My wedding dress
(vintage pattern and fabric)

Aloha Everyone!
Just a quick greeting and intro to all. I am an avid vintage pattern collector and seamstress
out here in sunny central California. I really enjoy reading all your posts and have
been inpired by so many of your fabulous photos. Haven't decided on my July project yet.

Hello from San Francisco

Hi everyone! I just joined the sew-along and believe me when I say it took every ounce of willpower to try NOT to join. I guess I don't have enough, do I? Anyways, surprise, surprise, I will be making Butterick 4790. I'm just waiting for the pattern and deciding on fabric (which is the biggest challenge for me). Little did I know this pattern takes up FIVE yards of fabric. I can't wait to get started!

following suit with an introduction

Hi Everyone!

I'm really excited to see what people make here. I love vintage/vintage inspired clothing, so I expect I'll have a fabulous time looking at what y'all sew. As for the July sew-a-long, I've been eyeing butterick's 4790 after seeing it on A Dress A Day, and Craftster. I definitely think I'll be making this in several colors. I've already cut out the pattern (has to be the easiest pattern I've ever cut out in my life!).

TGIF!

Swap Group?

Would anyone be interested in a Swap Group for Sew Retro on Flickr?

I have about 10 or so patterns that I would be happy to swap and others have mentioned that they also have bits and pieces so I thought perhaps a group where we could all post photos might be a good idea. It would just be an area where you could put up vintage/retro sewing related items along with a description and what you're looking to swap for so that members can browse at their leisure.

Leave a comment if you're interested and I'll get right on it if it's wanted.

Anna

My introduction

Hi, I'm Jane, I am a stay at home mama of 3 kiddos. I keep pretty busy with them, but I also love to knit and have rediscovered sewing. I joined this group with the intention of raiding my mom's stash of old sewing patterns so I could make some tops for my 2 daughters that my mom had made for me. Well, little did I know that my mom got rid (I know, oh the horror!) of ALL of her vintage patterns because she wasn't using them and thought my interest in sewing had faded. Sigh...she did have one old pattern left, a stuffed toy pattern, so she let me have the last survivor of her once glorious collection. Anyway, I have been on a soft toy sewing spree anyway so I decided to sew toys from vintage patterns. I checked eBay and went completely nuts buying several vintage toy patterns. I will decide which ones to make first when they arrive. I can't wait to start. I am looking forward to sewing along with all of you.

Introducing myself

Hi there, i'm Nichola aka Nikkishell .
I recently started Wardrobe Refashion and was pleasantly suprised by the interest it created, i notice that a few participants are participating here too. I'm also a moderator for the Flickr vintage patterns group. I collect vintage/retro patterns and have made things from a few of them. I'd like to start using more of them, it seems a shame not to!



I'm looking forward to the challenges and i'm already finding so much inspiration from all you crafty ladies!

Intro

Hi, everyone! I'm Rebecca, aka Fibermom. I have four children, ages 14 to 23, and work full time managing an educational store. A former teacher and former homeschooler, I still do teacher workshops, writing, and that sort of thing as well, so I think of myself more as an educator than a retailer.
I knit, sew, quilt, crochet, embroider, make soap, and otherwise try to make as much of what I and my family use as possible. Of course that means that I garden and bake. I sing in a choir (sometimes two choirs, if I have time) and read a lot. I guess I have a pleasant, ordinary, busy life.
I made a nightgown (at left) from a Folkwear Victorian pattern in the cool weather,

so now I need to make one for the warm weather. My pattern is Folkwear 223 "A Lady's Chemise" and I have some lightweight Cuddleskin (satin on the outside and flannel on the inside) to make it from. The pattern involves a lot of handwork, which is my favorite part, so I am looking forward to that.

I'm also looking forward to getting to know all you interesting ladies better!

Hi, everybody!

I'm Jenn. I'm a grad student, and although my research is on video games, I love working with my hands, and especially sewing and knitting. I don't always have a lot of time, but I've been trying to make more time to be creative. I love most things vintage and retro up to about the late 60s. Everything from 20s flapper dresses and 30s suits through to 50s shirt dresses and 60s minis are good by me, depending on my mood.

