Sew Retro

My first ever apron!

A success, I think, and the first of many more aprons:

A little more commentary here....

A couple months I made this dress, and I tied the frog buttons to boot. I know I can't be the only one out there who finds the available closures limiting. Too big, too small, wrong color, cheap shiny look, it makes sense to learn to knot them yourself. I put together a tutorial so anyone wanting to perfectly finish their Mandarin collar, cheongsam, or qipau, can do so with out going crazy trying to figure out how to tie them.

My mom says she had a book that explained how to tie them. Where are those books now? I searched everywhere and had difficulty finding decent instructions. I don't know how many test frogs I made before I got them sorted out, but hopefully these instructions will save others that frustration. Happy Frogging!

The Dino Blouse

I've made this blouse before (Simplicity 5030), but I've had this fabric sitting in my stash for a while before I finally figured out what to do with it. It was always really quite a cool print, but I only had about a yard, maybe a little bit more. At the time, I was mostly making dresses, but that was out of the question. Finally it occurred to me; a blouse - a dinosaur blouse.

Finding the buttons was a bit of trouble (why do they only seem to make one kind of dinosaur buttons?), but I think it ended up turning out well. A flattering Peter Pan collar, sleeves a bit long but that can be fixed.

More photos at The Year 2050.

The Sad Tale of the Brown Bird Dress:

Or, in which we learn the dangers of falling in love with vintage fabric.

I just finished this dress from a vintage 60's pattern (Simplicity 6194), a really basic a-line dress to show off the lovely brown bird 70's fabric I found in an op-shop. I loved this fabric so much, but it was so fragile I probably can't wear the dress again or it will rip all the way down the back!

The worst thing is, I only noticed this when I had almost finished the dress. :(

More pictures + sad story (with a hopeful ending!) on my blog, Whipstitch Sewing

xo

Little Girl's Red Corduroy Christmas Coatdress

SweetPea's Christmas Dress is from a vintage Hollywood Pattern and has a Coat Dress style. While I don't think there will be a "next time" for constructing with this particular pattern, I would *highly* recommend a muslin first should the opportunity present itself again. Thankfully, I was very careful with the modifications so the corduroy wale was not affected.

Pattern calls for *optional* shoulder pads which I was not planning on sewing. However, after the first fitting, the dress just did not hang quite right. When I added the shoulder pads the drape was much, much nicer.

Buttons are vintage and the white ones reminded me of little snowflakes.
The white ric rac trim was an afterthought, but proved right away to be just the right touch. The little green button was a loner I had in my stash - a most perfect shade of jade-ite green. Now if I could only convince my son that he needs a vintage jade-ite green button tie tack to go with his matching necktie!

My first vintage sewing project EVER...

Hi everyone. I am very excited to have found Sew Retro and love reading about all of the great sewing projects everyone is doing! I am very new to vintage sewing (or any sewing for that matter) and decided to start with a pattern that said "simple to make". It is Simplicity pattern 2756 for a one piece dress. I chose the version that has a detachable collar and cuff (the one on the right).

I decided to make 4 different collar and cuff combinations (I know, I just jump right in...). I am very happy to say that I just finished (well, almost...I still need to do the hem) the first version which has a mustard colour collar and cuff.

Check out the other collar/cuffs for this dress and my other sewing adventures at my blog www.fashionsfromthepast.blogspot.com

Hi all!

I'm Karin, a long time seamstress (though I had a LONG break during my first years at work), recently turned vintage-pattern-and sewing-addict. Thank you so much for inviting me to join Sew-Retro!

Other than being a sewing enthusiast and lover of pretty and old things I'm Swedish, live in Stockholm, and spend my days working as a landscape architect. Oh, and I'm addicted to fresh air, and love sailing, so in the summer I spend most of the weekends on the race-corse (sail-racing that is), if I get the chance. But I hope for more time to sew next summer.

