Sew-along idea?

I bought a new toy, a Singer 201K made in 1945, on a whim recently. It's a beaut little machine and and I'm enjoying playing with it and learning its quirks.

I had an idea as I was sewing on it - what if I made it my mission to find a pattern from 1945 to sew with it? Maybe this Simplicity 1305 or McCall 6273. The Vintage Sewing Pattern wiki makes it easy.

And then I had another idea... what if we made it a sew-along, matching the age of our machines with the age of the pattern we make? Whether your sewing machine was made in 1932 or 2002, it could be a lark.

Anyone want to play? How old is your machine?

Simplicity 4232

The 1950s were all class. The 1970s were all clash. Let's throw 'em together and see what happens:

The pattern is Simplicity 4232 and the fabric is a startlingly loud printed corduroy. I love it to bits. And the two-era mashup will offend vintage pedants no end. Maybe their heads will explode. Tee hee.

More on my blog here and here.

Happy International Women's Day!

I wanted something purple, green and white for IWD to pay tribute to all those women who fought the good fight for us so that we could vote. Fancy that, not being allowed to vote?

A Butterick 5032 frankenfrock was just the ticket. I noticed Tiger Feet put up a gorgeous sheath version just this week too. A most versatile pattern.



More on my blog.

Nora? Are you there?

Nora, it's all your doing!!

Three whole years ago, Nora posted a dress here on Sew Retro that was so splendid I've been hunting for the pattern ever since. By chance I found it online and snapped it up, and now I've made it. And I love it. Thanks Nora!

More pics and details on my blog.

Best of three

I'm starting the shiny new year by finishing a new frock. This could establish a worrying trend of a new dress made every day. Sweatshops do it, why not me?

It's frankensteined from 3 New Look patterns. Sleeves from New Look 6728, bodice from New Look 6968 and skirt is the tried and true, best ever not-too-heavy, not-too-light skirt from New Look 6557. The fabric is a vintage seersucker.

From the front it's quite plain and simple, but the back is a bit more fun!

More on my blog! Happy new year, Sew Retroadsters all!

Two skirts for the price of one

Simplicity 7876 wrap skirt. I'm utterly delighted with the results. More details on my blog, Make it til you Fake It.

Gotta go and make another one, now...

Dud dress duo

Me and Headless Esme modelling my two most recent dresses. Neither of them particularly successful. Ever have a spate of mediocrity? Seems to be what I'm experiencing. More details at my blog, Make it til you Fake it.

Help with French dart adjustment

You pack of genius readers, you, can you help?

I am making up Simplicity 3833 60s retro reissue for a friend and need to do a small bust adjustment.

But, there are tricksy seams and modified French darts at the front and I'm a bit intimidated. (Link above has a tab for technical drawings.)

I would love some advice. Thanking you!

What are YOU wearing to the Fifties Fair?

Remember the loud frock made from 1970s curtains? Here's another version. I made the collar taller and squarer for a more 50s shape and found a great yellow and grey polka dot voile for more era-appropriateness. But it's still a 1970s pattern. I hope someone spots the 1970s shape of the sleeve caps and has conniptions.

My only regret is the underlining isn't a bit heavier weight. I do feel particularly cunning for putting the buttons over the grey dots. Perfect match.

So, what are YOU wearing to the Fifties Fair? Or, what WOULD you wear if you were going?

More at Make It 'Til You Fake It.

It's curtains for you

A friend of mine was de-stashing and she gave me mountains of old curtains in a splendid 1970s floral. So I made a shirtdress from 1967 pattern Style 1542 and I reckon it's a corker! The heavier-weight cotton twill and awesome 3/4 circle skirt is fantastically swingy. Hooray for benevolent friends!

I think I'm going to cheat and make it up again in a 1950s fabric, soften the collar a little, and wear it to the Fifties Fair. You think I'll get away with it? Or will I be set upon by militant vintage types?

Drop in and say hi at Make It 'Til You Fake It.

No puns this time

Last time I posted a bolero here there were widespread casualties from bad punning. This time I'll spare you the dreadful jokes and just show you the garment.

Look, it's lacking a bit of polish, but the lines are pretty darn close to some of the true New Look jackets I love so much.... more on my blog.

Post-it dress missed the post

I worked like a demon to finish this one for the Pattern Review Vintage Pattern Challenge and went to upload it... only to find that a contest closing on 1 May ACTUALLY means it closes on 30 April. Bummer. Anyhoo, here it is, the Post-it Dress, named so because it's exactly that yellow colour.



More details about alterations and construction on my blog here and here and on Pattern Review.

Go vote for a Sew Retro member, there are a few of 'em in the contest and they've made some corkers!

Heidi, sans pigtails, grandfather and gruyere.

I was completely surprised to see that the BurdaStyle Heidi dress, shown here with bizarre styling typical to BurdaStyle, actually has lines not dissimilar to many a 1950s wiggle dress. Don't believe me? Well, checkitout:

Cap sleeves: check. Fitted bodice: well, with a little tweaking, check. Practical and sassy pockets: check.


You folks will forgive me for mashing up my eras, won't you? Loud 1970s fabric, 2000s pattern, 1950s sensibility...

More about the alterations I made on my blog where I forgot to mention that the instructions did my head in. Best to ignore them and use your common sense.

