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!  

Jackets!

I have been wanting a casual jacket for ages.  Something a bit smarter than a cardigan, but easily thrown on and off, and won't get creased and dishevelled looking.  I found a likely contender in my vintage sewing pattern stash.  Vogue  1772, a DKNY Vogue American Designer pattern from 1996.  

I have made it before but in the fabric was too light and I didn't line it so it didn't really work.  I decided to use up some red ponte I had in my stash already.  

This time, I decided to line it as it would be easier to slip on and off without catching on clothes I would be wearing underneath. The jacket has some great details,  princess seams and some cute little darts at the waist.  Hard to see in these pictures. It looks really smart in the picture on the pattern, but that one is made from woven fabric, and I was making mine from fabric with a little stretch for a more casual look.    I decided to keep it even more casual by omitting the buttons.    For fitting, I graded the pattern out to the hips, and I had to narrow the shoulder seams.  

I am wearing it here with a t-shirt I made from some fabric left over from a dress.  (I had to use a red band to lengthen it as I didn't quite have enough fabric!)  The jeans are from a local charity shop.

It goes well with my latest dress make, another shirt dress, a combination I wore to my niece's wedding back in May:

Next I decided to make a hoodie from another vintage pattern.  I had some grey tracksuit fabric with a lovely soft fleece backing, which I thought would be perfect for this 1990s pattern, Style 1041.

And here it is:

I really love this jacket!  I put in a black zip and top stitched in black to match.  This really is a 'slip on and off ' jacket that I will get a lot of use out of this one, especially at this time of year when the weather is a bit dull and cool.  Hard to think that this time last year we were basking in Mediterranean temperatures!

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.

Inspiration for Christmas party frocks

Do you need some inspiration for your Christmas party frock?  How about sewing one of these gorgeous evening dresses from the 1960s?

Or maybe 1970s is more your thing?

 

There is even the possibility of machine knitting your evening dress:

 

All these patterns are available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SewLindyLou

I am offering a 10% discount for the rest of the month.  Please use the code NOVE10.

Happy sewing!  And happy partying!

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

1969 dress

Since starting to collect and sell vintage dress patterns on Etsy, I have been wanting to make one of them.  I choose Simplicity 8381, a 1969 shift dress with princess seams and pockets on the front.

The pattern istself was not in great condition, but still usable.  Laura at More Sewing helped me with the fitting.  The pattern is a size 16 (38inch bust).  Adjustments included taking an inch or so off the bust and adding onto the hips.  If you look n the pictures below, I cut the lining where the pins are.  Just shows how we have changed shape over the years!

Here’s the invisible zip going in, and a close up of the fabric.  It is a crepe like material and has a lovely drape.  It was easy to sew with and pressed nicely too.  The fabric was in a big bag of scraps given to my friend by Maryamm at Mazelino Designs, a wedding dress designer and sewing school.   I lined it with white polyester to give it that 1960s ‘rustle’ as I swish around!

I am really pleased with the fit of the dress!  I love the princess seam detail and the groovy pockets!  I found some vintage buttons to finish off the pockets.  If I made it again I think I would make the neckline a little bigger, it’s just a little high for my taste and comfort.

And a bonus!  A photobombing puppy!

Pattern Friday–an occasional series

As you know, I have been collecting vintage dressmaking patterns and thought I would highlight one or two of my favourites in an occasional series.

First is the ‘Greet the Spring’ dress, a 1950s/60sdress pattern produced by Woman’s Realm. 

Woman’s Realm was a UK magazine launched in 1958 aimed at post war women who were used to ‘running a house on a ration book’.  Goods of any kind were scarce and many women would make their own clothes.  Sadly this magazine closed in 2001, and was merged with Woman’s Weekly.  It was said that mature women were more interested in celebrity lifestyle magazines than cooking, baking, crotchet and dressmaking.  I feel that this tide may be turning back to craft magazines now, judging by the number of sewing, knitting and crotchet magazines on the shelves!

Imagine my delight when checking this pattern for completeness that I came across the original magazine article about this dress!  I love it when I find someone’s notes or a clipping in an old pattern or book!  It is the ‘Greet the Spring’ Dress, and the article suggests that ‘all the gay delights of spring are blended in this dress that cannot fail to flatter you’! 

All for the bargain price of 9d (about 4p in today’s money), incidentally that is the cost of a can of baked beans in 1965.  How times have changed!  You can’t buy a dressmaking pattern for the price of a can of baked beans now can you?

I think this dress looks very 1950s, but as the magazine only launched in 1958, it could be early 1960s.  I guess if the magazine was aimed at the mature woman, they wouldn’t be selling mini skirt dress patterns!  I love the gathers into the bodice at the neckline, very pretty.  The full skirt is created from soft gathers, but is flat between the bodice darts to hide a full tummy!  The article says that it has been made from the ‘new drip-dry cotton’, to avoid creases and the need for much ironing.  It is pretty much fabric-hungry as it takes 4 3/4 to 5 yards of 36” wide fabric!

This pattern is for sale in my Etsy shop   along with lots of other vintage patterns from other decades.  Do pop over and have a look.