The inspiration for this dress was the jcrew Madison dress. To get the look I wanted I combined two vintage patterns. The Mcall's pattern for the bodice and the Butterick for the skirt. I am very happy with the result. More here....
Butterick 2255/Mccall's 5813
The inspiration for this dress was the jcrew Madison dress. To get the look I wanted I combined two vintage patterns. The Mcall's pattern for the bodice and the Butterick for the skirt. I am very happy with the result. More here....
Fall Wardrobe of Patterns GIVEAWAY!
It's FRIDAY again and I am offering THREE patterns in one giveaway this week. A complete wardrobe practically!
Here's is just one of the three:
Introduction
Hello ladies! My name is Erin, and I'm so glad to find other retro sewers to enjoy my passion with! I began sewing two years ago, so consider my self "intermediate". Love to purchase vintage patterns to sew from, 40's-50's and some 60's. I am tiny, so being unable to find the style, tailoring and fit in any ready-made garments inspired me. At 46 I no longer care if I am in the current styles when I dress up because I believe that good style is timeless as long as its done right. I'll try to post some pictures with outfits as I get the chance.
Admin All Done
I have sent all the invitations and updated the list of sewers so if you're waiting to join please check your inboxes and posts your introductions once you've done so.
Happy sewing!
Anna
Happy sewing!
Anna
Girl's Corduroy Jumper - McCall's Pattern 3831, vintage 1988
The jumper:
The pattern:
Things I did different than the pattern:
Instead of putting fashion fabric casings at neck, front edge and armholes, the top is underlined with a silky cotton.
All edges are top-stitched. Interfaced the front edge under the button/button hole areas.
Serged the hem edge; serged the skirt side seams and waist seam after sewing the seams.
Top stitched the waist; after pressing the waist seam up and catching the seam in the top stitching.
What I would do different next time:
The buttons were the size recommended on the pattern, but once finished seem a bit shallow to me. I will extend the overlap another 1/4 to 3/8 inch the next time.
More details and photos on my blog. It is a really sweet jumper and worked up nicely in this vintage corduroy.
The pattern:
Things I did different than the pattern:Instead of putting fashion fabric casings at neck, front edge and armholes, the top is underlined with a silky cotton.
All edges are top-stitched. Interfaced the front edge under the button/button hole areas.
Serged the hem edge; serged the skirt side seams and waist seam after sewing the seams.
Top stitched the waist; after pressing the waist seam up and catching the seam in the top stitching.
What I would do different next time:
The buttons were the size recommended on the pattern, but once finished seem a bit shallow to me. I will extend the overlap another 1/4 to 3/8 inch the next time.
More details and photos on my blog. It is a really sweet jumper and worked up nicely in this vintage corduroy.
Dressember
I wasn't sufficiently prepared for Frocktober so I'm declaring now, with plenty of warning, that the last month of this year is Dressember. I'm going to wear a frock every day for the whole month. It's partly Melynda's fault with her catchy 'summer of the dress' concept. Mostly it's because I make a bunch of frocks then manage to talk myself out of wearing them... besides, everyone gets a bit casual and silly around Hexmas time so I can get away with it.
So there is Much To Do to ensure I have a sufficient smorgasbord of summer dresses. This one, finished this morning, is now part of the arsenal.
It's made from supremely awesome sateen from the Spotlight sale rack ($5 a metre! I bought it all!) and frankensteined from Simplicity 3774 at top (again, Moggy is my guinea pig and anything she digs, I generally think is worth a bash) and a vague interpretation of the fill skirt from Butterick 6582 below. The back picture I include to show my truly astonishing pattern-matching which is completely out of character with the rest of the frock which is rather shabily constructed because I got cranky and impatient. What, moi?
Anyone else interested in signing up for Dressember (probably more appealing to those of a Southern Hemisphere persuasion, but all are welcome) then come play in the flickr group.
