10 Tips to collecting vintage patterns Part 1 (5 tips of 10)

When I started collecting vintage patterns, I had no idea what I was doing - none! I just discovered a world I didn't know existed, liked it and went from there. Here's what I've learned so far......

1. Collect what you like or what you like to wear. 
This is simple, individual and it's much more fun to you collect what you like. For me, I soon learned I leaned heavily towards the glamour of evening wear, so I tend to collect cocktail dresses, gowns and wedding dresses. Not something you use or sew everyday but so lovely to look at.

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For you, it could be lingerie, aprons, children's costumes, day dresses, separates, coats, jackets - you get the idea - the possibilities are endless.

2. Select a period that you like (if you have one)
This could be anywhere from the 1920s to 1980s. The older the pattern, the more difficult it can be to find and perhaps more expensive. Older pattern are sometimes in poorer condition, so be prepared.

1940s lingerie pattern 

1960s cocktail dress pattern

For me, it's mostly the fifties and early sixties but I do stray into other periods if I like the pattern or I happen upon a bargain.

1960s cocktail dress pattern

3. Decide on the size range you wish to collect
Are the patterns for you? If so, you need to understand your measurements and how they relate to vintage patterns. Vintage sizing is vastly different from today's commercial pattern sizing so you'll have to double check the measurements before a purchase.

4. Do you want the pattern new and unused? 

Does this matter to you? Many vintage patterns are already cut (some more carefully than others). They are often still very useable for sewing especially if they have been carefully folded and stored. Other patterns can be found as "factory folded" - these patterns have not been opened or pieces unfolded. Factory folded patterns often command a premium. 

5. How much do you want to spend?
This is a big one. It's very easy to get carried away and blow a budget. Trust me, I've done it. It's worthwhile deciding what your budget is and ultimately what you're prepared to pay for each pattern. More about pricing in a future post.  When purchasing, I generally have a ceiling price in mind. Sometime I will go crazy if I love the pattern but I usually try and keep it in perspective.
As a rule of thumb - be prepared to pay higher prices for older, factory folded patterns especially if they are designer patterns, beachwear (go figure) or evening wear.

I'd love to hear what you look for when buying patterns? Do you have particular type of patterns you collect?

Test garment complete and dress started

After completing the muslin for this dress, I got a bit side tracked a domestic project namely curtains, so progress has been a slow.

Here's what I learned from doing a muslin for the first time:-
- there's a great sense of freedom in cutting and making a muslin, knowing you won't make a mistake with  your precious fashion fabric
- as the dress is for someone else it give's you a great opportunity to try the garment and make any necessary adjustments
- as it's a vintage pattern, some aspects of the dressmaking is a little different, so the muslin gives you an opportunity to become familiar with the garment construction
- you don't have to bother with the time consuming finishing part of the dressmaking
- with this dress in particular, the waist is tiny and very nipped in, so some adjustment was required there
- the length was adjusted to around knee length

This is the selected fabric...it's 100% lightweight cotton.

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As the cotton is relatively sheer, there was some discussion about lining the dress, especially the skirt. However the wearer prefers not to have it lined making life easier for the sewer :).

I haven't posted a photograph of the muslin yet but might add one later - it's a little crumpled....

If you have expensive fabric and are a little uncertain about your pattern and fit, I'd certainly recommend a muslin (or test garment). It 's quicker than you think.Yes, it adds expense but I'd rather have problems with the cheaper muslin at $3/m. 

If you interested in more thoughts on this, the delightful Gertie has done a number of technical posts on her muslins - here's one.... 

Let me know what you think. Do you do one? Do you have a different approach?

More canvas work

This photo was taken at Coffs Harbour en route to Queensland (about 3 weeks ago). Here are the lee cloths I made to keep the cockpit warmer and drier while sailing. We were very happy to have these when we did our chilly overnight trip. Once again the sewing isn't pretty as it was a learning curve (with no pattern to work from). The walking foot was a big help in managing the canvas.

Basically, it's a rectangular piece of canvas finished with turnover seams. After the basic rectangle was finished, we inserted plastic grommets which involved punching a suitable hole out of the canvas and then assembling a grommet piece on either side of the fabric and snapping it together.

In between each grommet I sewed a hook through sewable plastic. This was a little frustrating as my machine has a low shank foot and the hook was quite high which mean't I couldn't sew as close to the hook as I would like. Also the needle kept getting caught in the plastic and I had to keep an eye on it otherwise it just pulled out of the machine.

