Video: Advice for Starting to Sew Vintage Style Clothing

It's always a bit of a bummer when someone gets excited about what I'm wearing only for me to tell them I made the dress myself and therefore can't tell them where to get one for themselves! Well, a let down for them, and equally a slight ego boost and bummer for me I guess. I wish I could tell everyone where they could pick up a similar dress, or skirt, or blouse, but really what I want to tell everyone is-- learn to sew! It is 100% the best way to get the vintage inspired wardrobe of your dreams. 

Then of course seamstresses will ask me which pattern I used and then I have to let people down again because I make my own patterns and can't recommend any of those either! I can recommend learning to pattern draft though. Honestly, I'm no help at all am I?

Well, while I hope to have a fashion label one day so anyone can buy my designs should they like to, and I'm also hoping to grade my patterns so that everyone can at least make a copy of my dresses if they'd like to do that, I'm just not there yet sadly. So here are my tips for starting to sew vintage style clothing yourself. It's a journey to get to the point where you can see a 1950's dress on Pinterest and can immediately make a copy for yourself that weekend, but I'd love to help as many people as I can reach that point someday! 

Remember, no one can play a perfect sonata on day one, and no one can create a flawless couture garment on day one either. Practice and patience make progress, and perfection is irrelevant ;) Happy sewing!

4 Favorite Fabrics From Joann's & How I've Used Them

Here in the United States, fabric stores other than Joann's are getting harder and harder to come by, especially if you live out in suburbia in the mid west like me. So what's a seamstress to do? Sure you can buy fabric online, but it's just not the same when you can't touch and feel and see the textiles there in front of you. When you only have Joann's small selection of apparel fabrics to choose from, which are the best? One can't make everything out of quilting cotton after all...

If they offered 5% of the adorable quilting cotton prints they have at Joann's in an apparel weight as well (a nice voile perhaps? Sateen?) I would be more than happy to buy yards and yards of them, but seeing as modern fabric and craft stores cater to quilters and occasional textile crafters (and once a year Halloween costume shoppers) and not apparel seamstresses, we're just out of luck most of the time. Unless you love polyester, and who loves polyester?

So today I thought for those of you who are stuck in the same Joann's dominated wasteland predicament, or are perhaps just new to sewing and would like some fabric recommendations, I would go over my top 4 favorite fabrics available at Joann's and explain why I return to buy more of them again and again.

Sew Classic Bottomweight Stretch Sateen Fabric - $12.99 a yard

This is my top favorite pick from Joann's. Granted I love me some cotton sateen in general, but the weight of this particular sateen is perfect for so many projects being neither too heavy for dresses, nor too lightweight for more structured pieces. The amount of stretch (97% cotton, 3% spandex) is just enough to not be annoying and allows things move nicely when you've made something more fitted. As a rule I never buy stretch fabrics, I like structure, but this fabric is the exception to that rule for me.

At 49" wide, I feel I get a little more for my dollar with this sateen since many Joann's fabrics are only 45" wide. This slightly wider width means I can eke out fuller A-line skirts and longer sleeves without having to buy more yardage. I find this fabric washes well for me, and for a sateen it's not too shiny. When I'm buying sateen fabric I prefer they not be too shiny despite the name, if I wanted a true satin finish after all, I'd buy satin. This fabric currently comes in 7 solid colors, but they need to add at least one green, come on Joann...

I've made a lot of projects with this fabric over the past few years. Most notably I like it for crisp full circle skirts, I have one in black, bright red, and the dark purple. I also have used the dark red/burgundy shade to make a sheath dress and a pencil skirt, have a dress out of the black (seen below), and used the navy and red colorways to make a dress inspired by of one of Peggy Carter's dresses (seen above). Then I've got a basic black pencil skirt out of this sateen too, it's really all over my closet! I only wish they would add even more colors to the range, but I don't hold out hope.