OH! And a follow-up. Remember the multi-stage dress disaster in purple? Well, first I wanted to thank everyone for your comments... I've never had such a response to a posting. But neither have I had such a polarised response. We hate the pockets. We love the pockets! The fabric is great. The fabric is utterly dreadful! The old frock was better. The new frock works! The new frock doesn't fit. Etc, etc. Well, I finished it - and sorry pocket-haters, I put them on. I also put some buttons on the pockets and the bust. It is still a sucky dress but I WON AND IT QUAKES UNDER MY MIGHTY DRESS-FINISHING-AGAINST-ALL-ODDS POWER.
As a punishment for its mediocrity, I have sworn it is a strictly a house-and-gardening dress which is why I put the pockets on (those suckers are handy for seed packets, stake ties, and the like). But lesson learned. If you don't utterly love the fabric, why bother?
Retro-Inspired
This isn't exactly a retro dress. It's certainly not from a retro pattern. I don't have the pattern numbers (of course), but I combined a McCalls bodice and a NewLook bottom to create this dress. (You can at least see pictures of the two patterns used here at my blog.)
The bodice is from a shirt-dress pattern. Since I opted to only have three buttons, I added a zipper to the right side seam. It's hard to tell, but the skirt has four pleats in front and back for fullness.
The facing was a b*tch to put on it. Something about it combined with the collar; it was very poorly drafted. While I am absolutely thrilled with how this dress turned out, if I make it again, I will be modifying either the collar, the facing, or both.
In my defense, I do believe the buttons are vintage. Again, hard to see in the pictures, but they are white, with red trim.
The bodice is from a shirt-dress pattern. Since I opted to only have three buttons, I added a zipper to the right side seam. It's hard to tell, but the skirt has four pleats in front and back for fullness.
The facing was a b*tch to put on it. Something about it combined with the collar; it was very poorly drafted. While I am absolutely thrilled with how this dress turned out, if I make it again, I will be modifying either the collar, the facing, or both.
In my defense, I do believe the buttons are vintage. Again, hard to see in the pictures, but they are white, with red trim.
ETA: I've add construction details and such here on my blog.
Vintage Necktie Purse
In my spare time I when I'm not processing orders for my company: 
I altered a graduation robe for my son for Halloween. He wants to be Darth Sidious- add a hood to a graduation robe - one Sith costume to go :)
For the holiday fair for my son's school I am sewing purses from vintage ties.
Outside view of the purse
Inside view
I have to make about 25 of them for the fair. They are pretty quick to make. (about an hour). I got the ties from tag sales over the summer and added vintage buttons. I have a giant box of ties sorted by color. The challenge is come up with something that isn't completely hideous, and that a pre-teen might like. It uses half of a tie for the purse. I use one of the spare tie halves for the shoulder strap. I think it looks cute with jeans!
To make this purse you need a minimum of 3 ties. I either use the narrow end pieces from other ties, or the narrow ends of the tie to fill make it a little wider. One half tie is used for the shoulder strap. I use a wide zig zag stitch to join them and slightly overlap them when I'm sewing them. You can sew them with invisible thread or a complementary thread color.
Vintage ties tend to sell for $.50 - $2 depending on what your thrift store wants to sell them for. I bought a GIANT box lot of them on ebay for this project. Better yet, ask your Dad, Husband, and Grandpa for their old ties.
I'm created an etsy page to sell them.
Vogue Young Couturier 60s Sheath
I haven't posted here in a while, but have been busy sewing over at sewing in the city. I've been mainly doing work clothes, but this 60s sheath pattern is perfect for work! Its wool crepe, fully lined.
Intro and Hello from New Zealand
My name is Norma, from Auckland, New Zealand. I post as 'Norma in NZ'
I'm a busy mother of 3 great children and I've always had an interest in sewing retro & vintage womenswear, childrens clothes, toys and doll clothing. I've been following this blog for about a month and thought it would be great to take part.
