Burda Style For people who sew

There are plenty of things that intimidate modern sewers about vintage patterns, but the scariest issue to overcome is usually sizing. If your bust measurement is larger than 36”, it can seem impossible to find a pattern for you. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to see all the fabulous patterns out there, and then to discover that you can’t find it in your size. But plus size ladies don’t have to give up on the idea of sewing vintage. Quite the opposite! Retro styles are especially flattering on women with curves. Here are some tips for dealing with the size gap.

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Hey Everyone,
Katherine Bell has come out with an amazing new book called Quilting for Peace full of great projects and ideas. Check out her book here from STC Craft / Melanie Falick Books! She has also been kind enough to share her 30-Minute Shopping Bag pattern with all of us.

Recycling fabric into quilts and other useful things to give away helps not only the people who receive the gifts, but the rest of us as well. The average American throws away more than 60 pounds of fabric a year, and discarded textiles take up four percent of our landfills. A quarter of the insecticides used globally each year are used on cotton crops, so growing new cotton to replace what we’ve thrown away is also bad for the environment. The resourceful crafters I interviewed for Quilting for Peace have found many sources of free fabric to use in their projects. Here are a few:

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How often have you wished that a modern pattern had better, longer, or clearer instructions? Well, believe it or not, today’s patterns are tomes compared to eras past. I recently bought this fabulous “Lady’s Overall” pattern from the 1930’s, and was fascinated by the brief instructions.

As you can see in the image above right, all of the instructions are on the back of the envelope – there are no inserts included. It’s a mere paragraph! Just check out this sentence: Make the collar of double material and sew on as notched, and make 2 slot pockets in the front. Anyone who’s even sewn a convertible collar and made welt pockets knows that a little more instruction than that is required!

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Welcome back to Sewing Vintage! This week I’m going to talk a bit about an aspect of sewing vintage that often scares people off: the unprinted pattern. This means that instead of having clear black lines and symbols on patterns (as we do today), patterns from the early 20th century were marked with little perforated holes, like the middle image above. It can be disorienting at first, but do not fear! Unprinted patterns are nothing to be scared of, and you’ll be glad you took the plunge. I work mostly with Vogue patterns from the very early 1950’s, and sewing patterns at this time were still all unprinted. In the images above, you can see a pattern envelope for one of these patterns, what the pattern tissue looks like, and what the garment looks like sewn up.

The first thing to realize about the perforations on unprinted patterns is that they were meant to be used with tailor’s tacks, rather than a tracing wheel and paper like we usually use today. The perforations make a lot of sense for tailor’s tacks, because you can just make your thread loops right within the perforated hole. But there’s also an easier way: just use a piece of tailor’s chalk to color in each hole on the front side, then stick a pin through the hole to mark it on the back. I have a tutorial for each method on my blog, which you can see here.

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Sewing Vintage! This week I’m going to tell you about three of the most common pattern alterations needed for vintage sewing patterns. Personally, I like vintage style but I like the fit to be modern. So I make several alterations for a cute contemporary look, as well as for ease of wearing without vintage foundation garments like bullet bras and girdles.

All of these changes require that you start with some sort of fitting step. This can be a tissue fitting, a basted fitting, or a muslin. (Check out the book Fit For Real People for help with all this.) Making a muslin wasn’t a common practice of home sewing until recently, so the method used would be to tissue fit the pattern, and then machine baste all darts and seams for a basted fitting. Making a muslin never hurts, though, and it will ensure a perfect fit every time.

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Sewing Vintage! Through writing my blog, I’ve realized just how intimidating the world of vintage patterns can be. The prices vary wildly, the sizing is different from contemporary patterns, and the styles can be very intricate and complex. Not to mention how different the patterns themselves are: the instructions are much more abbreviated than today’s patterns. And some pattern tissues are even unprinted, meaning you only have perforated holes to guide you, rather than the nice black lines and symbols that we have now.

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Hello, BurdaStyle friends!

You know me as Gertie, I’ve been hanging around here for a while; you might remember my Malissa variation from last year. I’m thrilled to be starting a series of posts for BurdaStyle on sewing vintage: vintage patterns, vintage styles, vintage sewing machines, you name it. And what credentials do I have to do this, you might ask? Good question.

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So, I’m off to college ! This summer has zoomed by with alarming speed, and the next chapter of my life is about to begin. Wanna bet I’m one of the only freshman who rolls onto campus with a sewing machine? Maybe not. Sewing is hip again, and as my mom always says, “Stop shopping and start sewing!”

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Mike Nichols’s The Graduate is a true cinema classic. I have always loved this movie, but now it has special significance for me because as of June 6th, I, too, am a graduate! I know I’m just graduating from high school, but I can relate to the scrutiny and pressure Dustin Hoffman’s character feels at the beginning of the movie. All the big questions start coming up in conversation (especially with adults) – What are your career plans? Anyone special in your life? How are you going to set yourself apart from “the competition”? Yeesh!

