memade – Killer Kitsch Designs

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1945, 1950s, 1960s, killer kitsch sew-a-long, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

Vintage Trousers/Pants Sew-a-long!

August 20, 2020September 5, 2020 Lizzie Violet

We are doing another pop-up sew-a-long over in our Killer Kitsch Vintage WIPs Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/ This time around we are doing pants/trousers! We will be starting on August 24th, 2020. There is no deadline to finish, so join us when you can. Please click on the above link to join our group!

The pattern will need to be 1970s and before. It can be an original vintage pattern or vintage reproduction. If you are joining us please tag me on Instagram (@killerkitsch13) and use hashtag #killerkitschsewalong.

Why trousers you ask? For the last two years I’ve been telling myself I would finally take the trouser making adventure, but I always end up talking myself out of it. I haven’t worn pants (always dresses or skirts) in over 10 years and for a few reasons, but the main reason is I hate the way modern pants fit. The waist is too low and the rise too short. I prefer the styles of the 1930s to 1950s for trousers and pants and those are the era’s I will be sticking with. The waist line and rise are perfection. Heck! I’m even making a pair of shorts. The trousers are from 1945 and a pattern I found on the Eva Dress Etsy store. The shorts are the Loretta shorts from Charm Patterns. (You will need to join their Patreon to get the pattern.) I am also going to attempt a 1950s style pedal pushers. Photos are all in the slide show below!

If you are wanting to also get started and are looking to make trousers/pants, please join us!

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, i make my own clothes, little shop of horrors, marilyn monroe, sew a dress a month, sewing, vintage, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

Sewing Inspirations

February 19, 2020February 19, 2020 Lizzie Violet

This year I am hoping to make more dresses inspired by dresses I’ve seen in movies. Two of my biggest inspirations are Marilyn Monroe and Audrey from the 1960’s Little Shop of Horror. I already have the two Marilyn Dresses planned out (just need to get the right material) and am figuring out the Audrey dresses as I write this.

The blue Swiss Dot dress I am using the Lila and June Picnic dress pattern. The red Marilyn dress from the movie Niagara will be a Gertie pattern. I’m deciding what patterns to use for the Audrey dresses.

adjustable skirt, ask sarah, killer kitsch sew-a-long, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage sewing

Adjustable Skirt Sew-a-long

January 18, 2020August 8, 2020 Lizzie Violet

We are super excited for our February sew-a-long, because it’s another collaboration with Ask Sarah! Our last collaboration with Sarah was for the super swell Tiki Set! Anyone who participated will remember how much fun it was to make the Tiki Set.

Oh, and did I mention it will be an adjustable wrap skirt for the February sew-a-long! That’s right an ADJUSTABLE wrap skirt! Who doesn’t love an adjustable skirt!

The SAL will run from February 1 to 29 (yuppers, this year Feb is a leap year!). As always, if you post on Instagram please tag @killerkitsch13 and use hashtags #killerkitschsewalong #wrapskirtalong. Please, also tag Sarah on all of your posts as well. Her Instagram is @asksarah.com.au

We will also provide information about the sew-a-long in our Facebook group. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/)

Now a little bit about Sarah!

Ask Sarah is a DIY, self-drafting fashionista with vintage flair. Sarah can be found creating twirly half circle skirts or sassy ensembles. Sarah doesn’t put pockets in all the things… but there is always cat fur on all the things!

Ask Sarah is an Australian based creator and designer and all of her social media links are below. https://www.instagram.com/asksarah.com.au/

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, crochet, crochet pattern, crochet-a-long, knit-a-long, knitting, knitting community, refashion, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage crochet, vintage knitting, vintage knitting patterns, vintage sewing

Pencil Skirt-a-long

October 21, 2019September 21, 2019 Lizzie Violet

November’s a-long is the long-awaited Pencil skirt sew-a-long! You are free to use your own pattern, but if you prefer to self-draft, I have options below for tutorials. In addition, I have a few links to paid patterns Your pencil skirt doesn’t just need to be sewn. That’s right, knitting or crocheting a pencil skirt is also an option! Heck! Do a refashion is that is your preference. The only guideline is the skirt must reproduce patterns from the 1960s or earlier!

The pencilskirt-a-long will run from November 1 to 30! As always, if you post on Instagram please tag @killerkitsch13 and use hashtags #killerkitschpencilskirtalong.

As with every sew-a-long/knit-a-long/crochet-a-long/refashion-a-long, all of the information to the tutorials will be found in our Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/).