My first piece of vintage sewing is this blouse, Mc Call 6520, from 1946. I made it in a very cheap but good quality cotton remnant. It took me a week of enthusiastic weekend- and evening (nighttime too) sewing, although it was quite a simple project.

There are eight darts around the waist, and the cuffs were a challenge for me (I was helped by "The Complete Book of Sewing" by Linda Gibson, I love all my sewing-technique bibles!).It's always a treat to learn new things though. And I'm happy with the result!

The pattern was really easy to work with, and the instructions (except for the cuffs) were clear and helpful. This was a printed pattern, which surprised me a bit (considering it's so old). And I actually made it without copying the pattern first, which for me feels like cheating. But the pattern was in really good condition, so I decided it was ok.

More about this (and future) projects in my blog Ancien-Nouveau (I love Art Nouveu and intend to make loads of modern clothes using antique patterns, preferably from the 1930's, hence the name. And I love wordgames!).
Hope to see a lot more of you all in the future.
Now I'm on to a 1930's dress (my first project using an unprinted pattern)!

hello all!

Hi there retro sewers! I'm Christine from San Antonio, Texas, thanks for welcoming me to the site! I've been snooping around for a while now and I am really impressed with all of the wonderful things y'all have made! I have been sewing for years now, and have recently began collecting vintage patterns, I currently have about a thousand ranging from the 1930's to current times. Some are reproductions but most are the real deals! All of my clothing I make is from 100% recycled and reused materials:

"i used to be a curtain"

"i used to be a pillow case"

"i used to be 2 old t shirts"
You get the picture... Mostly I just use old linens for fabric, but my threads, buttons, zippers- EVERYTHING is rescued! Nothing new... usually.

You can check out my new blog or my new etsy store... more to come on both! I look forward to future posts, and if anyone is in the area and needs a sewing buddy, I'm your girl!

introduction and 70s maxi dress

Dear Anna, dear retro sewists, thanks for welcoming me on this wonderful blog! Of course I've lurked for a loooong time before actually daring to ask for an invitation. Seeing all the beautiful outfits you can sew makes me want to try and do my best. For my first post I bring you a collar-less version of Butterick 6717 which is actually an essay dress (a sort of muslin?). I've worn it many times and have made another version which you can see on my blog. I have other vintage patterns in waiting and I hope I can show you my realisations soon! See you!

Late Party Dress Entry

Hey there, everyone. I didn't make the deadline, but I wanted you to see my party dress anyway. Oh, and congratulations to Kristy.

Here is my party dress below:

I made this using Simplicity 6024, a 1973 pattern. It turned out to be a real bear because I didn't pay real close attention to the measurements; so I'm having some fitting issues. It won't close in the back, and I added a section underneath the bust area so it would fit properly in that area. I self drafted the pattern pieces. I still need to figure out what to do to make it fit in the waist before I put the zipper in. And I still need to hem it. I am letting it hang for 24 hours before I put the hem in. Oh, and I added a few inches to the length. It won't look as long as it is now, though, once I hem it. It will probably be an inch or two below the knee. When I get this train wreck fixed, I will do a proper photo shoot for you.

In the meantime, you can go to my sewing blog to see some fun pictures of my photo shoot in the country modeling a skirt that I made. And while you're at it, enter my giveaway. I am doing a giveaway December 2nd through the morning of the 7th in conjunction with Sew Mama Sew. I am doing a giveaway on my art blog as well. And my daughter is having one, too, on her sewing blog. Really good prizes. Good luck.

Sneak peak of the country skirt:

Party Time Competition Winner!

There were 29 entries to the party time competition sponsored by ZipZapKap!

The winner, drawn by random.org, was Kristy with her lovely black, white and red Australian party dress!

I have sent an email with details of how to claim your prize, please let me know if you haven't received it.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful entries, they were all great and I hope they all get worn to some fun parties!

