Renovating Spring Clothes

Press, Volume C, Issue 29587, 9 August 1961, Page 2

Renovating Spring Clothes

Rainy days make good sewing days if your conscience will let you forget about trying to dry the washing for a few hours. A warm room, a few magazines and most of your last year’s wardrobe will give you ideas for renovating clothes for this spring.

Last year many light woollen outfits were examined in this way and were probably renovated then. Perhaps they are beginning to show signs of wear on the elbows of those three-quarter sleeves, for instance, or have become faded at the neckline. Salvage the skirt. If it is full, recut it to make a slim sheath skirt with a belted waistline or trim it down to a very slight flare at the hemline. If the skirt is already straight, then take some material from the top and dress it up with a pocket, new ideas include a miniature buckled belt slotted through a flap over the pocket and a gold thread fringe round a patch pocket. Make sure the pockets are absolutely straight. Nothing looks more amateurish than a show pocket slightly off line. If the skirt has seated, remedy this with another back seam. If it has stretched in the front, get it properly pressed. Jacket Sometimes the skirt is shabbier than the top of the dress if it is one that has a jacket or has been worn with a cardigan. Think about a new

plain sheath skirt and a brief jacket made from the bodice piped with the skirt material. In wool fabrics that have been styled with a gathering waistline or pouched back, the change is easy. Unpick the waistline very carefully and snip the gathering threads all the way along. Do not pull it loose as you may tear the material. Press with a steam iron or a damp cloth and sew up the side or back seam where the slide fastener was before. If the bodice has a wide neckline with no collar, leave it as it is. If it has a round, high neckline remove the collar. Cut the bodice down the centre front and round the waist join so that it comes just to the waistline. Pipe it round with the skirt material on all edges. Finish with a single important - looking button at the neckline and it is ready to wear. Sometimes the side and back seams of this bodice may have been cut for more fullness at the waistline. Try the jacket on when you have cut the front and pin it till it fits comfortably. On a plain wool dress a large white pique collar will give it a new freshness. Make sure the collar is detachable for easy laundering and you could also make cuffs "to match. Is the material reversible? If it is. the inside of the fabric will be much newer looking than the outside. Many frocks made in simple designs can be unpicked down all the seams, turned insideout and resewn. Hand-knitted polo-neck collars and fitting cuffs are a popular trimming on new dresses but there is no reason why you cannot make them for an older spring frock. The knitted parts ace done in 3-ply wool on fine needles or if you want the chunky effect, in doubleknitting wool on heavier needles. Copy any knitting pattern’s instructions for cuffs and collar and stitch them to the dress. Magazine pictures will give you more ideas for your clothes and may also help you with making over dresses of your own for jeans or little frocks for your children. It is worth trying.