A piece of stretch cord was then threaded through the grommets allowing us to hook the cord around the life lines to secure it on the boat. This has proved a really simple mechanism for fastening the cloths onto the boat but also being able to undo the areas we need to when accessing other boat bits.

Window screens

Here's part of what I've been doing for the last few days - not pretty but very practical - window shades for our boat. The boat has large windows around the boat which gives terrific visibility and great light down below but can be hot in summer (see the red outline which is how the screens will be fitted). There is one set of windows on each side of the boat.

As we're planning a trip to the tropics, we thought window shades would be a good idea. So I bought some vinyl black (not blue as it appears in the photo) mesh fabric from Sailrite called Phifertex, which has a number of outdoor uses and provides 70% sunshade but still gives a good view.

I wanted to make them in 2 pieces only, one for each side of the boat, to make them easy to take off and on. So I made a paper pattern and sewed 3 pieces together so it could accommodate the curve of the windows towards the front of the boat. Plus the window sizing wasn't uniform which didn't help.

I ran some black vinyl tape around the edges for strength and finished the edges with black marine grade bias binding. Black snaps were added which will be attached to adhesive sockets on the boat (which means no drilling - hooray).

Front snap

Rear snap

It doesn't look too lovely right now but it will definitely do the job and I'll post a photo once they have been fitted.

My new walking foot

I think this could be my new best sewing friend - my walking foot. I bought this recently after making my boat cushions and feeling like I was fighting the canvas when I was machine stitching. I'm also hoping it will help with slippery and other other hard to manage fabrics.

I've only used it briefly on some canvas I'm sewing for the boat lee cloths (more about these later) and have already found it fantastic. It shows in the top stitching....without the walking foot, the length of stitches are irregular and the line of stitching is not too straight. All this is because I'm trying to manage the long length and heavy weight of the fabric while trying to sew straight. Challenging.

Before walking foot - irregular stitches

With walking foot - stitches more regular & straighter

With the walking foot, the stitch lengths and straightness have improved. I also don't feel like I'm fighting the canvas like I was before.

Yes, it's bulkier than a regular foot but I haven't found this a problem and the control more than compensates for this.

I'll report further when I try it on other fabrics. Does anyone else have any tips on this they can share? Are there any other presser feet you can recommend to make sewing easier?

Progress report - Vintage Vogue dress

Spent a good part of the day on this dress and so far so good. A few things I learned through the day....

- the Japanese fabric is an absolute dream. It's easy to work with and has a great weight and feel. I'm already happy with it's selection for the pattern

- I used pattern weights for the first time for cutting from Judis Studio. Made placing, replacing and cutting the pattern so much easier. I don't know why I persisted with pins for so long. These weights aren't cheap. I bought one set (two may be better) but it saved a heap of time

- I also used basing tape to insert the zip. I'd been dreading the zip, not having done one for so long and I always find them a pain. I'm not one for doing a lot of basting so any short cut  is welcome. I found the tape really useful to use with a great result. I'd does make the needle sticky and you have to make sure you don't get any adhesive on the zip. Will see how it goes in the longer term...

Double sided basting tape in place

Zip stuck in place on tape an fabric

Final result - not too bad!

Wedding dress reworked

In 2009 I had a wonderful wedding in Bali. I wore a great ivory silk gown from Karen Willis Holmes in Sydney. The shoulder was georgette and the flowers were all silk. Even in the heat, this was a fabulously comfortable dress to wear. It was Karen's "Rebecca" model with some customisation for me.

Ultimately I had planned to have it modified after the wedding to wear again (as you do!). Well, I did it! Karen's lovely team helped me modify this to a gorgeous wearable cocktail dress.

• The length was shortened to a cocktail length and still accommodated the fullness that was part of the train.
• Black velvet ribbon was added to the folds of the bodice and onto the "belt"
• The shoulder and flowers were removed and thin shoulder straps with bows were added
• The ivory corset satin ribbon was replaced with black satin ribbon
• A black silk flower was then added to the dropped waist band.

I haven't worn it yet but I'm pleased I did it. I'm sure the right event will be just around the corner and I'll have exactly the right dress to wear!

How much fabric

If you're like me, when you're in a fabric shop and discover a fabric you "have to have" but have no idea what length of fabric you need to make what you want, I found a really helpful solution. These are "How much fabric" reference cards from GwynHug. Great purse sized cards make it a very handy reference.
When ordering note that there are imperial and metric versions. After ordering, they arrived in a flash and are now sitting in my handbag for the next purchase.