If you would like to promote your company on Sew Retro by sponsoring a competition next year then please drop us a line to the email address on the left sidebar. Prizes do not have to be monetary and we're happy to work with any retro/sewing related companies!

Happy sewing!

Anna

Floral Party Dress

Hi there guys! I agree with Miss Emmi, cotton party dresses are a MUST for us Australians. I thought I took a photo of the pattern, but can't find it anywhere, but it's a 1959 - 1961 vintage one I got at the op shop somewhere... and it's a beauty, as I've made this version (with the full skirt too) a few times for me and my friends.

It's a vintage shabby chic style cotton floral fabric (thrifted too) that was totally see through, so I lined the whole dress with another light vintage white cotton material that I was given by the shop assistant at my local op shop (she insisted I take it because I should line my things, lucky I did take it!) so it fits and looks perfect now!

And a vintage button from my stash too, I love doing zippers according to the vintage instructions they come with, so the flap is a common style ... what's it called? Blind Zipper? Hidden Zipper? I collect a LOT of op shops things, and they are always useful further down the track!

I blog my days at Veronica Darling's Crafty Adventures!

Last Party Attempt: Simplicity 3712

This was my pattern. I made the view 2, red skirt. I did not make the "weskitt"(aka vest, aka sleeveless jacket) or add those giant pockets.

Sewing it was easy, but it turned out quite horribly. So I could wear it to a party....if the lighting is dim and everyone's tipsy. Part of it is I made it out of gabardine, I think. Some kind of processed wool, according to the lady at the store.

So I would say pardon the blurry self-timer photo, but the skirt looks its best blurry.

For people who might make the pattern:

Next time I am cutting both the front and the back on the fold, although the pattern wants seams there. Then, I am putting the zipper on the side. The seams are too heavy for the fabric and it drapes oddly.

More pictures, details, and the bonus pants pattern I found in the envelope here!

Jodi with a party dress!

Hi! I'm Jodi. I've just joined. I really like looking at this blog - so many nice things people are making!

I love 50's style dresses so I made myself this one with a fitted bodice and full skirt. I didn't use a pattern - just my bodice sloper with an attached gathered skirt. I've already gotten to wear it to a party.

I know the fabric isn't the most vintage looking but I just fell in love with it :)

I put up more pics and info about it here on my blog.

Last Day For Party Time Entries!

Don't forget to post your last minute entries to the Party Time competition today! I will draw the entry around this time tomorrow so anything that's posted before whatever time Blogger timestamps this entry will be counted!

The prize is $100 (not including postage) to be spent at ZipZapKap.

The entries so far have been fabulous and I look forward to seeing the final ones come in today!

Happy sewing!

Anna

Party Dress Entry

As another member said recently, having silly season party dresses made from cotton is an absolute must in Australia! My dress looks a little casual compared to some of the gorgeous taffeta creations we've seen so far, but it's a party dress none the less! Friends and I are going out for mai-tais as soon as exam results are out (whether it is to celebrate or drown our sorrows remains unclear as of yet :/ )

The pattern is one I'm sure many of you are familiar with - Butterick 6582. The facings left me in tears, but I pushed through and am overall pretty happy with the results (as long as you don't look too closely!) Stories about how others tackled this dress would be much appreciated - I'd love to get some hints before I try making the full skirted version :)

Read more at my blog: http://thebarnothing.blogspot.com/

New member - with a party dress!

Hello! My name's Meg and I discovered Sew Retro just a few months ago... have been reading every day since and enjoying everyone's posts extremely!

November's almost over (and I hope everyone will forgive me for introducing myself with a competition entry) but my first retro-project ever happens to have been a party dress, so I thought I'd post it here.

