Reddit reviews Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book: A Modern Guide to Sewing Fabulous Vintage Styles (Gertie's Sewing)

My incredibly kind mom made this dress for me as a birthday gift :D! She used a combination of patterns from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book: three-quarter circle skirt, princess seam bodice with a modified boat neck, and modified basic sleeves. The fabric is raw silk and was bought at a craft store in my grandma's town, so I have no idea if it's sold anywhere else.

They might mean this.

Or her book.

I did it! I had sewn a couple dresses in highschool (10+ years prior), but hadn't sewn a single garment since. I had, however, been quilting for the last 4 years and so I felt like I knew my way around a sewing machine.

I used Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book which I borrowed from the library, and it was great! Super helpful and thorough!

(Oh, and I made it knee length, which also makes it way easier.)

Did it look a bit more homemade than some people would want? Yeah, I admit that it did, but I was pleased with it, I got to make EXACTLY what I wanted and I also only had 5 weeks between getting engaged and getting married (not shotgun, I swear!), so traditional bridal wasn't much of an option.

Everyone has great advice, but if you want a pattern book to read over for future inspiration that's aimed towards vintage Gertie's books are fun! Some of the patterns are more difficult than you'd want to start with but circle skirts are appropriately vintage and also easy!

There are a lot of tutorials for circle skirts, but the easiest ones just have elastic as the waistband and come together in a few hours (it gets faster when you've done a few).

Assorted tips: Buy a bit of extra fabric at first. If you don't need it you can use it for something else, but if you make massive fuck ups (like I do ALL the time still) you don't have to worry about running out.

Don't be ashamed of your seam ripper. Sometimes things just come out wonky.

If you get into a project and just hate it, you're not obligated to finish it. It's a hobby. Set it aside and come back to it or frog it (toss it) later.

Don't be afraid to touch the fabric in fabric stores. Sometimes the print is beautiful but the moment you unfold a little bit of it, it's got an awful feel. Pick something you want to have on your body for garments! Use your current clothes or vintage ones you find as inspiration for what kind of feel to go for.

Pick up hand sewing tutorials too even if you're going to buy a machine. Everything benefits from a little bit of hand finishing (especially vintage hems).

Google EVERYTHING. Anything that doesn't seem clear, Google can probably find a video, tutorial, or different instructions to help you figure it out.

I ordered Bridal Couture: Fine Sewing Techniques for Wedding Gowns and Evening Wear, Bridal Gowns: How to Make the Weddings Dress of Your Dreams, and Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book. The two wedding ones have been the most useful but they're very similar and tend to run together in my head. One goes really into muslins and the other doesn't care about muslins and is all about tissue fitting which is so weird to me. I'm sticking with the muslins. I think Couture does muslins and Gowns does tissue fitting. If I had to pick just one I'd go with Couture.

The first picture looks like a surplice bodice dress, similar to one in Gertie’s ultimate dress book.

Simplicity 8127 is very similar to your second picture. Obviously without the sleeves and the bows on the front.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of a pattern for the third image but would suggest looking at other Gertie patterns if you’re into 50’s style dresses.