Have you picked up any new quarantine hobbies? Mine isn’t exactly new — I used to sew for a living. But over the years I’ve barely done anything more than the occasional costume or minor alterations. I credit making masks with reminding me how much I enjoy sewing. After making and donating hundreds of masks, it was fun to start making clothing again. I’m still making masks — mostly for friends and family, now — but I’ve also been making at least one piece of clothing each week. My first clothing project was a romper, which I made out of a bed sheet! You can see the quick video here.

My Favorite Vintage Sewing Patterns and Bed Sheets (as fabric!)

SEWING WITH VINTAGE BED SHEETS

I LOVE sewing clothing from vintage bed sheets. The thing I love about using sheets as fabric is that’s there is so much of it. And you can get vintage prints for a more affordable price than most by the yard options (which are often limited, anyway!). I also love that they’re already soft and worn in — one of the reasons I love brands like Loveshackfancy is because the cotton they use feels like well worn sheets! This one is probably from the 90s, so not too old. But I have made lots of dresses and tops out of 60s and 70s sheets over the years. I had enough to make a romper, sash, giant scrunchie, and mask with plenty left over. See some of my picks for vintage sheets, here:

VINTAGE PATTERNS

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on instagram about which patterns I use and where I get them from. I have a box of vintage patterns, and the one I chose for this project (Simplicity 8254 from 1969) was found on Etsy. Since I almost always use vintage patterns, the options are a little limited online when you’re looking for a specific one, but there are SO many gems to sift through. If you find one you like and it’s not the right size (and you don’t know how to grade a pattern), just take a note of the pattern number and keep looking! I’ve found most of mine in thrift stores and on Etsy. I rounded up some of my favorite finds, below:

Have you ever made clothing out of sheets? Do you have any other sewing questions for me? Let me know in the comments!