I'm looking forward to expanding my wardrobe. I have a fair amount of vintage fabric both in regular yardage and in the form of sheets. In addition, I have more than 40 vintage patterns that I've picked up over the last year or so (incuding a neat Issey Miyaki and two Diane von Furstenburg wrap dresses, which are great.) I've also been really liking some of the Vintage Vogue reissue patterns, and am looking forward to trying my hand at some of them.

Right now I don't have a digital camera, but I should be picking one up soon, so there will likely be photos at some point in the future (I hope so, anyway.) I really love what I'm seeing already, and can't wait to get started on this and see what else everyone else makes.

My Intro

Hi. I'm Jennie from Madaline Jane .
I love this idea of a vintage sew along. Lately I have seen many vintage style dresses. I would love to make one of them.

Besides sewing, I knit, crochet, and quilt.

Looking forward to sewing with you girls.

July - Retro Party Madness!

In my intro post I mentioned that my boyfriend (I'll call him Yanni from now on, it's shorter to type) and I will be going to a 60s themed pool party in July. I've finished his outfit, so now it's time to do mine and I'll do it for the sew-along! The pattern is one from the 50s that I bought on ebay. It's a playsuit and skirt. I'm going to start with the skirt and get that done, and then tackle the playsuit, in case I don't have time to finish both, because I have a very busy couple of weeks coming up!

Anyway, here are pics of the pattern and fabric. First the pattern (there was no envelope, hopefully you can see it okay):




And here is a wide pic of the fabric - retro beach boys! I'll post a picture soon of Yanni in his shirt - it has retro beach girls on it.

I jumped the gun...

Well, I could not wait until July 1st. My daughter 'needed' another dress for a party. I made Butterick 4790 again. I did have some problems though; I have a huge drawer of bias tape and I thought I would "Use what I have". The bias tape was rotten. I thought something was amiss when I was sewing, goes to show you, you should trust you gut instincts. I also have a collection of vintage buttons and I thought they added a nice touch.

I was perusing whipup.net/ yesterday and found this a pillowcase dress made by lemongardenia. I think it is adorable! I have a stash of old linen's and pillowcases that are in less than wonderful shape. I made a pillowcase top for my daughter. Sorry she was not home to model it.

I took pictures of the process, I thought I would try my hand at a tutorial? If anyone is interested...
I have such a hard time with placing pictures and working with the
type in Blogger. Sorry if this looks so chaotic!
And your post never looks the same when you preview it and then when you post it.

I joined!

What a fun Sewalong.
I just had to join.
I'm a contemporary woman with a 50's sensibility, and a lot of sewing experience and skills.
I have some recently constructed garments made from my own "vintage" patterns - geeze it's hard to think of patterns that I bought when they were new (in the 70's and 80's) as Vintage!
I'll have to get some pics together.
Meanwhile, I've been stockpiling some 40's and 50's designs to make.
I think I have just the thing for July. Must dig through some stash in the basement.
for pics of said stash (not all of it, just some of it) see here

Today, finally, I got on the ball and started entering some of my overwhelming stash, but mostly some of my friends overwhelming stash, on-line for sale in an Etsy Shop. The owner of Etsy said go ahead when I asked about it. I also have started digging out older patterns and putting them up. Right now all I have up are blouse patterns. I figure that to get through the patterns and fabric I'm willing to part with, it will probably take at least a month to get it all entered. But already today 2 pc's of fabric have sold...Yeah!
In a way it's sad, but the 3 of us who have gone together in this venture are all so seriously SABLE that its' pathetic.
Meanwhile, I'm finding some absolutley wonderful pieces I forgot I had. and now that I'm done with client work for a whole month, I get to sew for ME.
I promise pics next time I post.
this is going to be so much fun.

Fabric frenzy

I went to the thrift store with the intent to find a good, solid retro/vintage pattern. I found a couple (stuff from the 70s, nothing on par with those beautiful full-skirted dresses some of you seem to have), but it was the fabric bins -- oh those fabric bins -- that caught my attention. I think I showed some restraint, considering what was there. But then again, don't we all want to think that when the fever takes over?

