Hello all

I've been stalking the place for some time, but now I've decided to come out and share my projects with the wider community that likes to sew things that look old. Thanks for having me!

I have been sewing for almost a year and a half and a few months back started my blog, Linked by Pattern Paper. Pretty much everything I sew is from a vintage pattern; it's the reason I decided to start sewing. It's more cost effective than buying vintage, and there's a greater possibility you get exactly what you want. I'm have mostly patterns from the 20s-40s, but I also picked up a few from the 60s and 70s from my grandmother (she doesn't know where the older ones went! *sigh*).

My last two major projects (a 40s housecoat and an early 40s dress):



Next I'll be working on a couple dresses I may wear to a wedding in May (I can't decide which), a 1940s suit, and I may try my hand at a couple hats. Til next time...

More Free Patterns

These unused vintage patterns can be yours for free. The whole bundle will go to one lucky winner. Drawing is Sunday evening, March 1st. Visit my blog for details. The Hem Line

70s Top - Feminine and Frilly

Hello,

I've finally manage to sew something that I can post on Sew Retro. It is a playful top using this McCall's 4028 pattern from the 70s.

I like that the top turned out to look contemporary, even though it is from over 30 years ago. Anyway, I do like how this top turned out, and I hope you do too!

Su
vivelyonline

Melbourne retro sewers, take note!

The brilliant Buttonmania in Nicholas House, Melbourne, is having a fleeting sale of lovely vintage new old stock buttons. Do get there before Saturday if you are a Melbournite. It's the best way to get enough old buttons to grace a button-down frock...

Picture of my button bounty on my blog.

Lace Crochet Fingerless Gloves

I just started knitting and crocheting last year and I am still getting used to reading patterns and using different yarn weights. I found a great pattern for lace fingerless gloves and stitched some up in some left over yarn just to get the feel for the pattern. As you can see this gold yarn was way too bulky and my glove looked more like a strange wrist cast. I recently bought some finer yarn shown below that I am really excited about. I will keep you posted on my progress with the new yarns.

A Little Bit About Me

I am so thrilled to be a new member of this blog! I love vintage sewing, and have since I learned to sew at the age of 9. I sew all kinds of things, clothes, accessories, housewares and loads and loads of aprons. I also knit and practice just about any craft I can get my hands on, and I love living in Portland, OR .

I have a website, www.heidimonkey.com, where I post some of my daily goings-on, I'm happy to have a place to post my sewing specifically.

Thanks!

Heidi

Free Patterns!

I am offering these two vintage 1970's UNCUT patterns for FREE! They are missing the envelopes, but otherwise perfect. Some easy to sew, retro 1970's styles. Please visit my blog and leave a comment or your email to register for the Sunday night drawing!

My Introduction

Hello everyone. It may not seem like it from my very tardy intro, but I am very happy to be a new member of this blog. I love vintage sewing although lately I seem to be spending more time collecting vintage patterns than sewing them up. I love bungalow aprons and housedresses. I have a fondness for wrap around dresses and skirts. I also like to sew vintage accessories, especially headcoverings. I don't have a personal blog although my teenage daughter is constantly telling me I should start one. I might someday but in the meantime I will enjoy posting here!
Thanks for having me,
Paula

Vintage Housedress

Vintage Simplicity (no number or date), sewed up quickly and easily. Fabric cost $7.50 thanks to Joann's great sale this weekend. Vintage buttons from the stash. My husband loves it and since it is super comfortable and feminine, I'll be on the lookout for more cheap but pretty fabric to make more!
Hannah

1970 Dress

I made a Simplicity 8914 from 1970. Details are at the blog.

15 minute Retro Inspired Travel Purse!

I bought this wonderful Donna Karan fabric months ago but as it's a thick cotton, I've never really figured out what to do with it, as it's just too pretty for furniture and too heavy for a dress!

For want of something better to do the other night I decided to whip up a quick travel wallet with it for a trip I was going on. As a child, my mother always had wonderful travel purses, and as I've never quite found one I liked as much, I figured I'd give it a go. I admit this is mostly glued and roughly hand stiched together as somehow I managed to pack my Christmas decorations away on top of my sewing maching! But none the less, it's already done me very well and I felt quite stylish while going through customs with my friends ohhhing and aaahhing over my purse!

Anyway, apart from the fabric she's made from some left over felt and a button that fell off a top I'd long since thrown out and forgotten about. Surprisingly it's held together really well and shows no sign of giving up - and I'm now gearing up to get my machine out and sew one couple up properly as well as a nice travel size bag, so mum and I can have have wonderful matching travel purses when we go away in May :)

Hey Ladies!