This was made with Simplicity 1539 (click for a larger view, if you'd like):

I used some leftover rose-printed ivory brocade (which was quite difficult to work with as it likes to fray) to make this kimono-sleeved, princess-waisted, full skirted little party dress. I had to elongate the bodice by two inches, as I always do since my torso is so long, but other than that I didn't make many modifications. I'm pleased with it, though I think now I should have widened the bottommost hip measurement a bit since I have a little waist and big hips. Also, I think I've decided that kimono-style sleeves are not my favorite, as they cause fabric to pucker annoyingly when one's arms are down. :P Still, it turned out pretty:

And from the back:

I also realized, after I finished it, that I would need a crinoline for it to really look right. Searched Ebay, but didn't want to pay $40+ for one, so I ended up getting some tulle and making one myself. :P Turned out just about right for everyday wear... not full to the point of being silly, but full enough to be swishy and pretty. I'll save pics of the crinoline itself, though, for another entry!

Thank you all so much for posting all of your projects and providing so much lovely inspiration every day! :)

*~Merry~*

Goodies from the City-Wide Garage Sale

Austin has a city-wide garage sale at the Palmer Events Center each month. I've never been before. Corey went once and said it was nothing but junk. The one this weekend is supposed to be the biggest of the year so I thought I'd give it a try. I wanted to see if I could find some cute buttons for the dress I'm making for my niece Kara. (Stay tuned for a post and photos).

Clearly Corey and I have different definitions of junk. Look at all the goodies I bought!

Two vintage patterns for 50 cents each, sizes 36 and 38 (I'm a 37) Woot! Look at the jacket on the McCalls pattern. Love!

Vintage buttons for $1 a card. Vintage mother-of-pearl belt buckle for $5.

Vintage fabric for $5 a pound. I think the floral will make a nice scarf, the purple a skirt.

Vintage Vargas pin-up prints including the famous 6-fingered girl.

I am a happy camper!

Other holiday party dress

This is my second taffeta party dress of the season. This one is made from Butterick 6582; a reprint that's shown up quite frequently on this blog.

This time I made the full skirt version. I actually really like the way the skirt is laid out. It's not clear in the photo, but the very front is not gathered, while the sides and back are. It creates a very nice effect.

Summer party frock

Christmas here in Australia is always very hot, so we can't wear formal dresses made of luxurious fabrics like velvet or taffeta. But a cotton summer frock always comes in handy this time of year, and this is my christmas party dress:

I made it from Simplicity 3918 (view 3 the white dress), bought from an op shop and which was still factory folded (what a find!). It is undated but I'm guessing early to mid 60s maybe? It's a pretty simple shape, a bodice with a side zip, and a large rectangular skirt gathered around the middle, I didn't make any changes to it at all, although it's a little puffy around the bust darts - I think a conical bra may make the most of the bodice shaping!

The red panel at the front, called a 'vestee' on the pattern, is actually designed to be detachable, perhaps so you could make a neutral coloured dress and a whole series of vestees in differing colours. It's supposed to be held in place by a number of press snaps but I just sewed the vestee to the facings instead.

I also lopped about 6 inches off the bottom because this reached mid calf on me, even though the pattern envelope shows the dress sitting on the model's knee. I know that women from decades ago weren't freakishly tall, so it always mystifies me why the sewing patterns are so long.

The fabric was an ebay purchase a few years ago, so it's of unknown vintage. It's a very crisp medium weight cotton which means the full skirt flares out nicely without the need for a petticoat underneath.

All in all, I love this dress - it's not too costumey so I won't feel self conscious when I'm wearing it but it's also unique enough that I won't look like everyone else and isn't that why we all sew our own clothes?

Kristy @ loweryourpresserfoot.blogspot.com

Spotty Dots

This is the last dress I will make for a while. I go on holiday to Melbourne tonight and once I get back I will have to settle back into working to save enough money for my next year uni fees.

This dress came from Butterick Pattern B4792 and it came with a full circle stating from the waist. I have a pretty high waist so I thought it might make me look a bit stout so I dropped it by using the top of a wiggle skirt pattern and adding a gathered skirt just above the hip. It was very flattering but my fun 50’s dress had turned into an ugly 80’s dress! What to do? I ended up out of desperation for time just scrapping the full skirt and making it into a wiggle. Oh, well. Next time!