Sew Classic Bottomweight Cotton Twill Solid Fabric - $12.99 a yard

Another classic bottom weight (what does this even mean? Like, it's thick enough for pants? ... okay.) is cotton twill weave of course. Similar to denim in many regards, since denim is woven with a twill weave as well, twill fabrics have a small diagonal ribbed texture up close. Supposedly this weave structure is both strong and helps hide dirt, which is why it's used for more rugged apparel sometimes. Twill is a great fabric for more structured summer projects, which is what I have mainly used it for in my sewing.

In 100% cotton, this particular twill from Joann's has no stretch, which as previously noted is fine by me. They actually have a smaller different selection of cotton twills at Joanns and they all have their uses. I've used another version from them that's a bit thicker to make a more utility looking army green a-line skirt before and liked the results. Perhaps a little too bulky/weighty for something like a circle skirt, I like using Joann's twills to make pencil skirted suits for the summer time like the two you see below here. I've also used them to make more skirts all on their own, but something I always do now with this sort of fabric is to add top-stitching for that extra rough and tumble looking (ahem, safari ready) effect, even if the actual garment style is tailored. 

Sew Classics Linen Look Fabric 54''-Solid - $12.99 a yard

If you are sensing a theme, its because all the best apparel fabrics at Joann's tend to be on the same aisle, the bottom weights are where it's at in Joann Fabrics. Of course you can find some nice rayon challis or a wild voile or cotton eyelet in their seasonal ranges, but the reliably in stock apparel fabrics in natural fibers tend to be of a heavier weight. Which is why it's nice that they have this rayon linen blend available in so many colors (14 shades) when you need something with just a bit more drape. It's got the crisp slightly slubbed natural texture of the linen, with the the added benefit of the silkier rayon helping out with linen's stubborn wrinkle factor.

At 54" wide this fabric also helps you economize on yardage for budget friendly projects. Iv'e used it to make two bolero and A-line skirt suit combinations in natural and black, for a fluted turquoise 30's skirt, and to make my dark red 1930's inspired wrap dress. I'm always trying to find time to make a 1930's dress in the rusty orange color of this fabric with nice vintage carved wooden buttons to wear in the summer. I know this is a fabric I will be returning to again and again as the texture is just perfect for making warm weather apparel with that natural linen look.

Fashion Brocade Fabric 45" - $9.99-$14.99 a yard

Okay, to be fair, this last one could be rather polarizing. Some people just find polyester Chinese brocades like these cheesy, and that's totally fine, it's just I disagree. I think the fabrics and resulting garments can be really fun if used in the right way, which I have tried to do with my more recent projects.

Of course vintage styles out of similar fabrics have several advantages going for them. The brocades of the past were more likely to be real silk or at least rayon, instead of the polyester Nylon blends we get today. Real silk fabric just looks a hell of a lot nicer, and feels nicer, but polyester is much less expensive of course. I do think the Chinese brocades at Joanns really vary in quality these days compared to the standard quality that were available 10 years ago when I first started sewing with them. Sometimes you can still find one with a higher thread count and nicer structure, but it's rarer these days. I'll be looking into other sources for similar fabrics soon, but I still have my eye on some new dark plum purple brocades Joann's have in stock online.

I have used Joann's poly brocades to make several dresses and a few pencil skirts over the years, and I want to make a circle skirt out of the aforementioned dark purple fabric soon. Of course more typical (or stereotypical really) apparel items made in this fabric would be vintage style cheongsam dresses or jackets with frogged closures, but be careful with projects inspired by garments that may have possibly been culturally appropriative in their time and can remain so now. It's important to just be aware these fabrics and projects can easily come off costumey which is something to avoid when making real clothes of course.

So those are my top picks from Joann's! What are your favorite fabrics from America's most pervasive fabric store? The only US state without a Joann's store location is Hawaii by the way, but they do still ship there. Are you lucky enough to live near real fabric shops with nice apparel fabrics? Feel free to brag about that and make me want to move ;) I am lucky that here in Colorado we do have two main other fabric shops near enough to Denver that I don't go too mad stuck with Joann's small selection. I do love shopping from Mood Fabrics online as well, and though sometimes I still get surprised with just how the fabrics look and feel when they arrive in the mail, I have yet to be actually disappointed with anything I have ordered from Mood.

