Modern Retro Woman

A Home for Timeless Women - Inspiring you on your journey as a gracious, elegant, classy, self-sufficient, and well-rounded woman.

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • Privacy Policy
  • Charm School
    • Vintage Beauty Tips
    • Etiquette and Good Manners
    • Glamorous Lifestyle Project
    • What You Should Wear
  • Technicolor Life
    • Inspired Life
    • Personal Success Planning
    • Wise Words of the Day
  • 1950s Home Ec 101
    • Art of Homemaking
    • Create the Home You Want
    • Elegant Living on a Budget
    • Entertaining at Home
    • Home Cooking and Vintage Recipes
    • Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet
  • Vintage Just for Fun
  • Contact
  • Free Printables Library
You are here: Home / Modern Retro Woman Home Ec 101: Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet

Modern Retro Woman Home Ec 101: Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet

Our mid-century mentors knew that being able to sew well was the secret to elevating their family’s wardrobe and home while being fiscally responsible. And, with enough practice, many of them achieved couture-level skills which is why their clothes seemed so elegant and fit them so well. Added bonuses are that sewing can be environmentally friendly, it helps with cognitive functioning and problem-solving, and provides an avenue for creativity and inspiration.

Posts in the Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet category are inspired by the lessons I learned while earning a custom clothing certificate as well as my collection of vintage sewing books. For good measure, I also share some of my own projects.

Many years ago, I had another blog and podcast called Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet, from which many posts in this category are derived (much to my despair, I lost about 85% of the posts when I merged it with this blog). I came up with that name because I inherited the sewing cabinet my grandfather made for my grandmother in the 1960s. I was also lucky enough to inherit the Bernina 830 Record that she used to teach me basic fundamentals of sewing way back in the early 1970s before she passed away from pancreatic cancer. I still use that Bernina as my primary machine and when I sew, I still feel my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s presence with me.

Other Modern Retro Woman Home Ec 101 Categories:

  • Art of Homemaking
  • Create the Home You Want
  • Elegant Living on a Budget – Money Management
  • Entertaining at Home
  • Home Cooking and Vintage Recipes

Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet

An Old-School Way to Protect Your Clothes ModernRetroWoman.com

McCall’s 6107: An Old-School Way to Protect Your Clothes

Caftan Fabulousness Butterick 4406 Pattern Review ModernRetroWoman.com

Caftan Fabulousness {Pattern Review}

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew Along Lesson 5: Waistband and Facing

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew Along Lesson 5: Waistband and Facing

Are Synthetic Fibers Petroleum Guzzlers?

Are Synthetic Fibers Petroleum Guzzlers?

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew Along Lesson 4: Checking the Fit and Fixing Problems

Acetate: The Top Choice for Bridesmaids and Prom Dresses The World Over

Acetate: The Top Choice for Bridesmaids and Prom Dresses The World Over

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew Along Lesson 3: Drafting the Pattern (w/video)

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew-Along Lesson Two: Measuring (w/video)

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew-Along Lesson One: Tools (w/ Video)

Drafting Skirt Pattern Sew-Along Lesson One: Tools (w/ Video)

Singer Dressmaking Course: Is The Fabric Right for the Design?

Singer Dressmaking Course: Is The Fabric Right for the Design?

My Fabric Information Assignment

My Fabric Information Assignment

Theatrical Thursday: Basic Introduction to Draping a Pattern

Theatrical Thursday: Shirley Adams and Adjusting the Bust Dart

Duct Tape Double

Duct Tape Double

Tuesday Textiles: Man Made Fibers

Tuesday Textiles: Man Made Fibers

Thursday Theatrics: Sewing Machine Magic

This is the part of sewing I don’t like

This is the part of sewing I don’t like

By Popular Demand–photo of skirt & handbag

By Popular Demand–photo of skirt & handbag

Skirt Pattern Review: Jalie 2560

Skirt Pattern Review: Jalie 2560

Vintage Sewing Patterns

Vintage Sewing Patterns

GET INSTANT ACCESS TO MY FREE PRINTABLES RESOURCE LIBRARY!

Subscribe (free!) to my newsletter with tips and updates PLUS get instant access to my resource library with ALL of my free printables for recipes, checklists, DIY, and more. Once subscribed, I will send you a newsletter with midcentury lessons for subscribers only and details about the new resource I've added that week. How great is that?

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. The password to the printables library is: midcenturylove --- copy and paste it into the password box at https://modernretrowoman.com/library . Your email confirmation also contains this information.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

I hate spam. Don't you? I promise I won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. No hard feelings. I promise. Powered by ConvertKit
Free Printables Resource Library
Enter my free printables resource library for my latest recipes, checklists, DIY, and more. ! Password is 'midcenturylove' -- please copy and paste that in at the link above. Thanks for being a subscriber!!

Hi There! I’m Dr. Julie-Ann

I’m so glad that you are here! Are you like me and long for the days when people lived by a set of values and ideals–like family, home, femininity, home cooked meals with real food, dressing well out of respect for self and others, fiscal responsibility, and connectedness–that seem to have been cast aside in today’s cynical and crass world?

By day, I help professors achieve their teaching goals at a mid-sized public university smack dab in the middle of the United States. The rest of the time, however, I’m using all of those same scholarship skills I use for my out-of-the-house job to study mid-century gracious living advice books on topics such as personal presence, clothing that makes you feel beautiful, and good cooking.  My readers love that I am able to translate that information for today’s modern world so that they can be the kind of women they’ve always wanted to be.

Learn more about me (along with my life with The Mister) and the blog by clicking on the “Start Here” button on the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Search Modern Retro Woman

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright Julie-Ann M. McFann, Ph.D. © 2020 · Beautiful Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

The Small Print: All product selections, opinions, endorsements and styling choices are 100% my own and 100% genuine. This site may contain sponsored content and ModernRetroWoman is also a member of several affiliate networks which means that I may make a commission on clicks and purchases from some links contained on this site and related social media platforms.