Sewing Lessons & FAQ

[Gracie Lee]

My walk away dress is taking FOR-EV-ER! I know it's my own fault, though. I only really do any sewing once or twice a week, and my weekends have been spent doing emergency response training and charity work lately. Also, not being one that's content to wear a moderately well-fitted garment, I have basted and pinned more times than I can count at this point. I've changed the necklines, adjusted the darts, re-cut the front, and decided to hand make frog closures for the front b/c I didn't like the way it closed. My goal is to have something in my closet that I'll actually wear on a regular basis when I'm done. Thanks for the continuing inspiration!

 

[Puzzicato]

I think sewing skills are way under-appreciated, that is until you need them. I am a college student and in the Army Reserve. I have zero sewing skills and being in the Army I run into a lot instances (at least weekly) where sewing would help tremendously. A lot of guys my age seem to think it sounds sissy to want to learn some sewing skills, but I seem some older soldiers sewing on their own patches, sewing rips in their clothing, etc. I saw a younger soldier try to sew on his own patch and it looked like crap. He had to take it to get done at the store. I really think the Army should make a basic guide on sewing for soldiers!

If they expect the uniforms to be in good repair they should!

I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure that men in the navy used to knit, so men in the army can certainly sew without being "sissies".

 

[Lady Day]

If sewing is for sissies, then why are most of the best tailors on the world men?

LD

 

[palespider]

Popular fabric choices for blouses in the 1940's?

If anyone has a website that breaks down fabrics most commonly used in each era and why, i would be thankful.

 

[Voodoo Kitten]

It's finished and I have learned a lot. I need to slow down, I got too impatient and rushed through and made a few mistakes. I also noticed I was pulling/pushing the fabric instead of letting it feed on it's own. My stitches would probably be straighter if I slowed down as well. But I was in a big hurry to see how it fit.

Pics.... please excuse my pastiness, I just threw it on to show you ladies, with no regard to my dry legs and stringy hair

Do you think maybe I should lengthen the pattern? And perhaps the skirt part too? I am 6'2" after all I ditched the snaps like every one said and went with buttons, they seem to be pulling a bit, but I still have a bit of baby-belly yet to lose, (I am 6 months postpartum from twins..... not mine, I am a surrogate). But other then that, I'm happy and ready to do another!!

 

[palespider]

i think it came you very cute, good job! :eusa_clap

i have yet to make one yet

 

[Tourbillion]

Popular fabric choices for blouses in the 1940's?

If anyone has a website that breaks down fabrics most commonly used in each era and why, i would be thankful.

Most 40's blouses would have been made from cotton or rayon. Acetate, linen or wool is a possibility too. Fabrics would be woven and blouse weight. Examples would be rayon crepe, cotton batiste, cotton broadcloth, handkerchief linen, acetate satin, wool challis etc. Silk would not have been available in the US, but there may be a few examples where women had the fabric lying around and made them up with it. I have also seen evening wear made from lame.

I haven't seen a web site that offers the fabrics of the eras but here is my general run-down:

20's
Silk crepe is king. Queen is silk chiffon. Acetate "Celanese" was the new thing. Rayon would have been around too. Lightweight cottons, linen and mid-weight wools would have been popular too. Wool jersey started to become popular for young ladies dresses. For evening dresses lace, or beaded silk was also popular.

30's
Very similar to 20's except that I have seen more silk chiffon and cotton voile and batiste used in ladies dresses. The lightweight stuff was used in the early 30's to make the bias dresses. I have also seen a lot of silk velvet evening wear from the 30's. By mid 30's more sensible fabrics were popular, like heavy wool skirts with sweaters and blouses.

40's
In 1940 80% of the fabric produced in the states was cotton, the rest was mostly wool, by 1945 25% of the fabrics were synthetics, with cotton dropping. For wartime more durable fabrics were used for economy. So, heavier cottons, more gabardine etc. Rayon was popular. Nylon was introduced commercially in the form of stockings, before then they would have been silk, rayon or cotton. Silk became unavailable/scarce (except in France) since it had been imported previously. Acrylic was patented in '41, but I don't know if it was available during wartime.

 

[palespider]

thank you so much, notes have been taken and the hunt for fabric is on.

 

[SugarKitten]

Voodoo Kitten I think it came out great! I'm about 2/3s done, and realized the pattern runs small/runs on size. After too many too big patterns, I undersized. Oh well, there will be some inventive buttoning done. Yours looks great! I love the choice of white trim! (I'm considering it as well...) As a fellow tall girl (you've got a bit on me, I'm only 5'11) I think the length is very good, though I can't see where it hits relative your knee...

Stark Traveller, men who can look after themselves get major bonus points from the ladies. Tell them that if they think it's sissy. Nothing sissy about getting chicks. Doubt it? See men who can cook, men who can do housework.

My father mentioned that his mother taught him to sew, in particular mend socks, since as a widow she wasn't going to have time to do all those things in addition to her job. Raised with a notion of gender equality? Super bonus points for never calling anything other than child bearing "women's work".

