Wendy Mullin Interview

Here's a recent short interview with my favorite contemporary designer Wendy Mullin (of Built By Wendy) that I just found. Along with Mary Quant and Betsey Johnson, she is one of my all-time heroes! Click on the image to read the interview.

Kate Bush Fashion Collage

A collage of the lovely Kate Bush, one of my favorite artists and fashion icons. Nobody rocked leotards or leg warmers with as much style as Kate Bush did in the early 1980s! Be sure to click on the collage to view the larger image!


Images acquired from various sources; most of them were found on Gaffaweb.

1960s & 1970s Vintage Home Sewing Ads

Here are some really great vintage sewing ads from the 1960s and 1970s that I found today! All of these ads are currently for sale in the eBay store Veritas104. I would love to buy a bunch of these, frame them and hang them in my sewing room. Be sure to click on each image so you can see (and read) the details!

Vintage Patterns of the Week!

Here's my weekly round-up of interesting and unique vintage sewing patterns that I've found while searching around on the web. Be sure to click on the images so you can see all of the vintage goodness in closer detail!

Late 1950s dress with fitted midriff and empire waist bow. Found on eBay.

I love how simple, yet inventive, this 1960s dress design is! Found on eBay.

This one is a real stunner, and very rare. I used to collect Pauline Trigere patterns, and I had never seen this design before! Found on eBay.

This 1950s dress has so much going for it: very fitted, a front bateau neckline and plunging back neckline, tied shoulder bows and a flared godet at the back of the skirt. I *wish* I could have grabbed this one, but I'm 8 months pregnant, and the thought of me actually being able to fit into a dress like this seems like a very distant dream right now.....Found on eBay.

I love the illustration on this one! 1960s Vogue mod little girl's dress with military-inspired details. Found on eBay.

Japanese Pattern Books - Potentially Dangerous to Your Wallet!

I just found an eBay store that could be seriously dangerous to my wallet! The store is Pamadour24 and they offer a dazzlingly large selection of Japanese craft and sewing books. Although I have yet to actually purchase a book from them (they have a 100% positive feedback rating with 15,000+ sales!), here are a few sewing pattern books that are on my wish list:

Cute Clothes for Adults. Includes 25 full-scale dress patterns.

Fashion From Cinema. This one looks amazing!!! Includes full-scale patterns for dresses, skirts and blouses from films like Driving Miss Daisy, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Edward Scissorhands, Bonjour Tristesse and many more!

Sewing Pochee Vol. 7. 41 full-scale patterns for bags, crafts and clothes.

LINEN COTTON GAUZE LACE CLOTHES. The clothes in this pattern book look like they would be so easy to make and so comfy to wear! 25 full-scale patterns for clothing and accessories.

Fun Things Found in Vintage Sewing Pattern Envelopes

Every once in a while, I will find an odd bit of ephemera stuffed into the envelope of a vintage sewing pattern that I've acquired. Usually it's a receipt from the 1960s or 1970s, or a piece of paper with sewing notes jotted onto it by the previous owner, or even a cool vintage fabric swatch. Recently, I pulled two 1960s dress shop pamphlets out of a pattern envelope. I'm guessing that both of these are from between 1966 and 1968, when cool ready to wear dresses were only $15.95!






I also found this folded up page from a 1977 J.C. Penney catalog in another pattern recently. Those are some pretty cute Sesame Street jumpsuits/rompers/dresses! Makes me nostalgic for the pre-Elmo Sesame Street days. Oh yeah - and this ad is as old as I am - haha!

Latest Projects: Baby Booties & Tie-Dye Parachute Pants

Here are two projects that I finished the other day!

The first one is a pair of baby booties made from a cotton fat quarter with primary-colored shapes. They are so soft and flexible since they are made entirely of cotton fabric and fusible fleece for padding. I got the pattern from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. I whipped them up very quickly, and just noticed that there is a remnant of water soluble blue ink still on one of the booties - oops! Anyhow, they were super-simple to make and took an hour, tops. This means that I will probably be making many more of these between now and September 30th!

Next is a pair of infant pants! I made these from a bright tie-dye print thermal knit remnant that I had leftover from another project. They are super-baggy and comfy-looking - like parachute pants for babies! I used Burda 9617 to make them. These also took no time to whip up, so I will making more of these as well!