Most of the fabric pieces were less than a yard, but a few have enough yardage to make a skirt or a blouse:

And here's the pattern of the dress I want to make (the one in the center of the photo). It's not a vintage pattern, but I hope it counts. If not, I'll choose something else. I'm excited to start, and have enjoyed reading all the introductions so much.

Help me decide which project to do!

Help! I can't decide which dress to make. Two options. I think this first option was made by The Villain, and is very similar to the dress made by Luna Lady. I picked up the fabric at an estate sale...it is 100% cotton, white, with flowers in shades of pink.



Option two is a cute party dress in an olive-colored taffetta. I'd probably make the full skirt with 3/4-sleeves (the blue dress in the middle). The color is hard to make out I'm sure on a computer screen. It's a shimmery brownish olive.



Help me decide!

Greetings from Maine

Hi everyone, I'm Petula.
This group blog came along at the perfect time. I had just finished altering a vintage dress that I was doing for Wardrobe Refashion, and I was grumbling to myself that it would probably make more sense to just start from scratch next time and make a dress to my own measurements. I was about to come to my senses and give up the idea, when I read about Sew Retro and signed up before I had my first cup of coffee.
I've made numerous garments from patterns in the past, but I've always chosen rather simple ones - even then I probably only have a 75% success rate (with low standards for "success"). I love looking at vintage patterns, but have never actually tried to make one because they always looked more complicated and fitted than I felt like I was capable of. I think, however, that I may be convinced to give the Butterick 4790 pattern a shot after reading so many good things about it here.
Here are pictures of two vintage dresses that I didn't make but I did do major alterations on:

Hellooooo

Hi all...I'm Michelle and live in Portland, Oregon. One of my jobs this summer is to get my house ready for sale. So I'm painting and weeding and when I'm not working on the house I'm doing lots and lots of sewing. The other job, which does create a little bit of cash, is selling business card wallets, clutches and travel accessories in my etsy shop. Etsy has been a lot of fun and my sewing has really improved in the last year!

It's been a very long time since I've sewn anything to wear--especially for myself! So I'm looking forward to making something fun for me to wear.

I've got a stash of patterns in a range of sizes. My biggest challenge will be making something that will actually fit. Alterations are not something I've dabbled in--yet. Guess the place to start is measuring myself, huh?

Must get out the patterns now...

Hello All!

Hi there, everyone. I'm Sara. While Anna may be "across the pond" from Alissa, I'm (literally) across the street. When she mentioned Sew Retro, I thought, "That's nice. I'm NOT joining. I'm going to keep my 'plate' as empty as possible this summer." Apparently, my plate has been too empty since I've been haunting around blog-dom in my free time. This group just looks like it's going to be too much fun to miss out on. Hey, what can I say? I'm a desperate joiner who's terrified I'll miss the "good stuff" somewhere.

I have two kidlets, 5 & 2, and too many fiber-related hobbies. I'm primarily a knitter, but I also crochet, spin, dye wool, some beading (though that's my 5 yo's "thing" really) and, of course, sew. My mother used to sew all my clothing when I was a child. I was terribly embarrassed at the time. Until, in 6th grade, I got tired of the other kids teasing me and told them I thought they were just jealous because their moms weren't talented enough to make them anything. From then on, I gained a new respect for the skill, time and effort my other put into my wardrobe.

I was 80's prep all the way in high school - penny loafers, pegged jeans, layered tees - you get the picture. I discovered my grandmother's cedar closet during my senior year, though. My senior prom dress was an awesome number from the 40's. In college I ran the gamut between co-ed slob (think schlepping to class in slippers and the sweats I slept in) and off-beat vintage type stuff. I remember wearing one of my great aunt's dresses during sorority rush. A VERY snobby chick complimented the hell out of it until she asked where I bought it. When I explained it wasn't a vintage reproduction, she made a strange face and WALKED AWAY! Silly fool.

Anyway, I don't know where my "style" lies these days. (Some days it's near death under a pile of toys.) But I like to wear what appeals to me and is comfy and looks kinda "put together." I tend heavily towards longish skirts - with sandels in the summer, boots and leggings in the winter.

