Vintage pattern meets romance novel?

That's the conclusion I came after spying this pattern cover:

To me it looks pretty much like a 1960's trashy romance novel cover- how often do you see THAT much storyline built into something related to home-dressmaking? 
Of course I had to buy it - if only for the sheer cheese factor.
I can just imagine the background story the cover illustrators dreamt up while creating this:
....Now she's sewn the wardrobe of her dream and jetted off to Paris (cue airline bagtag and the half cut off "Rue" sign) will she get the mysterious man of her dreams......????
 Jeez that's a lot of expectation to pack into one pattern! 

It wasn't until after I got home that I noticed the "A Pounds Thinner Pattern". Makes me kinda glad NOT to a female back then- if society wasn't already telling you that losing weight was the key to solving all your problems and finding true love, then finding this gem in your local fabric shop/department's pattern drawer was gonna make sure you were filled in!

This is yet another pattern from the garage sale I went to recently. Another 50 cent buy, circa 1971.
View A (blonde girl on right, pants and long jacket combo) promises to make you look "taller and thinner", while View B (the brunette possibly with a knife to her back and about to be mugged and/or abducted by Mr Cravat) offers to make your hips "seem smaller". Never knew an elastic waisted skirt could do that-  would have thought a few darts would make it more "figure flattering" myself ;P

 So the pattern pieces are all cut out and neatly tucked away in the envelope...
I wonder did the seamstress who made this up find that it delivered on all its garishly illustrated promises? Did she find true love? Go to Paris? 
Or at least look "pounds slimmer"? 
Did she even care (after slaving away at making this little ensemble up) or perhaps she decided it was all a load of bullocks in the end?
 We'll never know but that's one of the fun things about buying preloved items, imagining the story behind them.
(Ok albeit in this case while also wondering "what the heck?" about the original marketing...)

 In the meantime...

Happy sewing!

Kate :)

Vintage patterns (part two)

As promised pattern cover pics from the garage sale I wrote about here.

I'll start with one of my favourite vintage dress patterns from the sale, this Woman's Day raglan sleeve dress:

 With a 40 inch bust size this one is two inches off my actual size, a lot closer in size than other similar era patterns i have come across.  I love the full skirt version and am hoping that this might be a good option for my first attempt grading up a vintage pattern.

A very cute (copyrighted 1961) Junior Misses "sports" ensemble with a decidedly patriotic/nautical cover. Not really my style personally - these styles look great on the "tall/willowy"types- I got this just because I loved the cover illustration and colour scheme:

A Simplicity pattern for 12 inch dolls clothes. Quite a stylish wardrobe for any dolly I was thinking maybe circa 1950's for this pattern, when printed on the instructions is "copyright 1943".(This page here estimates it at 1948). Interestingly it appears that this pattern has been adapted for a variety of doll sizes, besides 12" a quick web search also turned up this pattern in 16", 18" and 24" doll sizings. One site referred to this as a pattern for Shirley Temple "movie star doll" clothes.
These patterns are pretty detailed (by today's standards) for dolls clothing, the jackets -for instance- have shoulder pads!
 This is all very interesting for something that I made a split second decision to put in my grab pile to buy - love it when stuff has an interesting past!

Of similar era is this "Child's sun suit and bonnet"- copyright 1945 by McCall. While very cute I don't think these playsuits would meet the approval of today's sun safe recommendations, and how did any mother ever get their child to wear those bonnets? I have enough trouble getting mine just to wear a regular hat...

 

There are many more pattern's I want to - and eventually will- share with you but time is quite limited right now. Plus sadly every time I take these patterns out of their envelopes the really old ones just rip and tear more :(
So slowly does it..
Take care and happy sewing!

Kate :)

Vintage pattern garage sale bonanza!

Being a member of sewing groups and discussion lists online can be a fantastic way of finding out new techniques and sources of information (new blogs, tutorials and even more groups to join!). They can also help you find out about sewing related sales both online and in your geographical area.
Recently I was alerted to a garage sale group on Gumtree by a member of a Facebook sewing group.
It was listed as having some vintage patterns for sale and as luck would have it the location tied in with my family's plans for the weekend :)
Living in Perth - one of the most isolated cities on earth- vintage pattern finds tend to be few and far between these days, especially since the resurgence in popularity of sewing and vintage sewing (think Mad Men style outfits) in particular. Over many years of op-shopping notable vintage pattern finds have been few and far between. Usually they are way to small for me to use without major resizing and very rarely have been printed before the late 1960s. Even then anything of that era or earlier can command quite a price here, as now they are seen as "collectable". So paying $5 or $10 for a complete pattern, or $1-$2 for just the envelope (yes I paid that recently because I liked the illustration) is not unheard of.
Therefore you can imagine how amazed I was when I saw hundreds and hundreds of patterns for sale, many vintage and in my size (or very close) for 50 cents each. I brought 60 vintage patterns for $30.00 -pattern stash building heaven!!!'
Over the next few weeks I'll showcase some of the patterns I picked up. In the meantime here's a teaser, a lovely 1950s (I think?) apron mail order pattern, complete with original mailing envelope: 

