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McCall 5040 - Man's Pirate Costume
Early 1930s. Â Another nice color illustration from McCall, very likely by the same illustrator who did our deadly handsome Spanish Gentleman.Pirate movies seem to have been popular from the dawn of the...
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Butterick 4514 - Shawl or Travelling Case
May, 1892Are you traveling over the holidays? Â Don't forget your shawl case. Â What? Â You don't have one! Â How are you going to keep track of your shawl, raincoat, galoshes, train ticket, drawing tablet...
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Les Patrons Favoris & Les Patrons Parisiens 17.6 - Tablier Fantaisie
Late 1940s, early 1950s.This is a nice example of how "The New Look" made its way into all aspects of women's clothing, not just dressy clothing. Â What makes this "fancy" apron such a wonderful example...
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McCall 3610 - Ladies' Apron
About 1910.This one seems to be related to McCall 2550, although in this case, rather than holding her palette and brush, our model holds her fluffy little dish mop, ready to bring her cut glass...
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McCall 4653 - Ladies'& Misses' One-Piece Overalls or Shorts
From the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas1942Once you get your Victory Garden watered, you can change into a cool play suit and take a nice picnic out to the lake (provided you...
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Votre Mode 686 - Robe ou Tablier de Classe
[Class dress or apron] This unprinted tissue pattern was one of a lot of two. Â The other pattern is a pull-out from the Votre Mode magazine.The typeface and photos of women's fashions in the pull-out...
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Weldons No. 83 - Smart Overalls
1940s (World War II). Â Probably after June, 1941.Weldons was the British equivalent of McCalls, producing both a women's magazine and home sewing patterns.Weldon's "So-Easy" line of patterns seems to...
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DuBarry 1300B (Ladies' Pirate Costume)
Mid 1930s.This one is in the fine tradition of pirate pin-up girls, who sometimes get enlisted to sell oranges.Although today we think of costumes being worn only on Halloween, fancy dress parties were...
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Patrone-Modele - Sport Ensemble
First half of the 1950s. Â Mes amis, it is time to get the Citroen out of the garage and take a tour into the wine country to see the grape harvest. Â Monsieur will be correctly dressed for the country...
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May Manton 1015 - Design for embroidering a case for rubber over shoes
19-teens.Another entry for the Pointless Handwork category. Â As the autumn rains have started here, my mind turns to keeping my feet dry. Â I don't possess overshoes, but if I did, I might make up and...
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Simplicity 4683 - Men's, Boys' and Women's Apron
Mid 1940s.This unprinted pattern dates to before 1946, as this is apparently when Simplicity started printing their patterns.A nice, straightforward apron for the Gentleman and his Missus, who has also...
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Vogue 3578 - Cat Costume
Late 1920s.These early Vogue patterns are scarce, but they do show up now and again. Â According to Butterick's corporate history, by the 1920s, each Vogue Pattern Book (published six times per year,)...
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McCall 3298 - Men's Overalls
1920s. A nice basic bib-and-braces overalls pattern for the gentleman. More research needs to be done into household management in order to understand the decision to make overalls rather than buy...
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Simplicity 7099 - Boy's Colonial Costume
1938, based on the cinema listings in a cutout from a newspaper folded in with the pattern pieces (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was playing at the Melba, children 20 cents all times.)Independence...
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McCall 7432 - "Mary Poppins" Stuffed Doll with Nanny Costume
1964. Although I concentrate my collecting on the more utilitarian patterns, I'm intrigued by patterns produced as marketing tie-ins, so a few have made their way into the archives.This one resonates...
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McCall's 3009 - Snowmobile Suit
1971It's getting to be that time of year. A deep snow pack is developing and the ponds and lakes are beginning to develop good thick ice. For the vintage snowmobile enthusiast, this may be the best...
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Superior 39P1105 - Ladies Maternity Apron Dress
Nineteen-teens. It's a little unusual at this early date to see a pattern described explicitly as maternity wear. One suspects, though, that many patterns blandly described as wrappers, Mother...
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Vogue 1468 - Bicentennial Dresses
1976There is a little bit to unpack here, starting with how I did, then didn't, then finally did acquire my copy of this pattern.I'd been watching for this pattern for several years before a copy...
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Weldons 120313 - Betsy Trotwood
Late 1930s or early 1940s.David Copperfield is the first of Dickens's books that I listened to rather than read, and I found that 33 hours of the audiobook was a great distraction from the endless dark...
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Patt-o-Rama 8500 - Apron and Bonnet
 1961, based on this advertisement in the Benton Harbor Michigan News-Palladium on May 11, 1961. The original mailing envelope has a return address for GRIT, a periodical for rural folks. The...
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Vogue 590 - Misses' Dress and Top
Early 1980s. This pattern was also issued by Vogue as number 8826 with the same cover artwork. Today it shows up frequently on eBay and Etsy.Born in England on October 8, 1928, Erica Wilson graduated...
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Home Pattern Company 157 - Ladies' Matinee or Morning Blouse
Authorized by the American Red Cross, this pattern was produced during World War I (1914-1918.)The pattern is referenced in Junior Red Cross Activities Teachers Manual, American Red Cross publication...
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Universal Fashion Company 800 - Working Blouse
Universal Fashion CompanyI've found several different founding dates for Universal Fashion Company, with the earliest date being 1881, though I've been unable to find newspaper advertisements for them...
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4577 "Santa Claus" Suit
The earliest date I've found for this pattern is 1923 and 1925 seems to be the last year this pattern was advertised in the newspapers.This nice newspaper advertisement illustration is all about...
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May Manton 6599 - Boy's Base Ball Suit
1910. This patterns seems to have been advertised in the newspapers only in 1910, but appeared in newspapers across the country, from St. Albans, Vermont to Butte, Montana.The ad from Butte provides...
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