1940's Bra Sew-Along Giveaway Winners!

Happy weekend, my lovely readers!
I have had the most delightful day and I hope your Friday has been just as lovely. I had a dear friend over for afternoon tea today and I got up bright and early to try out an new recipe as well. I'm so glad I did, because the Zucchini Coconut Bread that came out of it was simply heaven. I used a recipe found on Pinterest from a blog called Two Peas & Their Pod and I can't recommend it enough. It was rich, moist, and incredible smothered with European butter.

Image courtesy of Two Peas & Their Pod

If you hadn't already heard, I'm a huge foody and if I'm not working on drafting sewing patterns, I'm either cooking or baking up a storm (and reading ravenously whilst things simmer). If you're a foodie too, you can find my Pinterest Board of favorite recipes here.





But now it's time to announce the three lucky winners of the 1940's bra pattern giveaway!

Our three winners (as chosen by random.org's random number generator) are Judy Cinerari, OnePerfectDay, and LivingVintage.etsy . And our fourth surprise winner, because I'm just in that kind of mood, is Bex!
Ladies, if you could email me your contact info at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com, I can send you your prizes!

I'll post later this weekend about the materials we'll need for our bra-making sew-along, as well as where you can find them. We're going at a slower pace for the sew-along because a lot of our participants might be buying their supplies overseas and shipping can take a bit of time. I want to make sure you've got everything you need before we start so you don't feel like you have to play catch-up!

In the meantime, if you decide to get a head start, here is a coupon code for $3.50 off of the price of the digital bra pattern at MrsDepew.com:
SEWALONGSALLY.
The coupon code will work until November 30th.

Happy sewing!

A Giveaway Winner and some Vintage Eye Candy

Hello my lovely readers,
It's time to announce the winner of the November issue of Molly makes sitting here on my desk!
It was really great of you all to share your favorite sewing/ crafting magazines with me - I'll be checking out a few I've never heard about before so thanks for the recommendations. In case you didn't read the comments on our last post, here are a few that you all suggested:

My Image,
Knit Scene,
Vogue Knitting,
Cotton Friend (Japanese),
A Needle Pulling Thread,
Threads,
Interweave Knits,
and SewStylish.

Our giveaway winner is Angie of Bombshell Babe (I just had fun reading your blog, my dear). Angie, if you could email me your contact info at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com, I can send you your prize!

And in other news, the other day I was lamenting the fact that my favorite sewing/ crafting magazines were all published about 70 or 80 years ago and aren't so easy to find. I started looking through my collection (also known as the massive hoard in my spare bedroom) and fell in love all over again. Oh, how I wish that Nouveauté (novelty) was still published!

So, to honor my favorite, no longer with us sewing and crafting magazine, here are some really, really pretty excerpts from Nouveauté - June, 1935.

One of the most charming aspects of this magazine is that the inside cover was always illustrated to look like the back of the model on the cover.

I wish I could look that glamorous while fishing...

Just lovely, n'est pas? If you want to read more, you can find the entire digital copy of the magazine here.
Happy sewing, mes amis!

Lingerie Competition, and the winners are...!

My dear readers, thanks so much to those of you who participated, commented and voted in the Pin-Up Lingerie Competition! I loved reading your votes and seeing your support for your fellow needle wielders!
Reading the comments and counting the votes showed that we all have our various preferences in lingerie fabrics, colors, and moods but of course, there must be winners and there were some very clear front-runners in this competition.

To those of you who participated, your hard work and contributions have really inspired me. You all sewed such beautiful pieces and I know I speak for both Sarah and myself when I say, thank you for putting your creations out there! I know it's not easy!

To recap, here is what our lucky winners will be receiving:

Pin-Up Bra Corselet Winner - $40 Gift Certificate from Mrs. Depew Vintage

Pin-Up Corset /Garter Belt Winner - $40 Gift Certificate from Mrs. Depew Vintage

Betty High Waist Panties Winner -  $25 Gift Certificate from Ohhh Lulu Lingerie and Apparel 

 

Here are our winners!

Congratulations to TroubleandStrumpet! Your combination of a floral print and lace was absolutely lovely!

 

Congratulations to Charmel! Using black lace and a contrast-bowed belt was brilliant. You go, girl!

 

 

And last, but definitely not least, Panties!

It takes some major guts to post pictures of your underwear online, even if you aren't wearing them, so to everyone who entered panties in the competition, we salute you!

Congratulations to our winner, Farmhouse Garde! Great idea trying a hipster version!

 

Sarah and I will contact you ladies via Craftsy to give you your prizes! I would also love to take this opportunity to thank Sarah of Ohhh Lulu for helping me sponsor the giveaway. To those of you who haven't treated yourself to her amazing hand-made lingerie yet, you're really missing something special!

