New Member

Hello everyone! My name is Summerset (yes, that's my legal first name; no, my parents weren't hippies), and my blog is Pins and Needles. I'm excited to be part of a blog where the focus is retro sewing! I've admired all of your creations and ideas from every era. My favorite garments come from the time starting with the New Look, Post WWII up through the mid 1960's. I'm definitely a 50's girl, but upon occasion will stray into the Mod late 60's!

Here's my latest vintage creation, my daughter's Easter dress, from Simplicity 1633:

You can visit my blog for more details on this dress and on other vintage garments I've made. For the more complicated garments, I tend to post in serial format, so look for the labels, "Vogue Couturier 167", "American Beauty" and my current large project, "Diamonds".

Long-weekend + bad weather = new fancy lady clothes

I had this fabric in my stash for a couple years, having bought it at a thrift store, and never knew what to do with it. Then I was going through all my patterns (which have started to spill out all over the floor of my bedroom) and decided that it would make a perfect dress based on the Simplicity 4047 shirt.
For this one, I started in my usual size, but tapered to a size smaller at the waist and then flared it back out again. This way, I almost have an hourglass silhouette, without any of the crazy 1940s/1950s girdle problems.
In addition to lengthening the bottom pattern pieces for the skirt, I also lengthened and widened the neck line. (I would have been considered a bad influence in the '50s, I'm sure.)

The skirt is also from the same pattern set and is also from fabric I thrifted years ago. I think the only reason I was able to hold onto fabric this beautiful for so long is that it was longer than it was wide and I really wanted to keep the scalloped lace edges. If the piece of fabric had been any bigger, I'm sure it would have been sewn up into something ages ago.
When I bought the lace, it was already underlined with a very soft cotton. Rather than change the lining, I kept the original fabrics together, hand sewing them together before cutting out the pieces. In assembling the skirt, I sewed through both layers, so the darts are practically invisible from the right side.
I also altered this patter slightly. To accommodate the size of the piece of fabric I was working with, the skirt is actually an inch or two shorter than specified (there's that bad influence again). I also added a waist band in a matching champagne/gold satin. The closure, an invisible zipper and a mother of pearl button for the waist band, are in the back seam. There is also a really beautiful little pleat in the back seam (I which I wish I could take credit for it, but it was in the pattern).

Now all I want to is wear lady clothes, heels and drink cocktails.

Here you can see the scalloped edge more clearly.

April/May Theme Vote

What should the April/May theme be?
	A 'Thank God Spring's Here' outfit.
	A solid color fabric in a retro design.
	A project from the 60's.
	A project sewn for someone other than yourself.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Please vote soon, I like to have at least 50% of group members vote and would obviously like to post the new theme on the 1st April!

Thanks!

Anna

Themes

Just to remind and bring everyone up to date we decided that we would vote on themes that run for two months at a time. I will soon be putting up a vote for the April-May theme and am looking for any ideas you all might have to add to my list.

If you have an idea for a theme please send me an email at the address in the sidebar so I can get them all down in a place I won't forget! I randomly select themes from my list for the vote so just because something didn't make it doesn't mean it won't show up again in the future!

Thanks to everyone for making this such a great place to visit, I'm very excited to see all the new projects popping up and to still be getting a decent amount of requests each week to join up!

Anna

My retro apron is ready for spring. McCall's 3979 is the pattern.

This apron is constructed oddly -- you sew the pieces wrong sides together and then encase them with bias tape. It makes for fiddly construction, but when you're through at the sewing machine, you're finished -- no hems.

This pattern gave me an opportunity to practice princess seams and topstitching in a relatively nonthreatening context. I mean, I'm going to cook in this, wipe my hands on it, lean against counters covered with cleaning supplies... how bad can I feel about poor-quality topstiching?

Next time, I'll do better.

1954 Butterick Dress - Perfect for Spring

I found this great 1954 Butterick dress pattern at an Antique Mall for $1.99 -- it had all of it's pieces, the instructions, and it was my size. How perfect!

It went together quickly with the most difficult part being the inset collar. For some reason the opening for the collar was too big and I had to take in the shoulder seams a bit to make it all match up. I have had a vintage mint green plastic belt buckle for years waiting for just the right project. This turned out to be the one. I've also been sitting on some vintage mint green piping I picked up at the thrift store that wanted to be included too. I piped around the collar and cuffs and think that it really makes the dress.

