Vintage Patterns: Conquering the Fear

I have started sewing my first vintage pattern. I have numerous vintage patterns in my stash, but I was always too afraid to make the jump. Why this one? Why now? Well, the now part is mostly obvious. Since I have a place (this blog) to hold me accountable for my sewing aspirations, I figured it was time to stop just gazing adoringly at those dresses and start making them! This one, as I have mentioned before, has pockets. Really, enough said.

the Dubarry Dress

The thing I am finding out about vintage patterns is that I am very nervous about everything I do with them. I have complained before about cutting out my fabric, but this was ridiculous. And, I didn't even trace the pattern. I know, I know. I hang my head in shame, but even in my nervous state, the anticipation of wearing this cute dress was too much. It was the pockets. The pockets made me do it! And also, I had nothing in the house to use to trace the pattern, and I wasn't going out again. Excited? Yes. Lazy? Maybe. I do have plans to trace the pattern when I am done, since this is just the muslin of the dress. Before I cut into my fancy silk from Mood, I will have it traced. I promise. (See, now I am bound by some strange web responsibility to do this.)

The other thing about vintage patterns is that they are completely blank. No lines, no writing, nothing. I have read about this, but never seen it. I have vintage patterns, but have I opened them? Never. I just drooled over the photos and read the back for what I would need should I ever want to actually sew the dresses. Until now. Getting over my fear of the big blank pieces of tissue took two (yup, two!) days. I opened the pattern on Thursday and didn't get started until Sunday. I was working this past weekend as well, so it wasn't like I was completely frozen with fear, but it was still daunting.

As you can probably guess, most of my sewing time this past weekend went into cutting out my fabric (the material I chose is a whole other post in itself) and transferring all the markings, which were a series of small and large dots, with tailor's tacks. And let me tell you, there were plenty of dots! Honestly, I am not even done cutting. I have one more piece to go, the front bodice, and then I am done. I would be doing it now, but instead I am blogging about doing it. Hmm, that should be working in the opposite direction, right? Regardless, I will get to it after work tonight. I will! Again, another promise out there in this vast ether of the internet.

I hope everyone had a great long President's Day weekend!