Vintage Shirt ReStyle

Not sure if this counts in Sew Retro terms? But I was so pleased with the outcome I wanted to share! It's a vintage shirt restyled in a preppy retro style?? I picked up this pale denim shirt dress, for £1 at a charity shop. It looked so shapeless when I tried it on, that it's been shoved in my "to sew" pile for nearly a year. (I kid you not!). But I really loved the light coloured denim and it's so lovely and soft. I knew I wanted to do something with it, just not what.

I didn't want to post the whole thing on here as it's quite a long "how to" post. So if you want to read more it's over on my blog. :)

vintage kiddie's shirt

There are so many ultra cute vintage sewing patterns for little girl's clothing, that it almost seems mean to use one of the few specifically labelled as a boy's shirt and make it look all girlie. But isn't this little shirt cute in purple gingham:



I used Butterick 422 which is undated but looks to me to be either 1960s or early 70s possibly. The fit is great, although it has that ginormous collar thing happening that is common with vintage patterns. The only change I made was to sew the pocket on the bias (saved me having to match the checks you see!) and I also used plastic snaps instead of buttons down the front for quickness in dressing.


This turned out so well I think I might make a few more with some minor changes, perhaps a rounded peter pan collar and puffy sleeves. Makes a change from little dresses (as sweet as they are).



Kristy

Old Fabric, New Shirts

I used Butterick 5244 (which has gotten loads of use from me) and thrift store vintage fabric. I omitted the collar. I LOVE this fabric.

I used McCall's 5621, thrift shop vintage linen as the main fabric, and stash fabric for the accent. I altered the pattern by making it shorter, adding a band at the bottom, and making a slight adjustment to the sleeves. The fabric is a bit stiff, I think that I'll try and use some fabric softener next time I wash it.

I've got a few more non-retro projects on my blog.

NinjaEema

Busy Busy

I've been making my way through my to do list & have almost finished 2 shirts. First up is Simplicity 4255;A great pattern that I will definately be making again many times I think. With modifications, however...

I've also (almost) finished Simplicity 1554. Just needing buttons now.


So I'm getting there. Hopefully I'll be back on track & able to make some new things soon! Check out more information on these sewing projects and some VI buys at my blog

Retro Christmas Sewing

The nice thing about a lot of men's styles is that they don't change much. So although this button-down shirt pattern is copyright 1949 (but someone wrote on it "Boutght April 21, 1956", I don't know what that story is) my brother-in-law will still be willing to wear it. Especially since I made one for my nephew that matches, and the fabric is motorcross. He's very into motorcross. (And I am not one for matching parent-child outfits, but my sister says he likes them.) It is modeled here by my ever-patient husband.

The baby shirt is adorable. Why are miniature versions of things always cute? It is a vintage pattern too, and in case you can't tell from the pic, has kimono sleeves (sleeves and body of the shirt are one piece) which made it a pretty quick project.

The vest is for my dad. I laughed when I was going through the Simplicity pattern catalogue at Hobby Lobby. There is a Project Runway pattern with several vest variations that are almost identical to the ones on this envelope with the exception of having different pocket placement.