I have no idea what I'm going to sew in the coming month. But I'm looking forward to trying. I'm also dying to see how all you "curvy" ladies adapt vintage fit to today's standards of comfort. I love the look of the 40's and 50's era stuff, but I'm a size 20 with DD nursing breasts and no waist (and no intention of artificially creating one.) I enjoy being able to breath freely. Go figure.

Nice to meet you

Hi Im Rachel and I am a mom of three little hoodlums. I love all things vintage and have TONS of sweet patterns to use. I am going to sew a vintage baby girl dress for the challenge and now I just have to figure out which fabric to use from my stash. Here is the latest vintage inspired top that I made last month.
Its Simplicity 4589 made from vintage fabric that I found in my husbands grandmothers stash.


I look forward to seeing all of the projects for July. I truly LOVE vintage patterns and I may call upon you to help with the wording later on!! Good luck everyone!

salutations

My name is Carrie and I've been designing and sewing clothes ever since I can remember. I learned a lot from commercial patterns, but many of them are quite expensive for my budget (I'd rather buy fabric!) and being short, I always have to alter everything, so many years ago I made a sloper and started experimenting with flat pattern drafting. Now a lot of the patterns I use are home-drafted or taken from commercial garments I like. I have a long-standing interest in historical dress and textiles of all kinds. Sewing is my "instant" gratification outlet--my other fiber efforts include weaving, spinning and knitting. By comparison, sewing yields almost immediate results!

By choice I wear a lot of skirts since I find them comfortable, and I'd like to have more dresses in my wardrobe. I love the look of frocks from the 1950's and before, but like so many of us I have practical considerations too since I'm a bike commuter and student. My everyday clothes have to stand up to hard wear and they must be comfortable. My challenge will be how to get some retro style while honoring these requirements. In most cases I aim more for the sense of an era rather than an exact reproduction, but I do have a stack of Folkwear Patterns from long ago and I'm sure I'll find some inspiration there.

I may miss out on the first challenge, since I'll be out of town the month of July, but I'm here for the long term so I'll try to make up for it in August.

Carrie

Please Introduce Yourselves!

We are now amazingly up to 42 members and I know I've not seen 41 intros posted so please, let us know who you are, where you are and what you do! :o)

Anna

The First Project!

We were intending to hold a vote for the first project as we said in the intro emails you got to join the group, but when you all started posting about how excited you were to try out the lovely patterns you already had it became clear that the first project was right in front of us.

Make a garment from a vintage or retro pattern that you already own.

Yep, simple as that!

If you don't own a pattern yet then this is your chance to hunt down your ideal one to make! If there's something specific you're looking for give a shout out on the blog, Anna has a stack of patterns she'd be happy to send off to those in need and we're sure there are other members in the same position.

The poll for the length of the project had a clear winner of 1 calendar month so this project will run from the 1st July to the 31st July, you can make as many garments as you want within that period or just the one, entirely your choice.

As always if you need help or advice shout out, someone is bound to be able to get your sorted or know somewhere that can help.

Happy sewing!

Anna and Alissa

Hello!

Hi, I am choccycherry, aka Angie. I work full time and am a mum of two teenage boys. I live in Yorkshire, UK. I used to sew lots but since I've become a plus size I found fitting to be a huge problem and stopped sewing altogether. However I have decided to try and tackle the problem. I love sewing and fabric so much!

I may have a problem finding retro patterns to fit so maybe I will make an apron or something similiar. Does anyone have any ideas? Or know where i can buy plus size vintage patterns?

This is the first sew-a-long i've joined. I decided to stop dithering and jump right in.

Greetings from Nashville!

Hello! I've been a fan of vintage clothing and sewing for years. I have a lot of patterns that I've been meaning to try out, so I'm hoping this challenge will spur me into a frenzy of sewing! The most recent thing I've sewn was a dress. I used a vintage nightgown pattern that I altered a bit (added the waistband) and vintage fabric. Here's the link, it's the dress with flowers.

I have a lot of vintage children's patterns that I'm willing to part with, if anyone is interested. In the next few weeks I'll try to take pictures of them and post to my Flickr account, if you see something you like we can work out a trade.

