1940's Bra Sew-Along: Where to get your supplies...

Alright then, my dears, it's time to collect our bra-making materials!
Since this is a vintage-inspired bra pattern, the materials won't be quite too hard to find. No need to hunt down underwires or anything like that.

So, here is a list of what you'll need:

1. The pattern. 
2. 1/2 yard of 35" or wider muslin fabric for testing the fit.
3. 1/2 yard of 35" or wider light to medium weight woven (non-stretch) fabric for the outer. I recommend soft cotton or lawn, satin, silk or rayon crepe, or even charmeuse.
4. 1/2 yard of lining fabric (if you choose to line, that is.) I recommend lightweight woven (non-stretch) cotton lawn but the general rule of thumb is, if you don't want it touching your girls, don't line a bra with it.
5. Purchased bra straps. You can use medium to heavy weight ribbon, but adjustable straps are so easy to just sew in.
6. 1/4 yard of plush-backed hook and eye tape, preferably adjustable with at least 2 sets of eyes.
7. Matching thread.

The kit includes enough fabric to test, sew and line your bra, straps, closures, thread, and the pattern.

But if you're not up for white satin, here are a few places I recommend:
Bra Maker's Supply (great for straps and closures).
Sew Sassy Fabrics (great for fabrics and notions).
Etsy.com (great for fabrics and notions).


Once you've got your materials, just leave a comment on this post to let me know you're ready to get started. Keep in mind that sew-alongs don't need to have deadlines, and if you're busy now, or if you need at 2 week break in the middle, the posts will ALWAYS be here on A Few Threads Loose and you can follow along to sew your bra any time that works for your schedule!
Don't forget that you can always leave comments if you have a question about anything - materials, tips, tricks, posts etc. - I'm here to help and there is no such thing as a stupid question here!

This Sew Along is now complete. Click below for each post.

1940's Bra Sew-Along - Sewing Your Muslin

1940's Bra Sew-Along - Adjusting Bra Cups

1940's Bra Sew-Along - How to face pattern pieces and lining options.

1940's Bra Sew-Along - Sewing the real thing.

1940's Bra Sew-Along - Finishing edges and adding straps.

1940' Bra Sew-Along - Finishing with a closure.

Happy sewing,

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!

1940's Bra Sew-Along, and a Sewing Pattern Giveaway!

Update: This giveaway is now closed.

Well, my dear readers, it's that time again. I have the lingerie sewing bug. It's been ages since our last sew-along and I'm happy to say that my schedule has cleared just enough to allow me to host another one!
And the pattern I would love to make with you is my absolute favorite bra pattern, Depew #2013.

1940's style bra pattern Depew #2013 32"- 44" Bust.

I just most recently made this bra up in white satin and it turned out so beautifully, I thought, "Every girl should have one of these!" I wore this bra ll day yesterday under a semi-sheer top and it was so comfortable! I even had a lady approach me at a shop and say, "This is going to sound weird, but where can I buy a bra like the one you're wearing?" It seriously made my day.

Sadly you can't get a bra like this in stores anymore but I've had something in the works for a while now to make sewing your own easier and a bit more fun.
I've been working for months now to grade this pattern into many more sizes and have also partnered with Take & Make to offer a complete bra sewing kit with everything you need (including the pattern download) to sew the bra pictured below.

The bra sewing kit for pattern #2013.

The kit includes ready made straps and plush hook and eye closures that have been carefully matched with soft white satin, thread, and enough fine, soft muslin to sew a test version, with enough left over to line the bra if you should so choose. You can find the complete kit here.

We decided to go with white satin for the kits so that finding matching underwear wouldn't be a chore.

In one of my most recent posts we looked at an original 1940's bra to study the sewing details used. I'll be including these kinds of details in our sew-along posts and hopefully we'll all get to learn something new.

Top-stitch details are almost a must for any vintage bra!

And of course, this would be no sew-along launch without a giveaway! Next week I'll choose three winners from the comments on this post who will each get a digital copy of the bra pattern we'll be using.
To enter the giveaway here on A Few Threads Loose, simply leave a comment on this post letting me know you're in!

For an extra entry, you can do any or all of the following, just leave a comment letting me know about it!

• Like Mrs. Depew Vintage on Facebook.
• Follow A Few threads Loose on Bloglovin' or other blog reader sites.
• Pin any item on MrsDepew.com to Pinterest.
• Share this post on Facebook. 
• Share this post on your blog, if you have one.

I'll announce the winner of the giveaway on October 23rd and then we can start gathering our materials for the sew-along.


Happy sewing, and best of luck to the entrants!

Get the look: Claire Randall's 1940's Blue Coat.

I don't know about you, my dear readers, but one of my favorite books is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. If you haven't read it yet, it's a wonderful historical tale with a heroine you can't help but love, and a plot you can't help but get hooked on. Showtime has been slowly and quite carefully recreating this amazing series (oh yes, did I fail to mention there are several books to this tale you'll love?) into a TV show with beautiful cinematography, excellent casting, and HEAVENLY clothing.

One of the most popular looks on the show so far has been Claire Randall's beautiful 1940's coat and hat from Season 1. Recently, I saw a Facebook post asking for patterns to get the look and it got me to thinking... I have those patterns! So, without further ado, here is how to get the look!

