I am not a crafty person.
My Gram sewed a bit, mostly alterations necessitated by the vertical challenge of just missing the 5' mark. She taught my Aunt Mollie a bit and if we blow out the cob webs, I'll bet my Aunt could still deliver the basics. My Mom is completely devoid of both the sewing and shopping genes. (Try growing up with that!) Me? I'd like to learn! It sure would be nice to just make a great dress instead of going blind and bankrupt watching auctions go down on LeBay! I have a big sewing basket, with practically nothing in it, stashed in the back of a closet from over a decade ago. Come to think of it, I might have a huge instruction book too.
I've gathered the few patterns I have. The plan was to start with the nighty because it doesn't have to turn out perfect to sleep in it. Then I decided to start with a smaller project, the hat and purse pattern. Well, I read it over for an hour today and I'm on the fence. There are a lot of tiny details to the hat that I might not be ready for, including a crinoline backing for rigidity. Seriously, I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out if there was a bonus slip pattern for the crinoline yardage called for or if there was some ruffled version I wasn't seeing! LOL The other item I'd really like to get cracking on is the short sleeve version of the blouse, minus the monogram. I think it would be really practical!
I tried looking at fabrics online but to little avail. I did find one super bit of1940's red print fabric. It's not enough to make the hat, but I might be able to just squeeze out the purse! We shall see. I didn't like a single fabric for my nighty so I will have to brave the brick-and-mortor stores. (Ex-retail junkies seldom like to hang out in stores for any length of time...sigh.) There was one cherry or berry print on white fabric that I thought would look cute for the blouse. I don't like super thin fabric that you can see your hand and bra through. So, that project will require in-person selections too.
Finally, the NSB may have to be revamped to accommodate a little starter sewing machine...or possibly just dogear any $ I might get on my tax returns. And then there's buttons and trim and pinking shears and... Oh noooooo!!!!!
Some others for your viewing pleasure:
i wouldn't start with a hat... hats are tricky...
ReplyDeletei'd start with an apron. skirts are also super easy
I agree with elise, I'd start with a skirt or apron and work your way up!I just bought that butterick pattern above! -love- it! Once you've tried a skirt or apron, you could make that dress with no problem, I bet, just check out the line art on the back of the pattern. Butterick has lots of re-released vintage patterns and simplicity has some vintage-esque ones too. I sew a lot of my "vintage" from new patterns and new fabric and they look totally vintage. I've found some great retro-looking prints and nice solids at my local fabric store. You can sew on vintage buttons for an authentic feel. I also like to look on etsy for kitchy prints. oh, I don't know if you saw, but miss emmi has a great tute for a playsuit, it's very easy...http://thebarnothing.blogspot.com/2010/01/tutorial-40s-style-playsuit.html Good luck!!
ReplyDeletehttp://vavoomvintage.blogspot.com/
also, there's a whole thread at FL about the butterick 4790 dress which will probably be useful when you get up to it
ReplyDeleteSome sites to check out are Sewing Pattern Review, you can join for free. This site has been very helpful to me in determining if the pattern is going to work for my skill level or not. For a great vintage sewing site www.sewweekly.com, this gal sews the cutest dresses in vintage fabrics/patterns. Fabric Mart and Fabric.com have good prices and sales on fabrics. Try estate sales/auctions for vintage goods including fabric. I attended one just last night and bought some goodies. Maybe I will try putting some of the stuff on Esty-not sure yet. If you want to watch my sewing adventures (not vintage,yet) I am very new to sewing and blogging--summersetsewing.blogspot.com/ Also, I bought the Butterick pattern but never made it since most reviews say it does not fit well after using up lots of fabric.
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