Living A Vintage Life: Sew Retro

"Sew Retro is a community of ladies and gents who adore vintage patterns, vintage fabric, and vintage style. We love sharing our vintage and retro projects for inspiration and encouragement with vintage sewing fanatics worldwide."
While Sew Retro's 'about' page certainly describes what this wonderful blog is about, you can't truly understand Sew Retro without experiencing it yourself. You will find they don't just show off vintage patterns, fabrics and projects but they give voice to the passionate folks who breathe fresh life into the objects of their passion. Buttons and petticoats, bridesmaid and baby dresses, fantastic finds and frustrating flubs all find their way onto Sew Retro's pages. Sew Retro's down-to-earth voice embraces sewing vintageophiles of all skill levels.

I appreciate A.J.A.'s honesty when she posted her experience creating a tea-length gown from vintage Simplicity 5343, Mommy and Me Formal Dresses : "There was nothing to fear except crazy fabric that could barely be pressed and frayed to fuzz, and a pattern with dart tucks straight out of h-e-double-hockey-sticks."

 

Katherine's story of Little Bo Peep brought a childhood nursery rhyme to life, complete with scratchy hay, 1947 Frigidaire and homemade toilet bowl cleanser.

Projects range from repurposed duds to evening wear and the blog is dotted with delightful old patterns, illustrations and charming goodies like this prettily primitive spool rack.

Sew Retro takes vintage sewing supplies out of boxes, drawers and closets and brings them into the daylight for all to use and enjoy! Pull up a hot mug of tea and spend the afternoon with Sew Retro and be inspired to not just collect but to live vintage!

Welcome New Members: MaggieMoons, ScoutandRescue, LuncheonetteVintage and TheIDConnection

Vintage Orange & White Cow Salt & Pepper Shakers

MaggieMoons opened shop in May of 2010 with a mix of sewing notions, housewares, accessories and random vintage odds and ends. The focus is on items from The 1950's through the 1970's and features a nice selection of "How To" books. Felicity, of Temple, AZ, has this to say about her shop inpiration; "I’ve been collecting funky, fun items since I was a little kid. I can still remember my first box of doll heads I found at a Salvation Army in 1978. Over the years I've developed a keen sense for finding vintage and I want to share that with everyone."

Orange Schramberg ceramic pitcher

ScoutandRescue is the latest shop from Dahlila of DahlilaFound. "After 3 years of running Dahlila, Found Vintage, I am adding this new shop especially for home & garden decor, industrial metal finds & quirky pieces that are irresistible, but don't really pop with the silk scarves & heels over at Dahlila." ScoutandRescue features a wide and eclectic range of home and garden items including many mid-century ceramic pieces.

Vintage Roller Skates 1980s Sprints Roller Derby

LuncheonetteVintage is "serving up" a nice mix of styles from Victorian to art deco to 80s new wave and a wide mix of items from farm relics to cocktails to old photos and soft papered books. Self described as "Part geek, part girly and part goofy, like its head cook." Jana opened up shop in July of 2008 and is based out of New York State.

Vintage 1950's Popeye Goes on a Picnic

TheIDConnection has a huge selection of almost 2000 items to choose from. The shop features a wide selection of vintage holiday items including Halloween and Christmas decorations. Also on offer is sewing notions, ephemera, toys clothing and more. TheIDConnection is based out of Galveston, TX and opened in March of 2008.