You can read more at my blog here.

Butterick 6307

This party dress competition came at just the right time. Literally days before it was announced, I had begun searching for dress patterns for a couple of parties I have coming up around the holidays.

The first one is Butterick 6307. I love this pattern. It's such a classic 50s party dress design. I used a deep purple party taffeta for my version (the color is a little off in the photos):

This dress was one of a number of firsts for me: the first time I attempted to upsize a pattern, the first time I had the proper materials to make a self fabric belt and buckle, and the first time I learned my mother's technique for sewing set-in sleeves.

I ran into few problems adjusting the size of the pattern. It came out quite well, I think (The skirt hem is straight, I swear! The petticoat I'm wearing under it made it look uneven).

I recently went searching for vintage belt kits with which to make self-fabric buckles. This is te first project I got to use one. I think it turned out quite well. The pattern did not call for top stitching on the belt, so I tried it without and liked the way it turned out.

The hardest thing about this dress was trying to make set in sleeves with taffeta; one of the most unforgiving fabrics. In the height of my frustration, I received a call from my mom. A genius woman, she is. She passed on a tip she learned years ago. This may be known to others in this community, but it was a new one for me: sew the top of the sleeve to the bodice flat, i.e. before you've sewed the sides of the bodice or sewn the length of the sleeves. I could not believe how much of a difference that little tip made!

introduction and a party dress!

Hi everybody! I've been lurking on sewretro for a few months now, and I have been SO inspired by all the fabulous things that you guys are making! This is the first vintage outfit that I've sewn for myself, and I'm pretty happy with the way everything turned out. It was from a 1949 Vogue pattern and I used some kooky novelty print fabric featuring stylized gladiators(?!?!) and old bakelite buttons.

You can read more about it at my new blog, Festive Attyre. I can't wait to start the next dress!

Let me introduce myself...

Hello everyone at Sew Retro,

I'm new to Sew Retro and this is my very first post. My name is Stephanie and I live in Vienna, Austria. I love to sew and have been sewing more or less intensively for the past year and a half. I'm very inspired by Vintage fashions but have only recently started to incorporate Vintage elements into my sewing.

I've been reading Sew Retro for quite some time and it's been a great inspiration to me. So I'm happy to finally be contributing a little dress of my own. Pictured above is my very first bash at a Vintage re-issue pattern and I'm really pleased with the outcome. The pattern is Simplicity 3673.

I'm also planning to start sewing from some original Vintage patterns, which is something I've never done before and still seems a bit intimidating, but I'll be sure to share the outcome with you on Sew Retro.

In the meantime please come visit me at my as of yet brand new blog called The Naked Seamstress to read more about my sewing adventures.

xxx

Introduction + Pink frenchy fabric dress!

Hello crafty mavens, my name is Enken and I live & sew in the hot and dusty city of Adelaide, South Australia! I dearly love vintage clothing, but being a swing dancer is very hard on beautiful old clothes so I mostly sew my own 'vintage' from old-school patterns these days. My favourite thing about vintage clothing is the detail we just don't find anymore, like handmade buttonholes and embroidery, and I try very hard to incorporate these touches into my own sewing. I just finished this dress, it's made from a vintage Vogue pattern which was reissued as Vogue V2960. I found the fabric in an op-shop, it has darling little pictures of French cafes and the Eiffel Tower on it! The buttons are also vintage plastic ones; it took me a long time to find the perfect ones.

Thanks for looking! I have a brand new vintage sewing blog at Whipstitch Sewing. More details there! xo

Entry for Party Time Competition

This is my entry for the November Party Time competition. The dress is loosely based on Simplicity 1157. I sewed the skirt differently pleating the whole way round rather than gathering at the sides like in the pattern. I also added a sash and a bow (which you can't really see in the top picture so I put a close up below).

