August piece

Hi all!
I just noticed I never posted my August project, the fall wardrobe essential. I did do it in the correct month :)

As my August project I made this old-fashioned bonnet out of corduroy. The pattern is from Amy (www.kingpod.com) and it was very easy to follow. My husband thought I was a bit daft to do this, but I think it is quite cute :)

Introduction

Hello all! I have been enjoying your blog for some time and decided to join in. This year, my goal has been to learn how to sew, and wish to sew a great deal of vintage and historical items. My first historical project will be a Church Doll, as in Victorian days, as a St. Nicholas present for my daughter.

As for me, I am 30 years old, married for almost ten years to my husband, Rich, mother to four sons and a daughter, in descending order of age: Alexander, Dominic, Elijah, Amira and Jerome (who is only two months old). We live in a semi-rural area that is a bedroom community to two larger cities in our area, my husband is a pilot and airport manager and we live on the airport in a caretaker's house, I am a homemaker. Our two eldest are in private school here in town, and I am homeschooling the preschool aged children until they are ready for kindergarten.

We raise or grow much of our food and are increasing our planting and animals, I cook just about everything we eat from scratch, and am working toward making everything but flour (and even that I'd like to do occasionally) and things that we cannot grow in our area, I make yogurt, all our bread, jams, jellies, preserves, pickles and relishes and am working toward learning how to make cheeses, wines, beers and ciders. I knit, and that is my big passion, aside from cooking. I have learned how to crochet, and enjoy that as well, learned to spin a couple years ago, but don't get a chance to do so much as yet, and now am moving on to sewing as well. I would like to be able to make all of our clothing. My husband actually wants to learn how to cobble shoes.

Part of my desire to sew is to have clothes that fit and flatter my figure while being modest. I am quite busty and things that fit my top don't fit my bottom half, for instance. I imagine that I will lurk here more than post, as I am still a rank beginner at sewing, but I may ask questions.

edited to add: For those of you interested, you can read about my knitting and family at my blog Arabian Knits.

Hi All!

Hi Ladies, I'm new here, just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Shameka, I'm from Brooklyn, NY and am a big fan of vintage clothes. I'm a plus size lady so, I got into sewing somewhat for necessity because it's hard to find larger sized vintage clothing. It's few and far between and often VERY expensive. Here is my latest effort. Simplicity 4047, which one of the other ladies posted just a few days ago. I love how it came out, with the excpetion of the lining which looks like blech.

Vintage Butterick

This pattern is my current challenge



I took a big chance with this pattern, you see there is no size on the packet, it was torn off before i got it in my little hands. I love the dress so much that i really wanted to have a go at making it so just went for it and hoped that it would fit. Guess what? It does!! I'm making it in a pale blue linen that has a little stretch.
I already have it sewn together, just the finishing to do, seam bind the hem, finish the armholes, 7 buttonholes and buttons, 2 hook & eye closures then stitch down some of the facings, phew!
My parents arrive for a visit from the UK on Wednesday, i wonder if i could manage to finish it (along with all the other things i need to do) before they arrive? I won't hold my breath but i'll try.

Here's the picture of the pattern

Sorry about the unclickable link.

Pleased to Introduce Myself

Hi, I'm LuceLu, a new member. I love retro patterns/styles and find myself drawn to fashion that has vintage styling to them. I have decided to make this pattern:


http://www.simplicity.com/assets/4047/4047.jpg

For the October challenge I will be making the blouse in (gasp!) a white linen blend. I have only a few days left of October to put it all together so I will repost next week (when I have some time off). I plan to also make the jacket and skirt but will reserve those for other challenges.

Currently I am in mid project of a knit top (just finished fitting with a muslin) so I will try to complete that one as well. It does have some "retro" elements.

A little about myself: I am a nurse and work with mainly oncology patients but trends in hospital mismanagement are causing me to despecialize quite a bit so I am getting more exposure to a plethora of illnesses but my love and my heart is in taking care of cancer patients and helping them negotiate the complex treatment and sequelae of their disease. It seems like everyone knows someone with cancer and it seems to truly strike indiscriminately. I have a 13 year old son who is adorable and a husband who is a sweetie but often has to travel away from home to work. I work night shifts which can make me too tired to sew (without a lot of mistakes) or up all night sewing as I am wide awake after 10pm. We have two cats, Mardi and Gossie.

I used to sew garments, quite a bit when my son was little. I made tshirts, shorts, scrubs and loungewear, dresses, skirts etc.--also a bunch of home dec stuff (slipcovers, curtains, pillows, window quilt insulators). Since then, my body has changed quite a bit and I am having to refit etc. I did some quilting and what I like to call "messing around" with fabric which basically is playing without any plan in my head. I have a few UFO's that I'd still like to finish but would like to refocus on clothing. I have demoted myself back to a rank beginner.