Butterick 4790

I made this pattern for my daughter, and it is very easy. There are only 3 pieces, there are no facings - instead bias tape. I took a pic of the front page of the instruction sheet: I constructed the whole dress (from cutting to hemming) in a day. I'm cutting out another for my daughter tomorrow. It is a very easy dress to make. The only thing that is critical is the waist measurement,
a size 8 IS 24". I hope this helps! Donna

From the western plains of Nebraska...

Hi, I'm Kris and I live in western Nebraska. I used to sew almost all of my own clothes, but somewhere in the busyness of having kids, it seemed easier to buy off the racks. But I've missed the creativity of sewing clothes. There's just something fun about knowing that what you wear is unique. Don't you think?

I have 3 children, the last one will finish school this year. But I am raising two sweet little grandsons, one who has had some serious medical problems this spring, so life has completely revolved around him. Now things are better and I find myself needing to be creative. SewRetro sounds like just the ticket. My 19 yo daughter loves retro clothing so maybe she will be my muse. :>)

I lived in England for 3 1/2 years when I was first married. So it's fun to read the blogs of the gals over the pond. It truly is such a small world.

I still haven't figured out how to put buttons on my blog though. Maybe I should find a kid to figure that out for me.

I'm excited to see what the first project is.

Kris/Huskerbabe

http://huskerbabehideway.blogspot.com

Hello!

Hello, my name is Donna. I live in Chico, California with an awesome man and our beautiful, intelligent college junior, Stevie.
I have been sewing since I was about 7. I too love to sew my own clothes (except jeans and underclothing). I just organized my sewing room and it feels wonderful. I have a tons of fabric I want to use.
My daughter loves vintage clothes (She realized that Mom sewing for her is a great thing!). I recently made her Butterick 4790, in green gingham and vintage buttons, pictured here:
I also made her prom dress 2 years ago, I am particularly proud of it, the dress and purse took about 3 weeks to make. It is Butterick 4212, in red iridescent taffeta, black trim and fringe, hand sewn beads and a purse to match. (And a very cute date!)
I also enjoy making jewelry and ceramics. I am new to blogging, HTML is a very foreign language to me! (I have figured out how to post pictures!) My infant blog is www.lavenderlunalady.blogspot.com/. I first set it up to communicate with my family in Simi Valley, California, where I am from originally.
This is my first internet participation, and I am looking forward to the input and support of all my fellow participants.

My Introduction

Hello! I'm Anna, one of your co-hostesses and I live in Liverpool, England with my DH and 3 year old Little One.

I have been sewing on and off since high school and have really gotten my love back for it in the last year or so. My goal is to make 95% of my own clothes (not underwear or jeans) and to make as much as I can for Little One too. I have a rather large fabric stash so I'm trying to work my way through that as well as adding new bits and pieces when I find them. My motto is that I only sew (or knit) something if I can make it cheaper than you could buy it, so I'm always on the lookout for sales and deals!

I have a ton of vintage patterns (I'm as addicted to new patterns as I am to fabric so I have a lot of current patterns too!) that I bought off Ebay and so far have only made one of them. The dress itself was nice but it really did nothing for my figure so I'm trying a different style next time!

I'm looking forward to sewing along with you all and I hope that we can all learn a lot along the way and have some fun!

Anna - finally waking up

Hi all, I'm Ariel, aka Notamermaid, and I'm sewing from Brooklyn, New York.

I've been sewing on-and-off since I was a kid but really picked it up seriously in the past year. I love vintage clothes and recently had a brilliant epiphany- if i bought vintage patterns, I could make my own vintage, except unlike real vintage, it would always be my size, would be in true mint condition, and wouldn't have any stains or funky smells (at least not until I spilled something on myself - but heck, thats one of the many reasons I like colored and patterned fabric - it hides the tea stains better). During the day I'm a medical writer. A very well-dressed medical writer (or so I like to think).

Here's a dress I just completed. Its from a vintage pattern with reprodepot fabric, and a collar I drafted myself.

Links

Hey there,

If you have any fabulous online sources that aren't linked at right, please let us know. We'll add them as we can get to them.

