PPP #2 vintage flower seeersucker

Here is #2 of 3 in the sew-along.

This one is made from a vintage flower seersucker I got in a vintage store a few months ago. I knew I would not have enough material for the whole dress, and I remembered I had this *great* solid seersucker leftover from a project long ago. What I didn't anticipate was the lack of enough of each for the back. But, through some fancy and clever piecing (staying on the grain, w00t) I was able to make a rather nice design of it.

This one was a breeze to put together. I would actually say this one is more like the original design than my first one. I did some fitting adjustments: I brought in the bodice gather at the underarm about an inch and lowered the front of the raglan sleeve at the gather about an inch. Helped with fit monumentally.

As usual, more finished photos on the NVL site, and construction is on the blog.

The Plain Pattern Project Dress #1

Dress #1 The one that is closest to the original pattern.

*whew* I worked on fit a lot with this dress. You can see more finished images on my site. And of course, all the construction stuff is on the blog. 

Yay sewing!

catalog Sunday

This Sunday are scans from Du Barry fashion forecast, May 1941.

Simplicity 3000: Cheongsam, circa 1960s

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I recently finished this cheongsam based on a 1960s pattern, Simplicity 3000. More details can be found on my blog.

An Introduction

Hi! My name is Tamara and I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I have an ever-expanding vintage pattern collection and my favourite eras to sew from are the 30s & 40s because the styles suit me to a tea.  

Simplicity 3162, aka The Nemesis, was a very early addition to my pattern collection and, as much a I hate to admit, it has taken me roughly 4 years to get this dress happening. I'm really pleased with the result and wanted to share it with all the inspiring people at Sew Retro. Details of its construction and more photos on my blog www.anewballofstring.blogspot

- Tamara

Simplicity 3162

ooobop! 70s dress blue

I am very happy to be posting my first Sew Retro post. This also happens to be my first vintage dress from an original 1970s pattern.

I first made a toile last week which was hugely useful in highlighting pitfalls before I started the real thing. Main lesson learnt: do not shorten an A-line skirt from the hem... especially when you need to ditch 6 inches!

More details on the toile here and more about the finished dress here.

Engagement Dress and Hello!

Hello fellow sewers! My name is Erika, and I have a blog called ErikaMadeIt. I recently finished my first vintage sewing pattern. A Vogue reissue V8728 from 1946. It was a breeze to put together, and is the perfect summer dress. I used a cotton knit in a tangerine color. Please read more about this dress on my blog.  

Summer White 1940's Dress

I needed something white to wear to a picnic over the long weekend.   So, I pulled out Simplicity 3835
and it looked simple enough to put together quickly.  I was able to pull out some fabric from my stash and away I went.


I was not disappointed.  It came together very quickly: sewing time of about 3 hours.  The fabric is a very lightweight dotted swiss.  It was like sewing with cheese cloth.  I have approximately 8 yards of this stuff left and think I will need to dye it a different color.



Changes were made to the pattern.  An FBA had to occur.  I ditched the little bow at the neckline.  I thought it looked silly on me and I do not enjoy being strangled by a dress.  So, I added in the buttons up at the neckline.  I had already placed the buttons on the bodice; I just wanted to do something to break up all the white.

I will be making some additional changes to the pattern next time I make this dress and I assure you I will be making this again.  It is a perfect summer dress especially if made with a lightweight fabric.  Check out my blog for more photos and details on the making of this dress.

McCalls 7343: summer dress

Here is a dress using a 1960s McCall's pattern I recently finished.

I found a fabric similar to what is on the pattern cover and I love it!

Please visit my blog Creative Accomplishments for more pictures and info!

Simplicity 4714 (1943)

Here's the pattern packet (from the Vintage Sewing Pattern wiki, listed there as Simplicity 4714 B):


And here it is in real life:

Yeah, I need a hair tutorial. Badly.

You can follow all the drama on my blog. It's actually a size too big; it looks better here than it does in real life, but it's still very wearable. I just look like I'm trying on my big sister's clothes. I will definitely be resizing this to a 16, though, because it's far too awesome a dress not to make again. I love the box pleats in the bodice, which give it some shape but don't make it restrictive.

