Following a 1980s Sewing Pattern : Sewing through the Decades

[@jaspersgrimoire]

“Tell me what to do, not your life story” BIG online recipe mood.

[@rodittis]

I actually clock how long it takes a how-to video to get into instructions. I punch out at the minute mark. Or if they start off by apologizing for how long it’s been since they made a video, the I’m also out.

[@jaspersgrimoire]

rodittis it depends on the personality of the presenter. But if you’ve ever looked up like a cookie recipe, sometimes you get somebody with a 5,000 word diatribe about how unfulfilled they are in their marriage or something before they start the ingredients list while you scroll like “resippy”

[@rodittis]

Scout Agree - sometimes I’ll follow someone for their personality. But mostly I’m all about the non-personal content. Or I expect the color commentary to run alongside it. Basically if the KZbinr promises X in the title of the video I don’t want to hear about Y. If they want to spend the bulk of the video talking about their squabble with somebody else online then the title needs to be “My Fight With HamsterLuvr1211” and not “How To Hem Curtains”.

[@Elizabeth-ux5kd]

Omg. Yes yes yes.

[@TheSeattleStitcher]

I literally had the same exact thought and comment. 😂😂💀

[@dormantpixi2628]

I made *this* outfit for my sister in the 1980s!! I made a navy blue jacket with a navy and white (rayon) polka dot shorts!! Great to see you using this pattern!

[@StephBer1]

dormant pixi I can totally imagine this. Your sister was a lucky girl. That would have been a really nice look.

[@lilolmecj]

I love that you shared this story! I love this whole outfit, I hope dressy shorts and boxy jackets come back in style.

[@jcaylalove8713]

What a cool sister you were!! 😊🌻

[@michellecornum5856]

OH, the shoulder pads! I'm dying! They look like pillows!! Having survived the 80's, I can guarantee 1 inch was very normal. I guess it was our version of the wide pannier. You look authentically 80's! GOOD JOB!

[@frostfang1]

@Sparky 1998 yea I had a few when I was really young (like four I was born in 90 and my mom had terrible 70s and 80s style) and I despised them they were so uncomfortable. Turtle necks too.

[@Poppy-]

@Sparky 1998 I have athletic shoulders so shoulder pads look like I'm a "football player". Ripped mine off too from several coats and jackets

[@grey_roses]

I could only deal with the *really* huge shoulder pads on things like outside jackets/boxy coats...you're right, though, they really were our wide pannier... 😅

[@snooksmcdermott]

I had narrow, bony shoulders so 80's shoulder pads made me look like a linebacker. I always cut them out.

[@talosheeg]

You look like you stepped out of Heathers!

[@FashionDivaNY]

My thoughts exactly

[@canucknancy4257]

The first comment that came out of my mouth! :)

[@TheHopeDreier]

Yep, Heathers it is.

[@realsugar7056]

Yes! I was just about to comment that! The whole look is just sooooo 80s. Great job!

[@olduglyentwife5700]

Exactly! Or you could Ferris Bueller’s girlfriend

[@finn766]

Is it bad that i really love this look?? It's amazing (even with shoulder pads that can be seen from space, lol)! I've been loving this series so much, thank you for posting it! 💕

[@grey_roses]

Having flashbacks! 😅 All you perhaps needed was a pseudo military shiny brooch for the jacket. 👍 (And the Power Scrunchy from Heathers...)

[@sherrycollins6162]

That movie was my first thought as well! 😂

[@SirenaSpades]

YES!

[@Dietxcokex00]

I'M RED

[@conniebeachy6482]

or epaulettes!

[@hailyframbach6589]

Does anyone else watch Angela's videos and is slightly disappointed when the "but wait"or "can you guess what I did wrong" moment never comes. This is always a part of everything I do when all I want is the garment finished and then you really look at what you are doing and go "darn, why didn't I see that"....

[@jessicaknox4837]

Shut UP, Heather! :P This is awesome. I actually might wear the shorts on a casual day, and that jacket is... well, it just is. 😂

[@THX..1138]

OMG that was exactly what I was thinking....She could put on this one and be one of the Heathers for Halloween :)

[@JB-vd8bi]

Great comment 😂

[@bunnydude6921]

Totally!!

