Sewing Friendships - Vintage Sewing Pattern Company

Sewing Friendships

 During lock down 2020 my friend Dawn and myself (Gill) decided to focus all of our attention on our sewing pattern business. Its helped us through some very tough times in our lives and it was about to do so again in the most unexpected way.

We decided to hold a giveaway on Instagram with the help of Dawn's son Joe as being 50 something's this was all uncharted territory to us, he created our post and a little while later a winner was drawn, @anya_Mackay. Little did we know what a significant part Anya was about play in this chapter of our lives and what a difference she would make during the strangest of times.

One of the pattern's Anya chose as her prize was the Marilyn Dress, Anya made such a beautiful job of it we were convinced she must have been sewing for much of her life, however we were later to discover this was not the case at all and that prior to lock down she hadn't sewn a dart. The key to her success had been the support of a group of ladies with a love of vintage style and a desire to create their own beautiful wardrobe.

In Anya's words:

"The sew along group started during lockdown and was a bit of a life saver to a lot of these Ladies.

Some were complete beginners and had seen some of the members share their “makes” on Instagram and felt inspired to purchase the same pattern.
Some felt hesitant as they didn’t think they had the abilities.

I learned to sew myself during a previous sew along hosted by Debi @ms1940mccall and offered to create a chat group where we could support each other, ask question and share pictures of our progress and finished dresses. It grew from there and friendships were made.
Some of our members are more experienced seamstresses and gladly offer support, including explanatory voice messages and videos.
Some members have met up or are planning on meeting up in the future. There is no pressure to sew to a schedule. We share pattern reviews, fabric reviews and like to inspire each other to learn new things and give it a go. Nothing beats the feeling of wearing something you have made yourself, when somebody complements your outfit and asks where you got it.
It’s nice to learn what different people are working on or are planning to make and which fabrics they might use.
It’s also nice to get fit advice from the other members “does this look okay, should I shorten it a bit more, which fabric should I use, how do you do this....”
Not everybody has completed their first project yet. Some are still waiting for fabric, or a pattern but most have completed at least one project or are working on something.
Front to back-Anya, Irene and Rach in a 'social distanced' photo wearing their self made Marilyn Dress
The Marilyn has been the most popular so far. A few members also made the Gertie 1930s Harlow Pajamas, which is a free downloadable pattern. 
https://charmpatterns.bygertie.com/shop/harlow-pajamas-free/

About eight member so far are hoping to make the Coachman’s Robe for the winter."
The Sew Along Adventures group is made up of the following ladies:

-Anya Mackay (Admin) @anya_mackay Scotland

-Debi @ms1940mccall

- Alison Rollo Rose @arose.by.another.name Scotland

- Beth (Bettina) @beth_in_hessen Germany

- Carolina Suikeli @carolinasuikeli Scotland/ Finland

- Caroline Heavens @carolineheavens Scotland

- Irene Guererro @muchacha_vintage Scotland/ Spain

- Jen Clark @jenvert Scotland

-Anja/ Lilian de la Fleur @liliandelafleur Germany

- Lola Vintage Clothing @magiclola0 Spain

- Orlagh Phelan @phelanfancy Scotland/ Ireland

-Penny Heartbleed @pennyheartbleed Norway

- Rachael @ms.carnivale Scotland

- Janine @sirena_jeane Switzerland

- Teresa @altered_in_scotland Scotland/ USA

- Teresa/ Miss Razor Riot @theresajhnna Austria

- Debi @ms1940mccall Scotland/ USA

- Kamila @hedwig.macbutterfly Scotland/ Poland

-Noelia @theycallmenoelle_ Scotland/ Spain

- Roslyn @rozconscious Scotland



New members are all welcome to join.

 

Our photo features a meet up of some of the members of the sewing group, sadly missing some of the members from abroad, until their plans to all meet one day are realised.

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6 comments

Great blog! I’m going to pick up my scissors!

Dave Henry

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