Also-- I know I usually post a new ensemble on Mondays, but it's been snowy and too cold to stand outside for photos so I hope you can forgive me for not documenting my pajamas since I'm staying inside! Stay cozy my friends!

New Creations 2017: Everything I Made in 2017

If productivity and creativity come in waves, I really hope I'm due for a tsunami real soon. I haven't completed a sewing project in AGES, the motivation to sew just isn't there. I have been using my time writing instead, which I also adore, but writing doesn't put new clothes in my closet, or help deplete my stash of fabrics waiting patiently in my craft room!

I don't want to stop writing, or making YouTube videos, but I would like to bring sewing back into my routine. Before I talk about my sewing goals for 2018, lets take a look at what I made in 2017...

Dresses: (16)

-Gretchen Hirsch Blue Brocade Dress
-Brown Wool Bishop Sleeved Dress
-Blue and Gold Brocade Circle Skirt Dress
-Black and White Swirl Flocked Dress
-Brown Wisteria Print Rayon Dress
-Green Velvet 1920's Dress
-Floral and Tan Cotton Dress
-White Eyelet 1940's Dress
-Floral and Navy 1930s Dress
-Striped Ivory and Black A-line Dress
-Lime Green Sateen Dress
-Green and White Gingham Dress
-Black and Burgundy Roses Cotton Dress
-White Ikea Floral Dress
-White and Green Rayon Palm Print Dress
-Grey and White Floral Rayon Taffeta Dress

Tops: (9)

Black Cotton Sateen 3/4 Sleeved Bolero

Black Wool Vest

Black Linen/Rayon Blend Bolero

Gretchen Hirsch Brocade Sequined Bolero

Black Sateen Bolero w/ Sequins

Green Velvet 1920s Cardigan

Ivory Linen/Rayon Blend Bolero

Black and White Gingham Top

Brown Top-stitched Cotton Twill Jacket

Skirts: (11)

Grey Wool Flecked Tweed Skirt
Brown Wool Plaid 1930s Skirt
Black Wool Pencil Skirt
Black A-line Linen/Rayon Blend Skirt
Yellow Plaid Taffeta Circle Skirt
Black Tulle Beaded Galaxy Skirt
Navy A-line Twill Skirt
Ivory Linen/Rayon Blend Skirt 
Green Cotton Twill Skirt
Pink Cotton Sateen Circle Skirt
Brown Top-stitched Cotton Twill Skirt

A total of 36 projects for 2017! While it may seems like quite a lot all totaled up like this, I didn't sew for most of the last half of the year, and therefore this total could have been a lot higher! Oddly in 2016 I completed 34 projects, so I suppose I did better in 2017. My trip to Paris last spring (and few months being unemployed) really gave me a lot of inspiration and time to devote into sewing. I took on the rather large project of embroidering/beading the tulle galaxy skirt which took a ton of hours to complete, and the beaded bolero I made around the same time was also a longer more time consuming project, but I really loved working on those more intensive projects! Perhaps planning another embroidery/beading heavy project to start on this January could help me jump start my sewing again.

As for 2018, I'd like to focus on stash busting and only buying fabric for projects that will have a lot of styling potential in my wardrobe. I did buy some really pretty printed cotton from Mood last fall to make into a new summer dress for this year, so just because I haven't been sewing doesn't mean I haven't been buying fabric! I've got an amazing multicolored striped duponi silk to turn into a blouse as well... hopefully reorganizing my fabric stash soon will spark me to start turning project ideas into completed apparel! I may not complete as many projects in 2018, but I'd like to complete several writing projects and that's a trade off I am happy to accept. I just hope I'll be able to find new ways to style my old things so you all won't get bored here on the blog ;)

What are your sewing goals for 2018?

Butterick Fashion Magazine Autumn 1940 - Part 3 (final pages)

Tonight I have got the final pages from the Autumn 1940 Butterick Magazine to share with you all, and like the first two posts of images, I am loving the inspiration to be found in these pages fro the past! The colors used in the printing are particularly nice, and I have definitely been inspired to try and add a few new colors to my collection of vintage accessories (like a rusty red, a lighter milk chocolate brown, and of course the ever effervescent chartreuse). I have been a bit behind on pulling together my fall sewing and wardrobe planning this year, but browsing vintage images gives me a boost when trying to style some new ensembles for fall. 

