As the weather warms up (or attempts to) I inevitably start having fantasies about balmy summer afternoons, sipping drinks on someone’s patio, the smell of a barbeque, the sound of ice cubes in a glass, the smell of freshly-cut grass… and even more inevitably, in these fantasies I am wearing the perfect summer dress. This year, perhaps, I’ll finally get there. I have four 1940s-50s patterns secreted away, and I would like to try and make at least one of them this year. (I also said this last year, but never mind.)

When my mind turns to a new interest or hobby, I like to delve into it as much as is humanly possible, so I’ve been looking for interesting and/or inspiring sewing sites. Here’s what I’ve turned up in the past few days:

Sew Retro: I could spend hours browsing through the archives (and have, in fact). It’s a group blog for people who make vintage patterns and retro clothing, and there are a lot of photos of finished garments! Often the pattern drawings are posted alongside the photos, which is very useful - I’m used to knitting patterns coming with several full-colour photographs, so you know exactly what it’ll look like, but when using old sewing patterns you have to rely on the cover illustration. Some of my favourite posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Suzical.co.uk’s list of sewing blogs: Pretty self-explanatory - sewing blogs ordered by their Technorati ranking. I read quite a few of these. A Dress A Day is one of my favourite blogs out there.

U-Handblog: Lisa Lam’s excellent bag making blog, with oodles of free patterns and tutorials (a bag to match your summer dress, maybe?). She also runs a flickr group for handmade bags, and another specifically for bags made using her tutorials. An old favourite of mine!

Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki: A valuable resource where people can browse patterns and see related blog posts, reviews, and sellers of said patterns.

Flickr Group - New Vintage Wardrobe: In their own words, “a group dedicated to the use of old patterns to make new fashions and vintage fabrics featured in new clothing.” Lots of photos, obviously.

Flickr Group - Vintage Apron Patterns: What, you never imagined yourself baking cakes wearing a sweet little flounced apron to protect your (immaculate) dress? Must be just me.

Flickr Group - Vintage Patterns: For sharing and viewing the envelope art on old patterns.

Now, with all these resources at my fingertips, I can hardly fail! (Famous last words.)