Welcome to Rebecca Symonds seasonal fashion blog, this week discussing vintage sewing. Rebecca is locally born and bred and runs a business called Rebecca’s Room Knitting where you can buy handmade knitwear. She has been sewing since her mother would trust her with sharp objects and this started an interest in fashion at a young age. Locally educated, Rebecca studied at University College of the Arts in Farnham, however, in her early thirties she suffered a stroke and woke up paralysed down one side, unable to talk. As part of her rehabilitation she took up knitting and hasn’t stopped click-clacking since! She gets her inspiration from looking at people in the street, long country walks with her dog and the necessity of keeping warm whilst living in a cold, rural cottage!
Vintage patterns are so attractive. The illustrations on the front are enough to make my heart swoon. However, they are not for the novice or the faint hearted! Nevertheless, I bought a reproduction of a vintage pattern from Vogue recently, from HERE, however, I have yet to pluck up the courage to attempt the 1950’s full skirted loveliness.
One issue is the patterns were designed at a time when home dressmaking was much more common and your average homemaker had a lot more sewing experience than most of us do today. Often the construction of the garment is different to today’s styles. For example, in pre 1940’s dresses there are often two zips, one in the shoulder and one in a side seam. Today’s frocks usually, but not always, have one zip in the centre seam at the back. Chuck in a different measurement system (imperial inches, not centimetres) and different dress sizes (a modern size 16 might be a 1950’s size 8) and all of a sudden that’s a lot of maths… who said dressmaking is a relaxing, creative pastime?
Maybe you’re thinking that life is too short to sit down and make something, especially when there are so many cheap, ready-to-wear options available to buy. But not only do you get the satisfaction of looking at your dress/skirt/apron knowing that you made it, but I can almost guarantee that you won’t ever have that hideous moment of spotting someone else wearing exactly the same outfit! Maybe the next wedding I get invited to will inspire me to pluck up the courage to give the 1950’s frock pattern a try…
Rebecca Symonds