I decided it was high time to begin this lovely project which I’ve been hanging my nose over for the past year – a 1950s pattern for a cotton summer lacey top with velvet ribbon detail on the yoke.
I found some beautiful 4ply cotton at my favourite yarn store – a Wendy Luxury 100% cotton that knits up beautifully and really sets off the lace pattern. I had considered using a blended cotton/wool yarn, but I thought the wool would soften the lace pattern; and I wanted the crispness of cotton to pick out each stitch.
It’s an suprisingly easy 12 row pattern to follow and looks pretty impressive with minimum effort. Getting my tension right with the cotton was important so I didn’t lose any of the beautiful detailing on the body of the garment.
As with most vintage tops, the ribbing on the waist of this top is extra deep to give that great 50s feminine silhouette that we all love so much! The top begins on the waist and has a soft blouson look over the lace patterning, then sits tightly around the yoke.
I’ll be creating another blog soon about the classic shapes and silhouettes of ladies garments from 20s through to the 50s, and how these shapes were set into the psyche through starlets and icons such as Marilyn, Rita and Audrey.
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