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine

- EDTA or Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a polyamino carboxylic acid

Rubber gloves, open doors, a breathing mask and multiple attempts later...nothing. It didn’t even begin to budge these old bleach-set stains.

Finally in desperation I searched online using terms like “stubborn,” “old,” “bleach-set,” “impossible,” “horrendous”... OK, so I exaggerate slightly. I found The Art of Manliness blog on the subject. With the writer’s six year-old yellowed stains he had no success with ammonia but he had great success with a less toxic solution: OxiClean.

So into the OxiClean went my blouses. In two full days I saw maybe some letting up. In the meantime, I could at least breathe around the soaking solution, so I let the blouses stay in the solution for five days. After five days...100% success! The blouses are cleaner than the’ve ever been and those bleach-set sweat stains finally packed up and went home.

I could practically cry for joy to get these favorite blouses back! It is true that the more epic the effort the better it feels to achieve the goal. I feel pretty good!

Do you have any fabulous stain removal tricks?

Come on, I just told you one of mine! 

Make do and mend: Old friend edition

It is now day six of my 12-Day challenge to clean or mend 12 items from my own wardrobe. Because for my business I fix a lot of clothing issues, I never get to my own. Or I never used to—but now I’m almost in a habit!

Today I come to a 1970s knit top that has been at the bottom of my mending pile for quite some time. It is nothing fancy and it appears to have been worn quite a lot before it came to me. It was someone’s old friend. It is hard not to love that row of buttons down the front.

I found the top at an estate sale some time ago. I was gathering up vintage clothing when I saw some photos on a bureau and realized that I was in the house of a friend of mine who had passed away a year before. I didn’t know this was the family home in which she grew up and I didn’t recognize the clothing, but when I inquired I found out that this was my friend’s very closet as a teenager.

Of course I had to keep this top. Not only does it have a delightful row of white buttons down its front but it was an old friend—of an old friend.

The top is black nylon knit and it had two not-so-tiny holes on the side front. The hem was stitched with that undependable 1970s plastic thread. One pull and it is out of there, so although only a stretch of hem was missing, I decided to resew the whole thing by hand. Because of the stretch knit I kept the stitches loose enough for give.

 The top is washable but tends to get lots of wrinkles, as you can see.

I sewed the holes up with basically the same technique I use for all knits (here is a tutorial from Lady Ott). The smooth fabric shows a mend but once I had steamed the top (smoothing out the fabric’s wrinkles was easy with a steamer) they weren’t conspicuous.

Now it’s ready to go again.

Make do and mend: Broken zipper edition

I have this 1960s pale aqua blue cocktail dress made of elegant silk and wool alaskine. Somehow the metal zipper lost a tooth and became derailed. It’s a sight I hate to see!

Actually, fixing a derailed metal zipper is almost always possible but it can be a bit tedious, so it’s not my favorite repair. While looking at others’ techniques online I found a great idea for just this issue. I used to try to slip the zipper pull back on at the point of the missing tooth. This sometimes took some patience.

Then I found a tutorial calling for snipping a tiny slit below the last tooth. If you have a missing tooth right near the bottom of the zipper this is a huge time saver. The zipper pull was back on track in seconds! Then I just had to whipstitch over the bottom of the zipper a tiny bit above the missing tooth/slit. I also stitched over the very bottom of the zipper as inconspicuously as I could so there would be no gap.

Now here’s a sight I love to see:

Cocktails anyone?

Aqua pearl cocktail from Epicurious.com

Thanks to Kyliie’s Thread for the idea!

Make do and mend: Earth Day edition

It is day four of my 12-day mend/fix/clean challenge. Today I’m very glad to keep an item going, because on Earth Day I am especially interested in making do with what I have.

I found an early 1970s suit in a thrift store in 1999, the year I began my vintage clothing business. I saw that it had no buttons on its jacket but I immediately loved it, took it home, found some white buttons to sew on and have worn it all the time since.

Yes it’s double knit polyester, yes it’s loud. On Earth Day about six years ago a music colleague of mine asked me if I would like to join in the local Procession of the Species wearing the outfit. Apparently I looked to him a bit like a wild critter of some sort. I took that as a big compliment.