This is the feather headband I made which I'm wearing in the first photo but you can't see properly. Can you tell I love purple?

If you want to know more I have written about it on my blog.

Last Week of the Party Time Competition!

It's time to get to know our sponsor Katherine of ZipZapKap a little bit better!

So Katherine, how did you get started selling vintage patterns?

I was a pattern buyer who wasn't having much luck finding a venue that catered to the way I wanted to shop. Having larger-than-life-size scans of the front and back is a huge thing for me – I really rely on large, clear pictures when shopping online because I can’t satisfy the need to pick the thing up and look at it from all angles. So, subscribing to a Do-It-Yourself philosophy and figuring that I couldn’t be the only one that felt this way, I set up shop myself.

Do you have a favourite period of clothing and if so what is it about it that you like?

I love the silhouettes and glamour of the 50s but I’m not ladylike enough to pull it off. The things I buy and make for myself are late 60s/early 70s inspired.

Where do you score your patterns from and how many do you actually have?

At last count, I had around 4000 and they come from a myriad of sources. Before I was buying to sell, I often bought pattern lots on eBay because it seemed like the most cost effective way, but when I factored in the amount of damaged, incomplete or just hideous patterns I was getting stuck with just to acquire a few gems, it very quickly lost its appeal.

Word of mouth gets a lot of patterns to me. Vintage patterns often pop up in unusual places and once everyone around you knows you're obsessed, they start keeping an eye out on your behalf.

Are you a sewer? If not, why not and if so how long have you been sewing for?

I've been sewing since I was very small. My mum worked from home as a seamstress so I grew up under an industrial sewing machine. Quite literally - I would sit under there playing and we would sing songs while she worked.

My own sewing really took off when I moved from England to America. Due to an extremely favourable exchange rate, my husband and I were able to take a year off work to follow whatever creative whim we wanted to pursue. During that time, I discovered quilting and really fell in love with it. If you were on Craftster.org in 2007, you might have seen my Scrappy Square quilt, a king size log cabin put together entirely from scraps that I laboured over for months. It’s a visual monstrosity and I’m very proud of it.

Which pattern(s) from your store would you love to sew yourself?

I'm going through a cape phase so it would have to be this one and I so badly wanted to keep this one I know it went to a wonderful home though.

What is your favourite pattern in your store at the moment?

This trapeze dress and this 60s Vogue.

What's the most expensive pattern you've sold and what made it so special?

My most recent high dollar pattern was an uncut Fabiani evening gown bought by a lady who originally wore the dress to a formal function when she was 17 and had loved it ever since. I was delighted to be able to connect her back to so many special memories. It’s the kind of story I hear often and that's definitely the aspect of ZipZapKap I love most.

How do you work out your pricing for patterns, is it based just on age, condition or on the availability of each pattern or something else entirely?

All those factors play a part but condition is king. Dead stock (or old shop stock) commands the highest price because there's nothing quite like being the first person to open a vintage envelope.

Does the popularity of vintage patterns change from year to year and if so what would you think may cause that?

This is my first year in the vintage pattern business so I'm not well qualified to speak on long term trends. Popularity is certainly regional though - I have a huge contingent of customers from Australia and that number continues to grow as the exchange rate tips more and more in Australia's favour.

In your opinion is sewing vintage becoming more or less popular?

Sewing vintage is never going to be 'mainstream' but I think more and more of us are shifting towards making sensible sustainable choices that recognize the importance of economy, quality of life and the personal fulfilment that comes from creativity. Investing in vintage goes hand in hand with that.

Anything else you'd like to share with us?

I'd like to thank all the contributors to this fabulous community who serve up so much inspiration, encouragement and positivity. It’s such a treat to see what everyone is working on. Good luck in the competition and if you have any questions, you can reach me at katherine@ZipZapKap.com or find me on Twitter.

