It's my birthday, and as I've done for the last decade, I sewed myself a birthday dress to mark the occasion! I haven't been that great about keeping up with them all on my blog, but several have made it here, including my very first one, the one I made for my 40th birthday in London, and the one I made for Viva Las Vegas. They're almost always made from vintage sewing patterns, and this year's birthday dress was no ... Read more »
vintage sewing patterns
Sewing a plaid flannel jumper dress with Butterick B5748
If you've spent any time around my blog or social media, you know I love plaid. And I love sewing plaid. And apparently, I love sewing with Robert Kaufman Mammoth plaid. Because I've made a vintage dress with it, and a vintage tie-front topper, and now, in my latest YouTube video, I sewed a vintage jumper dress with it! I used Butterick B5748, which I wouldn't exactly call a tried and true pattern yet, but it's ... Read more »
My 3 favorite handmade vintage coats
If it's one thing I love to sew, it's vintage coats and jackets! Since sewing my very first jacket a decade ago, I've made several. I love the process of slowing down with tailoring techniques, and plotting a major project like a coat. And I Iove to wear them! My latest YouTube video is a little "sew and tell" of my favorite three coats that I've made. Spoiler alert: two of them haven't even all made it to this blog! ... Read more »
The jumper dress I didn’t know that I really wanted
Hello, friends! I greet you after a road trip to visit family over Christmas, with a project I sewed and photographed a few weeks ago but hadn't had the time to write about. Because I fully intended to write about this dress once I'd finished it, as it kind of surprised me how much I liked it. I originally had the idea to use this 1950s pattern, Advance 7747, with some Spoonflower cotton sateen in a winter print. So I ... Read more »
50s topper coat for spring
Ta da! My yellow spring topper from Simplicity 3541 from 1950 is done. And I love it! It was a pretty short project all things considered, taking me about a week to actually sew. Although it probably took another week to make the muslin and get all the pattern pieces ready (I talked about that in my last post). Sometimes I forget how labor intensive the prep is for coats! Lined things have so many pattern pieces and ... Read more »
50s topper coat for spring: the supplies
Back in September, I planned a coat for spring. I ordered the main supplies, but I never got it off the ground. I think mainly because I knew I'd need to make some changes to the pattern and possibly do a muslin, and I put off pulling the pieces out long enough that I talked myself into working on something else and put it to the side. I didn't pick it back up again until I was all set to sew the Charm Patterns swing ... Read more »