This outfit was originally sewn with that nasty clear plastic thread that was used in the 1970s. I can’t tell you how many times I have pulled a little bit of that thread only to have the entire hem fall out of a skirt...this one included. I long ago re-sewed the hem. Now the casing at the waistband has come partly unstitched and the elastic is shot.

The elastic has stood up pretty well considering it dates from about 1973, but... 

I don’t have a fancy sewing machine. It has two stitches: Forward and backward. Still, I adore my sewing machine, a vintage Singer Featherweight that belonged to my mother. I restitched the casing and pulled elastic through (my waist size + about 1" in length), sewed the elastic ends together and sealed up the opening. 

Now I have my crazy wonderful suit back in time for Earth Day:

I’ll bet most of you know how to do this, or could easily do this when needed, and it is a very handy skill for vintage clothing appreciators. There are a number of simple tutorials for the technique online, such as this one.

Save your vintage clothing ...and Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day, and the 15th anniversary of denisebrain

Although it was a coincidence, I’ve always thought that having my business’s anniversary be on Earth Day is highly appropriate. Vintage clothing, after all, is the most beautiful of recycling. If it isn’t on your list of things to do to save resources, consider the humble t-shirt. According to National Resources Defense Council, just the water it takes to raise a pound of cotton (enough for one new shirt) is 700 to 2,000 gallons.

Today, besides celebrating the 44th Earth Day, I am celebrating the 15th anniversary of denisebrain. 1999 now seems like a very long time ago, but that is the year I first hung out my virtual shingle and sold my first vintage dress.

Many things have changed since 1999. I wish I could turn back the clock to my younger self, but that’s not possible, and in many ways it wouldn’t be a good thing.

I can, however, offer my customers a taste of the past: For the next week I am marking down my postage costs to more or less where they were when I started. Some examples: A just over one pound package across the U.S. is now about $10, and for this week you will get the vintage rate of $3.95. For the same package going to Australia, pay $11 instead of $17. In my Etsy store you will find these rates already in place. In my web store it isn’t so easy to change the postage so I will reimburse you the extra postage paid during the week of April 22 through 29.

Enjoy my carefully chosen clothing from the past and a postage rate from the past this week while you do your part for the Earth.

Make do and mend: Day 3

Right now I have several chemistry experiments going on with stains in my favorite clothing...I will report back when I found out which, if any, are successful.

In the meantime I took on the relatively simple job of re-glueing a satin flower on a shoe for my Day 3 project.

These are not just any shoes but my very favorite shoes, and I’m a shoe addict. Made by Walter Steiger in the 1970s, they have ballet slipper-like squared toes and wrapped ankles. The platforms and heels are just perfect to me, both in style and comfort. I could wear these all day every day if they weren’t so dear to me. I wear them only occasionally with the hope they will last forever.

I have a drawerful of glues and a tendency to read every label before I decide which one to use. I think I will stop reading the fine print in great detail now that I know there is a Design Sponge article which includes types of adhesives, a chart of appropriate glues for various tasks, how to glue properly, and even a natural glue recipe. When it comes to glueing fabric, make sure you use one that is appropriate to the cleaning of the item (dry clean only or washable). In this case, the shoes will not be cleaned other than dusting. I used Soba Premium Craft and Fabric Glue.

Mission accomplished, they are ready to step out again!

Make do and mend: Easter edition

It is Day 2 of my challenge to mend or clean 12 of my own wardrobe’s items in 12 days. It is also Easter, so I contemplated which of my mending items would look spiffy to wear on Easter Sunday.

I decided the obvious choice was a wonderful late 1930s jacket that has been out of commission for a few years. It is labeled Haddad. If the clothing I find with this label is any indication, the store was a very fashionable place to shop in Spokane. A number of older women have told me how much they loved the place.

This jacket is made of a light, spring-y black wool crepe with bright pink wool jersey lining the front edges and collar. The jacket even has a matching pink jersey dicky. It has little semi-pockets with twisted wool detail around their edges.

The problem has been the covered buttons. Made using the same light wool jersey, these had worn through to the point of being unusable.

This is where my one hoarding instinct has come in handy: I collect vintage buttons, and most especially sets of vintage buttons. Many button collectors are after a single perfect vintage button, but my eyes are always open for a set that can replace those that are missing on my vintage clothing finds.

