Sewing Skills

I'd really like to add dressmaking to my list of must-do's.   There are so many things to learn about the art of vintage dressmaking.  I have a great sewing machine and tons of thread....I just need to find the perfect patterns and really start the learning process.  All those eye-candy vintage dress patterns on ebay and etsy!   The first dress I want to be simple and already have it picked out here.   I'm hoping to start this in the next couple of weeks.   I also think it would be a good idea to repair the dress below.   I'm very inspired by these ladies who can sew their own vintage frocks!

I really love the dress that  Cherise made, such a great pattern!  I can totally see myself in this style of dress.   I'm going to hunt for a late 30's dress pattern like this.  The tailoring and little added effects are so cute!   I'd also love a good blouse pattern.  It's difficult to find vintage blouses from the late 30's early 40's so finding the right pattern to make could be of a big benefit.  The right pattern could certainly create a blouse that is a wardrobe staple.

Gertie also has very inspiring blog and I've just bought her book.  She's a true master at vintage tailoring.  She really has an inquisitive and investigative nature about approaching vintage wear.


I bought this dress below on ebay but of course, in the description they neglected to say that a zipper was added on the front and is a half-bum job that really wrecked the silk at the top portion of the zipper and pulled at the original threads that secured the original design .  I know I could have returned it but I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to experiment with this dress without guilt of ruining it.  Would I have bought it had I known about the zipper issue?  Probably not.

I paid $58 for this dress which if I can get it back to it's original state would be worth it.  I wish the previous owner would not have messed up the front of the dress by adding a zipper to it.  I've already removed the zipper and it looks already better but still needs to be stitched up.

I'm also going to experiment adding a belt to this dress.  The original belt is long gone and I can imagine it might very well have had a rhinestone Eisenberg buckle.  I'm going to see if I can use some of the underside hem.  I bought a vintage belt kit and I'm waiting for it to arrive.  Keeping my fingers crossed it's the right width.

I love looking at the "behind the scenes" assembling of vintage dresses.   It's such an art.  I feel we've lost the tailoring quality in modern clothes, unless you can afford something extremely expensive.    Check out this hem, hand stitched!

Interesting to see if I'll be able to make the top part back to what it was.

I love looking at the "behind the scenes" assembling of vintage dresses.   Check out this hem,  hand stitched probably tailored at the time of purchase.  It's more of a pro-job than the zipper job which was done with a thick cotton thread which doesn't work for the fine quality of silk.