The illustration on the pattern envelope shows a really full skirt, which mine is not. I'm not sure if this is because the fabric I used is quite heavy or if the pattern envelope models were wearing crinolines. I've played around with the idea of making this pattern in a crisper fabric to see if it would be fuller.

This is the first pattern I've sewn with kimono sleeves, which are so easy to sew but unusual to wear. As long as I don't really need to lift my arms higher than my shoulders I should be fine!

Something Retro For Spring

For this month's theme I went back to a top I started a while ago but could never get to look right. I re-worked it and now Ta-da! More piccies here.

Also, with spring in mind I made this little number :-)

The black shirt

With one week to go, I undertook the February/March project: a black cotton shirt - perfect for spring, if it ever arrives in Montreal. The pattern is Simplicity 4047, and the fabric is just a regular cotton: thick enough to have a little bit of body, but cool enough to wear on a sunny day.
Lately, I've been really drawn to styles like this. My waist is a pattern-size larger than my hips and bust, so the nipped in waist is perfect for giving me some extra curves. I think it will look best with a narrow pencil skirt, with glasses and pearls (for a librarian-chic look) or with rolled up dark-rinse jeans and a chiffon scarf (for a more Rebel Without a Cause feel).
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I could have tapered in the waist a little more since I'm not going to make the sash for it. The next time I use this pattern (for a shirt dress in a red cotton with tiny white polka dots) I think I'll taper it in at least one, maybe two sizes for the waist and I'll lower the neck line an inch or so.

This pattern set is quickly becoming a go-to for me. In addition to the shirt dress (for which I'll just lengthen and full-out the bottom pieces), I'll be making the pencil skirt. I'm going to muslin it tonight, so hopefully I'll have another finished project before the end of this challenge.
Yay for new spring clothes! Now if only it would stop snowing...

My Mod Patterns

Here are images of two of the patterns I was excited to use in this sew-along. They are sized perfectly for me, still in factory folds, and how cool and retro they are too. I love the clever details, and they are made with real old-fashioned construction techniques. I saw the Valentino in a crisp silk, and the Bill Blass as more of a day dress.

I saw 'was' because in the last two weeks my life has gone totally down the toilet. (let's just say my boyfriend's teenage intern had something to do with it) I vow that I will rise again --- hopefully while mod, 60s fashions are still 'in'--- and sew these suckers though... Just you wait!

Very 50s Dirndl skirt

It seems like cheating to post a Dirndl because they are so, so easy. Plus, this was a border print so I didn't even have to hem it! The fabric is vintage from Ebay - if you can't make it out, its a medieval couple with a cart full of flowers pulled by a St Bernard. I so covet vintage border print skirts like this - especially since Prada did a similar line of "travel" themed skirts a year or two ago that were just gorgeous - but the Prada is definitely out of my price range, and even vintage skirts of this type go for a lot on ebay. Plus, they are usually in teenager sizes (25" waists). I was pretty excited when I found the fabric and was able to make my own!

Here I'm dressed for work. It turned out to be a 14-hour day, which reminded me of another perk of the dirndl: So. Comfortable.

cherry dress

Isn't it funny how ideas marinate together in your head without you even realizing it? Here is what inspired me to make this dress, in roughly chronological order.

• First I saw some gorgeous retro rockabilly dresses, some of them cherry print, like this one at Pinup Girl Clothing and this one at Daddy-O's.
  
• A dancer I saw at a recent dance in Rochester, totally cutting a rug in red shoes and a cream/red retro flowery dress kind of like the outfit on this page.
• notamermaid's lemonade dress and erin's post about it, suggesting we get ready for summer with, among other things, fruity print dresses.
• The perfect cherry print fabric was on sale this weekend. There were only 2.5 yards left on the bolt, so I took it all, not sure whether I could find a cute retro pattern for that amount.
  
• But rummaging through my patterns at home, I found the perfect thing! a Vintage Vogue (#2858) from 1944, with a cute neckline, simple construction, and only requiring 2.5 yards of fabric.

Here is how it came out!



Here's my review of the pattern. I love this dress and plan on making more like it. I'm especially happy that I finished it in time to dance in it this weekend! I was considering using red piping in the seams, to make them stand out, but since I've never made this pattern before and wanted to finish it asap, I left the piping out. It would make more work for me if I had to re-sew the seams (and since I wasn't sure if the seams would all come out in the right place and right shape - maybe I wouldn't want to emphasize them!)