I have been working on some fun projects using retro styled fabrics. The first is a tote using some new fabrics that have great retro appeal.





Then I am working on a dress using this japanese fabric that has a real retro vibe to it as well. I just need to put the binding on the armholes. Then I'll get hubby to take a picture of me wearing it.

Bodice--still need to put binding on the armhole


Fabric Detail


Side Seam


I also wanted to share a blog giveaway series with all of you. If you are interested in winning any of these bundles, featuring fabulous retro styled patterns and fabrics by Amy Butler, please stop by the blog (www.shereesalchemy.typepad.com).










I am off now to pick up a big box of vintage patterns from my local antiques shop. They hold all the vintage patterns for me...love that! I'll come back next week and share some images of my vintage pattern stash.

Happy Valentine's Weekend to you all!
Sheree

Felt, Felt, and More Felt

Hello Once again,
I am calling out to all of you to get some suggestions. I have recently been given two huge boxes full of felt- cut in metres, not those little crafting squares. Anyway, I haven't a clue what to do with it all. I've made a few cat toys but I've still got a tonne left. So, any craft ideas would be much appreciated- I will be choosing the most hopeful projects and posting about them on my blog as I finish them.



Thanks in Advance!

Kerrie

New Around Here…

Hi, I’ve been enjoying reading this inspirational blog for a while and figured joining would help me tackle my immense, mainly vintage, fabric stash and spur me into completing projects to post.

I studied Fashion at college and have been making my own stuff for years, either using my own patterns (if they turn out alright) or vintage ones. I’m a bit of an era-slut and am rarely faithful to any one style - I love flattering crepe dresses of the 40s, full skirted lovelies from the 50’s, cute A-line minis and peter pan collars from the 60s and love loud prints and colourful fabrics.… I’m a vintage and thrifting addict with a particular fetish for dresses and wear mainly vintage or second hand clothes.

My main problem is getting a garment finished! I tend to start something and either become frustrated by things going wrong, or disappointed at the way it’s turning out… so it ends up being thrown in the ever-growing pile of Dress Disasters. So… my intention is to post here a COMPLETED project at least once a month!

Here are a few projects I have done recently:

A Cheongsam made with thrifted 1960s fabric using a pattern I draped on the stand (a replica 'me' made with modrock bandages!)


A dress made from thrifted 1950's fabric using my own simple pattern

And, most recently, using this Burda Magazine 1969 pattern

I made this sleeveless version using thrifted sari fabric that I got for a £1!

The pattern was fairly straightforward - though the instructions are minimal with Burda Magazine patterns and they give no construction advice whatsoever - and the gathered skirt gave me real problems, I can never get them even and then they tend to hang in funny folds, grrrr. Still, overall it's wearable and I'm fairly pleased with it, I may even make one with sleeves.

Thanks everyone!

Claire

1983 tunic

I did this yesterday from Simplicity 5092. It turned into a great classic tunic!

All the other details on it are on my blog.

National Wear Red Day Dress

Lousy photo warning: I took these in a tearing hurry after work yesterday because I have been very remiss in actually posting my creations on here and on Wardrobe Refashion. Plus I don't like pictures of myself and (cue sad violins here:) and I am in the second week of the Evil Flu from Hades.

But anyhoo, yesterday was Wear Red Day and since I have very little but want more red in my wardrobe, I made a dress.

I used this 70's pattern:

But instead of the roll back sleeves, I used the tapered ones.

Here it is with the jacket I made from this 70's pattern...

...that has become a favorite. And without the jacket:

This is a very doofy expression and pose but it shows the dress pretty well.

The dress is SUPER comfy and the pattern works up very fast (and easy, obviously, since I was sick the entire time I worked on it). Also, I made no muslin and it fits really well. I think vintage patterns fit me better than contemporary ones anyway.

Am I late for the Contest??

Last May, I entered a contest at Pattern Review that focused on using vintage patterns. Pattern Review was also running a mini-wardrobe contest at the same time. So, I thought I'd do a two-fer and use vintage patterns to make a mini-wardrobe. Seems easy, right???

I used these two patterns as the foundation of my mini-wardrobe:


Well, eight months later, I have finally finished one ensemble: the skirt from Simplicity 4773 and the top from 5348.

The skirt went together very easily and the top just needed a FBA to make it work.



Here I am looking cheerful wearing the outfit (My Honey decided he needed more light, hence the lamp on the stool):
I really like how this turned out and will use this combination again. Heck, I may even make a mini-wardrobe out of it! Actually, I am totally relieved that it turned out well. I made a jumper out of a modern pattern, recently, that was a total disaster. Using vintage patterns really IS so much nicer and the results so much better than modern patterns! I recommend these two patterns highly if you can find them (they are from the early 1960's).