And also, to everyone who entered, you did a great job and I hope that you have enjoyed sewing your lingerie as much as I have.

xoxo

Anna

The French Riviera, pretty things, and the Giveaway winner.

A very interesting antique shop that was composed entirely of chandeliers.

The sting of shell-fish poisoning (Damn you, moules marinières!) has finally worn off and I can now look at pictures of our trip to France and not think of being sick. I thought I would share a few pretties with you before announcing the winner of the Apron Pattern Giveaway.

The first day that I was able to leave the hotel without wanting to fall down was also the last day that I had to explore the antiques Nice (pronounced Neeeeece) had to offer. We had to stop often on our way there so that I could rest, but when we did there was delicious coffee, tea, and croissants to fortify me.

The walk was lovely and we explored the old city on our way to what had been described as a great antiques market being held that very day. We arrived at said market and found an unwavering throng of tourists with the same goal. Apparently no one had bothered to tell them that this was the off-season and that they weren't welcome to crash my adventure. I hate crowds. My husband hates crowds even more and promptly proceeded to stalk behind me like the murderous looking giant that he was rapidly devolving into. I shared his feelings and barreled my way along to the other end, only stopping to notice that everything was incredibly, painfully overpriced... and also very pretty.

This rack of 1920's through 1950's silk (yes, silk) slips caught my attention and I proceeded to bemoan two facts. 1. They were each very expensive (at least $100 each) and 2. I would not fit into any of them, even being 3 pounds lighter post food-poisoning.

But oh, the sewing inspiration to be had from these beauties! The lovely harpy asking so much for them graciously allowed me to take pictures as she perched nearby to caw prices at unsuspecting tourists.

I soon found another sewing gem a few yards away. Despite a great amount of persuading, I could neither convince my husband of its beauty and appeal, nor myself of the likelihood of getting it on a plane. But who doesn't dream of a 350 Euro positively ancient papier maché dress form?

Thoroughly demoralized by the crowd, the prices, and my stomach, Mike gently led me away from the horde and consoled me with a pat on the head, coffee, a macaroon, and a bag of very expensive, heavenly loose-leaf tea that smelled like a bake sale in a garden.

Coffee is of great consolation to me in trying moments.

And now, after looking at the pretty picture of a cafe, I'll be you're ready to learn the winner of the giveaway, aren't you?

The lucky winner, who will receive a copy of my new apron pattern reproduction, was chosen at random and is...... drumroll....... Jamie of Raspberry Lemonade!

Depew 1027 Aprons.

Jamie, you can email me at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com and I'll send you your pattern. A big thanks to everyone else who participated. I always love reading your comments! Stay tuned for more this week including more Sew Expensive posts!

And the winner is...

Hello lovely readers. Today is Monday, and you know what that means. It's time to announce the winner of the giveaway for my new sewing pattern!

And the lucky winner is: JacieKakes! You can email me afewthreadsloose@gmail.com and I'll send you your pattern! Jacie also happens to have started writing a blog recently and I found myself giggling at the clever way she describes things. You should really check it out! Jacie also commented that the next pattern she would like to see from Mrs. Depew Vintage would be a Geisha style robe like the one in this picture:

And I have to say, you're totally right! This is gorgeous and I've been wanting to do a robe pattern for the longest time! Wow, Lana turner... what a babe.

On my last visit home I recently acquired a beautiful cream silk charmeuse robe almost exactly like this. The lovely thing was coming apart at the seams and I spent most of the last two days carefully hand stitching it back together. Now it's soaking in my laundry room sink and I'm hoping some old stains will work their way out (any tips?)

I'm thinking about starting with a pattern from one of my old German pattern magazines and working my way out from there. What do you think of this one? (robe/ nightgown on the left)

Which leads me to a very important question that I would really like your input on. A robe pattern would be a great deal larger to print out as a digital pattern than what I've done thus far. To save paper and ink for the seamstress using it, I could overlap pattern pieces onto the same sheet (much like a Burda pattern sheet, only with one pattern). My question is, if you've already gone to the trouble of printing it out, is too inconvenient to also have to trace a few pattern pieces off? Or is the right pattern worth all the trouble?

And in other news, here's a quick sneak peak at what I'm working on right now:

If you didn't win the bathing suit pattern and would still like a copy, you can download it directly from my Craftsy shop, (yay instant download!) or you can find it in my Artfire shop, and my Etsy shop.

And don't forget to stop by Ohhh Lulu... to enter the giveaway to win her beautiful new Betty High Waist Panties pattern (yay Sarah!). I've already got my pattern and I'm off to the fabric shop (I've nickname the place, 'the mess') tomorrow to get supplies!