Well, at least I can answer that last question! All the grads had to wear these huge green gowns that made us all look the same, but I came up with ways to spiff up my look and stand out. I wore a really cool gem necklace plus sparkly flower-gem earrings and a green gem ring. My mom gave me a pearl bracelet that my grandmother had given to her for her graduation. And under all of this, I wore a tie dress my sister made on Jane’s Sew & So.

Chanel rummaged through thrift stores and found a bunch of beautiful men’s silk ties. She unfolded the ties and sewed them together to make the base of the dress and the straps. The top of the dress is a gorgeous red silk remnant. As my mom says, “Stop shopping and start sewing” – the whole dress cost about 8 bucks to make. And, while graduation was a sea of green, I alone was wearing a secret explosion of color underneath the whole time.

After we all threw our caps in the air, I unzipped my gown and was instantly ready to party. I added green sparkles to my hair and the silver shoes I wore to prom then hit all the grad parties. I got tons of compliments on my dress. People said they’d had seen tie vests and skirts but a tie dress was a really original idea. Oh, and remember the Simon and Garfunkel tune, “The Sounds of Silence?” from The Graduate?

. Check out this music video I made using the same song. It won a bunch of student film awards – yep, that’s my career plan!

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Prom Night was absolutely magical! I felt like Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” – when she appears at the top of the staircase in her shimmering gown and the ballroom falls silent to watch her descend the stairs. Except – Audrey didn’t design and sew her own gown…I did!

It’s so funny – I realized we were driving right next to my date, Robbie, on the way back from the hairdresser’s (oops, running a little late!). I had to crank my seat all the way back so he wouldn’t see me too soon – it was such the Molly Ringwald maneuver! But, I didn’t want to ruin THE REVEAL! When he saw me he told me I looked like a movie star, and he felt like Clark Gable! Yep, exactly what I was going for!

Mom helped me figure out how to pin on Robbie’s corsage – I was too fumble-fingered to do it myself! I got a kick (literally!) out of revealing the secret lining of my dress. Every couture gown must have a lining! Mine was a dazzling pink, rose-patterned silk my mom had saved for me from Europe I felt like I was wearing a dozen roses! Then Mom had a surprise for me – a gorgeous, embroidered silk stole. She made it from a pattern she downloaded right here from BurdaStyle (pretty hip mom, right?): Weekend Designer Satin Stole.

Brother Sewing Machines let us borrow their Project Runway Limited Edition Sewing and Embroidery Machine for this episode of Jane’s Sew & So, and my mom was so psyched to learn how to machine embroider with it!

My friends and I all got together with family to take pictures. Of course, my dad brought a whole film crew! We got come great shots – just like the images from my dreamboard – a group of friends, decked out in great-looking clothes, in front of a limo, having the time of their lives!

I’ll show you how you can design and make a couture gown for any occasion using the “Every Body Bodice!” Until then… I’ve had the time of my life! Cue music…

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…and your little dog, too

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, my village – my tribe – gather together to shoot television shows – not quite the same as sitting around a campfire, sharing stories of the great hunt, but close.

My mom, dad, sister, two uncles and one aunt were on set with me to shoot the “Every Body Bodice” episode of Jane’s Sew & So…and my little dog, too. That’s our production mascot Jezebel in the center of the picture.

My mom created the show when cousin Chaz wanted a new skirt for a party, but was flat broke because she was a recent college grad (Yikes! That’ll be me in 4 years). Mom taught Chaz how to make a funky jean skirt out of an old pair of jeans, asked my dad to pick up a camera and – voila! – Jane’s Sew & So was born. My mom was able to set her mind on a goal and achieve it with such finesse. I know I can “manifest” everything I want out of life, whether it’s designing and sewing my own prom dress or winning an Academy Award for directing.

I was nervous about committing to each design element in my dress (so many choices!), but I just had to step back, take in the whole garment and go for it. I took pattern elements from a vintage pattern, a new pattern and even drew some elements freehand until I had one complete “Frankensteined” pattern. I used to think you had to just make the dress that came in a pattern pouch, but you don’t, you can tailor anything to fit your style and body type. It took us 10 hours to shoot the show! And, while we were exhausted by the time we got to the “martini shot,” we still had smiles on our faces.

Now that I know how to make the “Every Body Bodice,” I can use the pattern again to design the next major dresses in my life – bridesmaid – WEDDING!

I want my husband to dress like Freddy from “My Fair Lady,” by the way! What about you BurdaStylers out there? Thought about your wedding dress?!

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I looked in all the prom mags and found some cute dresses; but, I kept saying to myself, ‘Gee, I wish this bodice were on that skirt,’ or ’Wouldn’t it be great if I could put the straps from that Vivien Leigh gown on this bodice?’ So, the answer, of course, was to do all the custom work myself – that’s right, just like those dudes who trick out ordinary cars, I had to put a basic dress “up on the lift” and pimp it out.