Thanks!
Alissa

What to wear?

Hiya, I'm Nikol, an Austin, Texas transplant living in rural Kansas (in an old high school building, in fact). I've been all sidelined with knitting for the last year or so, and thought I'd join up with y'all to motivated me to hop back into the sewing. I've got a room full of vintage fabric & patterns and a sewing machine, but nother to wear. I'm hoping to turn that around. xoxo

Is the grass greener on the other side of the pond?

***note to UK girls - I was in John Lewis today (got some great dusky pink taffeta at £4 per metre which I think was either 50 or 70% off) and they said that the sale in the fabric department is starting on the 1st of July - that may well be when their general sale starts, but possibly worth a try...***

Hey girls,

Just wondering about where everyone is from. I suspect that a lot of the bloggers on here are from the US/Canada though I could be wrong. I'm wondering how many other UK people there are here - and where you get your supplies from. It seems to me that there is s severe dearth of sources here compared to most American cities and towns. Though admittedly I have a feeling that it just may be that in the past I haven't been paying attention to what's around me in terms of what's available, as even our crappy little local charity shop has yielded a couple (ok, literally two) modest treasures over the past month or so, and in fact I'm planning a trip to various local high streets with lots of charity shops to see what turns up.

But although there are a couple of good shops in central London, one that does trimmings which is between Broadwick St and Wardour St, and of course the divine VV Rouleaux I am positive that not only is the stock slightly more limited, it's markedly more expensive here than in the US. The last time we were in NYC I dragged DH around the Garment District, and had a ball buying buttons, beads and ribbon and gorgeous Denyse Schmidt fabrics here.

So all you UK girls, where do you recommend? I've used a couple of online fabric stores - I found that Chawlas is pretty good, but cheap fabrics are just that. And I've had the occasional score from ebay, of course. But it's a bit like buying books from Amazon compared to going into a "proper" bookshop - sometimes needs must, but there's none of the tactile pleasures, the smells, the feeling of paper stock or silk between the fingers,...sigh.

Looking forward to hearing any tips you've got!

Retro '52

Hi there folks! Villain checking in with my latest retro dress: a Butterick reprint from 1952. It turned out pretty well, though I haven't worn it in the real world yet...



The pattern itself was pretty simple, however the wearing is bound to be more complicated! I bought the pattern and then saw it posted on A Dress a Day so I knew it would be snazzy!

I will be putting the zipper in a Sew Betsy Ross Girlie Dress (in a fun owl print) today and I'll post as soon as it is finished.

TTFN!

Villain

Let's Vote!

Howdy all and thanks for joining!

Alissa and myself, your co-hostesses, have decided upon the first project, don't worry, it's not scary in any way at all! However, we'd love your input on how long you want each of the projects to last.

Please place your vote in the poll below and as soon as most people have voted we will post letting you all know what the project is so that we can all get ready for the July 1st start.

How long should the projects last?
	1 calendar month
	4 weeks
	6 weeks
	2 calendar months
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Thanks again for taking part!

Anna

Are we having a support forum? Because I need one...

Hey girls,


further to my earlier post about wanting to find the right retro pattern for the green polka dot silk, I decided to try out New Look 6586 View E as it's got quite a swingy skirt but doesn't need miles of fabric. I had this pattern already and used stash fabric. But I screwed up.

I did something really stupid. Basically when I measured myself for my pattern, I realised that the best measurement for the top was 14 and the bottom was probably the 18. Instead of trying to alter it, or indeed cut out the right sizes and then figure out how to get them toether, I just cut it all out as an 18. I have the most ridiculous body perception, how did I ever think that would work? Part of learning to make my own clothes is to make sure that I can adapt things to fit my body!!

So I did my darting, pressing and sewed up the bodice. I tried it on. Obviously, it looks ridiculous. I've been trying to pin it on myself, on my dummy, and I can't figure out what to do.

Plus it says on the bodice piece 'Bust - total ease above body measurements is approx 6.3 cm' and 'Waist - totaly ease above body measurements is approx 10cm' - does that mean that the size 18 bodice is actually 2 sizes too big for me, PLUS another 6.3 cms?!

