lauriesue – WeSewRetro.com

Cherry Bomb

By lauriesue on January 7, 2016

Over the holidays I made my middle daughter a new dress. I used the Violette Fields Ginger Dress. I love the vintage chic look and it turned out very well. This description of the pattern pretty much says it all: “Ginger Misses incorporates retro elements that are figure flattering on all shapes and sizes. The bodice includes a vintage collar, waist tabs, front darts and halter tie straps.”

Cherry Dress2 — Violette Fields Ginger Dress

I changed the halter tie to straps since I felt it would be a little more stable for my very active daughter! Pockets are included and since in my daughters eyes no dress is complete without them I made sure to put them in. (Sometimes I want to skip the pockets and save myself 10 minutes but no more!)

If you would like to read more about the dress and see more pics feel free to stop on over for a visit at my blog.

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Vintage Sewing

A 1954 Mail Order Sewing Pattern

By lauriesue on August 21, 2015

This is a 1954 Mail Order pattern for The Baltimore Sun. Can I just say I get really excited when I use a vintage pattern and it turns out so wearable!

The dress went together amazingly easy. And it was a near perfect fit! I took it in slightly at the waist and the shoulder neckline area had to be taken in about 1/2″ on each side. Other than that- it was a dream to make.

What I really enjoy doing is taking a vintage pattern and making it relevant enough to wear today. I really feel like I succeeded with this 1954 Mail Order dress pattern. I find something so special about handling something that was owned by someone long ago. This pattern came from The Baltimore Sun which looks to be a Newspaper. It still has the address of the lovely lady that ordered it and the postmark is pristine. Apr 29, 1954. Tell me that is not the coolest thing ever!

You can read all about this dress and get a brief history lesson over on my blog if you would like!

Downton Abbey Inspired Nightgowns

By lauriesue on August 10, 2015

Last year you could get the Unofficial Downton Abbey Sews Magazine from the Sew Daily Shop. It is actually still available and if you are a fan of the show or the time period there are some pretty nice patterns in there. When I spotted the nightgown it reminded me of the summery cotton nighties my mom would buy me and I knew I HAD to make a few. 2 of my girls agreed they would wear them so I decided to make one for each of them.

The pattern has 3 pieces- a front, back and a sleeve. I traced it long but made these first two short. Mostly because I used STASH fabric and had the exact amount for short ones. As a matter of fact I can proudly say I bought NOTHING for these two nighties. (OK. Technically I bought it over a decade ago but that doesn’t count, right?)

The fabric in this one is a quilting cotton I bought at Joanns well over 15 years ago. I made a little girl dress out of it and this was the leftovers. I know I know. That is a lot of leftover but hey! It has come to some good use now!

The lace is a crocheted cotton lace I found in my collection of lace, ribbons and trims box. I could not even tell you how long I have had it- I do not even remember buying it! It was pure white and this pretty floral fabric was not white so I tea-dyed it.

Here is the second nightie I made.

This one is a little fuller than the first one I made. I wanted to try it with the same amount of fullness that was at the bottom of the long nightie pattern so folded the pattern pieces strategically to get that extra fullness. I like it!

I used the un-tea-dyed half of the pure white lace to trim this one. You will notice the lace is set up higher than the other one I made. My mistake and I did not want to take it out. But it works right?

If you would like to read more you can visit my blog!

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1960s | Dresses | Vintage Sewing

Vintage Simplicity 4432 plus Totally Tubular Turtles

By lauriesue on July 27, 2015

I have done it before and I will do it again. Vintage Simplicity 4432. The perfectly simple sundress. My first go at this pattern turned out one of my favorite dresses for my middle daughter Holly and we had such a fun photoshoot at the Classic Car Show that runs in our town every Friday night on Grand. Then I made a Super Hero Comic Book Dress and a Star Wars Dress (unblogged until later this week.) All in all- its a perfect little sundress pattern!)

Holly was born in 95 so she was pretty young in the 90’s but all my kids enjoyed watching “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” When we saw the fabric online I knew I needed to buy some. I actually bought quite a bit- and made my grown son a button down shirt, which he wears all the time and gets SO MANY compliments on I thought I should go into TMNT shirt business!

Honestly, there is not much to say about the process of making this dress because I have made several! The bodice has been fitted and as long as she doesn’t eat too many pizzas I can just use the same pattern pieces I used the first time round!

This is one of those dresses that has a timeless look to it so I will probably make more! If you would like to read more about the dress feel free to stop on over at my blog!

5 Comments

Vintage Sewing

A Groovy Dress

By lauriesue on June 1, 2014

Simplicity 6882… A perfect dress for for my tiny 19 year old daughter. And I am so pleased with how it turned out!

I used a royal blue rayon and followed the directions without making any modifications other than a shorter length. She is definitely looking like a pretty cool cat in her new dress and ready to go out on the town and boogie all night long!

If you would like to read more feel free to head over to the Sewexhausted blog!

Laurie

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1950s | 1960s

Mrs. Teapot I presume?

By lauriesue on October 1, 2013

I finally made MYSELF a vintage dress. The pattern was Butterick 9499 and I believe it is late 50’s or early 60’s.

I went with a green cotton broadcloth. I bought this a while back, and paid $1.99 a yard for it- which means this dress cost me about $10 bucks to make. 🙂 Cotton… I gotta say it needs same spray starch and a better pressing than I was able to give it.

When I came out in all my glory yesterday my youngest told me I looked like Mrs. Teapot. My eldest told me I looked like the lady who had a bunch of stuff in her suitcase. (Mary Poppins?) Ahhh, children! I let them BOTH know I felt like Beavers mother. (And I received blank stares) 🙂

I like the dress for the most part. The cuffs are fantastic… I covered my own buttons for both cuffs. I love the bodice and the collar. And I really like the shade of green. 😀

You can read more about the dress and see more pics here!

6 Comments

1960s | Vintage Sewing

A Vintage Classic

By lauriesue on September 21, 2013

For this dress I used vintage pattern Simplicity 4432. From what I could glean on the internet (and correct me if I am wrong) this pattern is from the early 60’s.

I used 100% cotton of course! It was a piece of fabric I fell in love with on a recent trip to Oregon. It was on the clearance table and another 50% off so I paid a total of $9 for the whole piece! As soon as I saw it I KNEW it was going to be this dress and it was going to be for Holly.

The inside is fully lined with a white cotton. It actually started out as a light weight car cover my grandma gave to my mom, and my mom was going to get rid of. It was so soft I said NO! I can use that cotton fabric for lining! And I did!

Super simple dress and oh so sweet! We got compliments at the Classic Car show we attended to take pictures. We wanted to be in a setting that fit the dress!

If you’d like to read more see my blog! www.SewExhausted.com

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