Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Vintage for Children

Vintage patterns and styles have caught my eye lately.  The big 4 pattern companies have a number of vintage reissues but so far I have not tried one.  Recently I found a vintage child’s dress pattern at a rummage sale which I bought it for 25 cents.  
Scrutinizing the pattern instructions I found the copyright date which is 1945.  
Here is a photo of the pattern envelope. 
Child's vintage pattern envelope
See Jane run!   
This is my first vintage pattern and I was not expecting the pattern pieces to be blank.  That threw me for a loop initially, but once I pulled out all the pieces and pressed them flat plus some actual reading of the instruction page the notations became clear.
2 large circles  = straight grain line
3 large circles = place on fold
notches = match same as current patterns
medium and small circles = dots, mark and match same as current patterns
vintage childs pattern instr
For some reason the way the pattern pieces are noted by a letter made via small pinholes  made me laugh.  Here is an example for the front bodice “B”
Vintage Child's pattern pieces
vintage child's pattern piece
On the first part of the instruction page there is a short paragraph advertising the “Simplicity Sewing Book”  for 15 cents, which is the same as the price of this pattern.
The pattern is a child’s size 4, and as far as I can tell, it is about the same as a modern child’s size 4.  I used some turquoise cotton I had on the shelf, and the white section is a substantial cotton pique that I think I have had for over 10 years.   There is enough to make a dress or two and I am not sure what I am saving it for.  
Vintage Childs Dress front
Finished dress.   The scalloped front is so cute - I think I will use that detail on some other dresses this summer.  It could be adapted around a neckline or hem.  I have done that in the past by making a template on some stiff paper - try using a kitchen glass or something like that to get the perfect scallops in a snap.  Then the template can be put across the bottom of a dress pattern to make both the hem and facing.
For my first vintage pattern, a child’s dress was fun.  The grown up vintage styles take a lot of fabric!  Think Mad Men or I Love Lucy.   Vintage Dress pattern Vogue 1043 is on my desk and hopefully fabric inspiration will strike.  Now all I need is an occasion to wear it.

Vintage Childs Dress back Vintage Childs Dresss close up front

No comments:

Post a Comment