You can see that I made a few alterations. I removed the front gathers (I just re-drew the front skirt piece using the bodice piece as a guide) and I shortened the skirt a bit. If I have enough fabric left over, I'll add godets in the skirt seams to make the skirt flare out a bit more; the skirt is very straight and I'd like to have a little more room to dance.

This was my first successful attempt at a Vintage Vogue pattern! (my unsuccessful attempt was a 30s evening gown that somehow came out too big). I'm really happy with it and found the pattern easy to follow and the fit was perfect without alterations. I'm between sizes and this time I made the smaller size.

By the way, I totally need this hat to wear with it.

Hello from Vancouver, Canada!

Hello, I'm Nadia Lewis from Nadia's Crafting Adventures and I'm the newest member to the Sew Retro group. I've been watching y'all sew for a while and I joined up because I want in on the fun!

I'm a 34/29/39 Pear-shaped person (can I get a shout out from the Pear section?), which throws me into three different size categories. Since I'm a Pear, I love 70s A-line skirts and 50s circle skirts for my large bum and thighs; dresses from the same eras since they have fitted bodices for my tiny A-cup bust; long straight pants from the 40s and 70s, flowing straight down off a high hip.



Here's me in my latest creation (more silly dancing shots over at my blog), although I have cut the hem, as we decided that it was a bit too long. Y'ever get that -- odd lengths to vintage skirts? One day I'm going to find the perfect length for a skirt. Well, I'll be back to show you the results of chopping off the bottom of this skirt once I purdy up the hem again!

Oh, and this one is a vintage Simplicity (7876) from 1977. Very simple to make, as it only had one piece for the skirt -- an almost full circle skirt -- and three little rectangles for the waistband. I love the wrap-around style as it grows and shrinks as you do.

Thanks for reading my intro and I hope to get to know y'all better!

New Member

Hello everyone -

I'm new, but looking forward to being a part of Anna's Blog.

I've been doing historic sewing for going on 25+ years now, focused mostly on the 1880 through 1930's era - and just now starting to branch out to the 1940's.

I have several projects that are on-going, and as soon as I take some photos and make some scans, I'll post them up.

Regards
Janyce Engan
www.vpll.org

My blog link is...

Hi, Melissa again! Yes see, took me a minute to figure this out.......http://sewobsessed.blogspot.com/! Thanks!

Everything old is new again...

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa, and I'm thrilled to become part of this blog. Sewing, crafting and anything else in that category have been passions of mine all my life, and Im suppose Im a "jack of all trades, but master of none", but I sure have fun! Similar to a lot of sewing blogs I have been reading lately, I have also become recently obsessed with sewing ANYTHING retro, particularly Jackie O type dresses, and vintage baby layettes and girls clothing. There have been a ton of new babies in my life lately....nieces, nephews and a ton of co-worker pregnancies, so I have been very inspired and have received some very encouraging oooohs and ahhhhs from my handmade gifts. The Jackie O thing has been an obsession of mine for awhile now....not really sure why, just her indiviuality and incredible sense of style continues to inspire me and my sewing efforts. Of course, discovering the wonderful world of vintage patterns on Ebay and other pattern sites has been a gold mine....too bad I dont OWN a gold mine!
A bit about me...I am a pediatric nurse in a very busy children's hospital in Chicago. It's my second career that I began about 9 years ago. Before that I taught Special Ed, and raised my three great kids (who are now 26, 23 and 16) Been married to a great guy for 28 years, this summer, and we have the obligatory family dog, Wrigley, and when anyone asks what breed he is, we just say "Brown".
I have started a blog, but admittedly, have so much to learn about the whole "genre" yet, including how to add pics and links and things. My daughter is going to show me the ropes, and soon my blog that I started "SewObsessed" will have pictures instead of sewing ramblings! I am still always amazed at how computer savvy my kids are, and sincerely wish I had not dropped out of high school typing to take ceramics! I still have the first pot I ever threw, but that doesnt help with my typing! Who would have known?
I'm enjoying all of you, and your links and blogs! Melissa

Sew Happy to Sew Retro!

Hi Everyone! My name is Lisa and I am new to Sew Retro (thanks, Anna!). I am really looking forward to sharing my sewing projects and thoughts with everyone here! I have been sewing over 35 years and love it! I am a vintage pattern addict. I just love pouring over the old styles. Currently I am into the 60s and early 70s. I also sell patterns and other stuff on eBay. Have been doing this for years . . . I became a stay at home Mom after our youngest child, Ben was diagnosed Autistic 8 years ago. Now I can buy all the patterns I can find and sell the ones that I don't use. You can make a much better deal at the yard sale when you buy the whole box!!!!

