1970s Summer Dresses

Hasn't the weather been awful lately?  We have had so much rain and wind this February - I just want it to stop now!  I feel cooped up indoors, only venturing out to get wet and muddy along with the dog on our walks.  Then I have all the palaver of hosing him down and drying him!

So I thought for a little light relief, how about some summer dresses from the 1970s?  I have several summer dress patterns from the 1970s in my Etsy shop.  I really love the pattern covers from this era.  They are beautifully drawn and the colours are bright and fresh.  They are generally in good condition, as are the pattern pieces inside the envelope.  One thing that was different about the older patterns was that you only got one size in the envelope!  You might need to be handy at pattern alterations to get it to fit. 

All these patterns are available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SewLindyLou.  They are all in great condition and are complete - all the pattern pieces are present.

Style 2673 is for size 34 inch bust and is from 1975.  All views have a zipper in the back.  The fashion for extended shoulders is just beginning to appear, 2 of the designs have extended shoulders and the third has wide shoulder straps.

I love this tea dress style of Vogue 9156!  It is for size 38 inch bust.  It is basically a tent dress with an elastic waist.  How comfortable!  I love the front button closing, and the pretty fabric used here.

Style 4195 is a junior petite size to fit a 33inch bust.  Just the sort of thing I wore when I was a teenager in the 1970s!  This one is from 1973.  Look at that gorgeous sweetheart neckline!

I really love the yellow sundress on Style 4613 from 1974.  I love the square neckline and the band across the neckline.  This one is a very small size, bust 32.5inches.

The 'safari' style was very popular in the 1970s.  Remember safari jackets?  This short sleeved dress with its front breast pockets, epaulettes and rolled cuffs really fits the bill.  This one is from 1977 and is size 34 inch bust.

Finally, here is another sundress from Style from 1975.  This one is size 36 inch bust.  I really like the fitted bodice and flared skirt.  The sweetheart neckline on the green version is lovely.  

Which one is your favourite?  Any of these dresses could be made for today.  The shops are full of midi length flared and full-skirted dresses in ditzy prints for the spring.  Very 1970s!  

Fun vintage tops

I wanted to use another one of my vintage patterns, so I chose this one, Simplicity 7549 from 1968.

I made view B, and with help from Laura at More Sewing, we redrew the pattern, repositioning the darts and making it wider at the hips.

I found this fun novelty print with 1960s girls on scooters in Plush Addicts before they moved up north.  I sewed this top last summer and wore it loads!

I decided to make another one this year, and chose this fun novelty print with Hawaiian dancers from my local shop More Sewing.  I put a lacy black chunky zip all the way down the back on both of them, which makes a really cool detail.

Seen here with my shorts that I made last summer.  I really like the orange top with the brown shorts.

Vintage sewing - Vogue 1772

Hard to believe that 1990s patterns are now classed as vintage!  This one appeared in a batch I purchased for my SewLindyLou Etsy shop, and I put it to one side as I liked the jacket.  It is a DKNY designer pattern for Vogue, a dress and jacket, dated 1996.  Just over 20 years old!

I decided to try and make the jacket.  I chose a light jersey fabric, which in hindsight is perhaps a little too lightweight.  The pattern had been used and was cut to size 18, so I cut mine to that size.  It was far too big!  With some help from Laura at More Sewing we took it in to make it fit.  I decided not to line it, but instead finished off the inside seams with a pretty floral binding.  I bought 3 vintage 1980s buttons to complete the look.

Sadly I have not worn it much.  My idea was to make a light jacket that I could just sling on and off, but this isn't it!  It is too light to wear as a jacket, but quite good as a top on it's own.  It rides up as soon as I move in it and I am forever adjusting it.  Also the sleeves are too wide, which I could rectify by taking them in.  I think it would be great made in a heavier weight fabric like a ponte roma.   I do love the shape and may well try it again.

Are you a Strictly fan?

I love this time of year when Strictly Come Dancing arrives on our tv screen!    I love the colour, the glitter and the glamour!

So imagine my delight when this pattern turned up in a bundle of vintage patterns I acquired recently.  It is a 1960s pattern for a ballroom dress, with variations on neckline and sleeve.  It has been partially cut, but is complete and in good condition.

 

 

The pattern is recommended by Bill and Bobby Irvine.  Here’s their wikipedia entry.  They were dancing in the 1960s, and won 13 world titles during that decade.  Here they are dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfD72raCfKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ESsqnYguo

 

I can’t find anything out about Theatreland Ltd.  All I can find online is a company with the same name which provides theatre guides and websites which began in 2003.

Just fabulous!

It is for sale in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/487288861/vintage-ballroom-dress-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_9

Coats!

Are you thinking of sewing a coat this autumn?  Well, if you are, here’s some inspiration from my stock of vintage patterns:

Here’s a closer look at 3 patterns,1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

See them all on my Etsy shop   www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SewLindyLou

Vintage Hollyburn

How I love this skirt!  It is the Hollyburn Skirt by Sewaholic.  I bought this blue vintage fabric from ebay.  It has a 1970s/80s vibe don’t you think?  It’s got a fabulous design with some great colours; pink, green, yellow and white.  I don’t normally wear blue, but because I can wear all these other colours on the top it’s fine!  I love the swish of the skirt and the side seam pockets!  I did the tabs version and found these 2 big buttons in my vintage stash.  Perfect!  I know I am going to get plenty of wear out of this.  Although it is cotton I am sure it will transition into the autumn with boots and a cardigan.  I have got a yellow cardigan which is exactly the same as the yellow in the skirt, but I left it somewhere last week!  Hopefully it will be in lost property!  I am looking forward to making a winter version too, maybe corduroy?  What fabric have you made Hollyburn in?

 

A New Adventure

Welcome to my new sewing blog!  It's my place to show my me-made items, and hopefully get to know other sewing bloggers.

I have always loved sewing!  I learned how to make clothes when I was a teenager with my mother, who in turn learned from her mother-in-law, my grandmother.  My grandmother worked in Rackhams, a big department store in the centre of Birmingham as a seamstress.  She altered all the lovely gowns to fit the rather upmarket clientele.  It was said that she only had to look at a person and she could cut a dress to fit!  She made me several dresses, including my christening gown.  I'll come back to this in a future post.

Through the years I have revisited dressmaking several times, attending various evening classes, making clothes for myself in my 20s, and for my daughter when she was a little girl. I have again returned to dressmaking, and am attending a drop-in sewing class at More Sewing, a local fabric store.  When I rekindled my love of dressmaking one of the first things I did was read the sewing blogs!  I discovered a whole world of independent designers of dress patterns, and gained lots of extra information from tutorials and sew-alongs.  Not only that, but I love looking at the photos of the items made up in all sorts of colours and textures of fabric, and the pattern hacks.

I became aware that there is quite an interest in vintage patterns.  See Marie from 'A Stitching Odyssey' and Kerry from 'Kestrel Makes' Vintage Pattern Pledge.  I began to search in local charity shops and on eBay, and have amassed quite a collection in a very short time.  I adore the vintage illustrations, they are so cute!  The glamour of the 1960s is my favourite at the moment!  Although I love a good 1970s sundress, or a 1980s ‘Lady Di’ haircut! 

So I have opened an Etsy shop selling vintage patterns, and some vintage sewing notions and haberdashery.  I love the cards of buttons, and the old wooden cotton reels!  And the little cards of press studs and hooks and eyes!  Please do pop over and have a look.  I would love to know what you think!