Biggest goal: Look killer in my dress. I’ve been working out with hand weights for months so I can show off my “First Lady arms.” So I know I want a thin shoulder strap. I need a little more, um, shall we say, “filling out” along the bustline, so I know I need a structured element there. I’m pretty tall and thin, so I can afford to have some drama going on in the back of the dress – a keyhole, maybe, or even a fall.

If you watch Project Runway, you know the designers all start by “draping” on a dress form. My mom taught my sister, Chanel, how to make her own (super cheap!) dress form out of duct tape and old pillows. You can watch this episode for free on her website: Jane’s Sew and So: Dress Form.

I sewed a muslin out of a fabric remnant, fit it on my own dress form and started pinning, altering and tailoring the dress until it looked exactly how I wanted it to look. Some of my original ideas went out the window because they just didn’t translate off the page, but as I tweaked and fiddled, the dress came together in my hands to satisfy my designer’s eye.

Don’t think you have to dress like the models in the magazines. Here are few links to help you figure out your own body type:

• My Shape:
• Prom Girl
• Funky Grad
• Style Make-Over HQ – What’s Your Body Shape?

THIS JUST IN: My mom and dad gave me an early graduation present! A new sewing machine! It’s gorgeous and has embroidery!

Just for fun – check out my “Timeless Prom” radio station on Pandora.com.

-Grace

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Some of my favorite classic movies are “All About Eve”, “Gone with the Wind” and “Rear Window.” The stars of these three films – Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly and Bette Davis – are all enduring, timeless fashion icons. I took inspiration from each of these queens of the silver screen to create a one-of-a-kind design for my prom dress.

Vivien Leigh! There’s such a fiery personality under that glamorous face. She takes command of any room she enters and that confidence is reflected in her fashion. I want my dress to be bold and make a statement just like Vivien Leigh.

Grace Kelly is everything her name says she is. Her look is angelic and she carries herself with such elegance. She made the perfect real-life princess! I want my dress to be feminine and have a gathered front like Grace Kelly’s.

Bette Davis’s dresses make a statement just like her eyes do. The plunging back and jewel accents in her dress really jazz it up. I decided to make the straps of my dress out of vintage jewelry. Jewels add glamour to any dress. And we all know that girls love sparkles !!!

My mom, Jane Samson, hosts a sewing show for teens on TV. She went to design school in Switzerland in the 70’s and bought up all the vintage patterns she could get her hands on. I am going to dig through those patterns like buried treasure to find pattern elements I can use to construct my unique prom dress design.

You can start your own fashion treasure hunt using these links:

• Coco Chanel
  
• Going Vintage
  
• Edith Head
  
• Gowns Inspired by Grace Kelly
  
• So Vintage Patterns

  More recently, a film that showed the kind of 1930’s glamour I want in my prom dress was “Atonement”. Keira Knightly is so lucky that she gets to wear all of these beautiful dresses in the films she’s in. She and Anne Hathaway have become some of my generation’s super classy Hollywood style icons. My dress will be green silk like Keira’s. I love how silk hugs the body – it’s easy to strike a pose and look like a movie star, and I want my entrance into prom to be memorable!

  
  -Grace

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Follow California Senior, Grace Samson, through her prom journey. Track her progress as she goes from her dream board, to drafting her pattern, to creating her dream dress and sharing the pattern with you.

Hi, I’m Grace Samson – high school senior, future filmmaker, major movie buff.

My prom is on the 22nd of this month. I can’t believe it’s almost here. I have heard so many stories about the big night and it’s hard to believe that this is actually happening to me. In less than a month I will be walking out onto that dance floor, with my date, in a fabulous dress I designed and made myself. .

One of my favorite scenes from a classic movie is from “It’s a Wonderful Life” – Jimmy Stewart walks Donna Reed home from prom after they’ve fallen into the swimming pool. He’s in a soggy, striped football uniform and she’s wearing nothing but a bathrobe. It’s the first time he promises to lasso the moon for her. So romantic.

I hope to avoid a prom situation like the one in “Carrie.” Ha, ha! Good thing I’m not telekinetic! I found a list of the best prom movies of all time on the ELLEGirl magazine website: Top 10 Prom Movies.

Good list, I think. Some of my faves. It still chokes me up in “Pretty in Pink” when Molly Ringwald’s dad buys her that pink prom dress from the thrift store. Ah, the prom dress! So much pressure to have the perfect one, right? This is one of those moments in your life that is a notch on you lifeline. You know it’s up there with the first kiss, your engagement party, your wedding (!).

So, I said to myself “this is a big moment in your life and I know you want it to be a memory”. I decided to start what I call a “dream board”. I have been buying a lot of prom magazines lately and I went though them all and tore out pictures that are ideas for what I want for my dress, my friends and my date.

My dream board (an old bulletin board that I decorated) lets me focus on all the elements that will make my prom night perfect. It seems silly at first, but it works. I want my prom night to be like something out of the movies, and I want my dress to be the height of Hollywood glamour. Check back in with me as I create my own pattern to share with all you BurdaStylers!

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