Thanks very much for answering our questions Katherine!

Don't forget that you have until the 30th to submit a garment that could be worn to any type of party. The prize is $100 to be spent at ZipZapKap (not including shipping) so get entering!

Happy sewing

Anna

Party Dress Submission

Here is my submission for the November Party Dress Contest. Pardon the deer in the headlights look. ;)

It's Simplicity Vintage 4709. There is no date on the envelope, but I'm guessing mid-1950s. I made some alterations to the pattern to get it to fit, thanks to Gertie's blog for Burda Style about essential alterations for vintage patterns.

If you would like more details, come see me at my blog.

Hollywood 1059, 1930s Blouse

I found this cute pattern in an antique store back in the summer and HAD to make it despite the fact that there were no instructions and I haven't worn a Peter Pan collar in 45 years! I used a light blue vintage eyelet with a border, and I love the way it turned out. Unfortunately, it just is not my style, so I'll probably sell it on etsy next spring. At any rate, I wanted to share because it is quite pretty.

Here's the back view. For some reason I can't locate the front of the envelope, which was what sold me on this design to start with!

My blog, The Vintage Traveler, has a post on a cute wrist pincushion I made last week.

My Joan Crawford dress

I bought this pattern a couple of months ago and held onto it until I found the right fabric, a fantastic RPL black crepe from Metro Textiles in NYC (I'm not affiliated, but the next time you're in NY, you must go. The prices are really reasonable, this fabric was $10 a yard for a 54", and if you tell the owner what you're looking for, he'll start tossing bolts aside like they were toothpicks and will come up with the most beautiful things. Quite an experience). This crepe is fantastic, and really feels like vintage fabric from the 40's. The construction of this dress was pretty simple, and I didn't run into too many problems aside from the smocking at the shoulders and below the bust line (which I eventually removed; it looked too messy and the gathers look just fine on their own) and I had to take the shoulders in a bit since I'm not a shoulder-pad sort of girl. I also opted to forgo the bows and make a flower instead from a fragment of old WWII-era silk I had from a deconstructed wedding dress.

This was the first pattern I had ever worked on that wasn't printed; it's a DuBarry, and I'm guessing it's from about 1938-1940. The instructions were pretty straightforward and I really didn't run into any hang-ups the way I feared I might without detailed instructions on the pattern itself. I just chalked it all up using the punched holes in the pattern as a guide (I don't use tailor's tacks), and it all came together quite simply. I have other DuBarry patterns, and now I'm not quite so terrified to tackle them.

More at my blog, The Republic of Dresses.

Saturday Brunch

I'm about to head into the city to meet some friends from brunch. For this, I'm wearing my newly created, darling brunch outfit:

The bolero is from Simplicity 3490 and the skirt from Advance 5452. If I had a decent camera, I'd show you the fabric, as it is marvelous. A light flowing acetate in navy blue with light brown stripes. love it. I paired this outfit with one of my favorite vintage hats made of navy blue velvet and feathers. Now I'm all set for brunch!

Simplicity 5131

About a month ago, I won some vintage patterns from the generous Lisa of The Hem Line. You all know Lisa, because she announces her vintage pattern giveaways on Sew Retro.

There was no envelope, so from just looking at the style, I would guess it's a late sixties, early seventies pattern. What do you think?

Anyway, this is the dress that came out of the pattern. I messed up the skirt lining and the hem a little, and I was going to fix it. However, as sweet as the dress is, but I don't think I'll be able to pull off the look.

I did a mock roughly pinned the dress up to make it into a top, and this is how it looked:

I think I may have a new top instead of a new dress.

Introduction

Hello everyone!

This is my first post. My name is Cedar, and I am so excited to be here! I am pretty new to sewing, and up until recently have only done small projects like pillows, purses, and of course the necessary mending. Although I am new to sewing clothing, I am not new to vintage. I have been collecting vintage for over ten years. I recently decided to start sewing my own clothes because the styles I like are becoming more and more rare, as well as more expensive! I have been collecting tons of vintage patterns and retro reissued patterns, so I really have my work cut out for me!