In my black button stash I have a couple of great old buttons in plastic and four faceted black glass buttons. I need five for my jacket. I have cards of vintage buttons in black but these just don’t seem sufficiently interesting for this stellar jacket.

I eventually came across this set, probably of roughly the same era as the jacket. I would prefer a button with a shank, but I love the beaded-look detail.

If I’ve learned anything from mending my vintage clothing finds, it is to try to imitate what is already there. These buttons were sewn with substantial thread shanks, and without any of their sewing thread showing on the back of the placket, because that pink lining was made to show and you wouldn’t want black threads interfering.

I used to think that sewing a button was just a matter of running six stitches through the button, but had to rethink my button sewing technique when I saw how many vintage buttons were sewn with thread shanks.

There is an easy and clear tutorial about sewing a button the right way, with a thread shank, over on the Chronicle Books blog.

Just one case of gnarled-up thread and one needle poke later, I had myself a newly restored jacket. See how nicely these buttons complement the pocket detail?

And it’s ready just in time for my Easter promenade. Happy Easter everyone!

Make do and mend: The 12-day challenge

In my last post I explained how busy a month it is for me and how hard it is to get to mending and cleaning of my favorite clothing with a schedule that is packed to bursting.

Now there are 12 days left in the month and 12 items are on my agenda to fix. Can I do it? I’m not entirely sure! Stay tuned to find out.

I am starting today with one of my favorite items in need of help, a relatively recent (purchased about four years ago) jacket by Anne Klein. It was radiant orchid before anyone was talking about radiant orchid, and when I wear this jacket people tend to comment on how good the color is on me.

Last fall I was on a weekend trip to Seattle and I—being Mistress of the Grand Gesture—ripped out a seam at the back of an armhole. I didn’t have a sewing kit with me so inquired about one at the desk of the motel where we were staying. The best color thread in their little give-away kit was closer to Seattle Sky Grey than Radiant Orchid but I made do and tried to sew up the seam thoroughly and as inconspicuously as possible.

This was meant to be very temporary but of course I didn’t go to replace the stitching until today, a few days after my hand sewing ripped out. This time I did it right, with a sewing machine. I had to unpick the lining for a short stretch at the hem in order to get at the seam properly, but once it was open I could make a sturdy machine-sewn repair.

I happened to have the exact right color of thread from a project in the 1980s (this color is not new!) and I sewed the seam twice, being the Grand Gesture Princess. I briefly thought of reinforcing the other armhole in case I might care to wave my left arm about madly in the future, but decided I’m too much of an optimist.

Then all that remained was to hand sew the short stretch of lining at the hem.

And here it is, my sturdy seam, ready for one of my famous grand gestures:

Vintage with messages

I have heard from some of you how much you like the background stories of vintage items of clothing. Lots of times I’m asked about the history of a particular dress and can’t say, but personal encounters make the clothes come alive in a great way.

In the past few weeks I have found a couple items with notes. I didn’t meet the original owners but their notes are such lovely links to the past.

This hat, in my Etsy shop, was wrapped with tissue:

This dress came from another woman with a note pinned inside the neckline. It is in my web store now:

One of the more interesting time capsules I’ve seen in my vintage business is this linen clutch with its contents, from the years 1940 and 41, intact.

My vintage sources

I sometimes get to know something of the women from whom I acquire vintage clothing.

I’ve written about Jacqueline, the mother of a very good friend of mine (I love my vintage clothing sources)

Juana, who worked as a model for one of Spokane’s department stores (Another favorite source)

Helen, a philanthropist (An ode to Helen South Alexander and A tiny fraction of Mrs. Alexander’s clothing)

I woman I only know through her grand niece (The suitcase lot)

Mrs. Gordon, whose husband was blinded in WWII yet she dressed to the nines (You’re a sight to see, Mrs. Gordon!)

Alice, about to be married for the second time at the wonderful age of 85+ (Lovely lady lot)

Betty, who was a manager at one of Spokane’s department stores (She’s a Betty)

There are more, and they have been so gracious to me. I have many unofficial grandparents!

