#sew chic patterns

[professorpski]

La Vie Dressing Gown from Sew Chic Pattern Company

The lounge wear of earlier eras was decidedly more elegant than ours. I featured a 1940s house dress in my book which threw into the shade every bathrobe or pajama outfit I ever owned.  Sew Chic offers up modern sewing patterns with vintage cuts and details.

This new pattern for a “stylish gown or robe” comes in modern sizes, of course. With its soft upper bodice and low round neckline, fitted midriff bodice piece and its 14 buttons, not to mention its full-length skirt and appearance here in green satin, it is nothing like today’s bathrobes nor even much like the cute but practical house dresses of the early 20th Century. Instead, it is a luxury item that hints of a life of leisure and no great hurry in the morning to get dressed and get out the door to work.

I am not sure many of us will use it as a dressing gown because doing up 14 buttons would pretty much amount to getting dressed today. I can see how if you added even more buttons down the front, you could wear it out of the house as a lovely evening gown. And of course, you can always wear it at home and then I think seduction, rather than getting dressed, would be your aim. She recommended satins, laces, dupioni if you, but also softer fabrics like challis and crepe if you are looking for more drape.

You can find it here online: https://sewchicpatterns.com/product/ln2126-la-vie_dressing_gown_robe/

[professorpski]

Sew Chic: Gatsby Options

Sew Chic is an independent pattern company that offers the kind of detail you usually only find on vintage patterns. This new one for spring is a high-waisted skirt or trousers. If you haven’t tried on anything cut this way through the waist, it would be best to try something on in a store or muslin this one before you get started. Some people love the look, but some people find it feels odd to have the waist come up so high, and some really long-legged women through off their proportions when they put them on.

The skirt is fitted through the waist and hips, and to the point that it actually tapers in under the hips in order to flare out into extravagant godets. I would call this a party skirt as it will give quite a swish when you walk. The pants are the full trousers with wide legs which women wore before the skinny pants of the 1950s hit. Back then, trousers on women were for sports and resort wear or for cleaning out the barn, but now these would look great at the office. Both skirt and pants have pockets tucked into the upper edge of the gather found on the side front panels.

You can find it here online to purchase as a paper pattern or to download: https://sewchicpatterns.com/product/ln1923-gatsby-skirt-or-pant/

[professorpski]

Sew Chic’s 1950s Party Dress Averly

Just in time for spring sewing, SewChicPatterns.com has a new party dress with the cinched waist and the flared skirt of the 1950s. It is a new pattern, so it is done in modern sizes. The dress hits just below the knee so it is late 1950s when the calf-length skirts introduced in the late 1940s by Christian Dior had started creeping a bit further up but still kept their full sweep. The skirt is full, but simple, keeping the attention on the bodice of the dress. There is a midriff piecing with a small drape and bow, and then piping at the neckline which is a version of the trapeze neckline which goes like this /_\

It’s done up in polka dots, a good spring look, and is perfect for crispy cottons or silks, like pique cotton or silk taffeta. Perfect for the young woman in a pretty pastel for a spring or summer wedding to attend in the next few months.

You can find it here: http://www.sewchicpatterns.com/averly.html

[professorpski]

Summer Cocktails, Anyone?

Sew Chic Pattern Company produces new sewing patterns in contemporary sizing with the kind of details that you find on vintage patterns. There are several nice cocktail dresses offered and this is the latest. Premonition Dress has a late 1940s, early 1950s feel to it with the longer skirt, before the very plain sheath took over and all those thoughtful details slowly disappeared.

This one has short raglan sleeves, a sharp-cornered version of the sweetheart neckline which is draped, plus a draped feature skirt to match. If you find the upper edges a little too sharp to suit your face and age, you might think of rounding them off a bit. This would not throw off the design because of the draped pleats top and bottom which also add softness. The skirt itself is fitted with a back kick pleat for walking easy, so both the bodice and the skirt need a good fit. I would muslin this in a cheaper fabric, maybe a crispy cotton, because I can imagine this best in a shimmering silk duiponi. Then you get the fun of deciding which embroidered embellishment or vintage brooch you decide to set at the hipline.

You can find it online here: https://sewchicpatterns.com/product/ln1922-premonition-dress-paper-pattern/