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Kate :)

Op-shoppery (and what is that???)

The horrible bug is still with me and not much blogging has been going on around here, even thought I have heaps of posts at draft stage :O

As I haven't even vaguely written about op-shopping in a while so I thought I might share with you some images of recent and not-so-recent thriftery with you.

First up some lovely ladies 1960's and 1970's dresses, a pants pattern by Bevknits and a super sweet toddlers yoked sundress/top. The dress patterns I picked up just because I liked the artworks, whereas the pants and toddler pattern may actually get used ( I can see DD in the yellow top style):

 Next up some PJ and nightie patterns, you can never have too many options for sleepwear! I'm keeping an eye out for the older Kwik Sew patterns that are printed on the thicker paper, now that they have changed to tissue patterns :( 

The Burda pattern is a boon since I like their "fit" more than most of the big commercial pattern houses (they seem a bit more "curvy-friendly") and the style is simple and classic enough not to date:  


A roll of minty green netting/tulle:

This stuff isn't super $$$ to buy new but at $4 for a least 4 metres it's still cheap dress-ups material - plus tutus can eat up a LOT of fabric quickly once you start gathering. 
Also I've seen this colour out in RTW at the moment which seems fortuitous.


Finally one of my most exciting pattern finds these past few months- a 1950's Vogue Men's pattern:

This one harks back to the days when manly men smoked cigarettes (yuck) and stood around holding strange looking props...what is that thing? 
So far I've come up with "weird over sized spanner" and "misshapen trident" as explanations of what the long sleeved man is holding. I have a feeling its some kind of slider thingy for a game played on wooden decks? Actually I have no idea, if anyone can help me in identifying this...


Happy sewing/thrifting! 

Kate :)

THIS is why I LOVE Op-shopping...

I totally did not plan on posting today but after finding these goodies at a local Salvo's store just had to share!  All up I paid about a $1.00 (AU) a piece for these beauties:

Loving these little girl dresses- thinking I may have to try and make the one on the left up for Little Miss.

Have never seen this brand of patterns before but after a quick web search they appear to be Australian and 1950's era. Very cute but not sure if I could get a 6 yr old to wear - that is IF they would fit a modern 6 yr old today!

Love this insert artwork from the Fashion Cut Patterns above. Advertising direct to your target market complete with groovy font and 1 colour printing !

How "Mad Men" are these dresses? Just wondering how feasible grading up 10 or so inches would be, hmmmm...

Look at these bloomers - how sweet!!!

And finally if the "Little house on the prairie" look comes back in I have my daughter wardrobe TOTALLY sorted lol ;D

Vintage pattern love

As you may know (or may not) know I'm a pretty big collector of old, retro and vintage sewing books/patterns and notions. Op shops and bootsales always are a good way to find items and even though my free time is considerably less with the twinlets being here, I still manage to find a bargain every now and then ;)
I hadn't really considered looking on the net with the sole purpose of finding vintage patterns, but seeing this skirt (Simplicity3983) made up on We Sew Retro's blog has changed my mind - I WANT this pattern !!!
Besides being from the 1950s (my favourite era) and  freakingly cute, the skirt only has one seam - yep you read right ONE!
Now I know there are one seam skirt patterns out there (I made this one a few years back) but I haven't seen any that look this sweet AND stylish :D
All I need to do now is find and scour online retro/vintage pattern resellers....Anybody got any favourite sites they use?
Happy Sewing :)

Update 12/10/12 - I found a copy on Etsy :D :D!!! Now to wait impatiently for it to wing its way here from America.