The perfect pattern for this is Depew #4185 which can be easily adapted to look like the coat above.
Instead of three buttons as pictured below, just sew a tab and use one button. The sleeves and pockets are nearly identical but the difference is the fullness at the back.

To add that fullness, you can use the simple slash and spread method with the back of your pattern for added pleats:

And on to the hat, I have that one too! This is a great translated vintage French hat pattern from the late 1940's that has four hats included. The version to copy Claire's (somewhat hard to see) hat would be model B From Depew #1022.

How about you? Is there a TV show out there with clothing you just can't get enough of? I know some of us might consider ourselves a bit too grown up for teen dramas, but I'm going to admit, I also love to watch Reign from the CW. It's a probably definitely not-very-historically-accurate dramatization of Mary Queen of Scotts, and I could say that I just watch it primarily for the clothes, but that we be a lie... I watch it for the crazy guilty pleasure of will-they-or-won't-they soap opera drama!

But seriously though, the clothes!

Of course they've used loads of creative license (and by lots, I mean all of it) in the costuming but it's such a refreshing spin that I find I look forward to the blatant fashion historical gaffes rather than being annoyed by them.
You may now proceed with violent disagreement. It's ok, I know, I sort of deserve it. Like I said... Guilty pleasures and what-not.

xoxo







P.S. You know how we might have been talking about a bra sew-along? Stay tuned, it's going to happen soon!

A Vintage Brassiere in Profile... 1940's Bra by Siva of Paris

Hello lovely readers. Recently, I've been working on grading a few of my 1940's bra patterns into larger sizes. While doing this, I tested a few for fit and accuracy by sewing a few samples and became SO inspired to sew more lingerie again! In a fit of passion, I pulled all of my vintage brassieres out to study their construction and was again delighted to see the interesting details that these little beauties featured.

If you ever decide to try your had at some historically accurate bra sewing, here a few details you might like to try!

This little bra by Siva of Paris is from the late 1930's to early 1940's. The fabric is a satin coutil, a wonderful, but very hard-to-find piece of fabric for lingerie sewing. If you can't find coutil, a great substitute is to buy a very lightweight satin and baste it to a soft cotton lawn or fine muslin. This has worked wonders for some of my bra sewing projects.

The closure is one of my favorite types, and adjustable length of elastic (with mini buttonholes!) with a hook. These are incredibly comfortable and are still my favorite way to finish the back of a bra.

Random Free Pattern Day

Hello lovely readers. Whew! It's been a while, hasn't it? I know, I've been putting blogging waaaay out on the back burner for quite a while now. To be honest, I don't know how often I'll be able to blog for the time being. I've been dealing with some rather intense chronic nerve pain this year and it makes it difficult for me to do anything, including sit at the computer for very long. I've had every test in the book and so far my half-dozen doctors have just given up and called it Fibromyalgia.
Soooo, that's been a whole heap of fun...

Today, to try and distract myself, I decided to play with some lovely vintage French magazines. I then stumbled across a lovely little sewing pattern included in one of them that I just had to translate and share with you all!

This sweet little pattern from 1939 comes as a diagram with measurements (in centimeters) that should fit a 10 year old girl. It can also be cut on the bias in stripes for a cute little chevron effect.

You can download the pattern for free at my website! Just click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click the "Add to Cart" button, checkout (no payment necessary), and the pattern will arrive in your inbox.

Happy sewing!

 

Sew Expensive... A McCall 1987 hat pattern and what makes a buyer tick!

Many of you might come to expect by now that vintage hat patterns are worth a pretty penny. We've watched Millinery for Every Woman and McCall 1974 sell for quite a bit in past editions of Sew Expensive. We know that sometimes the artwork and sometimes the short window that the design was in style can increase a pattern's value.
And today's pattern is no exception to the rule. The artwork is beautiful, the pattern is flattering, and the hat in question was only in style for a short while in the early 1930's.

A few nights ago, I watched the lovely McCall 1987 sell for a predictable, and yet still shocking $223.37.

We've often discussed why patterns sell for more, but why hat patterns, specifically?

In general, accessory patterns don't survive as often as dress patterns. Maybe it's the small pieces, maybe fewer were originally printed, maybe both. But the fact remains that if you find one of these, it might be the only one you find in 20 or 30 years! Version B in this pattern is an especially rare design to see a pattern for. I know it's not in style right now, but don't you just want to wear that hat?

Not too long ago, our last Sew Expensive post got a very exciting comment left on it. A lady named Jan most graciously took the time to comment on the post to explain why she was willing to pay so much for (and she did in fact win!) this, and other patterns. Jan was sweet enough to allow me to share with you her comments, and so I present to you, my dear readers, the mind set behind some of our most Sew Expensive patterns!
----------------------

Pictorial Review 9072 sold at auction or just over $200.

 Jan:
"I had the winning bid on this pattern, and just snagged it by a few dollars margin, and although I really wanted it (see below), assumed it would go for more than my max.

I am also guilty of paying a huge sum for a 30s Vogue Couturier on Feb 24, 2014, for which I paid $643.33:

The original Ebay auction for Vogue 120.