The really fun part was that, after I posted a picture to Facebook, a friend of mine who is a lady "of a certain age" commented that she made the same pattern for Home Economics class in eighth grade, in 1943!

Full Skirt 50's Dress

Made this dress to wear on St. Patty's day. I got tons of compliments and will definitely wear it again and again.





See more at SewIThought...

1940s Advance Dress - Winter Liberty LOVE (It Has Unicorns)

Pattern Description:
Advance 3929: 1940s basic dress with blousy bodice, straight 4-piece skirt, v-neck with neck tie and short, cut-on cap sleeves.

Pattern Sizing:
14 - 34B
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?
i mostly left the instructions alone, since the construction was very simple, and used a completely different method of constructing and attaching the collar/tie piece. their method involved pressing and slipstitching, and i preferred to do it entirely by machine.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
it's a shape that i've come to associate with classic 1940s pieces and i knew the construction would be simple and the end result comfortable. i pictured it in a nice cotton as a perfect house dress or dress-down friday dress.

Fabric Used:
liberty of london tana lawn winter 2010 "Yoshi D" - B&J Fabrics, NYC

(image from True Up blog, Liberty Fall-Winter Swatches)

once i had selected this super-busy print, it was second nature to reach for this advance pattern with very little design detail.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
shortened the skirt significantly. i definitely prefer a shorter skirt, and this one hits me just at the knee. i took in the side seams significantly, which (unfortunately) has exacerbated the blousy-ness of the bodice. next time, flat pattern alteration instead of on-the-fly fitting!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
i expect this dress to be a go-to (or TNT) for times when i have a cute cotton and just want a cute, simple dress. however, in future i will do better alterations to correct the amount of ease from the 34B bust size--i'm more of a 32, and an A besides, and there's more ease than i would like.

Conclusion:
love. and the Yoshi print has a unicorn on it. unicorns! and butterflies!



i love my red leather jacket, but then i remembered it was friday, and here in the tundra previously known as new york city, it's also pretty cold. and snow-covered. and i didn't have it in me to be all red-leather-jacket-y today. so i went with this:

i think it was one of the "queer eye" guys who put it best: doesn't everything feel better in cashmere?

The Picnic Dress: Simplicity 3965

Hello everyone! I just finished a delightfully feminine 1950's dress, nicknamed 'The Picnic Dress.' I was inspired by a dress Betty Draper wore on Mad Men. The fabric is a vintage floral acetate print, and the pattern is vintage as well.
Here's the original pattern and fabric:And here's my finished dress!
For this dress, I made a waist stay, and hand-picked the zipper. Detailed tutorials for both techniques are on my blog so you can use them in your next retro dress project!

For more on the Picnic Dress, check out my blog here. Or if you just want to see my photos, stop by my Flickr account. Thanks for stopping by!

not quite Mommy Dearest.....

Recently I made my daughter a dress from 1940 (Simplcity 3836) the view on the right.

 I thought maybe it was high time to make one for myself - this one is Butterick 2611.  The pattern envelope was made from a shiny paper rather than the usual and the ink seams to have worn off the illustration a bit - but the enclosed pattern was complete...

 The front of the bodice is bias cut - and a bit clingy, but very feminine....not something that I have worn for quite a while....

catalog Sunday

This Sunday are more images from Chicago Mail Order 1941.

Two-Tone Dress

Finished my latest from my new favorite war time Simplicity.

More photos of the dress (and beret) on NVL.

Simplicity 4404

Just finished a new early 40s dress in a flecked linen.

All progress on the blog. More dress photos on NVL.

Butterick 6727

I made this 70s pattern over the last week or so. I made view C, on the right.

I ended up leaving off the collar because it was too over the top.
More picture and detail on my blog, here.

A 40's Shirtdress

Hi everyone! I have posted two of the three versions of this dress here on Sew Retro before:

You may remember one of these, Version 2, which was my entry for the Pattern Review vintage pattern contest:

This time around I made Version 1 in a 50's vintage rayon I bought from Vintage Fabric Addict on ebay. It was a steal - I think $15 for about 3m. And here it is!

I think Version 2 suits me a little better, but I do love shirtdresses.

If you'd like to see a few more pics, and my Version 3 dress, please do pop over to my blog!