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, crochet, crochet pattern, crochet-a-long, knit-a-long, knitting, knitting community, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage crochet, vintage knitting, vintage knitting patterns, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

New Challenge!

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 Lizzie Violet

Each year, starting on my birthday, I give myself a new garment related challenge. Last year I tried to make one garment a week and though I didn’t quite make 52 (made 45 garments for myself) I am quite proud of what I achieved. With my birthday approaching (July 31st for those keeping track), I need to come up with a new challenge. What o’ what could that challenge be?

I’ve been bouncing ideas around and decided to take a look at my wardrobe to see what I needed to fill in gaps. When I did this I noticed that I don’t have trousers, fitted skirts and very few blouses. I am also lacking coats and cardigans (and the ones I have are looking shabby). After this realization, I also concluded that I don’t have many structured/fitted garments and I believe a large part of that is because I am a curvy girl and it is hard to find sizes that fit right. I found myself saying out loud, ‘But isn’t that why you make your own clothing?’ Yes. Yes it is.

Hold on… did you say you don’t have any trousers. That is correct. I haven’t owned trousers of any kind in at least ten years. Why? I hate the way they fit. As I mentioned earlier, I am a curvy girl. I’ve always had an hourglass figure, (large boobs, smaller waist, wide hips) even when I was slender. I hated shopping for pants of any kind. If I was able to get them to fit in the hips, the waist was too big. I also have really long legs and a high waist, so I could never get the rise to fit right either. So…. I stopped wearing them. That is about to change.

Toile! Toile! Toile!

Anyone who sews knows you need to make a toile to get your fit down and when making pants I see a lot of them in my future! I want to make 3 basic types. 1930/1940 high waist style, 1950s Rockabilly style and elastic waist Beach Pyjama Style. These will cover most of my vintage inspired wardrobe needs.

Another large project I want to undertake is replacing all of my cardigans. Many are in shabby shape and I will likely repurpose them into mittens or other things. That said… knitting will need to wait for a while. I’ve done something to my thumb and need to wait a few more days before I can have it looked at. In the meantime… there is sewing!

However, me being me, I am adding and addition challenge starting January 1, 2020. I am going to start reproducing Miss Lemon’s wardrobe (from the TV show Poirot). Because in my world, one challenge is not enough!

Let’s get sewing!

Please add my Instagram account @killerkitsch13 to see regular progress updates.

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, Sew Over It, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

Sew Over It’s Betty Dress Sew-a-long

July 19, 2019July 18, 2019 Lizzie Violet

We are super excited to be making another dress with Aly from Sewcial Dee for our August sew-a-long. We will be making the very popular Betty Dress from Sew Over It!

With this tutorial we will be posting the tutorial in three steps and will be posting those steps weekly. If you are someone who is new to dressmaking, this will be the perfect tutorial and sew-a-long for you. You will find the tutorials here (www.sewcialdee.com)

OH! and there is more!!! Aly will be running a giveaway related to the Betty dress for the add-on pack! For more info on the giveaway and to enter, head on over to Aly’s Instagram @sewcial.dee. The contest will run from August 1st to August 15th.

As with every sew-a-long, all of the links to the tutorials and more information on the Betty dress will also be found in the files area of our Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/

The Betty Dress will be a will be a paid, downloadable pattern and can be found on the Sew Over it website. https://sewoverit.co.uk/product/betty-dress-sewing-pattern/ I believe many already have a copy of this pattern and this will be the perfect opportunity to make it!

Now a little bit about Aly! Aly is a postmodern girl in a new century world Southern California girl with an affinity for all things retro. Aly’s blog is about sewing and focused towards vintage styles (either vintage patterns or vintage recreation patterns). Aly’s posts are an indepth look and review about the patterns she recreates, with added flair. Aly considers the pinup look to be part of her lifestyle and she also uses this space to offer her opinion on vintage reproduction brands she loves.

Aly’s social media links can be found below.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sewcial.dee/

Website: https://sewcialdee.com/

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, sew-a-long, sewing, summer, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

Summer-a-long Outfit Complete!

June 22, 2019 Lizzie Violet

If you’ve been following along on my Instagram account @killerkitsch13 you will be seeing posts about our current sew-a-long (or see this post). I decided to make an outfit inspired by the below 1940s photograph. Everything I made was self-drafted.

