1920s Middy Shirt Basketball Uniform!!

~WARNING:  PHOTO HEAVY POST~

Ok....now THIS...this new outfit that I wore today has got to be my new, all time, most favorite outfit in the whole entire universe!! Why? You ask!!  Because I was totally able to run in it!  Hahahahahahaha!!!  That's right...I said run...as in lope, gallop, leap gazelle like...in a most lady-like fashion of course!!!

At the Gatsby Picnic that I attended today, I ran to help a lady who was carrying a very heavy burden, and I actually RAN!!!  Not hopped, or skipped, or walked fast...but RAN.  I didn't have on a corset, corselette, heels or anything that encumbered me in any way!  I think from now on, I shall wear historical sporting wear...it is so CONVENIENT!!! 

Oh, and let's not forget that this outfit follows my obsession of all things sailor dress, sailor suit, sailor anything of the like.  It is a middy shirt and knickerbockers. 

~Ok, now let's pause in this whole blog thing and say the word KNICKERBOCKER.  Say it again!!  KNICKERBOCKER.  Hahahahaha!!! Doesn't that just make your heart happy!  It is such a fun word to say!  But, I digress.....~

Anyhoo, I must say that I did have a most wonderful, if not short time at the picnic today.  (I had to get back home and take a certain 13 year old shopping for a friend's surprise birthday party.)  The picnic was hosted by the Style N Time and Somewhere In Time costuming groups from the Valley, and as always, Ken and his crew put on a most fabulous event!!!

~Inspiration~

The inspiration for this outfit began about a month ago.  I had just finished making my salmon Gatsby and Gangsters Event dress and wasn't really in the mood to make another 1920s frock.  Knowing I had the Gatsby Picnic coming up, I was perusing my Sailor Suit Pinterest board for inspiration, when I fell in total love with a fashion drawing of a young lady wearing a middy shirt and knickerbockers while holding a basketball and a pennant.  Holy cow.  My geeky heart just about broke at the adorableness of the sight!  

1925 Basketball Uniform!!!

Image used with permission from Witness 2 Fashion.  Thank you so much!!

Blog link where this above image can be found Here.

Inspiration:  This fabulous girl's basketball outfit!!  I think the young lady has such a sweet look on her face!!  She makes me happy!

~The Patterns~

The Bodice

Circa 1923 Middy Blouse

Alexandra of Eva Dress is so wonderful to communicate with.  I had some questions that I emailed to her and she was so very prompt with her responses.  I wholeheartedly recommend this pattern.  (I did have to make the collar a bit wider, but that was discovered in the mock up.)  The pattern is a tracing of an original and comes with marvelous instructions!!!  It comes in a size 18 and I didn't do any alterations at all!  Huzzah!  I do believe this is the first pattern in a very long, long, long time where I followed the instructions and pattern (with NO alterations) to the letter!  

The blouse is a very sturdy garment and I am so very impressed with how it made up.  I finished the seams in "faux" flat felled seams (I just ironed the seams to the back or down, then on the outside top stitches about 1/4" from the seam).

The Knickerbockers

I didn't want to purchase a new pattern for these if I could help it, so I altered Simplicity 3677, the lady pirate pattern.  Instead of gathering the waist into an elastic waistband, I pleated the fullness into a regular waist band and added a button placket to the left side.  I added super wide cuffs at the calf that close with buttons.

~The Accessories~

The Basketball

Found at my favorite antique store in the valley, Something Special Antique Store.  I asked Gwen, the owner, if she had a 1920s basketball and she said she didn't know if it was from the 1920s, but it was old.  We went upstairs and she dug it out from a corner and I was instantly in love!  I played basketball in Jr. High and High School, so this was super fun.  I went home and set straight to work researching my new basketball.  The only thing I could find on it was from Wikipedia.  

"In the late 1920s Voit developed and patented the first full-molded, all-rubber inflatable ball, and the first needle-type air retention valves."

Source:  Wikipedia

That's it.  There are no pictures, images, or any other information on my basketball. I am left to conclude that this is one of those balls that Voit invented in the late 1920s!!

The Pennant

To help achieve the look of the fashion drawing, I decided I needed to make a pennant.  My Mom had rescued from my Great-Aunt's house a really cool looking cane that was perfect for the look.  I purchased some navy and gold felt from JoAnn's and made a "Meridian" pennant.  I attended Meridian High School, so only thought it appropriate that I should make the pennant with the name!  Oh, and it was a high school in the 1920s so even better!  I followed this tutorial from Infarrantly Creative to achieve the slanted, pennant looking lettering.  I soooooo didn't want to depend upon pins to hold the lettering in place as I sewed around the letters, so I decided that using double sided heat and bond to adhere the letters to the pennant would be a fabulous idea and it was!  I cut out the lettering that I had printed off on legal sized paper, turned them over and traced them on the back of the gold felt that still had the paper from the heat and bond.  After cutting the letters out, I ironed them to the front side of the navy felt.  The letters stuck nicely and I was able to sew around them without them moving around!!!

The Blue and Gold of Meridian High!!  Go Warriors!!

Super cool rubber Voit basketball!  Thanks Gwen!!!  Interestingly enough, when the ball got hot (like when it was in my HOT car) it got sticky.  A very good indication that it is not plastic, but indeed rubber!

Close up of the stitches that the heat and bond allowed!!

The Middy Patches

One of the things that the pattern from Eva Dress does not include (it has been lost for some time) is the embroidery pattern for the navy patches that go on the Middy.  I was searching through eBay one day and found a most fabulous find quite by accident!!  I can't even remember what key words I typed in, probably something having to do with "cracker jack uniform patches" and came across this packet.  It is a kit of patches specifically for Middy Blouses from the 1920s!!!  They came in the original onion skin paper envelope with an image of a lady wearing a Middy blouse.  I could not believe my fortune to have found this!!  And thank God I didn't have to design and embroider my own patch!!!

1920s Middy Blouse patches kit!!

The onion skin envelope.

Three patches were included in the kit!

The silver threads have a bit of a metallic sheen to them!

The chevrons are made of wool and the fabric is cotton.

So incredible to have this piece of history!!

I had originally planned on making my Middy white and had even cut the blouse out, but when the patches came and they were a darker, almost putty color, I immediately changed my mind and used a putty colored duck cotton that I had in my stash.

My feathering stitches.  I hadn't ever made any of this particular stitching this small and am really pleased with myself that they actually look decent!!!

For the stripes on the collar and cuffs, I found some actual, antique, specifically for Middy blouses braid on Etsy!  It is so much nicer to work with than soutache!  I'm just sayin'......

~The Event~

My Mom actually stood still so I could get some photos of her.  Here she is, looking at a very futuristic sort of device!! 

We were in a rose garden, so I plucked a rose for her to smell!  Isn't she just adorable???!!!

Mama and me!!

I so love being able to attend dress up event with my Mom!!

The whole group.  Ken does such a wonderful job setting the scene for the Gatsby Picnic!!  He is a rock star!!!

Well, I have definitely learned a lesson from today's wearing of history.  Sports outfits/uniforms are the way to go!!!  Huzzah for comfort!!! 

For more research and pictures go to these places:

We Wear History's Facebook Page

Pinterest Board: Middy Shirts

Pinterest Board: Basketball

Be blessed my friends!!!

g

~Photos of me taken by my fabulously adorable Mom!!!~