A 1920s Hemstitched Tennis Dress

My 1920s tennis dress is loosely based on this dress at the V&A and this dress on Etsy. It's made of dress weight linen from Farmhouse Fabrics. My scarf is some lightweight cotton that I had, and is based on the photograph in this pin. I'm wearing white tap shoes, based on the flat Mary Jane type shoes based on the photograph in this pin.

I used my 1920s base pattern for the bodice. I've had it for several years, and can't remember what it started as. It's a very simple shift shape though. The skirt is straight panels box pleated, based on the pattern in Women's Wear of the 1920s. It's about 110 inches, or two widths of linen. The hemstitching on the bodice is done by hand, and explained in this post. The neckline and armscyes are bound with self bias. The belt is very simple. It's just a tube of linen without a closure that I pull over my head. The belt buckle is a mother-of-pearl buckle I bought on Etsy.


I'm wearing the dress over my cotton 20s combinations, fully described here. I'm using garters to hold up cotton stockings. They're very simple, just crepe de chine and lace gathered over elastic. I've since bought an antique garter, which is constructed differently and that I'll eventually reproduce.


A detail of the neckline. You can see the bias binding at the arms. The hemstitching was done by pulling threads and sewing groups of thread together.


A detail of the waistline. The bottom edge seam allowance was pressed up and the skirt topstitched in. I've seen this done on 20s dresses, and it makes a nice, neat line. The box pleats are sewn together for about half an inch. I tried to sew them a little further down, like the pattern and the Etsy dress, but it was extremely unflattering.


A detail of the hem. While most of the hemstitching in the dress was decorative, I actually hemmed the dress with hemstitching as well. It's quite easy, just catch the fold of the hem as you sew the little bunches of threads.

Now, if only I really played tennis...

1920s Step-Ins, Teddy, or Combinations--A Tutorial!

Yes, I have three names for one thing in the post title. You can't step in to them, so step-ins isn't quite right, but I wanted to include it because it's so similar. Combinations was a word that had been in use for some time, and teddy was a new word. I'm just covering different options!

I received an adorable 1920s teddy as a gift. It's absolutely perfect to wear under my upcoming tennis dress, so I thought now would be the perfect time to pattern it. It's quite simple, made of a front, back, straps, and crotch piece. There's extra fullness at the hips from a slashed and gathered dart. It's made of a heavy, crisp cotton. I'm making my reproduction in Southern Belle cotton that I bought at Nancy's Notions. It's not the same weight, but it has a nice crispness and weight to it.

The teddy is mostly machine sewn, with hand sewn buttonholes, lace hand sewn on, hand embroidery, and an alteration done by hand.

I'm reproducing this fairly closely. I'm not doing the alterations, where the sides were split and lightweight fabric was added, and I'm not doing the embroidery (at least for now!). I'm doing my best to follow the techniques of the original. I'm including a pattern from the original as well. I did realize after making it that I switched the order of sewing the dart and side seam. On the original, the side seam was sewn, then the dart. I sewed the dart, then the side seam. Eventually I'm going to do a detailed write up of the original on my other blog.

On to construction!