Vintage Fashion House – Everything Sewing Vintage Fashion

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Evelyn Wood Vintage Fashion House and Vintage Sewing School

Hi! I'm Evelyn!

I'm an expert dressmaker with a love of everything

Sewing Vintage Fashion,

and my obsession is helping others become the sewer they want to be!

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New on the Blog

14 Things I Wish Someone Told Me About Sewing as a Beginner!

How to say NO when someone asks you to sew for them

What are the 3 MUST-HAVE SEWING BOOKS that will actually help on your sewing journey? Plus my favs!

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🤫 Secret Sewing tools that no one is talking ab

🤫 Secret Sewing tools that no one is talking about! I know you love gadgets just as much as I do and I’ve tried loads of them. These are 3 tools that most people aren't using - but should be!⁠
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Coilless Safety Pins – Just like a regular safety pin - but with no round bit at the end to get your fabric stuck in. Genius! ⁠
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Loop Turner – Small spaghetti straps can be so fiddly, but this tool makes turning them right side out a breeze! ⁠
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Spray starch – Yep, that old fashioned stuff that’s used to stiffen collars. It also works great to stabilise fabrics that tend to slip and are difficult to work with such as rayons, chiffons, crepes and stretch jersey fabrics. ⁠
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✂️ Do you know of any other secret sewing tools? I want to know! Share them in the comments and I just might feature them in my next secret tool video!⁠

Have you ever tried shirring? It’s quickly becom

Have you ever tried shirring? It’s quickly become one of my favourite techniques! ✨ It’s the perfect way to turn your lightweight woven fabrics into comfortable, stretchy garments. ⁠
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I admit though, it can take some fiddling to set up, so I have 2 tips:⁠
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1 - Write all the settings down that you used or changed from 'standard' on your machine. Keep this info so you can undo anything and keep it stored in your sewing journal so next time you shirr you have a starting point for all those fiddly settings.⁠
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2 - And second, make multiple! Just plan to make multiples of the shirred garment or batch different shirring together so you get the most out of the set-up of all those settings!⁠
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I will definitely be making more than one of this cute top next time!⁠
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P.S. If you want to learn shirring but don't know where to start, I can help 🙂 I walk you through this technique step by step in my Vintage Sewing School shirring course! 🧵 You'll get instant access when you join as a member 😉⁠
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The other week I made a poll of which of my me-mad

The other week I made a poll of which of my me-made garments you wanted a closer look inside, it was a close call! Whilst the yellow Heidi dress won, my blue linen dress came a close second! So let's take a closer look at the construction details.

It's probably hard to believe but it's made from the same block as the Yellow Heidi dress you saw, just customized it by giving it a looser fit to wear as a pinafore, added a V-neck and an A-line skirt.

For the crisp neckline finish, I used a regular shaped facing that continues into the button extension. (Some invisible ditch stitching at the shoulder seams stops the irritating flappy facing.)

I made it in a 100% natural linen which makes it ideal for scorching Australian summers but by popping it over a warmer top I can swish around in it all year round!

My love of fancy covered buttons is strong. I had these delightful ones made in matching fabric from @buttonmaniac. I think they make the block colour design really pop!

For a neat finish to the armholes I, of course, used my favourite bias facing as it's just about my favourite armhole finish ever. I under-stitched the bias facing and then machine stitched to finish.

I finished the waist seam aesthetically with a rayon seam tape. It's purely decorative and replicates what was commonly used in vintage garments to cover raw edges. But I just love the look and it makes me happy every time I see it inside my dress!

I kept the hem simple and just used the same seam tape from the waist on the raw edges and machine stitched the hem down. The linen fabric gives enough swish already and, as it’s a curved hem, there’s only so much I can turn up!

But I made a crucial error in this dress and I left a very important feature out….Can you guess what it is?? (answer in comments shortly 😊)

NEW YouTube Video -- LIVE NOW!! (link in bio) No

NEW YouTube Video -- LIVE NOW!! (link in bio)
No matter if your sewing space is a temporary corner of the dining table or a whole room, it can be difficult to keep a good workflow going if we don't have our supplies in some sort of order!

There's nothing worse than lining up your pattern and fabric perfectly to then realise your scissors have vanished or your pattern weights are nowhere to be seen, right? ✂️

This is why I don't think of my sewing studio as one big place, I have set it up and use it as 8 separate, but linked, spaces. By setting up my workspace in this way it not only helps me keep a good physical workflow going, but it also enhances my creative flow, I don't want to be hindered by looking for lost tools or hunting down a bolt of fabric that I know is.....somewhere.

Head over to YouTube, join me on a personal guided tour of my workroom, and then let me know in the comments if my spaces match yours or have I missed one out?
(📽️Video link in bio)

I'd love to hear all your suggestions as I'm building my own dream studio (fingers crossed) and, right now, I'm planning everything I can fit in alongside my massive fabric stash!

In the name of organisation, I decided to dissect

In the name of organisation, I decided to dissect my sewing space into all the little work areas and storage areas that I needed, and gosh there were more than I thought! My upcoming video takes a deep dive, behind-the-scenes look into my sewing studio and all the different spaces I have sectioned it off into.

I wonder if you have the same sections in your sewing space?

I feel, no matter whether you're working on the corner of the dining table and packing away all your stuff each day or you have your own permanent designated sewing room, breaking your sewing space down into these smaller spaces will vastly improve your workflow and creativity as well as increase functionality! And don't we all want that!

The premiere of my YouTube video is coming this weekend! Follow me there, so you won't miss out!

I would love to know, for research purposes, of course, 😁 , on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being 'horrible, help me!' and 10 being 'perfect library catalogue') how do you rate your sewing organisation? Let me know in the comments!

How to Say NO When Someone Asks You to Sew Somethi

How to Say NO When Someone Asks You to Sew Something for Them

🧵 As sewists, we all love sharing our skills with friends, family, and loved ones. But what do you do when someone you barely know asks you to create an entire Cinderella ball gown with a fitted corset and thirteen layers of tulle? 😅

It's ok to say to say NO!

The best way to do this is to be prepared with an answer! Let me arm you with some of my favourite responses you can use, and some are just for fun.

Save this for you to use, and share this with your sewist friends so they can say NO, too. 🙂

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