Low-hanging fruit

The term 'low-hanging fruit' is bandied about in managerial and corporate circles to describe an easy win. Why do the hard stuff when the easy stuff is right there? Well, I'm reclaiming the term for this frock that I whipped up to restore my can-do attitude before I work on my troublesome drafted-from-scratch pattern later tonight. Sometimes you lose your sewing mojo and you just need something quick, cheerful and non-challenging to put it right. More about this frock here
- drop in and offer moral support or suggestions on my disasterous drafting.

Made my bed, now I'll lie in it

You might understand my predicament. A pathological drive to hoard scraps left after sewing projects. A compulsive attraction to old fabric and loud prints. A sewing room of finite dimensions.

I proffer a solution. Make a bedspread by sewing 'em all together in a haphazard fashion that demands the very fewest number of cuts so you can use every last piece of what you've got. I post it here because many of the fabrics have featured in my Sew Retro projects. Check out the pic on flickr for full notes on all the fabrics!

HALT! It's the new year!

New Year's party. 1950s theme. Needed new frock, obviously. Started one.... complete disaster - too small plus too hot for the putrid heatwave we had that day.

So I rumaged in the Pile of Shame and pulled out this unfinished frock... I cut it a bit too long in the bodice and was pretty cranky about that because I'd been so careful to match the embroidered pattern. Fixing it would wreck the matching, thus the pile of shame.

But it was perfect for a hot day so I did a swift and substandard finishing job and wore it.

Pattern is Vogue 8184, same as Biochemistry Bandwagon, I just improvised a halter strap with a leftover schnippet. The fabric was from Darn Cheap ages ago and is lovely BUT... that blue embroidery runs when washed. There was a lot of frantic Run Away-ing after the pre-wash!

Frocker Spaniel, piping hot!

Second bash at the Keep It Simple frankenstein - introducing the Frocker Spaniel.
Not entirely happy - I narrowed the shoulders a little too much. Fits well, but visually I like a little more width at the top. I'm very pleased with the piping and pockets though. And the awful punny title.

NEXT!

Swooshy silk twill

Fine quilting cotton stripes

Beautiful thick polished stretch cotton twill. My favourite colours, ever.

Fine, dense vintage cotton (36" wide) begging for chevron cleverness

Sheer silk organza with teal cotton to line

So, I mentioned I like loud prints, right? Well, these are a few from the stash that are jostling to star in my next project. Thought I'd ask you SewRetro superstars what you reckon. What sort of frock do each of these fabrics suggest?

From the top, I'm thinking:

1. cowl-backed 60s sheath
2. shirtdress
3. no idea, I'm still in awe. I love this print.
4. definitely demands some wily playing around with the stripe
5. simple, simple frock. But then again, maybe some ruching on the bodice and full skirt.
   

Your thoughts?

Keep it simple, stoopid

I loves me a loud, garish print. Giant splashy flowers, bit of painterly abstract or geometric action, and I'm all over it. (Or, more correctly, it's all over me.) Problem is that tricksy seams and details get lost in all that palaver, so I've been trying to find a balance between detail and pattern.

This rad fabric splattered with large, coral-coloured ranunculus demanded utter simplicity. I trawled the pattern cattledogs looking for the right sort of 50s-style plain fitted bodice/full skirt combo but couldn't find exactly what I was after. So, time for a bit of frankensteining with the patterns I already had.

The bodice was a modified version of Vogue 8413, altered for bustiness and sleevelessness and collarlessness(ness). I was convinced by Catherine's ace version which I reckon looks utterly smashing. However the skirt on this one is a bit too clunky for my tastes... all those loose folds can look bulky and lacking in finesse. And I'm all about finesse, dahling.

So I turned to trusty New Look 6557 for the skirt, with a couple of tiny pleats at the front where it meets the bodice seams.

I like it. Deluxe. Buxom readers should be gladdened by the ease with which I altered the bodice... princess lines are good that way. I cut a size bigger and then trimmed the side front pieces to take out a couple of inches in the armpit and at the waist. Easy peasy. Next time I'll line it (facings suck!) and make a couple more tweaks to fit my narrow shoulders. Once I get the pattern perfect I'll make several more, each more lurid than the last. Bwwwhooaooarrrhrhrhr.

But the real lesson here, folks, is before you buy a new pattern, see what you can hybridise from what you already have. Like Jenny just showed us!

Mad Men entry #2

Remember how my first Mad Men comp entry was for Jane, Roger Sterling's second wife? Well, it seemed only fair to dress his first wife Mona, too. Initially I was aiming for Joan but the colour and slightly 'older' feel to this one made it destined for Mona. Maybe she'll wear it to the divorce settlement.

The back of the pattern describes this dress:

"Princess-line center front panel . . . bodice side fronts and back have elongated waistline . . . panel skirt back, seam slits. Wide, deep V-neck in front, scoop back; soft drape goes over shoulders, curving into back collar."

What I think is should say is:

"Princess-line blah blah blah.... Wide, deep V-neck in front, scoop back; flippin' hilarious pointy star-trekky, dirigible-hostessy collar with architechtural shoulder annexes that will frighten anyone from mentioning your exposed dowager's hump."


Not sure if or when I'll wear this but geez it was fun to make that collar!

I made it from a bargain-basement, $2-a-metre mystery stretch woven. Fabric has a nifty textured sheen, and since it's stretchy, fits like sausage casing but required no zipper. GENIUS.