I found a great pattern that would be perfect for both my almost 2 year old as well as a vintage Patti Playpal doll. It should make up really well.
I'll post a photo when I'm finished. Great to meet you all!
I'm a busy mother of 3 great children and I've always had an interest in sewing retro & vintage womenswear, childrens clothes, toys and doll clothing. I've been following this blog for about a month and thought it would be great to take part.
I found a great pattern that would be perfect for both my almost 2 year old as well as a vintage Patti Playpal doll. It should make up really well.
I'll post a photo when I'm finished. Great to meet you all!
vintage kids pattern giveaway
What better way to share the vintage pattern love than by having a giveaway!
I am sorting through my stash and will be doing monthly vintage pattern giveaways on my blog to pass on the vintage goodness.
These little beauties are up for grabs at the moment. I have made up the butterick one quite a few times and it is the sweetest little dress ever.
check my blog for details.
My Sailor Dress (McCall's 8007)
I finished this dress at the end of August. I've always loved sailor dresses and wanted to make one for myself, but could never find a good pattern. Then finally I found one on Ebay for $3! I've had it a while but just got around to making the dress this summer. It's the one on the left, McCall's 8007, dated 1982. Once I got the hang of what I was doing it was a very easy pattern to use. I think I could make it again without looking at the pattern instructions. There's quite a difference from today's sizing - most of this is size 12, and in 'store-bought' clothes I wear a 4 or even a 2. But I've had similar differences with non-vintage patterns too.
I want to make it in the traditional white with blue and red trim someday, but for the first time out I tried something a little different. The light yellow gingham fabric is from a queen-size bedsheet that has done duty on several beds, served as a tablecloth, and now makes a very comfortable and easy-to-iron dress fabric! I spent a day picking the elastic out of the hem. I got the whole dress and some fabric to spare out of just the one sheet! The waist of the dress is elastic in a casing made from the waist seam allowances, which is hidden with a belt. I managed to get all of my seams enclosed (I hate raw fabric edges), using French wherever possible (I left out the skirt pockets for that reason). Around the armholes and neck there's a facing and topstitching, which took care of the raw edges itself.
I was lucky enough to find rickrack trim and fabric for the tie in just the right shades. I really like working with rickrack - it looks so good with so little effort! The white collar was from another bedsheet, one ripped past use but with plenty left to cut out what I needed. I left out the collar interfacing, since I was dissatisfied with how it had turned out in other projects. For the tie I didn't even use the pattern piece, the shape of which I didn't care for, but cut out my own using one of my dad's ties as a guide.
The collar must have been a bit rumpled from getting the tie under it when this was taken. Attaching the collar was the trickiest part, but I only had to redo it once. I only had a chance to wear the dress a few times, since it was the end of the summer, but I love the way it fits and looks. Since there's no zipper or buttons and the arm and neck openings are a perfect fit without any room to spare, it took me a little while to figure out the best way to get it over my head without ripping something, but now it goes very smoothly, especially with the elastic in the waist to help out. I'm thrilled with the way this came out, and I'll definitely be using the pattern again!
~Elisabeth
New Member---Blue Dress
I seem to be joining the chorus of "long-time lurker, first-time poster". My name is Amanda and you can find me at my blog. I am a long-time hoarder of vintage patterns. I haven't made many of them, though, due to not having a 32" bust and being too lazy to grade the patterns. Here, though, is one dress that I did make from a circa-1940s Simplicity pattern:
It's hard to see the details in the dress, so I'll try to describe. The skirt has pleats in the front. There are no darts. At the front of the shoulders and the front and back of the waist, there are gathers. I'm telling you, it's fabulous! Never has a dress fit me so well. Consequently, I've since been on a quest for similar patterns. If you can't tell, this is definitely my favorite dress, ever.
I just finished another retro pattern, but I need to find a picture of me in it. If I post again in 5 minutes, that's why :)
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