I heart vintage dress patterns

For me, learning to sew came from a desire to re-create the past. I really wanted to be able to make the gorgeous dresses of the 1950's that I collect and love to wear. Over the years I have collected a great deal of vintage dress patterns from the 1940's right through to the 1980's but the ones I alway go back to are the 50's style sun dresses. I have been wearing this style of frock for years. To me, the silhouette of a fitted bodice and a gathered skirt is the epitome of sophicated girliness. It's also my fall back option when I'm having a "fat" day as it hides flaws monumentus only to me - ie: bottom half not quite directly proportional to top half.

Fortunately I have just stumbled upon the Blueprints of Fashion: Home Sewing Patterns of the 1950s over at dear old Amazon for the bargain price of $29.95 ...so now I can add to my vintage pattern obsession with an encyclopedic knowlegde of the evolution of 1950's pattern making

Speaking of 1950's style frocks...

Our latest edition to the Rescued by Bowerbird range is a combo of a 1950's dress pattern deconstructed from a (rather ghastly) 1980's disco frock. See I told you the 50's rule!

"Before" shot ...1980's

Rescued by Bowerbird Dress, the final product