I talked about my adventures with this outfit in this week's Grandma's Sewing Cabinet podcast if you'd like to take a listen to it.

It's Free Pattern Friday at The Hem Line!

Three great patterns will be given away Sunday night. Visit my blog to get in on the drawing!

The Hem Line

Another introduction...

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to join this group. I've been reading the blog for about a year, and I love seeing everyone's posts. I've been sewing since childhood, but have gotten heavily into vintage-inspired sewing in the last two years. I'm pretty happy sewing anything, but I suppose, like a lot of ladies, I'm the most passionate about dresses. I'm a college student, like some of the other posters on here, so I don't have tons of time to sew lately, but I'm trying to squeeze it in here and there. I post every once in a while on my own blog, Embroidered, Woven, Sewn and Drawn, so please check that out if you're curious. Okay- how about some projects? I leave you with a dress (Butterick 5979), shorts (Simplicity 6107), and a skirt (Simplicity 9561), all completed within the last year or so- some of my favorites.
Thanks again to all of you!
-suzysmalls

Bonjour!

I have been reading Sew Retro for almost a year now, and I find it endlessly inspiring. I have recently started blogging about my craft and sewing projects and I am thrilled about getting to share that with all of you. 

I have always been a really into crafts so sewing isn't a huge departure for me. I have been altering/deconstructing clothing forever and in September I started sewing with vintage patterns and material. I adore dresses from the late 1950's and early 1960's however, I don't decade discriminate and I have a pattern stash that ranges from the 40's through to present. I have been working very hard as of late so I have a tonne of things to show you all. This is my most recently finished project(simplicity9837), which you can read more about on my blog Kerried Away.

Thanks for allowing me to join the group and share my sewing!

kerrie

Hello & An Introduction

Hello,
I keep busy by crafting and sewing. I have a love for vintage patterns, and I collect them obsessively.
Although I love vintage-style clothes, my personal style has so far been casual and modern. Even though I find sewing clothing hard, I've been trying to sew more from my pattern stash, in order to add some vintage flavor into my wardrobe. Perhaps I can be casual, modern, and vintage-inspired?

My last retro-sewing project:



I love this blog, I'm absolutely inspired by the posts I've read. Thanks for the invite to join this lovely group!

Su
vivelyonline

Hello everyone!

Good evening!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Casey and my blog is called Noir Girl.

I've been following Sew Retro for a while now and am always inspired by the lovely posts. The 1940's are my favorite time period and vintage clothing tops my list every Christmas. ;)

I'm a college student, so my time for sewing is limited, but I love it dearly. I just finished my most current project: Vogue 2885. There are complete details on my blog, but here's a photo of the finished product.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your community! Hope to be posting more soon.

Casey

Saying hello

Hi, I'm frog from froginthepond, where I blog about my adventures in sewing, knitting and design. I have a fancy for vintage textiles and sewing patterns so I'll be sharing my outfits here.

I'm mostly into the 1930s and 1940s, with a bit of love left over for the elegant and mod 1950s and 1960s. Looking forward to posting regularly and checking out everyone's creations.

Let Me Introduce Myself.......

....I'm JennySlash. My blog is So, anyway.... and I'm delighted that I've been asked to contribute to Sew Retro!

The pattern for my next project is from my small (but ever-growing!) collection of vintage patterns from the 60s and 70s. This is Simplicity 8353 (1969) and I'm the original owner.

For ages, I've been looking for the right wool to sew a fresh interpretation of the pattern and I recently purchased a remnant from G Street Fabrics that will work well with the rest of my wardrobe. The fabric is charcoal/black herringbone and the lining will be a heavy black satin.

Picnic Dress

I promised a success story, and here it is: Anne Adams 4523


The dress, including obligatory "nosy cat" photo:


Close up of the applique detail on the hem:


This is a very clever pattern. It slips over the head, and the shape comes from the ties. The pattern calls for buttons at the straps, but it would be very easy to skip the buttons and make the straps continuous. The pockets are nice and deep, and set into the seams. The one place I struggled in the sewing was the gathers over the bust. It turned out, trying to make the gathers meet the corners of the front panel without sticking out required more pinning than I usually do.

The dress went together fairly quickly (it took about three evenings start to finish, not including the applique). The one dumb thing I did was, as I was trimming the bottom of the skirt to even it, I cut the ends of the ties off. D'oh! The ties weren't long enough without the ends, so I sewed them back on with heavy "cross stitches," as if I had intended to do that. Problem solved!

-LibrariAnon (formerly Peregrine)