29 October 2012

We can rebuild it - Pleat Bag made over

Do you remember the Pleat Bag I made from the Lisa Lam pattern I found at her great website?  I loved it but it was a lot of work.  Heaps of pleats, external straps and a split edge which takes a bit more work when you insert the lining. For the modified versions I only used two pleats, straps inserted in the top seam and a normal straight top edge.  Here is the original.


And here are two examples of a simplified version that use the pleat idea but are a lot faster to make.  The photos aren't true to colour sorry, no sun today.

  
Yellow tweedy cotton and a rayon lining. 
This fabric was quite stiff and held the shape well.



Red gaberdine with brown and red polka dot lining.
The first time I have used a knit fabric for lining and it worked well. 


A better look at the linings.
 I'm really pleased with the results, but it was worth making the first bag to understand what made it look so good.

Thanks for stopping by!




23 October 2012

Vintage Sewing Patterns

Hello there, I've been MIA for a bit.  I've had some house guests and also been doing some serious gardening but I'm back now. 

Today I was looking through my collection of vintage and retro sewing patterns and thought you might like to see some of them.  I have about 30, as you do.


A few of my vintage/retro patterns
I don't know the official definitions of 'vintage' and 'retro' but I tend to think of a pattern as retro if it is reminiscent of my childhood, and vintage if it looks like something older and BK (before Karen). I was born less than a year after the decimalisation of currency in New Zealand so anything with the price in "old money" also meets my vintage criteria.

These patterns look retro to me.

The Simplicity and Style patterns are marked as 1973 and 1971 respectively. 

The Butterick has no date but is priced at 80 cents.  Although NZ went decimal in 1967 we didn't go metric until December 1976 so these patterns still use inches (which seems vintage not retro to me!)

Oh for the figure to carry off those midrif bearing tops.



These patterns look vintage to me, styles I know my Mum wore in her youth.

None have a date but all are priced in shillings.

I love this silhouette.  Fitting bodice, tiny waist and full skirt.  Elegance personified.






Now although many of these patterns are way too small for me or in a style most unsuited to my womanly abundance I keep them because I love to look at them and imagine the lives of their original owners.  I am attracted to anything from the past that gives an insight into the everyday lives of ordinary people.  I'm what I consider to be a "shopping list" type of historian and find the commonplace to be far more revealing and interesting than academic facts and dates.  (That's History with a capital H).

I believe we learn so much from the differences between everyday items of the past and today. 

You see, compared to today's patterns the vintage ones in particular seem to assume home sewers possessed a fair amount of knowledge and skill already.

Vintage or retro patterns are often a collection of paper pieces with no markings on them whatsoever!  They may have punched holes or notched edges but the sewer is expected to be able to work out their meaning by themselves.



Here is an example of a pattern by the NZ company Academy Patterns. 


These pieces do at least have their name stamped on them but otherwise only notches to guide you.  The instructions are exquisitely drawn but minimal - sewing notes cover only one side of a roughly A4 size piece of paper and include terrifyingly tiny and confusing pictures for constructing a "side opening with underlap"!

(I haven't been able to find out much about this NZ company and only have one other later example of theirs - you can see it on the left in the vintage photo above.)

In comparison to this minimal approach, today's pattern pieces are printed with masses of information for the sewer. They include seam allowances, placement marks, grainlines, fitting points like waistline or bustpoint, and options for personalising the fit of a garment. And the instruction sheet takes you through numerous steps to show exactly how the garment is meant to be constructed.  Quite a difference.

Does this mean that people were better sewers in the past? Did little girls all learn tailor's tacks and blind hemming at their mothers' feet? Or does it show that the consumer of yesteryear lacked the power of today's spending public that ensures a product either meets our needs or disappears without trace? Maybe the sewers of then were just as frustrated by the patterns as most people are today but had no other option as ready made clothes were to expensive to purchase regularly?


Eventually the companies must have realised that providing better instructions and having patterns for simple garments made good business sense.  The three patterns above claim to be "Simple to Sew" or "Quick 'n Easy" and include "How to Sew' instructions.

Maybe as time went on and sewing skills became less of the norm they realised this was necessary to keep themselves afloat?  It's hard to sell a product that only experienced seamstresses can use!  Whatever the reason for the change it is fascinating to see the evolution of the home sewing pattern and that's why I have so many I guess.

To finish, here are some cute examples to make you smile.

Does your Dad like to wear his PJs for putting practise?  The two at the back look like they should be in business suits - pipe and paper in hand.

 
 
What about these "continental-fitted" skinny pants with the ubiquitous jutting hips and tiny waists of the 1950s and 60s!?  The middle ones on the Butterick pattern are called Jamaica shorts while the others are short shorts. Obviously.
 
 
 
And what collection would be complete without a classic dress and jacket from 1968?  I really always think of Jackie Kennedy when I see this style.  Or if I ever need a vintage Air Hostess costume this would be perfect in navy,  with a tiny pillbox hat and those darling white gloves.  Coffee, tea or me?!