How about you? What are you working on this week?

The Much-Anticipated Bathing Suit Pattern Giveaway!

My lovely readers, you have been so patient with me. I put off the main part of my pattern drafting work to do the Pin-Up Sew-Along and now that we've reached a nice lull with that, I have finally had time to finish the much asked-for and anticipated bathing suit pattern!

Many of you are familiar with the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe in the lovely and clingy white bathing suit and that was my main inspiration for putting the pattern together. I find myself getting a bit curvier than I used to be (isn't that always the case?) and I love the idea of a suit that emphasizes those curves while still providing a bit of modesty for the one's you'd rather not draw attention to.

I also created it in sizes x-small through x-large, in two versions, one strapless and one with halter collar strap for supporting those more endowed like Marilyn than myself.

Before I got started I had fun using an app called Penultimate to create a mood board with bathing suits and patterns that fit into this glamorous Hollywood image that I wanted to recreate, adding sketches and ideas to incorporate into my cover image for later as I progressed.

And of course, as I always do when I release a new pattern, I'm offering a free copy to one lucky winner!

To enter the giveaway you can do one or all of the following, just leave a comment for each entry to get your name in the proverbial hat.

1. Tell me what kind of pattern you'd like me to create next. I'm always open to suggestions!

2. Become a follower of A Few Threads Loose on Twitter, Google, or Bloglovin'.

3. Like A Few Threads Loose on Facebook.

4. Like Mrs. Depew Vintage on Facebook.

5. Mention this giveaway on your blog.

I'll announce the winner this Monday the 9th.
Good luck! 

And The winner is...

Hello lovely readers. I'm about to make some eggs Benedict with fresh avocado and tomatoes for supper but first I'm going to announce the lucky winner of the Ooh La La Pin-Up Sew-Along Giveaway!

We had 112 comments from you all and as chosen by Random.org, the winner is #94, Tina Cosgrove of Down The Retro Rabbit Hole!
Tina, you can email your contact info to me at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com.

Tina wins the entire Sew-Along Kit which includes the Corset Garter belt pattern, the matching Bra pattern, and a copy of Pretty Pretties" a 1940's lingerie sewing handbook.

Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway and who are joining Sarah and I for the sew-along!
We'll both post more tomorrow on the importance of making a muslin of the corset pattern.

Pattern of the Day and a Giveaway Winner

Today's pattern of the day is really, really, REALLY gorgeous. Seriously, it's worth all $165, pawn your jewelry or rob a bank in stilettos and Ronald Regan mask to get your hands on this baby, gorgeous.
(By the way, don't Google 'sexy bank robber', it's mostly porn and mug shots)

Butterick 9635 is available on etsy here. This pattern reminds me a bit of a more flirty, youthful version of the stunning and seductive Charles James gown from 1951.

But enough about things I can't afford right now. What I can afford is to announce this week's French Corselet Pattern Giveaway winner!

And the winner (as chosen by random.org) is Annabelle! Annabelle always leaves the most insightful comments here at A Few Threads Loose and also has her own blog Annabellebumps which is well worth checking out!
Congrats, Annabelle! I'll be emailing you your pattern shortly!

Updates and Giveaway Winners

It's that time again time for me to announce the winner of the new pattern giveaway.
The winner was selected by the random number generator at random.org:

And the winner is Khristie B, who wins her choice of either the new Halter Top Blouse PDF pattern

Or the new Wrap Blouse PDF pattern.

Congratulations to Khristie, you can email me at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com to get your pattern.

Also new in vintage PDF patterns is the Multisize Bateau Neck Blouse Pattern.

It's an easy project made from only two pattern pieces and can be made with little time and effort.

And as promised, and mentioned yesterday, I'm half way done with the corselet pattern. Here's a sneak peak:

Have a great week, everyone!

A Giveaway Winner and some 1920's Fashion.

Well its Sunday and that means it's time for two things:
1. Drinking Mimosas all day
and
2. A Giveaway winner!

Today we have the winner of the $20 gift certificate giveaway offered by Sherrill of Vintage4Creations, as chosen by the random number generator at random.org.
And the winner is...

Linda! Congratulations Linda, and thanks for reading A Few Threads Loose. Linda commented that her favorite item at Vintage4Creations was the green wool purse with fur trim, as did most of you, and I agree, I love it too.

Thanks so much again to Sherrill for offering such a great prize!

On another note, I'll be announcing the winner of the Long Line Bra Pattern PDF giveaway on Monday so if you haven't entered that yet, go check it out!

Also for your viewing pleasure today I have a few great images for you, Film Fun covers from the 1920's, courtesy of Retronaut.

Have a lovely Sunday and I'll see you on Monday with another giveaway winner.