I think of Ruby, who made her own clothes with impeccable skill and cried when I offered her money for the clothing, which she was just going to “put out on the curb.” All 100+ pieces of it!

Mrs. Walls, who had “forgotten she had all these clothes” in her basement

Shirley, who let me come to her garage sale way out in the country a day early because she figured no one would care about the clothes (there were enough to open a store)

There was the gentleman whose wife had passed away and he was finally ready to let go of some of her clothing. He gave me a fantastic set of highballs he bought at the 1963 Seattle World’s Fair when he found out I’d grown up in Seattle.

One man I met had just purchased and laid down a load of stones to make his driveway a little smoother for my visit. His wife had been a manager of better sportswear at a department store in Spokane. We talked quite a bit because my father played jazz trombone and he had a boatload of jazz albums and played jazz himself. He asked me where I thought he got his accent and I guessed New York. He said Chicago, which is his nickname. He came to Spokane when he was 12 and he is now 105. 

Then there was Elaine who was sweeping her walk when I first met her. She is African American and came to Spokane on V-J Day, September 2, 1945. Her clothes were so precisely cared for and pristine that they were as if new.

There are many more. One that truly haunts me was an Italian-American model whose daughter offered me her mother’s clothing. She had wonderful items, including this Howard Greer dress. I happened to see her photo and she was one of the most beautiful women you could possibly imagine. She had died estranged from her family and had a very hard life, including alcoholism. Her clothing was very well kept and of spectacular design.

I like to think that we perpetuate these people through carrying their stories—and their clothing—forward.

Get lucky!

My March theme is up—and with it I wish you a wee bit of Irish luck [click on image]: 

Make some noise!

Happy 2014! I have reason to celebrate: Thank you for the incredible support you showed me in 2013. I will gush on more soon, but for now, let's make some noise:

I’ve been called many things before, but... Unfamous, Should-Be-Famous Generation X’er Pin-Up?

I've also been asked many kinds of questions before, but not most of these. The woman who is the writer of Timeless Style for the Middle-Aged  is someone I know well enough to say I believe she is a soul-searcher and I think she was searching mine a bit. I’m really honored for her kind words about me.

Not a creature was stirring

Happy December and happy all it means to each of us! My latest theme...

Fabric of the week: Gabardine

It is my 50th fabric of the week entry, and I can’t believe I’m just getting around to this one! Gabardine is a revered fabric—I’ve had many an older woman confess to me it is her favorite. I just wish younger people had a chance to know it better.

Gabardine 

Gabardine is characterized by either steep or sometimes regular twill, tightly woven, with fine, distinct diagonal ribs on the surface and a smooth back. Wools are right-hand twill, cotton may be left-hand. The warp generally has twice as many threads per inch as the weft. Made of worsted, cotton, manufactured fibers, blends, and (rarely) silk. 

Because gabardine is tightly woven (particularly in a steep twill weave) the fabric is hard-wearing and rain resistant. Its name derives from the Medieval Spanish word gabardina which means protection from the elements. 

The name was originally used for a cloak worn in the Middle Ages.

Uses: Suits, coats, rainwear, slacks, skirts, uniforms, dresses, sportswear, shirts, hats

See also:
Covert cloth

Worsted wool gabardine

Rayon gabardine ©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photos by Hoyt Carter New in my Etsy shop is this 1940s suit of worsted wool gabardine

Fabric term of the week: 2/1, 3/1, 2/2 etc.

Before you think this week’s fabric term is a math problem: These fraction-like numbers are a way of quickly describing how many yarns cross each other in a fabric’s construction.

2/1, 3/1, 2/2 etc. 

Woven fabric consists of warp and weft yarns crossing each other one at a time or in groups. Plain weave always consists of one warp yarn crossing one weft yarn, a 1/1 weave. When two warp yarns cross a weft yarn, this can be indicated as 2/1 weave. 2/2 weave has two warp yarns crossing two weft yarns. 

These fractions are read, for example, “three up, one down” for 3/1, indicating that three weaving harnesses are raised, then one is lowered for three warp yarns on the face, then one weft yarn. 