Happy Autumn equinox everyone! I think I'll be celebrating the seasons turn with some cedar scented candles, a cozy blanket with a cat on my lap, and watching something spooky ;)

How to Draft a Sweetheart Neckline Bodice Pattern (Pattern Drafting)

So I have been trying to explain how I draft my own patterns for the past few months, with what I would call varying success because I actually find it hard to describe pattern drafting in a way that isn't confusing! While I keep working on how exactly to translate my skills into tutorials, I thought today I would give you an example of how I take my standard bodice pattern and change it up for different designs.

I recently made a rose print dress and decided to make it with a sweetheart shaped neckline with a separate section at the shoulder with gathering. This is an easy pattern modification to make if you have a standard 2 dart bodice pattern already, so here is how I made the bodice pattern for this dress!

Of course, first you want to trace your bodice pattern onto some nice clean paper. I recommend doing all pattern drafting in pencil of course, but I'm using bright markers so you guys can see what I'm doing.

So now that you have a fresh copy of your bodice pattern, draw on the neckline shape that you would like to have. Seen in green above. Remember if you mark your standard bodice pattern with some neckline guides for how low or wide you usually like your necklines, drawing new styles later will be easier to get right. For example I know that I wan't my necklines to always be at least 3 inches above the level of the apex mark on my pattern. You can see above on my pattern the green cross mark of my apex and I marked the same level on the center front line so I could keep that in mind when drawing the neckline.

After you have the sweetheart shape neckline drawn on your pattern, you can draw a line straight from the angle of the neckline to the armscye area. This can be any angle from the neckline, but a 90 degree angle is probably the easiest to sew later. See my line in red above.

Take the time now to cut out your pattern so you can move onto the next steps!

Slice off that shoulder area piece!

And then label it a lot so you don't get confused later.

Above you can see the next step is to create the gathers along this seam line we just created. To do this, I am going to move the side dart of the bodice to the new seam we made. We do this with the slash and spread method of moving darts around. To start, draw a line from one of the side dart legs to the apex, and then from the apex to the place where you want to move the dart. See above in red.

Then cut through these lines right up to, but not totally through, the apex mark. Now you have this corner of the pattern you can swing around.

"Close" the side dart by overlapping the paper along the dart legs and taping it down. Doing this will open a new dart where you had also cut into the pattern to the apex.

Fill in that empty dart/triangle of space with some scrap paper as above.

Almost done now! Add seam allowance to both the edges where you cut off of the shouldery bit from the pattern earlier and the other side where you just moved the dart. (See above!) You are going to gather the fullness you just added to the seam (via moving the dart there) that we made at the start when you sew these pieces together later. For the back of the pattern, just make sure that you redraw the back neckline to match at the shoulder seam with the new front neckline potentially being narrower now after you changed it. That's the pattern finished! So you will just gather the excess fullness (see the wiggly red line above) to fit the other piece we cut off at the start. See the finished dress of mine at the start of this post to see how it looks when it's all sewn together!

I hope this gives a bit of insight into how I modify my standard bodice pattern for different designs and projects. Doing a pattern modification like this is super simple and because I know my standard bodice pattern fits, I don't have to worry at all that the new changed bodice won't fit. Everything drafted from a sloper or standard bodice pattern that fits you is still going to fit you even if you move a dart or make a change as long as you don't forget to add seam allowances back on or something silly like that. (Which I did all the time when I first started, no worries)

I have another bodice style to draft this weekend, so I'll try and document that process too!  I have two last summer projects to finish and wear before fall truly beings! I love fall so I can't wait to start on some more autumn inspired projects, but I have to finish these other projects first! Have a good weekend everyone!

How to Draft Neckline and Armscye Facings (Pattern Drafting)

Last time I discussed moving darts around on the bodice and drawing different necklines, so I thought today I should cover how to draft facings to finish necklines and the armscye of sleeveless bodices. Of course you have many options when it comes to finishing the raw edges of necklines and armscyes, like bias binding, bias turned under and used like a facing, bag lining the whole bodice of course encloses the edges, and then facings. Facings are super easy both to draft and to sew! Facings are a great option when you don't need to  (or want to!) add a lining into your project.