Bargain! Op-shopping in Northcote

Seeming as my camera computer cable is still M.I.A (no doubt shoved in a box somewhere in the spare room) I thought I would share with you my latest find on the vintage pattern front. Luckily my printer/scanner is intact and in working order so I can show you the covers in all their retro goodness :)

First up some very groovy blouses in a variety of styles- dig the hairdo's! On the right a lovely 4 colour print displays the stylings of Weigel's quilted nightgown and nightdress ensemble. Obviously kitten heels are a must for any self respecting housewife in the 1960's :)

Next another nightie set in a choice of 2 sleeve and hem lengths. Note the "racy" pose of the figure at the bottom showing the matching bloomers- Miaow!

A sporty style button front dress and another dress with an slightly 1940's (50's?) look to it. Except for the hairstyling which looks pure 80's.

An office ensemble which wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film- on Miss Moneypenny of course :)  On the right is a dress with an interesting tie-front / seam line combination.

Finally my favourite two of the lot : a very interesting selection of blouses (amazing the amount of variety when compared with today's patterns) and a lovely dress with unusual front darts and  a wrap around skirt.

If I ever get better at grading patterns up a size I'll definately be giving the 4920 dress a go.

 I am guessing that these are mail order patterns published in the 1960's and 1970's. Most appeared to have been printed in U.S.A - except for the Weigels - which gives a Moorabbin Victoria  factory address. How interesting to think that once we might have had a local pattern publisher.

All up this bundle of patterns cost about $2 total.

Not a bad haul for what was an unexpected - and unplanned- shopping trip :)

Vintage Patterns

Thought I would share my latest "haul" in the retro/vintage patterns departments :)
First up is a circa 1970's (I think!) top, dress and pants combo by Butterick. Check out the illustrations, back when graphic designers used markers instead of Adobe Photoshop: I think the top and pants on this one might work OK today, made up in the right fabrics. Personally I think I could only get away with the top as a sheer over shirt for bathers or a singlet maybe. I'm not too sure about the dress- unless you are waifishly thin like the rather whimsical illustration or pregnant (then all that extra fabric around the waist would come in really handy!) I don't think its going to work. Unless of course you actually want to look two sizes larger than your real size....

Next up I have a rather charmingly illustrated Simplicity apron pattern from 1964. The original price for this item was 45 cents - I paid less than this, hows that for negative inflation? :)
The middle apron variation is noted as being "suitable for border print", a fashion print which has had a bit of a resurgence in the last few years :


I might have to make one of these aprons up just to see how it turn out! Before I do so though I will have to get my head around the difference in patterns from this era. Not having worked with many vintage patterns or *cough* having been around when this one was printed the actual markings are a little foreign to me. Unlike modern pattern which have the marks and patterns printed on them, these have the marks cut out as holes or notches and the numbers/letters punched into them:

A close up of the punched letters that denote the different pieces and the notching, I think this is a facing piece (the pattern sheets are rather fragile so I haven't unfolded them yet):

There is also a letter "P" (or lowercase "b") punched into the envelope flap, I am not sure quite what this is for:

A hint for storing retro/vintage patterns safely: while working in the archives department of a State Library I found out that they often use those clear A4 sheet protectors to store old archival documents /items in, but they make sure when buying them to get the protectors marked "copy safe". The "copy safe" type should (usually) be acid free and so not contribute to further deterioration of your items :)

Vintage Goodies

A visit to some of the local Op-shops up here have turned up a couple of interesting items...

First up is this 1960's sewing booklet. I just loved the cover when I saw it and thought that it (or a colour copy of it) would look great framed in my sewing room.

Inside were a few 'groovy" (for back then) projects aimed the 1960's teen sewer.
No patterns came with the booklet so whoever originally brought it was expected to draft all the patterns themselves using body measurements.


Although not in vogue now I am sure this shift dress was the height of fashion at the time - just look at that hemline!!! I wonder how the maker was expected to sit down in this?

This beach hat is a fairly basic design - not much coverage from the sun though. Also the illustration tends to make it look like a bolster cushion cover.

Ok look at me darling!! Thats right, head over your right shoulder.....

Got to love the very "mod" posing!
Also that hairdo looks like it could take off and fly with those "wings" (flips) sticking out!

Btw the pants in this picture are described as "terrace" pants - was that to make them sound more glamorous/funkier than they actually looked?

I guess that particular name for pajama-style pants didn't catch on.





Finally I picked up this c1980's dress pattern.

I am actually quite taken with the style of the longer version but don't think (with all my lady lumps) that it would suit me.

Luckily I have a sewer girlfriend who has a build more like the model in the photos, so it may end up being passed on to her.



In total these two items cost me about 70 cents in total - not bad for a quick rummage!