Urgh. What I'm thinking is that I tack the skirt together to see how it's looking. If the fit is ok, I cut out another bodice in a 14 (if I have enough fabric), if that's the right size, and figure out how to join a big bottom to a smaller top.

Help?
Whimper... I feel so silly...

More Greetings From Texas

Hi everyone! I'm Angela, and I'm in Houston. I started sewing last November. I've always liked vintage and retro styles, in everything from clothes to home furnishings. I also like fun and colorful prints, and I like making clothes that display my sense of humor.

Right now I'm working on outfits for my boyfriend and I to wear to a 60s-themed pool party next month. He'll be wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a bathing beauty print. For myself I found a vintage pattern for a playsuit with a skirt, and that will be done in a coordinating print with beach boys (not "the" Beach Boys). I'm really excited about this project, and as soon as it's finished I'll be diving into the July project.

I'm looking forward to sewing along with everyone, learning a few things, and being inspired and challenged to do my best!

I blame it all on Barbie

Hi,I'm Linda and am a vintage addict. My main influence on clothes was Malibu Barbie et al. The 1960's were just ending when my imagination was captured by her beautiful clothes. I joined Sew Retro to fulfill the many ideas and to do's that float around in my head. My first project is going to be a simple skirt from vintage fabric and lace. I am a pattern dyslexic, I cannot understand Butterick,Vogue etc instructions so I have no hope in using a 1950's or 1960's pattern.. at this stage anyway. Thankyou to Anna and Alissa for the idea and setting it all up.

The Crafty Weasel goes Sewing!

Hi all! I am a craft addict, mostly knitting, needlepoint and pottery. I've only sewn one bag before and I've been meaning to put my sewing machine to more use. This is perfect timing, as my mother, who can sew very well, will be coming to visit for a couple of weeks in July. With her guidance, I will be sewing (or attempting to sew) one of these below (either A or B), probably in white cotton. I love 1950's clothing, so I decided to start with something simple: a sleeveless shirt. I can't wait to start!!

You can check my blog at The Crafty Weasel

Greetings from Texas!

Not much to tell about, really. I'm a mother of two beautiful girls (naturally) who started sewing about five years ago when my eldest was six and I needed something for her to wear that didn't make her look like a prostitot. I had to teach myself how to sew and I'm still learning. Mostly I made Halloween costumes and the occasional dress but last year I started sewing more often. A lot more often. Mostly blankets and purses to sell. Very easy stuff so making something retro and that's not a costume will be a challenge.

Another retro girl from across the pond

Hi folks!
My name is Tatjana and I'm a Canadian living in Stuttgart, Germany. It's a pretty conservative, yuppie-ish sorta city, so not much retro round here. I'm a born thrifter who would gladly trade this century or decade for another, but since I can't, I'll just settle for dressing like I can :) I got to take a trip home not too long ago, and brought back some fun vintage sheets n tablecoths that I hope will soon be a couple of fun skirts or dresses. This is my first craft-along in forever, so I'm pretty excited about getting retro with you all. Oh, and I should probably mention, I taught myself to sew when I was quite young, and after many doll dresses and wierd creations in high school I actually took a year of fashion design. I finally decided it was a much too cut-throat business for me though, and ended up a scientist. But I still have all those sewing skills, so if anyone has questions or needs any tips or help, just ask! I'm always happy to help :)

Hi from Norway

Hi there, I'm Strikkelise and I live in Oslo, Norway. I am the mother of two small children, a boy and a girl. I haven't sewn too many clothes lately, but I used to sew a lot of skirts etc. Now I've got the urge again, and I want to combine it with my love for vintage. I want to make some skirts and hopefully a dress for myself, as well as some clothes for the kids. And I can't wait to see what other things turn up for the sewalong. I have a small collection of vintage sewing patterns, the ones in the photo are from a swap this spring. I'm really itching to use them. (click to see larger version)
Thank you Anna and Alissa for coming up with this bright idea!

Hi, I'm Kristen. Nice to meet you!

