How to Mend Large or Difficult Tears in Sewing Patterns

Below, we have a pattern that has had the stuffing kicked out of her. Every single piece of this poor baby has between 1 and 3 very large tears. I spent a whole afternoon fixing her up and thought I might share a few tricks for making repairs that last.

The much-abused lady in question.

1. 1. Iron out the pattern piece, using medium-high heat and NO STEAM.

1. 2. If the tear is large, it can help to weigh the pattern down with pattern weights, or in my case, giant nuts and washers from a hardware store.

Draft-at-Home Sewing Pattern Tutorials From Mrs. Depew Vintage

Hello lovelies. I long time ago I did a photo tutorial for you here on how to draft my any-size Draft-at-Home sewing patterns.
I hope that it was helpful, but I still got lots of requests for a video or two. I'm shy (I like to hide behind the blog, lol) but I got so many requests that I finally did it.

In this series, I walk you through drafting up my corselette pattern #355 from the 1940s.

So without further ado, here it is!

For the full series:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/H9dyTDxjxcU

Part 2: https://youtu.be/LAwMqMTyxOM

Part 3: https://youtu.be/6Yz5oDxcdwQ

Part 4: https://youtu.be/bA5GUwWSd4Y

Part 5: https://youtu.be/AlhW-Ugj3cc

A Look Inside an Antique Magazine Le Bon Ton 1896

I've decided to film "A Look Inside" some of the rarer vintage fashion and sewing items that come into my hands. Today for your enjoyment I have Le Bont Ton et le Moniteur de la Mode sewing pattern magazine from Spring, 1896.

It was printed in English, in the U.S. by S.T. Taylor to advertise their sewing patterns and pattern drafting system. The fashion illustrations are absolute perfection.
To download E-books of other Bon Ton magazines from my collection, check out the E-book section of MrsDepew.com!


If you're interested in adding rare magazines like this one to your collection, you can find others like it in my Etsy shop book and magazine section.

Anatomy of a Dress - The Unexpected Victorian Dress

Lately, I've been having fun reverse-engineering dresses into patterns. This is a technical, convoluted excuse for my "buying vintage clothing I'll never wear"  habit. I just love to study original antique pieces, how they are constructed, what materials were used, which parts have held up to wear and use, and which parts haven't.  Sometimes this manifests in a new pattern at Mrs. Depew Vintage, but most of the time, it just means hours spent becoming a (hopefully) smarter seamstress and designer.

Today, for your enjoyment, I present The Unexpected Victorian Dress. I was haunting a not-widely-used online auction site looking for patterns when I stumbled across a very blurry picture of a 1920s wedding dress covered in silk rosettes (more on that later). Just from the photo, I knew it to be adapted from the "robe de style" design; something I've been wanting to study in person for ages. The listing was vague, saying only "Dresses" and showing a much-abused 1920s dress hanging on a door. I bid furiously, knowing that if the plural turned out to be a typo and I only had this one dress to study, I'd be one happy girl. I won. A Giant box arrived weeks later at my door.

And inside was not one, not two, but three beautiful dresses for me to study.

The photos that follow are as detailed as I can get, and I have erred on the side of overkill, knowing that there are fashion historians out there that will be delighted with as much detail as possible.

With their help, I am still nailing down the dressmaker named, as well as trying to name its original, stunningly petite owner and perhaps date the dress which appears to be from the late 1880s to early 1890s.

(update: this dress is now for sale!)

Enjoy!

See it Sewn - Ladies Home Journal 1952 Featuring Vogue Sewing Patterns

Today for you, my lovelies, I have a couple of gorgeous fashion pages from a May 1952 Ladies' Home Journal Magazine. The patterns advertised are by Vogue, which had a long-standing relationship with Condé Nast dating back to 1905. Sorry if the images are a bit grainy - this was the largest I could get them for you.

Above: Vogue Junior Design 3470 Dress,

Above, Vogue 7545 Blouse and Vogue 7583 Skirt.

Above, Vogue 7597 Dress. Below, Vogue 7608 Coat.

Above, Vogue 7669 Dress. Below, Vogue 7685 Dress.

Above, Vogue 7689 Dress.

And last but certainly not least, my favorite, Vogue 7696.

And the winner is...

Congratulations to the lovely Kitty Ann for winning the pattern giveaway!

The prize was a copy of Depew #3046 1920s dress pattern. If you didn't win, here is a coupon code for 15% off at MrsDepew.com that will run this week and expire on April 17th.

HEYIMSTILLAWINNER

Happy sewing!

A 1920s Dress with Embroidery Using Depew #3046 and a giveaway!

Today, my darlings, I am celebrating the fact that I have finally finished my 1920s dress with embroidered cuff and collars. This one sat unfinished for over two years as we moved to Georgia, remodeled our house, and dealt with me being seriously ill for a year. Now I'm slowly getting a bit better and working some more, and I have tackled some much-missed sewing!

The pattern I used is my favorite Depew reproduction of all time, #3046. And yes, love, this is a giveaway post!

Depew #3046 reproduction 1920s dress in multisize!

But first, can I just show off a bit? I'm super happy with how the dress turned out!

The pattern goes together really easily and the most time-consuming part is probably that gently-flared hem. I used a beautifully drapey rayon from Jo-Ann fabrics in the closest color (coral actually) I could match to the original envelope art. The rayon made pressing a perfect hem a bit tricky.

Embroidering the cuff and collars was by-far my favorite part of sewing this little gem. They are nice, crisp white cotton that I had left over from my Ikea fabric shopping days in Norway for my Picture Perfect Apron Pattern.

The shoulders have small tucks that are concealed underneath the collar instead of using bust darts, which weren't quite common in 1925.

And the sleeves are so easy because they are cut-in-one with the dress body.

Side skirt inset panels can look tricky at first but the best way I have found, is to turn seam allowances on the panel, press, and flat fell the panel right onto the skirt.

This dress is perfect for the intermediate sewist, or a good bridge from beginner to intermediate for someone who is looking to learn more and expand their skill.
Frustratingly, it no longer fits me because I lost 15 lbs when I fell ill. 
(To make a long story short, I got sick, almost died, stayed sick, developed a couple of not-fun conditions as a result *friggin' yay* and am now starting to get it all under control.)

But enough about me...
How about you? Have you ever made a 1920s dress? Do you have a favorite pattern?
Would you like to win a free multisize pdf copy of this one?

To enter to win, answer below with your favorite pattern from www.MrsDepew.com.

For an added entry, you can do any of the following.  Just leave a comment below to let me know which you've done (honor system!) so that I can add your name to the hat the right number of times.

1. Follow Me on Instagram.

2. Follow A Few Threads Loose on Facebook.

3. Follow Mrs. Depew Vintage on Facebook.

4. Mention this giveaway on your blog, Instagram etc or share it on Facebook.

I'll announce the randomly chosen winner from the comments section
on Tuesday, April 9th!