[@katietots89]

I thought of Heathers when I saw this outfit too.

[@Dietxcokex00]

No way!!!

[@dianedunshea3949]

The bigger the shoulder pads the better! I use to make outfits like these back in the eighties! Brings back memories 😀

[@nikinoodles7017]

Loved the 80’s. This is the decade when I was making most of my clothes. I still have all my old patterns.

[@stellasilverbat]

This so cool because I was wondering if you would ever get to the 80s. I’m so glad you did since there’s so much great fashion from that period! You look like you just walked off the set of Heathers, or the Breakfast Club, so cool!🖤

[@louiselill1528]

Breakfast club is an awesome film

[@lena5669]

season 2 of sewing through the decades!! just keep going through them all again with different outfits! lol i love your vids :3

[@AdirondackRuby]

Just so 80's. My Aunt Donna wore stuff just like this all the time, and even into the 90's. Those shorts especially remind me of her, she was (an still is) very slim like the model in the envelope illustration.

[@tinafisher]

you look fantastic in that, and not boxy at all. I love this outfit, I wore clothes like this, big shoulder pads and all, (it made our waists and butts look smaller I guess). Big hair....big shoulder pads...big eyelashes....Saturday Night Live at the disco!

[@ilahjarvis]

You could take a nap on those shoulder pads. I can remember longing for this look as a teen. Thank you for braving these patterns for us.

[@louiselill1528]

The 80s where a fantastic time it was my time of fun and excitement I still love the 80s clothes and music it was a fantastic time for me and if I had seen these two garments in the shops back then I would of worn them with pride

[@PanicLedisko]

Ahh, I was born in the 90s, I'm so freaking jealous!! I love going back to watch all the 80s movies and listen to 80s music and the music videos on mtv or vh1. It kills me that I wasn't able to live through the 80s! I wish I could have seen it myself, all the lace, fishnet, beads, ruffles, leg warmers, crazy hair, hair metal, fecking Freddie!!, layers and layers and bright neon colours OH so many things I missed heh my heart!!

[@chiara4249]

The amount of care you take to make sure patterned fabrics match up always blows me away. It’s very impressive!! And the result is always absolutely lovely. Also damn those shoulder pads lol

[@Erin-jm4jm]

Those shoulder pads are ICONIC.

[@marloflanagan7421]

I love this outfit! the 80's were my heyday as I graduated HS in 1984. I'm sure I had an outfit just like this back then.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

I came of age in the 80s (I turned 21 in 89). I can definitely say your video brought back memories. I sewed some similar projects in Home Economics class. I love your positive attitude and your spin on something that is very ironic of that decade. I swore off shoulder pads a long time ago. I think by the end of the 80s, nobody wanted them anymore. Even so, they were on a lot of clothes back then.

[@skatpak2967]

amazing how people dont sew anymore..i just got my third Singer and ill never stop...thanks for all you do...my mom was a Cabin Creek Quilter ..its in my blood..

[@Liofa73]

It's cheaper to buy clothes than cloth these days. A better idea would be to buy clothes and re-tailor them to fit you better.

[@whatever4707]

Oh 80s shoulder pads! Sewn into garments, yet could not be washed! Horrid things! Great job on this. Very true to the era. Snapped me right back to getting out of college and starting my career.

[@terriz7791]

What a flashback! You made me think of the movie Working Girl.

[@Ms.W529]

I had shorts in that style in the 80’s. They called them “City Shorts”. They were supposed to be casual-dressy. I think you achieved the look perfectly!

[@vvitchmist4856]

As someone who LOVES 80s fashion this is my favorite video this far.

[@juliestam]

So many happy memories of the 80's! Mainly of my mum sewing yet another outfit for me.

[@lisalulu1832]

Oh my goodness! Flashback to my childhood! I had a couple of jackets like that and I would make my mom so mad by cutting out the shoulder pads. I hated them! I was short anyway and I swear it made me look shorter. Love these videos! Can't wait for the 90s!