Totally agree basic needle and thread sewing should be taught to both genders. I can't count (and I'm sure the women in this thread know what I mean) the number of times women tell me they wished they could at least sew buttons back on.

 

[crwritt]

These are just a few of the patterns left to me by my mother in law.
Most of them are 34 bust. My question is, how much trouble is it to grade
them up to a 44 bust?Would it be worth it or should I just consider selling them?

 

[Sickofitcindy]

Those are lovely patterns. It depends on how badly you want to make them. I've successfully resized from a 32 inch to 46 inch. It's definitely a challenge. Somehow I always feel a bigger sense of accomplishment than when I use a modern pattern that's close to my size. It is definitely do-able. Kamikat had a great tutorial on her blog about how to do this.

 

[crwritt]

Those are lovely patterns. It depends on how badly you want to make them. I've successfully resized from a 32 inch to 46 inch. It's definitely a challenge. Somehow I always feel a bigger sense of accomplishment than when I use a modern pattern that's close to my size. It is definitely do-able. Kamikat had a great tutorial on her blog about how to do this.

Thank you. I'll have to look over her tutorial, and look through the patterns again to find one I truly want to make.

 

[SayCici]

palespider, I have two entries on my blog about fabric shopping for the 30s and 40s that go a little in to what fabrics would have been used, but I also talk about popular motifs, colors, etc. Link in my sig!

 

[SayCici]

I know it wasn't really around then, but would rayon work for a 30s skirt? So far I've used cotton and linen (100%) to make a few basic skirts and I'm not really happy with either of the results. They're alright but I want more smooth soft drapeyness and the linen skirt wrinkles terribly. As you may know I don't do wool or silk so, suggestions?

 

[kamikat]

I know it wasn't really around then, but would rayon work for a 30s skirt? So far I've used cotton and linen (100%) to make a few basic skirts and I'm not really happy with either of the results. They're alright but I want more smooth soft drapeyness and the linen skirt wrinkles terribly. As you may know I don't do wool or silk so, suggestions?

I haven't made a 30's skirt from rayon yet, but I think it would work well.

 

[NancyLouise]

Hi, I'm new but I've been lurking for a while! I have a couple questions that hopefully haven't been answered. I've read quite a few pages on this thread but haven't gotten to all them. Alright, here goes:

How do you end/tie/finish the threads at the end of gathers? I am working on a 40s dress where there is just a small section of gathers. Do I take the thread through a needle and pull it to the back? The pattern instructions don't really say anything about it!

Next question! I want to use the fabric shown below (hopefully it shows correctly) for my next dress but I'm not quite sure how to lay the pattern out on it - what I mean is do I need to pull it a little snug or even taut or do I just pin it to the fabric as-is? I would see that messing with the integrity of the pattern piece's shape... I'm really not sure though.

Also, could anyone tell me from the picture what type of fabric this is? I buy my fabric at a sort of thrift store and I'm pretty new to sewing so I don't have a lot of know-how with fabrics.

Whew, sorry for the long-winded post and thanks for checking out my questions. You ladies make some really beautiful things and have definitely been a big part of my inspiration to start sewing a vintage-inspired wardrobe!

Thanks,
Nancy

 

[Voodoo Kitten]

I found this Día de los Muertos fabric I loved and wanted to make something out of, so I decided to make another "Walk Away" dress out of it and some plain black cotton. I thought that a whole dress out of it would have maybe been too much?

I picked up a couple other Butterick Retro dress patterns at Joannes that I am going to try my hand at, they are all labeled "easy". Just have to get some fabric and try them out.

 

[Lady Day]

How do you end/tie/finish the threads at the end of gathers? I am working on a 40s dress where there is just a small section of gathers. Do I take the thread through a needle and pull it to the back? The pattern instructions don't really say anything about it!

The best way to do gathers is with a basting stitch on your machine. Just sew it in the seam allowance and knot the ends.

Next question! I want to use the fabric shown below (hopefully it shows correctly) for my next dress but I'm not quite sure how to lay the pattern out on it - what I mean is do I need to pull it a little snug or even taut or do I just pin it to the fabric as-is? I would see that messing with the integrity of the pattern piece's shape... I'm really not sure though.

Also, could anyone tell me from the picture what type of fabric this is? I buy my fabric at a sort of thrift store and I'm pretty new to sewing so I don't have a lot of know-how with fabrics.

There isnt a real good way to tell what type of fabric it is. You could do a burn test and look up the results. Just google fabric burn test. Thrift store fabric is iffy, I know, I get tons of it

LD

 

[NancyLouise]

Thanks for your response, I'll have to check out fabric burn tests.
For the gathers, I did a basting stitch on my machine and pulled the lower threads, however the rows of stitches that make up the gather don't run all the way to the seam allowances. At least from what I gathered from the illustrations and instructions, the stitches are just sort of floating in the middle of the panel.

 

[Lady Day]

Right. So make the baste in the seam allowance, but start and end it at its necessary placement.

LD