"Everything old is new again."

So, I've working on this tunic top.  Another 10-year old Butterick pattern.  I'm a little disappointed in two things.  First,  the neck opening is a little small.  Getting my head through the neck opening reminded me of coming through the birth canal ... "I see hair."  "Yes, the head is crowning."  Pop!  "It's a girl."  Now, that's an exaggeration.  I didn't have to tug or pull or have my husband yank on my head with salad tongs but I think a slightly larger opening will be more comfortable.  So, I'm going to rework that neck opening and make it a little longer.  Also, the facing is a little bit too small for my liking.  I would prefer a larger facing so that it will lay flatter on the inside.  My second problem is with the tucks. They hit me at the fullest part of my chest.  I feel as though they call attention to an area that gets enough attention on its own.  So, I'm going to decrease the length of the tucks and see if I like that better, maybe eliminate them altogether.    

As I was discussing my sewing blog with one of my sons, he said to me:  "So, you are going to make yourself some new clothes that are already a decade old and out of style.  And not just a decade, but from a previous millennium."  Ouch!  That got me thinking and looking.  First, I don't care; I just want to be comfortable.  Second, this remark came from a member of a generation that thinks bedazzling flip flops is haute couture.  Third, some styles just never get old.

To prove my point I found some photos from old home catalogs which show that everything old is new again.

First up, color blocking.  Quite the rage this fall.  As it was back in 1979 and 1980.

These patterns are from "Butterick Sewing World" Winter/Holiday 1979 and "Simplicity Today" Summer 1980.  Color blocking.

I found these wrap style dresses in "Butterick Sewing World" Summer 1981 (magazine on the left), "Sewing Today's Vogue Patterns" December 2011/January 2012 (top two photos in the magazine on the right), and "Threads" Magazine #163 (bottom photo from magazine under the Vogue magazine).  Reminds me of my wrap-style vest from two blogs ago made from a ten-year old pattern.  

 This one was a real surprise.  Both made with red pinstripe fabric.  The one on the left is from "Butterick Sewing World" Spring 1981 and the one on the right from "Sewing Today's Vogue Patterns" April/May 2012.   

  

And this styling from "Simplicity Today" Summer 1981 (magazine on the left) looks like she could fit right in today.  She's wearing a strapless top, wide belt, and full skirt.  Full skirts must be okay since the woman on the right is photographed in "Sewing Today's Vogue Patterns", June/July 2012.

So I think I'm safe wearing my new, ten-year vest and the tunic top.  And I have been on the fence about what to do with these thirty-year old magazines.  I've decided to keep them and let my sons deal with them when I'm dead.  

Hey, September is National Sewing Month.  

Thanks for reading.  I appreciate it.  

Rita