[@ColleenMarble]

Dress shorts and blazer was my favorite outfit in 90-91 (senior year), so the style stayed around a few years. I thought I was the BOMB in that outfit.

[@junebamburg1704]

80s my favorite. Love the outfit. We wore tights to match in the cool weather , the tights came in many colors.Thank you for this video.

[@StephBer1]

I loved this look in the 80's and wore it often, or variations of it, with a long jacket and shirt, and very long skirt or pants, with flats. Double breasted was essential. And I loved shoulder pads! I have sloping shoulders and shoulder pads gave me a nice silhouette. I miss it.

[@aliloucreations1817]

Collots are lovely I’d wear them still today, I loved the 80’s 😍😍😍

[@carolinemiller2211]

Great video Angela. The 80’s was and still is my decade. The only thing missing is ME styling your hair into big 80’s hair. I could tease your roots with so much volume that it becomes your own ‘head protector ‘ (reference is made to a period dress & ‘head protector’ outfit from a 1918 pattern). Love your work. You are so talented

[@84loesje]

Getting the Breakfast Club vibes. All of those bratpack movies. I like how you made the 80s look work for you. Loved how you styled your hair and make up with it.

[@cinnamonberry3867]

I grew up in the eighties and you nailed this look.

[@TheSarahLindy]

Aaaaaa! You ARE Heather!!! You just needed a matching red scrunchie ❤️🌹

[@homesteadtotable2921]

Talk about a blast from the past! Looks like some of the stuff my mom wore well into the -90's. She was a model in the late 70's and peaked in her career in the 80's, and it took two teenage daughters to finally talk her out of wearing shoulder pads, in the New Millennium. I still catch her using blue mascara sometimes!

[@silvipeppers]

oh my god! you look gorgeous. what can i say, i have a soft spot for clothes from this period, and you totally nailed it! including hairdo and makeup and general preppy feel. great job angela, i'd love to have a jacket just like that.

[@kristiejennings9065]

Love this look! From the age of 11 to 20 years old that was my looks. I am 50 now and I scored 445 patterns that dated from the 1980-2010 all for $20.00. My mother made all of our clothes too so I am going to love this series. TFS!

[@arlenepark1806]

You look like a completely different person wearing this outfit. In a good way of course. It suits you so well 😍

[@peggyriordan9857]

I was in my late 20s and early 30s during the 1980s and 1" shoulder pads were a way of life! Great job on this pattern and the pockets don't look like they are in the wrong place at all. They look fine. I think they actually lengthen you making you appear more slender than you already are! I know you put this up a long time ago, but I just saw it and wanted to say great job!

[@PrairieTownHouse]

Wow. Those are some shoulder pads. I’m pretty impressed that you’re doing these more recent decades. I discovered your channel a few days ago and have been watching all of them.

[@lauraburdett8932]

Oh my. The memories. The clothing and the music. Shudder.

[@coffemuse]

The way that sillhouette changes you is amazing! And shows how very different the 80s were from the previous decades. This is great! As always!

[@omniscient.nescience]

Talked to my Granny about this! She was a seamstress in the 80's, and apparently even then it was pretty common to stack shoulder pads when making jackets for ultimate lift 😉

[@jodammerungii6134]

I love this outfit! The shoulder pads are huge but not cartoonishly so. They look good on you. Making the jacket slightly more fitted would really modernize the look, to take this 10/10 to an 11/10. I'm going to make shoulder pads for the first time for a repro dress I'm making. I normally skip them on 40s patterns, but since I'm going to make some jackets soon I need the practice. Seeing this outfit makes me less scared of them.

[@Chowah]

EPIC!! Start over again or keep doing patterns and insert them under the appropriate decade! These are my favorite videos from U!!! xo

[@valentinacavalottivelasco9484]

okay but those shorts are so cute!!! really flowy... want them for summer

[@Nemie125]

I was a teenager during the 80's and this look is taking me back to the late 80's when many girls did dress like this here in London - spot on! I was more in favour of over-sized men's double-breasted jackets and torn jeans with t-shirts, but I had a similar hairstyle, only much messier and teased to such an extent that it looked like I'd been zapped. Great sewing series! :)

[@pollydolly9723]

The makeup is spot on Angela. And the suit is very Heathers!