See also
 Weaving

A satin weave is most commonly 4/1 with warp yarns floating over weft yarns in numbers of 4 to 1, but can be 7/1 and even 11/1, and the interlacings do not occur in rows, giving the most uninterrupted gloss possible.

One of the more jaw-dropping satin dresses I’ve had a chance to see up close is this Ceil Chapman ball gown currently in my web store. The fabric really defines “pour of satin.”

Fabric term of the week: Nylon

The very first synthetic fiber? It was a revolutionary creation at its invention.

Nylon

The invention of nylon is credited to the chemist Wallace Carothers, working at DuPont in the 1930s. It was the first successful synthetic fiber, rayon and acetate being plant-based manufactured fibers. This first nylon was polyamide 6,6—made from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid (the 6,6 designates the two stretches of six carbon atoms that are repeated in the polymer chain). The fiber proved strong, elastic, quick to dry, and insect- and rot-resistant. The first application was in toothbrushes in 1938, but in the next year women’s hosiery became nylon’s first big success. One might even have called it a raging success, the clamor for nylons (as they came to be called) was so great. 

During WWII the new fiber was used in the war effort, taking the place of Japanese silk for parachutes. After the war, the clamor for nylons took up where it left off, and soon nylon was used for other garments—and in many household products—as it is to this day.

Publicity photo for nylon, New York World’s Fair, 1939

1960s nylon tricot knit flapper-look nightgown in my Etsy shop

If you haven’t seen already, I made a handy-dandy (if I do say so) timeline of manufactured fabrics in the VFG Fabric Resource, and here on my blog.

Favorite vintage: My odd collection

This is a rerun post, originally published in 2006 (wow...seven whole years ago!). I have a couple of other small vintage clothing collections, but this is probably the one that would surprise most.

The first time I laid eyes on a crazily-bright half slip my heart did a somersault!

I think I love these because they came at a time when fashion was evolving. Particularly the late 60s ones seem to struggle to be relevant at a time when the previously mandatory slip was about to become uncool and outmoded. They are also fun, funny and undisclosed...a secret party!

I never go looking for these half slips, they just sort of fall in my path, like lucky pennies.

I have four more of these fun half slips now...and as always, they just fell my way.

Do you have a favorite vintage collection? A surprising vintage collection?

Fabric of the week: Wool flannel

I can sympathize with people who say they can’t wear wool. I feel I am sensitive to it, but realized early on that there is a wide range of wool grades and fabric constructions, to which my skin has a wide range of reactions. Worsted flannel is a wool that I feel immune to, soft and smooth as it is. It is a sheep in sheep’s clothing!

Flannel, wool 

A warm fabric with a soft, close nap, flannel may be in a plain or twill weave. It is brushed to create the nap, and this may be on one or both sides. If woolen, it can be in a plain or twill weave, while worsted flannels are right-hand twills, finer and appreciably more substantial.

Flannel was originally always wool (the name is derived from the Welsh word for flannel, gwlânen, which is derived from gwlân, “wool”). It is now found in wool blends, often with cotton.

Uses: Jackets, suits (men’s particularly of worsted flannel), dresses, shirts, skirts

See also:
Flannel, cotton

Wool flannel

Worsted flannel ©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photos by Hoyt Carter

1950s worsted flannel skirt by Evan-Picone in my Etsy shop

Fabric of the week: Duvetyn, blanket cloth

Thinking about a winter coat yet? I know just the fabric for a soft and warm coat; and it’s much more likely to be a vintage coat because such finely-finished wools are not so common now. 

Duvetyn, blanket cloth

The name duvetyn comes from the French word duvet, meaning down. Wool or wool-blend commonly, the finish is napped, sheared and fulled. This creates a downy nap which covers its weave which is usually right-hand twill. It is softer and more lustrous, though its nap isn’t quite as long as that of fleece. 

Cotton duvetyn is usually called suede cloth. 

Uses: Coats, uniforms, suits; the heavier blanket cloth for blankets and Hudson’s Bay “point” blanket coats 

See also:
 Doeskin, 
Fleece

Wool duvetyn ©Vintage Fashion Guild - Text by Margaret Wilds/denisebrain,  photo by Hoyt Carter

This cashmere duvetyn coat is new to my Etsy shop. I wish you could feel the softness of this elegant fabric!