I also love to collect vintage sewing machines. I will post some pictures once I figure out what I did with my battery charger for my camera.

Ciao for niao!

I got this far...

Hi y'all
I've been desperate to get some crafting done. My new job which kicked in early September, has taken all my time. It's fab, but I haven't even had time to thread a needle. So here, belatedly, is my September project - a modest little peg bag in retro fabric to match my pinny (see August). Small, yet manageable!
I so love the bark cloth jacket Villain, I like a lot of the retro styled clothes on the (British) High Street at the moment, but the cut is never right or the fabric is really poor. Good on you gals for creating fab wardrobes - I'm hoping to graduate from peg bags and pinnys soon. I have a nice skirt pattern for the October project which I probably will complete sometime in February...

Hi Everyone!

I've been reading the site for a while now, but this is my first post as I haven't actually completed any retro projects. I did manage to find this great sewing book a few weeks back at my local second hand shop.

It has great information on everything from planning, drafting patterns, choosing your fabric to refashioning and repairing existing clothes.

I really like the simplicity and thoroughness of the instructions.

If you like the Vogue cape pattern in the recent post this might come in handy... (hopefully the picture is clear enough!)

Cocktails, anyone?

Here it is, my September project. The hostess apron.



I love it. I can't believe it took me almost two years to actually put this together, but I did.



And here's my action shot, trying to photograph the back of the apron myself. Of course, I realize now I should have just spun the apron around, but the picture shows how much of a goof I can be. Why not admit it?

My goal now is to find a pattern like these and make a few of these apron smocks.



I can see using them at home for working on my DIY projects but also as regular weekend wear, especially that red & white striped one.

Looky, looky! looky!

I love how the major pattern companies seem to be jumping on the retro bandwagon to help us out. Check out these new retro-inspired jacket patterns.


McCall's 5244



McCall's 5243


And last but not least...


Vogue 2934!

Done!

There's a reason I voted for a retro design in a solid color:

I just finished these in black cotton twill.

Okay, so I ain't no Audrey Hepburn.

I'm planning to finish some vintage culottes in the same fabric. Both these items will be great for spring. Oops.

What can I make with some grey flannel for winter? A pencil skirt? I've got a vintage pattern. Suggestions?

October Theme

So, the winner of the October theme is:

Solid color fabric in a retro design.

Only about half of our members voted, but as we're late with the vote I'm calling it anyway, the other 2 options will go back on the list so don't worry if you wanted them, you'll get a chance to vote for them again sometime.

This theme will run until the 8th of November as I will be out of the country at the end of October until then (yay!). The November project will cover November and December as I know that a lot of people get really busy this time of year and won't be able or want to fit in 2 projects.

Happy sewing and I look forward to seeing those solid coloured garments, I'm not sure if I even have a solid coloured fabric in my stash (the prints get me every time), may need to go fabric shopping! :o)

Anna

real life

Here is a shot of the jacket in real life! The puckers virtually vanished with some more starch and ironing. And stay out!



Things seem to have gotten stressful for just about everyone and that leaves little time for crafting. I am trying to make some more space in my life to breathe and sew. There are so many patterns out there that it makes it hard to decide what to start next. Wait a second... I thought this was supposed to be my stress release! Maybe a shirtdress? Maybe another jacket? What are people working on right now?


Villain

TARDY=behind time

Whatever happened to September?

I made these two pillows today . A little bit of barkcloth and the rest is Ikea fabric. The black and white squiggle pillow at the back is a store bought slip from Ikea. Done within two hours and one month to think about it.

Barkcloth Jacket

I have finally finished something retro! I was planning on making something home-related for September, but instead of retro pinups, I ended up with sushi... My batteries conspired against me, so no action shot today, but here is a still-life:




It is my first jacket and I am quite excited about it and the future of Villainous jackets. There is only one mistake that will bother me (though there are certainly more present...). I may be the only one to ever notice this, but nonetheless it will irk me. There is a spot right below the right collar point where the interfacing has gotten a little wrinkly/detached. Starch helped, but I fear that it will come up in the future. Any fixes for this sort of thing??

Villain

October Vote

Sorry for not putting this up sooner, I totally missed the end of September somehow!

Your choices for this month are as follows:

What Should the October Project Be?
	Solid color fabric in a retro design.
	Project from the 70's.
	A vintage pattern that will challenge your sewing skills.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I only got a couple of responses to my question as to whether everyone was happy with the monthly themes so I will assume that those who didn't answer are fine with it. **Please** remember that you don't have to sew to the theme if you don't want to, it's not a requirement in any shape or form, just something fun that will hopefully inspire us and perhaps get us sewing together or remind you of something you meant to make and never got around to.

If you're working on things that don't fit the theme by all means definitely tell us about them please, this group is for all retro sewing not just for themed stuff!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone votes for, I will take the winner from whatever votes are cast by tomorrow evening.

Thanks!

Anna