A little about me: I work full time and just completed graduate school, so I like to exercise the "right side" of my brain in my spare time by sewing, thrifting and...trying to knit.

My husband and I live in beautiful Orange County, California (really, I'm normal, even though I live in California) and share our home with our two wonderfully entertaining black cats, Pito and The Little Black One. I'm also a hopeless romantic...

I acquired these terrific vintage patterns last year (click the photos for larger views)...

...and I'd like to use some vintage fabric I received as a gift from my mother-in-law and some very cute bed sheets I found at thrift stores.

I'm looking forward to starting the sew-a-long in just a couple weeks!

Hello everyone!

thanks to Alissa and Anna for setting this up... I used to do mainly hand sewing but I'm on my way to conquering my machine. I did a class for most of this year and know some of the basics now, definitely have to work on my finishing skills. I still find commercial patterns a bit of a challenge as I quite like figuring out how to make something by myself.

My main goal is to find a nice pattern to make a dress using this fabric, which belonged to my great aunt, I think it's silk. I love it and don't want to go chopping it up until I'm sure I can make something worthy of it!! Also it should be a retro pattern to reflect the fact that it's vintage fabric. There's about 4 yards of it but it's only 45 wide I think. I'd quite like to try this pattern but I'm not the smallest of girls so I don't know if I'd have enough material.

My other goal is to stop dressing in slobbing-about-the-house clothes, which is something that's very easy to do since I went freelance and don't have to go to the office any more. So pretty skirts and cute vintage tops (I'm thinking cowl necks and crepes, drapey elegant things) are the order of the day!

Also I seem to be obsessed with polka dots at the moment - which always seem retro to me!

I've got visitors coming from a week from the 1st but will try to check back to find out what the first theme is.

Hey all

What have I gotten myself into? Am I really going to be able to sew a retro outfit? What was I thinking?

I mean....hello. I'm Karen from New Mexico and I joined this group rather impulsively. I usually spend hours or days deciding whether I should join something or buy something and then it's too late. I figure you got to break the mold sometime. I have some sewing experience (I took sewing classes when I was younger) and have sewed outfits on my own before. But we shall see how this goes.

At the very least, I can ooh and aah at everything you guys make. Here is a dress I sewed two years ago (has it been that long?) from some fabric I found in my mom's stash back home. It's the closest thing to retro that I've ever made.



Looking forward to starting the first project.

A quick shout out from Minneapolis

Hello all! I thought I'd pop in and introduce myself. I live in Minneapolis and have been successfully masquerading as a law student for the past two years, though secretly I wish I was in my sewing room all the time. I have huge piles of vintage fabric that I picked up at estate sales and thrift stores over the years and am eager to join you all in the sew-alongs!

My lady-friends and I usually post our crafty business over at the International Craft Conspiracy blog.

Below is an off-beat little project I finished a couple of months ago. I made a new laptop bag for myself adorned with vintage sewing patterns. The patterns are basically sewn onto a background of fabric, then covered with vinyl.

The Rules

Pretty simple, really. If you want to join, you must be into sewing retro garments. This can mean a variety of things: you use vintage fabric, vintage patterns, or just vintage styled fabric and patterns.

We'll have a monthly sewalong with some kind of theme.

We have set up a gmail account to join Sew Retro. Just send an email to sewretro [at] gmail [dot] com with your first name and blog url.

Our first sewalong begins July 1.

Happy sewing!

Welcome!

Sew Retro is a sewing group for those interested in making vintage or retro style clothing. We're not limiting ourselves to only truly vintage patterns and/or fabric, but embracing retro and vintage styles in all forms.

We will be having various sew-alongs but with quite general inclusive themes (ie a Simplicity pattern, a flowered fabric, a 50's pattern, that kind of thing) which members will be able to join in with if they so wish.

We are also hoping to be an open forum for all things related to vintage pattern sewing, such as questions on pattern wording, fitting patterns to your figure, where to find certain fabric, notions, patterns etc as well as showing off your handywork and making us all jealous!

If you would like to join us please email us at sewretro at gmail dot com and include your blog url so we can link to you on the sidebar and send an invite.

Hoping to sew with you all soon!

Anna and Alissa