[@GiGi-ot5ik]

I really get confused at people who make fun of the 80s but then walk into a Gucci store to buy, by far, the UGLIEST most expensive stuff imaginable.

[@200ThingsILove]

Preach. All of the poor models in the online Gucci catalog look like they've been attacked by a Goodwill Store clearance rack!

[@MysticOceanDollies]

Sandra Eveline Cortes all you have to do to make people spend loads of money on hideous stuff (Gucci is quite ugly in my opinion) is to have a couple of famous people wear it. I bet if all the celebrities started wearing a paper bag so would everyone else.

[@Poppy-]

Oh my! Reliving my early teens! I had a pair of green and navy plaid shorts like these in high school.

[@anniesmom2207]

I love this outfit. The fabrics are perfect. I would definitely wear this today, shoulder pads and all. Preppy Angela!!

[@galewhiteman2047]

Yep, you transported me back to the 80’s. Good job.

[@CulinaryGuide]

You are brave. Very brave for bringing back this look from the 80's.

[@tammyellison735]

I had a red jacket something like that and floral shorts. We called them City shorts I think. What a blast from my past.

[@Madelyne88]

I love the 80's look, you (and your hair) look great!

[@Jennsylvania]

I was in high school in the early 90s, and this outfit is *very* that time period. In fact, if you made the shorts out of corduroy and paired it with stockings, even more so! It would've been unusual to have flannel shorts (or other floppy fabric) paired with a jacket like this. Another fabric you would see shorts made from is a kind of thick material like men's khaki pants today. (I'm sorry I don't know the actual names for these fabrics. I'm still learning!) Edit: Also, we would've worn a plain blouse, likely a white one or coordinating color, with a pants pattern like that. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[@ikreer9777]

I agree! Mostly. :) I was in high school and college during the 80s, and softer fabrics were definitely an option for the city shorts. And yes, the blouse should be a coordinated solid. We absolutely did not mix patterns in the 80s. LOL

[@melodykulifaj]

My mom wore her hair that exact same way in he 80s. This is amazing!

[@latelierdemolly]

What’s your damage heather????

[@davecsaszarable]

She's a Veronica

[@ashleyr6174]

i definitely have two table runners for fall made with that plaid fabric lol! it's such a pretty plaid though. the outfit is so 80s, it turned out great!

[@kerrimackay521]

I remember those shouder pads. They were even put on T-shirts. It was an interesting time, though not really asthetically pleasing for me. You did a great job on plaid matching on the shorts.

[@mnels5214]

Ahhh love it! Yeah, the 80s wasn't really about flattering looks. Just...very looks.

[@TheSeattleStitcher]

“Tell me what I need todo not your whole like story” is me every time I find a blog post for a cookie recipe. 😆

[@margaretnicholls896]

I must say you get so much done...🐝 Love💟 watching 😆 I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love a Vid of your doll👭 collection... your pattern cupboard would also be nice to see...🙈 Thank you 🌹

[@lamawafa3933]

i freaking love old fashion and old french fashion like the one in COCO CHANEL once upon time film and she inspired me to make the shorts they are amazing

[@kckazcoll1]

the 80s had the most unflattering fashions. Having said that, well made, Angela!

[@lucehermezs]

the shorts look so comfy tho. also the poofy 80s hair !! very good 🥰

[@carenwhite7954]

I LOVE that bronze polish!

[@LadyWhoLists]

80’s shoulder pads need to forever Rest In Peace. Very nice choice for the decade.

[@hushedthoughts]

If you take the shoulder pads out... and wear the pieces separately, they can be a look! Great job! I love it.

[@connorlifetheuniverseandev8243]

I had the exact same issue with finding 1 inch shoulder pads as you did. I ended up carving some out of upholstery foam which was way more difficult than it should've been.

[@stephaniesauerberg4715]

"What's your damage Heather?". I love this. 😍

[@eatenkate]

Gahhhh the eighties were so incredibly hideous! Awesome job!

