Using and Preserving Vintage Patterns by Rebecca Blood Photos by Jesse James Garrett
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STITCH Using and Preserving Vintage Patterns By Rebecca Blood Photos by Jesse James Garrett I knew my grandmother was frugal. But I didn’t know that during the 1940s, she sewed her own nurse’s uniforms. I knew she liked to look nice, but I didn’t realize that as a young woman, she was a bit vain about her slim waist. And I knew she loved me. But I had no idea that for my very first summer, she sewed me a little dress. I learned all this from browsing a dozen sewing patterns given to me when Grandma moved from her house into an apartment. The patterns are from the 1940s to the early 1960s. They run the gamut from aprons and everyday dresses to a very elegant afternoon dress, clearly designed to accentuate the midriff and waist. I knew Grandma could sew, of course. But between nursing and cooking and childcare and housework, I was surprised to discover she had found the time ever to sit down at a sewing machine. 56 BY HAND SPRING/SUMMER 2013 I shouldn’t have been. In the mid-20th century, home sewing was a well- established part of American domestic life. Home Economics classes taught high school girls the basics of cooking, childcare, and sewing. Sewing patterns were available in the fabric department of every department store. Local newspapers, even in tiny towns like my grandmother’s, offered a weekly STITCH pattern by mail order. Women sewed to save money. Women sewed for pleasure. But above all, women sewed to be fashionable. The wide availability of reliably-sized home sewing patterns made the latest silhouettes available to anyone who could afford to buy one. Then, in 1863, Ebenezer Butterick created This home sewing culture began in the the first full-scale patterns that were 1860s with the convergence of three available in different sizes. Women no innovations: the invention of the sewing longer needed to be expert draftsmen machine, which enabled anyone to to clothe their families well. Ten years sew well—and quickly—at home; the later, seven companies were producing expansion of the U.S. postal service from patterns for consumer purchase. Thus, letters to include other printed materials, writes Joy Emery in The Culture of which enabled mail-order delivery of Sewing: Gender, Consumption and Home patterns and fashion magazines; and Dressmaking, began the democratization finally, the emergence of full-scale, sized of fashion. clothing patterns. Today, that democratization seems to be Previously, families who could afford it complete. Designer labels are available employed dressmakers to make their in every department store, and ready-to- clothes. Those who could not afford wear clothing is so affordable that home professional services—or who lived on sewing is no longer the easiest way to the frontier, far from urban centers— achieve a fashionable silhouette or to might use a full-scale, unsized pattern or stretch one’s clothing dollar. Still, for me, work with the schematics published in modern fashion has traded so much style women’s magazines, which required the for comfort that I’m constantly searching home seamstress to copy and enlarge to for clothing that is functional, flattering, the proper scale. and unique. BY HAND SPRING/SUMMER 2013 57 FINDING VINTAGE measurements will tell you which pattern PATTERNS will fit. When I can, I browse online pattern selections by my high bust or A year ago I was searching for a dress waist measurement, so that correctly pattern for my toddler. My mother had sized patterns will come up regardless of mentioned how convenient apron dresses their historic sizing. were during potty training, opening, as they do, in the back. Inspired, I spent some Remember that prior to the 1970s, time paging through pattern books to see patterns were usually printed one size what was out there—and the answer, for per envelope (unlike current patterns, my sensibilities, was “not much.” which contain four or more sizes). Some older patterns come in factory pre-cut “Why not try Etsy?” a friend suggested. pieces, with perforated holes instead of the printed markings you are probably The next evening, I found myself looking familiar with. at page after page of adorable toddler fashions. Not only did I find apron A reliable online seller will describe the STITCH dresses from the 60s, there were party pattern and its condition: whether it is dresses from the 50s, sundresses from printed or perforated, used or uncut, the the 40s and even a few patterns from the condition of the envelope and instruction 30s. This naturally led to page after page sheet, and whether all the pieces are of remarkable women’s fashions from the there. You will need to make these mid-20th century and beyond. Before I determinations yourself when you are knew it, I was matching old patterns to buying a found pattern. modern fabrics and sewing clothes that I could not buy for any price in any store. “The tissue is usually acid-free, so [patterns] survived very well,” says Professor Emery, Etsy is only one source for vintage curator of the University of Rhode Island patterns. They are available from online Commercial Pattern Archive. “It is the resellers like eBay, Amazon, and some envelopes and instruction sheets that tend specialty websites. Thrift stores may offer to disintegrate.” I always look for an intact a selection of used patterns in various and readable instruction sheet, which will levels of condition and completeness. explain all pattern markings, describe They may also be found at estate sales assembly, and often provide instruction for and garage sales. vintage sewing techniques, which can differ from modern approaches. I like to copy Spend some time browsing several this sheet before beginning work in order websites to get a sense of selection and to prevent the wear and tear of folding and price, which vary widely. I expect to pay unfolding it. less for a used pattern than I would for a new one, but you might be willing to pay The time to contact a seller about any considerably more for a pattern that is problem with your purchase is when unusual and exactly what you want. it arrives in your mailbox. Check that the condition of the pattern matches Choose your size carefully. Pattern the seller’s description and that all sizing has changed several times since promised pattern pieces are there. I 1863, and even modern sewing patterns use a simple form to record the pattern don’t correspond to store sizes. Your number, size, and to check the pieces 58 BY HAND SPRING/SUMMER 2013 against the pattern guide. Download it > little girl while I worked, so had she. rebeccablood.net/pattern_checklist.pdf. And just as I did, when she finished sewing 50 years ago, some other Professor Emery recommends storing mother had dressed her daughter in a your patterns in plastic comic book handcrafted little apron dress, a tangible sleeves or ordinary food storage bags. token of her love. Leave the bags unsealed so that moisture cannot collect and damage the paper. COPYING YOUR VINTAGE Complete instructions for preserving and PATTERN organizing your pattern collection are available from the Commercial Pattern Now, when you purchase a pattern, it Archive > uri.edu/library/special_ is yours and if you want to cut and alter collections/COPA/preserve.php. it as you would a new pattern, you are absolutely entitled to do so. Patterns are Vintage sewing patterns are valuable made to be used. simply because they were designed to be STITCH disposable: every one that has survived But I can’t do it. An uncut vintage pattern has beaten the odds. And they are, feels like a treasure to me—a first-edition Professor Emery says, “a documentation Dickens, or an old, un-cancelled stamp. Even of everyday life that you cannot get when a pattern has been used, I’m loath to anywhere else.” A used pattern, she damage these intimate pieces of personal points out, signifies its popularity. Unlike history by pinning or slashing them. films and advertisements, these patterns embody real clothing worn by real The easiest way to copy a vintage pattern women in every kind of social situation. is to find a copy center that does large format copying, and simply copy it there. But for me, their value goes far beyond Call shops in your area to request a the historical. My grandmother’s patterns price quote before you go. Typically you tell me things about her I could never have can expect to pay by the square foot. known without knowing her as a young Calling around for quotes, I found that woman. That my grandmother, always a copy of a 32” by 43” full pattern sheet tired when she came home from working would cost me $5.74 in a local copy shop on her feet all day, made time to sew me a in Chelmsford, MA and $7.17 at a San little dress speaks volumes to me. Francisco FedEx/Kinkos. Since most patterns would require that you copy more As I cut out that first than one sheet, this method may add dress for my own considerably to the cost of your pattern. toddler, I thought about the mother So here are three methods for copying who had used the your patterns at home. The first method, pattern before for cut patterns, can be used with slightly me. Just as I had damaged patterns. The second method carefully chosen a is for use with uncut patterns, using an fabric I thought my opaque paper for your copy.