Show us your vintage patterns!

[Rachael]

just bought a vogue repro 40s felt hat pattern, has anyone ever had any luck with these?

I have this pattern and have made several of the hats from it:

The one thing to remember is that the patterns are designed for use with wool felt. Other fibers won't shape with steam.

 

[dollydaydream]

omg i love those hats!!!!!!!!!!!

I've shaped bog standard felt by wetting it & leaving it stretched to dry over the shape i wanted. No idea if that is a proper way, but my handy hint anyway lol

 

[alexandra]

I have this pattern and have made several of the hats from it:

The one thing to remember is that the patterns are designed for use with wool felt. Other fibers won't shape with steam.

Holy jeeze I need to make all those hats asap

 

[CherryRed]

I just noticed a vintage inspired swimsuit on PatternReview and noticed it's one of those Burdas you can download for free.

http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/show/3803

It looks really good, I can't wait to try it.

That is so cute! Adding it to my collection now. Thanks!

 

[deadpandiva]

Holy jeeze I need to make all those hats asap

I love this pattern. I have the pillbox/beaning pattern. I didn't follow the direction I guess cause the pillbox didn't come out well.

I also have the only one I think is still in print. It has a few felt hats and one for ribbon and buckham I think, but I can't under stand the directions for that one at all.

 

[Darhling]

Holy jeeze I need to make all those hats asap

make it a double dosis and ship some to me!!

 

[Rachael]

unfortunately the pattern is out of print, at least according to the Vogue website where I swiped the pic. I know I've had it for at least 8 years, purchased it for a road trip to see Eleanor Roosevelt at our state capitol. It was a great show, with Rosie the Riveter as her opening act.

I'll have to dig up the pics we have of our group on the courthouse steps; I made the hat bottom center out of a brown windowpane plaid wool, trimmed with beige dupioni. Because you can buy really high quality fabric when you only need 1/4 yard.

 

[dollydaydream]

When I made a pillbox hat from a vogue pattern it turned out a bot funny shaped. I ended up making it up lol

Anyway, I've been at it again;

Both for less than £8! I looove the first one :eusa_clap

Must stop buying patterns now

 

[alexandra]

Yeah the only hat I ever made was completely made up. I made it out of paper covered in packing tape and black fabric. Ghetto.

I'm actually wearing it in my avatar though lol

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Hats! One of the things I wish I could wear without looking completely & utterly out of place.

My latest pattern acquisition:

It dates to around 1943, going by pattern numbers.

 

[Laura Chase]

I just got this pattern from Old Patterns, it was cheap and it's a bust size 40 (not 42 as it says on the picture), I'm 39-30-40. I know it will be too big on the waist and hips but I'm hoping I can resize it somehow, but I don't know, I'm a total beginner. The instructions are missing (that's why it was so cheap), do you think I will manage without? Do you gals think this pattern is too difficult for a beginner? [huh]

 

[Lady Day]

That is a fairly simple pattern (and super cute). If you have other Hollywood patterns, you can see the instructions on those for what their perforations mean. Often that varied by company.

I have to nip the waist in on mostly ALL my patterns, or Im swimming in 3-5 inches of extra fabric. Now I know its suppose to be blousy, but come on!

A trick I learned about fitting and construction is to make the front and back pieces of the top and skirt, and sew the front blouse and the front part of the skirt , and the back blouse and the back part of the skirt together BEFORE you sew them all together. That way you can see how they match up, it good to see and measure how an altered waist is going to fit with the connected pieces, and then you can match the up side seams and sew down.

Easy peasy (I hope).

LD

 

[Laura Chase]

Phew, good to hear that the pattern isn't complicated. I'm worried about the collar, though. And this is my very first vintage pattern, so I don't have the instructions, but when it arrives I'll be asking for help to decipher the perforations.

What type of fabric do you think would be good for this, would cotton be good? I'd like a lightweight cotton summer dress with a nice print.

I'm not quite understanding this, though, the part about matching up the side seams:

That way you can see how they match up, it good to see and measure how an altered waist is going to fit with the connected pieces, and then you can match the up side seams and sew down.

Thanks Lady Day.

 

[Lady Day]

Give me a little time and Ill draw a picture


LD

 

[dollydaydream]

oooo that's such a cute pattern!! I was terrified of my first unprinted pattern, but it was easy peasy! I think the older patterns are much easier to put together than the newer ones, much more straightforward. You can see how the piece is meant to go together straight off.

hurrah for vintage patterns!!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

She means that instead of making the whole top.....and then attaching to the whole bottom.....


Make the front (both top and bottom) and the back (both top and bottom) and then attach them together...front and back.

 

[dollydaydream]

instead of attaching them horzintally, vertically.

I never thought to do that. I guess it would be much easier. Thank you Lady Day!

 

[Laura Chase]

She means that instead of making the whole top.....and then attaching to the whole bottom.....


Make the front (both top and bottom) and the back (both top and bottom) and then attach them together...front and back.

I'm sooo easily confused when it comes to sewing! lol So the point is to see how the fit will be, but if it doesn't fit, wouldn't you have to take it all apart and take it in evenly everywhere anyway? Please bear with me.

 

[Rachael]

since most of the shaping seams are at the sides, it makes sense to make alterations there. most off the rack formal wear is constructed this way, to ease alterations. So as long as you know how long your bodice will be, this will indeed make things a whole lot easier for adjusting.

This keeps you from having to alter the bodice, alter the skirt, then match the two alterations together. with the style of pattern you have, I can't see how the order of seams would matter once the garment has been pressed.

Great tip!

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

I'm sooo easily confused when it comes to sewing! lol So the point is to see how the fit will be, but if it doesn't fit, wouldn't you have to take it all apart and take it in evenly everywhere anyway? Please bear with me.

If you had to take out a *lot*, then you would generally want to take it out evenly. But most fitting work can be done on the side seams. Say you need to take out 1" - all you have to do is sew each side seam in 1/4". (1/4 x 4 = 1")

And cotton sounds like the perfect choice for a summer dress in that pattern.

ETA: And if you're particularly worried about the fit, I highly recommend making a test garment - usually called a toile or muslin - out of cheap cotton fabric, like muslin. You fix all the issues in the toile, and then make the changes to your pattern before you cut out the good stuff.