This is the second item I made. It is the famous Butterick 6015, reissued as 4790. I feel I did an ok job on it, but I need to go back and make a few alterations.

I also have a blog called The Vintage Wife, where I post a lot about fashion, and hope to post more about my sewing adventures as I go along.

Nice to meet you all!

Near-fail Dress

I'd like to introduce you to a nightmare that kind of worked out in the end:

I have a LOT to say about this dress and pattern, but won't bore y'all with it here. Take a squizz at my blog for more details if you are so inclined.

I used some beautiful vintage buttons my friend gave me for my birthday to create a kind of yoke detail to make the whole dress a bit more exciting. The dress is made from an un-dated pattern I scored on ebay. I'm guessing 1973, anyone else have any ideas?

I love these patterns that contain the patterns for loads of garments like this, as if it's saying 'This is the only pattern you will ever need!'. Out of interest, does anyone have a pattern that they have made all the different garments from?

Advance 8171

This is the pattern cover. I made the view in the middle out of fake silk shantung.

Back view. The lighting makes it look so wrinkly and lumpy. It doesn't look that bad in person. I like my hair.

It slipped off my shoulder a bit in the picture. The straps do lie flat.

But I post it because while it is not an epic fail, I doubt I will ever wear it. The bust area fits terribly. It rides up, it has lumpy seams. Overall, it sucks. But, hey- I thought I would share it anyways.

Pattern notes: the bodice should have been shortened for petites, but there was no line for it. Advance patterns have bad instructions. I didn't realize how low the back drops, so you can't wear a bra, so the bust was extremely gaping, and I had to try to fix it too late. But, none of that would apply if I was patient and made muslins. I enjoy slapping things together, so I refuse! haha.

more pictures, details and whines here!

Wool And Flannel

I have finally finished a new project. It took me such a very long time. Mostly because I have been lazy these last few weeks. It is a soft green wool (perfect for a winter frock) with tartan flannel for the contrasting collar and sleeve bands.

I used vintage McCall's 6626. View A.

Unfortunately, it is not a party dress, or I should enter it into the November contest.

Please disregard the wrinkles and my slouch.

Closeup on the delightful collar!

Thank you, Darlings!

Dasvidanya,

Garnet

All Tomorrows Parties

Aloha!

I had a bit of a challenge this week; I accidently booked myself for two parties on the same night and had to come up with a dress I could wear to both.
The themes were “Hawaiian Luau” and “Rock’n’Roll” . I must admit that they aren’t the hardest party themes to mix so I was lucky there. The dress is a halter neck wiggle dress with flounce in a tropical palm tree print.

A little heads up for anyone thinking of using a multi directional print in the future; be careful where you lay out your pieces. Even though the palm trees went both ways I somehow caught them all going down making my bodice look upside down.

You can read more on my blog: www.vivianvondimples.blogspot.com

The Mad Clairegeit

Hello, I have also been obsessed with the wonderful styles of the 1940s and 1950s, sadly wonderful vintage dresses of this period are very hard to find in my size and hard to find in my country and repro dresses while beautiful have not-so-beautiful prices. So I have decided to get out my vintage patterns and start sewing a great vintage wardrobe.

I will hoping to use Sew Retro and my own blog to keep myself honest and on track (and not get distracted by pretty new fabric and a new idea). Also the following four rules
1. Four Projects at a time on the to do list.

2. Projects can only be removed from the list once completed or deemed a complete fail.

3. I will post all failures as well as successes so I as well as others can learn from my mistakes.

4. I resist the lure of new fabric and always check my fabric stash first before heading down to the stores.

Soon will post the first of my attempts. Come visit my blog http://www.clairegeit.blogspot.com/