Things To Make & Do - Sew For Victory - Decisions

As you may well have seen from the link in my sidebar, a couple of weeks ago I signed up to Rochelle's very exciting 1940s Sew-along! The challenge is to make a garment from either an original, repro or a 40s inspired pattern and to have it all finished and photo ready by the end of March, which should be plenty of time, even for the likes of me :)

Hop on over to Lucky Lucille to join in!

If you want to join in then head on over to the lovely Rochelle's blog Lucky Lucille where you will find all the info and lots of 40s inspiration! If you do you will be in great company as Miss Katie and Tasha to name just a few, have both shared what they plan to make and both projects are very exciting! 

I'll be honest the reason I haven't published this post this sooner is because I have been having great trouble choosing which pattern to use. You see I have a bit of a problem...I am a big old greedy pattern hoarder.

Due to my inability to resist an eBay bargain, and my love of the recent trend for reproductions patterns (Do you want original vintage patterns in more than one size, namely my size? Yes please!) I currently have a storage crate filled with vintage patterns and I'll be honest there is no guarantee that it won't be two crates by the end of the year!

That's a heck of a lot of patterns!

All this means I am in the wonderful yet overwhelming position of having far too many options to choose from.  Here's a little peek at just some of my favorites...

Dress Patterns

Coat & Suit Patterns

Blouse Patterns

and even hat patterns

After much deliberation, I have managed to narrow it down to two patterns. Both are in or near my actual size, which will hopefully mean minimal fitting issues and both patterns are a bit more practical than my whimsical sewing tastes would usually go for - I do seem to be quietly creating a wardrobe full of cocktail dresses and with nowhere to wear them!

Maudella Pattern No. 3319- A Puff Sleeve Blouse 

I think this would be just perfect for the upcoming spring and practical enough for wearing at work. I have made a few blouses before from a wartime Economy Pattern but I am in need of many more. I would ideally like a simple white one or a dark blue one that I can embroider flowers on. Unfortunately, I have neither type of fabric in my stash and as I am still battling to reduce it (more space for patterns...naturally) I'll have look for suitable alternatives I am positive there will be something lurking in there that will do the job!

Blackmore Pattern No. 5755 - A Tea Dress With A Ruched Bodice 

I just love this pattern and I have been wanting to make it up for ages, I even think I have the perfect fabric for it in my stash, some lovely black stretch velvet (same fabric I used for my Turban) and I am hoping that by working with the stretch in the fabric I can perhaps leave out one of the two zips the pattern calls for, to make it a smoother finish and because I am a little dubious as to how good my velvet sewing skills are.

I'm still none the wiser as to which I will go with, I am going to set aside some time this evening for pattern copying and perhaps even some fabric cutting, so hopefully by then I will have made my mind up. Fingers crossed :) 

Wendy x