With this SAL I did a bit of an experiment. I bulk cut and then bulk sewed garments. Because of this I was able to sew 2 skirts and 3 tops. Next week I am going to spend my sewing time drafting patterns for the rest of the things I want to make for my summer wardrobe.

{The photos of myself below I am wearing a slightly different top. I made two white tops to go with the gathered skirt.}

There is still time to join the sew-a-long. Hop on over to our Facebook group. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/).

52 Outfits in 52 Weeks! Update!

June 22, 2019June 22, 2019 Lizzie Violet

Did she do it? Did she succeed in her 52 garment in 52 weeks challenge? Well…. almost.

How many garments have I made so far? Since July 1st, 2018, I have made 45 garments for myself. On top of that, I’ve made 3 sweaters for my husband and several hats/scarves and a purse for myself (approx. 49 pieces including those). (I have also made many hats and scarves as gifts to others as well) OH and I should mention I made all these from either vintage patterns, self-drafted the patterns myself (I learned how to draft patterns in High School. Thank you Mrs. Hewitt) or made them from vintage reproduction patterns. My memade wardrobe is all vintage reproduction.

I’m proud of this. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I love it because it is another way to stretch my creativity! My goal is that most of my wardrobe is memade, with a small percentage of it from thrifting or clothing swaps. I’m getting there! The extra bonus of making my own clothing, they fit properly!!!

To help keep me motivated, I created groups and we have knit-a-longs, sew-a-longs, crochet-a-longs, and refashion-a-longs. These groups are my happy place!

Where does my original inspiration come from? My Mother is my sewing inspiration. She taught me how to sew when…. I think it was ten-years-old — she says I was younger than that. I learned how to sew on a Treadle sewing machine (My Great Grandma Brown’s (made in 1898)) that I now own. My Mom also made her own and all of our clothing (when we were kids), without patterns. That’s right folks, wanting to self-draft my own patterns vs using premade patterns is in the blood!

I’m incredibly happy with my achievement this year. Even after sewing for decades I am still learning new skills. That brings me to my new goal. Starting August 1st I am going to begin using Draft-at-home systems. I have quite a few that include Haslam, Mrs. Depew and many others. I’ve done a blog post on it, it you want to give it a gander! https://killerkitschdesigns.com/2019/03/13/draft-at-home-systems/

In the meantime, I’m off to sew!

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, crochet, crochet pattern, crochet-a-long, knit-a-long, knitting, knitting community, sew-a-long, sewing, vintage crochet, vintage knitting, vintage knitting patterns, vintage sewing

Beach-Pajama-a-long and Bag-a-long

June 17, 2019May 31, 2019 Lizzie Violet

Let’s summer like it’s 1927! Oh yes, in our Beach Pajamas! I don’t know about anyone else, but I have always loved and been a wee bit obsessed with Beach Pajamas. The beauty of these wonderful garments is they can be one piece or two pieces. I’ve always been a fan of the combination of halter top and wide leg pants.

To make this sew-a-long accessible, it will be another bring your own pattern. It can be self-drafted, from an original vintage pattern or a reproduction pattern. It can be separates or the one-piece version. Use what works for you. (I will also provide links below to suggestions)

But that isn’t all for this a-long! To complete your summery outfit, you will also need a bag. Again, this is a bring your own pattern. The bag can be knit, crocheted or sewn (or any other technique that works for you).

Please feel free to do both the Beach Pajamas and bag or do just Beach Pajamas or just the bag. It’s all up to you!

The SAL will run from July 1 to 31. As always, if you post on Instagram please tag @killerkitsch13 and use hashtags #killerkitschsewalong #beachpajamaalong.

As with every sew-a-long, all of the information to the tutorials will be found in our Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/killerkitschvintagewips/).

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, summer, vintage, Vintage Community, vintage crochet, vintage knitting, vintage knitting patterns, vintage life, vintage pattern, vintage reproduction, vintage sewing, vintage style

Killer Kitsch Summer-a-long

May 20, 2019May 20, 2019 Lizzie Violet

June’s a-long is a bit of a free for all! We will be doing a summer outfit a-long. It can be a dress or separates. It can include knitted and crochet garments as well. It can be self-drafted, from a pattern or a refashion. The only guideline is the outfit must reproduce patterns from the 1950s or earlier! Show us your memade vintage inspired outfits! I may actually do another tiki set. Or… a patio dress. There are just so many options!

The summer-a-long will run from June 1 to 30! As always, if you post on Instagram please tag @killerkitsch13 and use hashtags #killerkitschsummeralong.