Another quick thought. Making a piece of clothing is a lot faster than making a quilt. So you get your feeling of creativity fulfilled a lot quicker.

I've sewn clothing for years, and just recently have tried quilting. I would suggest that before you start on the vintage dress, buy a quick to make dress pattern in a simple style and make that. Also, you'll find that the vintage pattern may have some instructions that are harder to follow, thus making the simple dress first will help you to understand how everything fits together. Good luck with this ... dressmaking is rewarding. Also, if you are concerned about the fit, try making the dress from unbleached muslin for the fit, and then adjust as needed.

I started sewing back in the early 60's, after my first home ec class of a pillow or laundry bag I was not interested in pursing as my mother could make beautiful designer clothes. But my Mom encouraged me to find a pattern I thought was cool and fabric I loved. I picked out a navy and white hounds tooth wool and a vogue designer pattern. I followed the directions very carefully and it turned out beautifully. I was able to match all the checks, make a lining, put in a zipper, make a lining and bound button holes. I did ask Mom for help with the bound button holes and she taught me the best way to do fancy hand work. She made me baste all seams( by hand with thread). That is the best advice I ever learned. I learned self confidence! It helps me today to be fearless.
I don't know what kind of directions you will find in the pattern you buy, but if your willing to put in the effort, you will be richly rewarded.

It's not so much the sewing techniques as , it is the fitting. Particularly with a 50's style dress that is more closely fitted, if your body varies AT ALL from pattern, you'll have adjustments to make that will either work out, or you'll end up with a "you made that dress, didn't you" look. So if you really want to do this, my suggestion would be to try the pattern from muslin before you use good fabric, to make sure you can get it adjusted the way you want. There are a lot of good fitting books out there. Nancy Zeiman has several. I made clothes for years and switched to quilting becasue of fitting issues as I got older and everything started to drop!!!

Give it a try. there a lots of movies on youtube to help you with your techniques. And you can use google to help you with sewing terms. Good luck!

I, too, started making my own clothes when I was 14. From there, I made all of mine, my 4 kids, some for DH and DGS's. Once you get the hang of it, it's not hard. The pattern absolutly does make a difference. For myself, I prefer Simplicity patterns. I think they are a lot clearer in their directions. My advice would be to start with something simple, like a skirt, lounge pants, or maybe a simple jumper. Then move on to more complicated things as you gain confidence.

How hard is it to sew clothes compared with making quilts?
Well, I do better with quilts than clothes and nobody has ever asked me 'does this quilt make my butt look big" so I stick to what works :)

One reason for me to stay away from wearable quilting. ROFL! (Gotta be reeeeeeeal careful with pattern placement on that. lol)

The only advice I can think of off the top of my head is to read the whole pattern first--maybe even a couple of times--and then tackle it one section at a time. Have fun! Here is a link to a site that has instructions to make a body double out of duct tape, if you're interested. http://www.leanna.com/DuctTapeDouble/

Well, it didn't print as a link, but you can copy & paste.

when i learned it was a lot easier to look at the pictures and
go SLOOOOW because i hate to take it out and start over

GOOD LUCK I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT