Friday, August 16, 2013

Fall for Cotton: a vintage sew-along

Today is an exciting day!

Rochelle and I have been putting our heads together for awhile now, and you may have seen a hint or two here and there, but we're ready to let you all know about our newest sewing collaboration.

Lucky Lucille and By Gum, By Golly present... Fall For Cotton: a vintage sewing challenge for the cotton lover!

This is a sew-along for those of you who, like us, love sewing vintage styles and think cotton fabric is amazing. Don't think of it as a sewing competition, but as a fun way to challenge yourself. Limit your fabric choices, sew a vintage style, meet a deadline, and make some new friends!

Intrigued? Great! Here's the scoop.


Any vintage decade from the 1920s through the 1970s is fair game. But you're only allowed to use fabric that is 100% cotton. You heard right! It must be 100% cotton.

There are lots of varieties of cotton you can choose! Quilting cottons, flannel, twill, corduroy, voile, broadcloth, sateen, and chambray (to name a few) are all great options. Get it? If it's cotton, it's all good!

This sewalong will work much like how Rochelle ran the wonderful Sew For Victory sewalong. You can pick your own pattern and work at your own pace. You can use a vintage pattern, a reproduction pattern, or any modern pattern that helps your recreate your vintage look!

When's the kickoff? Well, that's today of course! That gives you about two weeks to gather your supplies, so you can be prepared to start sewing on the 1st of September. Although it doesn't matter when you actually start sewing, as long as you have your finished project photographed and uploaded to the Fall For Cotton Flickr Pool by the end of Monday, September 30th.

We encourage everyone to join us on Flickr and upload photos of your inspirations and your progress, and get involved in the discussions all along the way! Use the hashtag #fallforcotton on Twitter and Instagram to check in with your fellow sewalongers and show off what you're making! We'll be posting some inspiration and helpful hints, so be sure to follow along on our blogs.

So are you excited yet?! We certainly are! Here's the low down:
  • Join the Flickr group Fall For Cotton and introduce yourself in the discussion
  • Pick a pattern that helps you recreate a garment from your favorite vintage decade: 1920s through 1970s 
  • Pick any fabric that's 100% cotton 
  • Start gathering supplies now, and plan to start sewing on September 1st 
  • Have your finished garment photographed and uploaded to Flickr by the end of Monday, September 30th 
  • One finished project = one chance to win some awesome prizes at the end of the sewalong! 

Now grab a button and spread the word!


Fall For Cotton Button - 300 px wide
 SFVlogo250
Code for 300px button, copy and paste this in your sidebar.

 Fall For Cotton Button - 200 px wide
 SFVlogo180
Code for 200px button, copy and paste this in your sidebar.


Remember, this isn't a sewing competition. This is a fun way to challenge yourself by limiting your fabric choices, sewing a vintage style, meeting a deadline, and making new friends!

Join us and let's have some fun! Are you in?!

30 comments:

  1. Woot! Woot! I've been making a conscious effort this year to sew with more natural fibers and it's awesome! Can't wait to get started!

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  2. I'm in! This is a whole new challenge for me, I've not tried sewing anything vintage before, but that's the whole point of sewing challenges, right?

    Looking forward to seeing how this pans out- for me as well as for everyone else who's in it!

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  3. Im in! I've never done a sewalong before so I'm excited to join in the fun. Plus this is a great way to motivate me since I've been itching to sew something lately and have just been putting it off. Can't wait to get started!

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  4. I am so ExCiTeD!!! Quick question, though... what about the lining? Are there 100% cotton linings somewhere out there? Or should I just go with a pattern that doesn't need lined? Thanks! WOO-HOO!!!

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    Replies
    1. I don't personally think there's be a problem with non-cotton lining, since it's not like there's lots of options out there for it! But interestingly, Anthea mentioned in the Fall for Cotton Flickr group that she was going to use cotton lining, so she may know a good option! :D

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    2. I'm not sure what you're going to make, but for my dress I want to use a very light cotton. It's called batiste and is made of 100% cotton.

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  5. I really wanted to do the sew for victory sew along but life happened and I couldn't finish my project so this time, I'm in!!!

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  6. Yay! What a fun idea. NOW I know what all of those wonderful stacked fabrics were for on instagram yesterday. :)

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  7. I can do this one! but not much of a challenge, I almost always use cottons and vintage patterns. It's documentation and photos that are the challenge for me.

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  8. This is great! This time I'm so in. Last time I couldn;t get the pattern to look good on me.

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  9. I'm in. Just what I need to get me sewing and use some of my fabric stash up.x

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  10. Woohoo! I am a HUGE cotton fan (she says having just bought a load of wool for winter sewing)... but there is definitely a project (or two) I have in mind... and a huge stash of cotton to work with!

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  11. What a great idea! I do have a question though... I feel a bit granny-like asking this but do you need your own blog for joining? See, I just "found" bloggery 6 months ago, and in that time I have found several excellent blogs I follow. But my own blog??? Well, I don't think I am skilled enough with a computer... *ahem*

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  12. Ohh I so wish I could join in, but I'm going to be travelling all September and sadly can't bring my sewing machine :( :( please do another one after November!!
    I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with though!

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  13. Joined! Thank you so much for this Sew-along, can't wait to get started!

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  14. This is such a terrific idea, ladies! Fall's return just begs for warm, comfortable clothes and few fabrics fit that bill better than cottons, IMO. I can't wait to see the bevy of entries that I'm sure will pour in for this great challenge.

    ♥ Jessica

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  15. Sounds wonderful, I have never done a sew along challenge, so this will be a perfect start because I have two week to gather the supplies, now off to join the flickr group.

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  16. Hello Everyone,

    I've never done anything like this before but I'd love to have a go. May not get finished by the deadline, but as long as I complete it eventually I'll be pleased.

    Woolbothy.

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  17. SO EXCITED! I'm going to Joann's on Monday!

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  18. Does the pattern have to be printed in the 1920's-1970's or can it be a recent pattern that is a vintage style? :)

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    Replies
    1. It can definitely be a pattern from a different decade that has a vintage style 20s-70s, like a repro pattern or a modern one with the right look! :)

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  19. yay, this will be fun! and it fits my with my existing plans, even better!

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  20. Yes!! I seem to only ever sew with cottons, and this gives me a great excuse to use a cute tiny floral cotton I bought forever ago.

    All I need is some pattern inspiration and to find the time to do it!

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  21. Hi there, this sounds great I have always been too late to start these things before. So this time I'm definitely in. Can you tell me though is there a way of telling if material is cotton, as I would like to use up something from my stash and don't really know what anything is as I just buy randomly. I look forward hearing from you.
    ally from http://honeypotcreation.blogspot.co.uk/

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  22. I am in! I already have my pattern chosen. Now I need to find some cotton I want to use! ~Laurie

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