Tip-toppers hats

I couldn't resist these little spring hats from Needlework Illustrated magazine. Yes, I know it's the autumn, but at this time of year I think a pretty, colourful hat is just the job to lift the spirits. So here are "Tip-Toppers to knit and crochet with that May Morning air". No date on the magazine, but I think we're in the late 1940s or early 1950s here.

From the top right, working clockwise: "Sally the teenager wears a horse's tail of tambourine bright ribbons a-swish from the top of her knitted cap."

"Helen comes to town smartly hatted... in a fetching little model of crunchy knitting made with lustrous cotton thread."

"Joanne the sophisticate suits the set of a knitted Jelly Bag to occasion and mood - here formal, informal."

"Rosemary frames pretty head in curving crochet. Easy-to-make style in wool... Good in bright, decisive colours."

Is it just me, or was Needlework Illustrated's copywriter hitting the gin by the time she got to Joanne? Isn't that just random words?

Warming up the Home Front, 1943

From Good Housekeeping magazine, 1943 - "some simple home recipes that add warmth and variety to a wilting wardrobe".

"Take a dated glamour-jacket of long-haired fur and bring to a high standard of usefulness with a few pieces of firmly-woven fabric. Add deep cuffs to the three-quarter or seven-eighths sleeves, drawn into a buttoned band, stitch a scarf-length to the collarless neck and gather the lower edge into a snug waistband, buttoning at front."

Hate fur, love the shape of this jacket. I wonder if it could be done with a modern three-quarter length faux fur jacket? It would have to have huge padded shoulders, though. That is so key to the shape: boxy shoulders, nipped in waist.

A conventional pullover

A beautifully-tinted knitting booklet from Woman and Home magazine, dating from what looks like the late 1940s or early 1950s. Wholesome woolies for all the family, although knitting adult-sized long-sleeved jumpers in 4-ply is not my idea of a "quick knit".

The rather doubtful looking man in the middle is sporting "His New Knitted Pullover" - "He will like a pattern but the shape must be conventional". I think he's having second thoughts about the pattern and is dreading the manly teasing he'll be in for down the pub tonight.

Wartime jumper

A pattern from the Second World War, kindly donated to the Knit For Victory archives by the King of Empty Shops, Mr Dan Thompson. Our model dons his tin helmet and kit bag and fixes his stern gaze on some ne'er-do-well Johnnies in the distance.

"Here is a long-sleeved pullover that every man will welcome, whether he needs it for Service or home wear. It will be particularly popular because of its Raglan sleeves which men always find so comfortable to wear; also because of its splendid fit and the fact that it gives no feeling of bulkiness."

There's something about the haircut, pose, and geometrical lines of the background that presages Kraftwerk's Man Machine cover by about 30 years.

Patsy's Reflections

Patsy's Reflections is a spiral bound paperback from the early 1950s, collecting together a series of strips that ran in the Daily Mirror newspaper. The strip's heroine is Patsy, a young housewife struggling to learn to cook and manage a house under wartime rationing conditions. Most of the strips focus on her culinary adventures ("Dad's GI friend told me about these Franconia Parsnips - sit you down dear, and watch!") but later in the series, Patsy becomes pregnant with her first child and the recipes make way for baby care advice.

Above, Patsy and her mother discuss the most economical way of clothing the new arrival - "don't buy too many things - why not make them? Nicer, and cheaper too!" Patsy and her mother didn't have a global sweatshop industry manufacturing clothes for them at very little cost.


Love the big knitting-related hug in the last panel. That baby is going to be very well clothed.

Make a 1940s music belt

A really unusual belt from Stitchcraft magazine, December 1947.

"To make the belt you need a piece of felt 5 inches wide by 28 inches long in a bright colour. For the black lines you need 5 pieces of narrow black braid, each 28 inches long; 4 buttons and some black embroidery silk or cotton.

First sew on the black braid as shown in the picture, then with a pencil draw your favourite tune all around the waist, and embroider it in black, using stem-stitch for the thin lines and satin-stitch for the solid parts.

Sew on the buttons, then make loops for button-holes, using a bit of black braid for each. Trim down the edges of the felt so that the back is about half an inch narrower top and bottom than the fronts."

More dropped stitch japes

Here's the companion lacy scarf to go with yesterday's drop stitch jumper. It uses a similar technique. This lady is smiling because she has knitted her scarf in garter stitch then deliberately DESTROYED selected rows by dropping them in their entirety in her final row.

Ready for some controlled destruction? Jolly good. You'll need 2 or 3 ply yarn and a pair of no 3 knitting needles.

Tension: 3 ply: 4 sts and 4 rows to 1 inch, after the sts have been dropped. 2 ply: 5 sts to 1 inch and 11 rows to 2 inches, after the sts have been dropped.

Measurements: Approx 38 inches by 18 inches.

To make scarf: Cast on 57 sts.

First 2 rows: K

3rd row: K 2, (inc in next st, K 3) to last 3 sts, inc in next st, K 2.

Work 146 rows garter st, but in the last row drop every 4th st down to form a ladder. Work 2 more rows garter st, then cast off. Make 2 pom poms and attach one to each end of scarf.

Drop stitch jumper

I like the idea of turning that knitting nightmare, the drop stitch, into part of a pretty design. Obviously you can't just drop stitches at random, you have to have a method to your madness,which is just what this lacy 1940s confection has.

