Sew so vintage, darling.

I said on my 25th birthday that in the next year I wanted to take up sewing again, using vintage patterns because I love looking like I fell out of a fashion history text. To help keep the dream alive, I am now (or soon will be) proud owner of the means to produce all these dresses…

There’s a lot I’ve forgotten about sewing, mind you, so I’ll be attempting the easiest one (top right) first. I can’t even remember how to do a tailor’s tack at the moment. I’m sure I’ll pick it all up gain after a few frantic phonecalls to my mother, though. She’s such a good seamstress she made her own wedding dress, and when I was 17 she helped me sew my leaver’s meal outfit, which included a corset with 15 plastic bones stitched into it. Never again.

The problem with sewing is it’s such a lost artform that, like knitting and crochet, it’s now incredibly expensive. The pattern is £5 – £13 to begin with, and then there’s the fabric. I can tell I’m going to miss the close proximity to cheap fabric stalls (I’ve yet to find anywhere in London that’s as good as Birmingham market, even Walthamstow which used to be on my doorstep). Ebay is ok but by the time you add shipping, you may as well just go to Berwick Street where they mark everything up ridiculously.

Good thing my mother has four boxes of unused stuff, and I’m heading home this weekend!