[@patbowman6723]

Well done. I think the shorts are adorable on you. I never cared for shoulder pads even when the were is style. Over all this outfit looks well put together and well made.

[@travelmom3031]

This pattern brings back such memories! I am pretty sure my mom made this for me--or at least bought the pattern and fabric and *intended* to sew it.

[@travelmom3031]

I know it is not your favorite, but i think you look adorable. But, 88 was my year, so i am a bit partial. I think if i were you, i would go for much bigger buttons because they would fit the scale of the boxy cropped jacket--it is supposed to be a bit exagerated--that may make it a little more flattering. Thing of it reflecting a late 50's/early 60's severe suit and sac dress look. I feel the 80's often referenced the lines and ideas of the 50's in the way that the lines of the 70s reference the 30's.

[@emoooooly7350]

YOU GOT THE WHOLE DAMN LOOK GIRL!!!

[@annetteandhercrafts]

This is so amazingly 80's. Love it!

[@PinkUnicorn214]

I get a very big breakfast club vibe from this outfit. Lol great job I actually like some of the 80s clothing. And you did a great job on this.

[@vickinoeske1711]

This outfit brought back fond memories! I had some great clothes in the 1980's!

[@imanarwhaleee]

Love how your nails in the first half almost match the jacket fabric! I would love to see a nail polish collection video🤔

[@Alibeeee]

This looks fantastic on you. I love this series 😍❤️

[@Charcoalgreetings]

Gathered sleeves and plaid are my two sewing nightmares, so thank you for tackling them both in one video! Love the outfit! It's very "Heathers"! :D

[@annadelphia]

Oh my God, you look like a character out of Heathers, and by that I mean you nailed it. Also, those shoulder pads are giving me VIVID flashbacks of what my mom and her best friend wore to work when I was tiny.

[@armedvsokord]

This is a great recreation. You are very talented.

[@flutaris]

This is ICONIC

[@201LUVART]

"Candy Store" from the Heathers musical kept on playing in my head when you were doing the final shots of the garment worn lol.

[@AlanDaviesGirl]

I'm sad that these are nearly over because I LOVE the series, but I'm also very excited to see what you do next!

[@donnacarlson9707]

love watching you sew

[@Psych0ps1licy]

The pattern for the shorts is perfect for summer! And I'd really like to see what you're going to make for the 90s :D

[@OneWayDesigns]

I so love this!!! You remind of the movie 16 candles. Great project!!

[@TotallyToastyAri]

This is ADORABLE on you!!

[@rowenawragg3903]

When I made clothes in the 80's I tended to leave out the shoulder pads and adjusted the width of the shoulder seam. I am only 5' and they made me look as broad as I am long😂 if I made anything for someone else I put the shoulder pads in using press studs or ribbon ties so they were easy to remove for washing. I think the shorts turned out well and you did great with the pattern matching. Regards Rowena 🇬🇧

[@HappyGeneRC]

Hi, I like your presentation and the little tips sprinkled into your monologue. I really like the 80's, though.

[@kathysews]

Love it! As a child of the 80's I'm pretty sure I wore some outfits very similar to this :-) I think you should do a 2010's decade though and sew an Indy pattern. Thank you for your wonderful sewing videos!

[@isabellescales3763]

This may be my favorite outfit on you. You wear it so well! I love the fashion of the 30s and 40s but this is more of my aesthetic

[@smplyjenn]

Have made and it was a box. Made a bunch of them in all colours. Even made a patchwork ish jacket. Have knitted a large square, cut it with the pattern.

[@robyn3349]

Yes, you've captured the 80's! Well done!

[@amme30]

Wow those shoulder pads! Love this series.

[@l.baughman1445]

Fun!! I do offer one point of suggestion...more pressing and final pressings. I don’t think the shorts are lined which might have helped with a cleaner final look as they draped. I’m so impressed (pun!) with the matching the plaid pattern in fabric!! .....and what everyone else said about “Heathers” 👍

[@crazydougfam]

I love the jacket! This is super 80s though! Takes me back!