To draft some basic facings, you will of course need your bodice front and back pieces.

Start by taking a scrap or length of paper and trace the neckline portion of your bodice pattern onto this new sheet of paper.

Use a ruler to make sure the center front and shoulder lines are traced properly. I usually make my facing pieces 2.5" wide. To do this I use the 2" width of my clear ruler to make marks along the curve  and then add an additional half an inch.

After adding these measured marks, I sketch a curve to mirror the neckline curve along these guide marks. You want the area of the curve where it meets the center front and shoulder to be close to 90 degrees.

Add the relevant details onto the facing pattern, I always mark the center front and the shoulder so I don't get confused later.

Trace the back neckline and make the facing in the same way.

When sewing you will: sew the shoulder seams of the facings (and press them open), finish the outer edge of the facing (serge, binding, zig zag over the edge), then sew the facing onto the neckline with right sides together, clip the curve (if curved or corners) on the seam allowance once sewn, add edge stitching if you are thorough, and press flat. I usually add a few stitches to tack the facing to the shoulder seam as well so it doesn't move around. I'll do a sewing tutorial on how to do all of this soon :)

For sleeveless dresses, you can make armscye facings as well to finish those raw edges. If you will be needing a neckline facing and armscye facings, you can combine them into one piece. Start again by tracing the top half of the bodice pattern and again add the 2.5" curves along the inside.

Simply draw a curve to combine the two facings into one.

Sewing these can be a bit tricky if you haven't done it before, but use this method. 

That's how easy it is to draft basic facings for your bodice patterns! Easy to draft, easy to sew, and they give a nice clean finished look to your projects. The more pattern drafting posts I do, the more I want to do sewing tutorials, so I expect those will be next ;)

How to Move Darts and Change Necklines : Slashing & Spreading (Pattern Drafting)

Alright, after the last few posts you now have got a basic 2 dart bodice block pattern (you do right?). So what can we do with that? We can use the bodice block as is, with one dart at the waist and one to the side, it works great and I myself use this basic bodice style for nearly all of my dresses. Often I use this 2 dart bodice pattern but modified to have a kimono style sleeve instead of a set in one, which is a modification I explain here. The different fabrics, necklines, sleeve styles, and other details can make this same very standard 2 dart bodice pattern look very different or work for a verity of eras.

For my white eyelet dress I used my basic 2 dart bodice pattern. The only change in the pattern for the dress above from my basic bodice block was to draw on a v-neckline, super simple!

Still, you don't have to stick with one waist dart and one side dart, you can move one or both of these darts to create some different style lines! Or perhaps instead of a dart you want to use gathers instead? Darts are used to make the fabric curve to the shape of the body, taking in fullness to create shape, but of course this fullness does not have to be controlled with a dart. You can use pleats, gathers, smocking, or darts to reign in fullness and using the slash and spread method of moving around fullness means you can move the area where fullness is controlled around too. For example the dress below is again a variation I created from my standard 2 dart bodice pattern, first I used the slash and spread method to move the side dart to the neckline and then instead of actually sewing the dart I instead used gathers to control the fullness.

The red lines here show where the darts are on the pattern, but while I sewed the waist dart as usual, I gathered the fullness of the dart at the neckline instead of actually sewing the dart.

Most if not all bodice styles are created by manipulating the excess fullness created by fitting the fabric to the body with darts or style lines. You can transform the standard darts of a pattern into a style line or princess line quite easily, but I'll be showing you that another day. Today lets simply look at how to slash and spread to move darts around.

Endless possibilities!

So the darts, and in turn fullness, radiates from the apex (bust point) on women's patterns. All darts usually point to the apex, and gathers usually radiate back to the apex as well. Different style lines or additional added fullness can go against this basic principal, but when starting with the 2 dart basic bodice block pattern, you are usually going to be moving darts around the apex.

Lets start by tracing a copy of the front basic bodice block.