My current project (just cut out yesterday) is this 60s robe/housecoat. I am making it out of a cute flannel because it is still pretty cool here where I live in Eastern Oregon. The flannel is a light blue check with big red cherries. I have some really cool big red buttons that I am going to add and maybe some rick-rack too! I like the way the neckline is not constricting and there is no collar. Also the three-quarter length sleeves won't get mucked up in the kitchen. I will post a photo when I finish it!

If you want to read more about me you can check out my blog at The Hem Line and if you would like to check out my eBay stuff there is a link there as well!

New sewer

Hi, I'm Simone and I'm new to the blog. I avoided it for a while because it gave me more inspiration than my skills could handle! But I've just taken two short community college sewing courses and have improved a lot! I'm really into late 50s and early 60s stuff. I have a lot of full skirts in my wardrobe and want more fitted stuff, but my hips are quite disproportionate to my wee bust, so the best way to get around this is to make my own clothes!

I've been making purses for the last year since I got my machine which has been good practice. Here is my first effort to make something I really, really want to wear! I bought this McCall's pattern on eBay and made it as part of the intermediate sewing course. I didn't do much in the class but cut the fabric. I did the rest at home without help which I'm proud of!

I am very fortunate to work for a fabric designer who make a lot of a amazing retro prints so I have access to a lot of great fabric. It really inspires me to make stuff!

Here's the pattern and the dress I made. It's perfect for a trip to the Emerald City. I made the dress on the right and am currently working on the matching jacket. You can read about it and my other stuff in more detail at my blog, Look What I Knit!

A Springtime retro apron, cut out and ready to sew this weekend.

Greetings from Texas!

I have been sewing since I was 11 years old. I love the Turner Classic Movies channel, especially the 1930's movies and the 1930's clothes. I was very excited to recently find and buy my first 1935 design Vogue Vintage pattern, V2859. But I also rediscovered several of my grandmother's Simplicity patterns from the 60's and 70's (she was very stylish for her age!) along with my other 70's patterns I had carefully stored away, so well I just found them again after 2-3 years?! With a new storage system in place and a new reason to sew, thanks for letting me join Sew Retro! ~ Peggy ~ http://thehouseofkent.blogspot.com/

Lemonade dress

This is my dress for the next season, although it screams "Summer" even louder than it screams "Spring". The most delightful thing to me is how loudly it screams - I choose far too much fabricand clothing based on it being obnoxiously bright. This is reprodepot fabric and a vintage pattern.

It is currently 40 degrees in NY, but a girl can dream...

Project Finished!

I have flaked on the last couple of projects, the first one because I realised the dress wouldn't fit me and got to a confusing bit in the pattern and stalled (I will finish it someday!) and the last one because after getting out the fabric and pattern I discovered I was pregnant and didn't want to make a dress that I wouldn't fit into for a while (or ever!).

This time, however, I knew what I wanted to make. It's 'next season' for me because it won't get any use until after I have the baby (due July) but as it's not a fitted garment it will fit a range of sizes.

This is my pattern, bought from Mom's Patterns and dating from 1967, Simplicity 7363:



I made the short nightdress, but mine looks a lot plainer than the one in the picture:



I didn't bother with the ribbon at the neckline as something around my neck and in my face while I was trying to sleep would drive me mad! The fabric is a Robert Kaufman print which I bought from a co-op.

I have another project that's cut out and waiting to be sewn, hopefully I can get it done by the end of the month to make up even more for my lapses!

Anna

Jenny's Intro

I'm new to the blog, though I've been lurking for a while now. I'm really looking forward to participating in the blog and its challenges with sewers who appreciate vintage clothing as much as I do.

I'm the working mom of a toddler, so it seems I don't have quite as much free time to sew as I'd like but I'm planning to set aside some sewing time just for me. Sewing, though often frustrating for me, is such a pleasure.

I'm currently working on a red stretch velour nightie. I've been following a 1950s-era Butterick slip pattern (to the left). It's a fairly easy pattern all in all, but it seems that vintage patterns certainly have their quirks--but that's part of their charm.

Unfortunately my machine is on the fritz mid-project and, until I can get that problem figured out, I've got a half-clothed mannequin in my living room.

Anyway, I look forward to participating!

- Jenny