Vintage-inspired Simplicity patterns giveaway! And, How to Wear DIY.

Vintage-inspired Simplicity patterns giveaway! And, How to Wear DIY.

• 3.28.2012

Very exciting post today.  Simplicity has asked me to spread the word about a super fun giveaway they're doing, inspired by looks of the past!

They're giving away five packages of three patterns each--consisting of patterns 1913, 2282, and 2444.    .  And, to get you in the mood, they've asked me and several other sewing/style bloggers to make up one of the patterns!

(Perfect timing, right?? Mad Men just came back!  We're all in a vintage mood.)

Here are the patterns you could win!

Simplicity sent me these patterns and asked that I make one of them up to share with you.  Now you may remember that I use Simplicity 2444 all. the. time. for many, many dresses (some: my ivory net dress, a party dress with vintage lace, this brocade dress, this circle skirt dress, vintagey dress I wore in engagement pics, and more--I recently traced it into a permanent pattern!).  So I thought I'd try something new this time, and I was very happy with Simplicity 1913 as well!

Here it is--the basic nuts and bolts of it is the princess-seamed bodice and your choice of sleeves, collar, skirt, and details.

I used a vintage pale pink twill.  It's not that vintage, but I got quite a few yards in the fabric section at Goodwill and it had that moth balls/attic smell.  Don't worry, I washed it!  I love the faux Peter Pan collar option 1913 has, and I used a classic 60's-ey white pique that my mom had some small pieces of.  I used a crisp cotton batiste for the back of the collar rather than self-fabric; would have been too bulky.

One thing I did change was, rather than use either of the skirts in the pattern, I just did two panels of fabric and pleated them to the waist.  Directional knife pleats away from the center front and back.  It's definitely shorter than June Cleaver would have worn, but that keeps it feeling current.  I like having a full skirt on a girly, vintage-inspired pastel dress!

I gave the bodice a full lining of a lightweight pale pink cotton, and the skirt was a great weight as-is.  I love working with cotton twills, really; they're substantial and easy to press and cut and they stay where you tell them to!

So here it is!

So girly and fun!  And, to keep you excited about the vintage-ey them of the giveaway, I thought I'd give you a How to Wear DIY portion of this post, as well... how about some outfit pics!  Imagine the vibe of Easter, 1962, or something... ;)

The belt is probably vintage '80's, but... oops.  The dress was made for being belted!

Sweater: Nordstrom Rack (similar). Earrings and belt: Vintage. Shoes: Liz Claiborne, Marshall's (similar).

Nail Polish: Essie Tart Deco. Dress: DIY!

Hopefully you're inspired for some vintage-ey sewing, but either way--check out the Simplicity giveaway and good luck!  It runs today through April 15th.

You can also check out the other bloggers participating this week, and their vintage-inspired takes on the three patterns you could win!  The others are:

• 3/29 Sunni | A Fashionable Stitch
• 4/5 Lavender | ThreadSquare
• 4/9 Zoe | ‘So, Zo...
• 4/10 Tilly | Tilly and the Buttons

Have fun!