When you first start sewing with vintage sewing patterns, the pattern envelope may seem a little odd, confusing and pretty strange to read. Don't let vintage sewing envelopes put you off, once you learn the basics, they are informative and easy to understand. After sewing for a few years and learning how to read vintage … Continue reading How to Read a Vintage Sewing Pattern Envelope
Fashion comes and go and sure enough, if you bag up all the clothes you have in your wardrobe right now and put them away for a few years, they will eventually come back into fashion. When I was first learning to sew many years ago, I wanted to make a babydoll dress but make … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Butterick 6682
Well here we are again, tackling pattern Butterick 5982 for the second time. Back in April, I made Butterick 5982 using an Indian embroidered cotton and although I loved the pattern and the fabric, the darts ruined it for me, they looked like sad, flat saggy nipples and I just can't stop being bothered by … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Redo Review: Butterick 5982
It's been a rough year and as much as I had plans to sew some epic Halloween projects, I honestly just want to crawl into bed and snuggle up with a cup of tea and a Ghibli movie. That's when I realised what the greatest sewing project for Halloween would be; pyjamas. Cute, comfortable pyjamas … Continue reading Sewing Vintage Halloween Pyjamas Using Vogue 5725 from 1962
Pumpkins are my favourite autumnal/ Halloween decoration and I love covering any flat surface of my house in a miscellaneous scattering of gourds as soon as it hits August. I remember a few years back, velvet pumpkins were really trendy and to be honest, I still love them and they are really easy to make. … Continue reading How to Make Velvet Pumpkins
Might as well be honest, originally this post was entitled 'How to Make a Vintage Bat Fascinator' but after at least two meltdowns and multiple shouts of "I give up on this thing!" and "What have I done wrong now", I knew I had to change it to an attempt type blog rather than a … Continue reading I Tried Making a Vintage Bat Fascinator for Halloween
This year, I am attempting to curb my spending so I've been shopping my sewing stashes when it comes to new sewing projects. Until I saw some of the new re-releases of original retro patterns that Simplicity put out, mainly R11333/ S9464. It was in my shopping cart faster than I could say "oh my … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Simplicity 9464 / R11333
So. Many. Gussets. As it's officially winter, I thought it's a great time to whip up a few warmer dresses and focus on patterns with long sleeves. I'm honestly not the greatest with sleeves and have no idea how people make them fit perfectly onto the bodice whereas I always end up having to put … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review; Butterick 5605
Whilst visiting my family in Europe a few years ago, I was chatting with my aunty who mentioned she had a box in storage full of ribbons collected by my grandmother. She asked if I wanted to see it and of course I said yes and the next day, there it was on the dining … Continue reading Vintage Sewing Pattern: Simplicity 4343 from 1962
With the sewing bug well and truly caught, I've been reunited with my love of vintage floral bedsheets. I don't have a huge collection and over the years I've been left with only a few pieces still in my collection but each piece is treasured. Throughout my social media posting, I've received loads of questions … Continue reading Tips for Shopping, Caring for and Sewing with Vintage Bed Sheets
Why does it cost more to sew your own clothing? There's a common misconception that sewing your own clothes is somehow cheap. It's not and even on a budget, it's very rarely cheaper than buying your clothing in a store. If you sew, there's a high chance that you've been asked by someone you know … Continue reading Why Sewing your own Clothes isn’t as Cheap as You Think
How to keep the cost down on your sewing adventures. So I might just be confusing myself with something else but I swear I have written this blog before. Alas, I'm sure past MonMon started writing notes and just thought my idea went from a brainstorm doodle in a notebook into cyber space and is … Continue reading Sewing on a Budget
Not all sewing project go smoothly. Have you ever started a project and you can tell from the get-go that it's just not going to work out? This is exactly how this project started. I was looking through my more modern sewing patterns that I was gifted when I first started sewing; some have been … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Cynthia Rowley X Simplicity 1873
It doesn't take much to cause excitement in the vintage sewing community but when Butterick 6453 hit the shelves in 2017, we all went a little mad. This pattern was hugely popular that it was sold out for ages; it even had it's own Facebook group with several thousand members and of course there were … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Butterick 6453 / Simplicity 9291 by Gertie
Spurred on from my last true vintage sewing pattern, I wanted to try another so I returned to my stash of true vintage patterns. When it comes to vintage patterns, it can be really daunting to cut one up and I have noticed that more and more online pattern sellers are selling prints of vintage … Continue reading Vintage Sewing Pattern McCalls 5142 from 1959
Ah, the Betty Draper dress; a coveted vintage unicorn hunted by many yet owned by a few. After many years of hunting this unicorn, I managed to finally own a copy of the infamous Betty Draper dress yet my love for her didn't end there. Many of us have a 'to do' list that's more … Continue reading Sewing the Iconic Betty Draper Floral Dress with Bow
I'm sure I'm not the only one who starts a dress, puts it down halfway through and then forget's about it for absolute ages. It's easy to get overwhelmed with new fabrics and patterns and some projects just get left behind; this is my story with Butterick 6322. I started this dress in 2016, yes … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Butterick 6322 by Gertie
Vintage sewing patterns aren't always the easiest to find. Trust me, I've been hunting certain ones for years and it's certainly a challenge. As I continue to share sewing pattern reviews, I want to make sure I try out and test modern patterns that can be sewn up to look vintage. With basic sewing skills, … Continue reading Sewing Pattern Review: Butterick B5982