Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing

I just want to take a moment to recommend a blog I've been reading, a home sewing blog called Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. It began as a New York woman who enjoys vintage fashion chronicling her efforts to make all fourteen pieces described in the 1952 book Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing. But now not only does she talk about her work on those projects, she sews many other things as well, including tutorials, examinations of other pieces she finds interesting, sewing and garment terminology and technique, the history of various fashions, and even looks at them through the lens of the feminist viewpoint. She is a talented seamstress as well as a charming writer, speaking clearly and engagingly on all her subjects. I love the way she'll look at a dress and make guesses at how it's put together and breaking down what works and doesn't work for her about it. The way she goes through her endeavors-- even the way she examines the construction of pieces she admires --really speaks to the part of me that loves being witness to the artistic process, and the part of me that just wants to make things, things of all kinds, all day long.

Isn't she adorable? And she made that pretty yellow dress. I kind of envy her life, editing children's books for work while sewing and blogging in her spare time. Her love for the vintage aesthetic tickles me because her name is Gertie, which my grandmother Gertrude was often called, so it's a name I associate with the retro and the old-fashioned. That in contrast with her badass sleeve tattoos really makes mes smile.

If you're at all interesting in sewing, couture, the history of fashion, or just like artists going through their process, I really recommend her. Now that I have more free time again I want to go back to teaching myself to sew, and though I am interested more in costuming than in vintage or even things for daily wear, she is a real inspiration to get going.