"The Quickest Jumper you ever knitted!" claims this Weldons pattern. You knit rows of 3 ply garter stitch onto large size 5 needles, and when the work is almost completed, you drop every 5th stitch to form a ladder pattern. Bet that feeling of deliberately sabotaging your carefully-knitted work on the final row is quite nerve-wracking...

This jumper looks very demure knitted in a pale cream or beige and modelled with pearls and a bouquet of lily-of-the-valley, but if you knitted it in black, you'd have a far punkier confection on your hands.

Umbrella cover, bun snood and spats

Here are three delightful crocheted accessories from the 1940s: "spats to turn your shoes into warm boots, a cover for your umbrella in chenille and a bun snood to match".

The umbrella cover is crocheted in Chenille yarn - lovely looking but would get rather soggy when wet...


The pattern also includes this lovely two-way hat, which can be worn on the back of the head, or rolled up and worn as a pill box.

Slumber caps from the 1940s

Extremely glam ladies wearing crocheted slumber caps, from a 1940s copy of Needlewoman and Needlecraft magazine.

"Portraying charming slumber caps, perfect for keeping your curls or waves in order and admirably suited to wearing these days when you are never sure how often it will be necessary to get out of bed to go to your shelter. Easily laundered, they will give endless wear, and you can choose your favourite colour from large range of Coats' Mercer-Crochet".

I love the very British stiff-upper-lip expectation of still putting on a neat, well-groomed appearance, even when running in terror from Jerry.

1940s child's beret and loveheart hat

This 1940s school girl looks ready for anything in her striped beret with matching socks! Her rough-textured blazer and softly-curled hair are so typical of the period. The Juliet Cap, on the other hand, looks very modern in both shape and motif design. I can see this looking wonderful worked in pink with a red heart motif.

Cap, beret and socks are all worked in 3 ply oddments and are suitable for a girl aged 8 - 10 years old. Measurement from centre of crown to edge of beret is 6 inches, width all around edge (slightly stretched) is 20 inches.

Make Do and Mend alteration ideas

How to turn an old coat into a two-piece dress and jacket, and how to change the style of a summer coat, using fabric from an old dress or blouse. Two useful and thrifty alteration ideas from a WW2 Make Do and Mend leaflet:

"With light summer coats, a changeover can often be done by unpicking the facings and reverse, adjusting the neckline and seaming the coat up the centre front. The sleeves will probably need taking in a little.

You may have an edge-to-edge summer coat which will not quite join down the front. A narrow panel down the centre front will solve the problem. You may have a frock which has become too worn to be of any use as it is, or a blouse worn under the arms. You will probably be able to get enough material out of this to make the panel.

An old coat that is on the long side can be made into a useful two-piece dress and jacket, providing a fairly long blouse or jumper is available to make a top for the dress. Cut the coat round at hip level, and remove facings from the lower part. Join up the centre front seam and sew this new skirt on to lower edge of the blouse.

Then face lower edge of jacket. The original coat must be cut to correspond with the length of the blouse used, so that the jacket and matching part of the skirt just overlap."

How to darn holes

Official UK government advice on darning, issue by the Board of Trade in the 1940s. Wish today's government would spend tax-payer's money on useful leaflets like this, rather than bailing out banks, and bringing Western-style democracy to the Middle East.

Do not wait for holes to develop. It is better to darn as soon as garments wear thin. Imitate, as well as possible, the texture of the fabric being darned. When darning a big hole, tack a piece of net at the back and darn across it, and this will give extra support for the stitches. A tear should be tacked round on to a piece of paper, to hold the edges in position.

Darning a hole:

First clear the loops of fluff and broken ends of threads from knitted garments or clip away ragged edges from machine knit fabrics. Always use a darning ball under large holes.

1. Make the darn the shape of the hole.
2. Darn up and down the hole first; work on the wrong side.
3. Choose mending as fine as the material of the garment.
4. Begin a good distance away from the hole in order to reinforce the thin parts round the hole.
5. Space the rows of darning the width of a strand of mending apart.
6. Pick up the backs of the loops only unless the material is very fine.
7. Leave loops at the ends of each row and darn so that stitches alternate with spaces between stitches in the previous rows.
8. Pick up the edge of the hole in one row then go over the edge of the hole in the next row. If you have cleared the edges of the hole you will find this will be easy and will make a neater mend on the right side of the garment.
9. Continue the darn over the thin place beyond the hole.


Darning over the first rows of darning:

1. Darn over the hole only and about two stitches of darning beyond.
2. Leave loops at the end of each row, and only pick up on the needle the darning stitches.
3. Pick up the alternate strands of mending in first row.
4. In alternate rows, pick up the strands of mending you passed over in the previous row.

1940s bed jackets

In these centrally-heated days a bed jacket is a rare sight indeed, and those that are around today are generally thick, fleecy and practical, aimed at the poorly and infirm.

How different bed jackets were in the 1930s, when they were a de rigeur glamour item for the Hollywood starlet, or anyone trying to inject a little femininity (and warmth) into a chilly boudoir.

This Target knitting pattern from the 1940s shows a stunning wide-collared bed jacket, to be patiently knitted in delicate 3-ply wool. This little confection has a timeless charm - still pretty enough to be worn today, even outside the bedroom, as part of an evening outfit.

I like the way that the lady in the top hand left corner is looking down, muttering, "Damn, hers is much nicer than mine," under her breath.