Featured Shop - She'll Make You Flip! Owner Deb Glosek

Meet Deb from She'll Make You Flip!   

She'll Make You Flip! 

Where do you live?  Central  Pennsylvania

How did you start selling patterns? 

I've always been interested in patterns for the illustrations as much as sewing and kept collecting and collecting.  I finally ran out of storage space and began to sell.  Unfortunately I keep buying and never did free up any space :).  Oh, I also have trouble passing up beautiful fabric when I see it too, but that's another story.

Simplicity 1022 

How long have you been selling? 

Vogue 9732

 On and off since 2010 as time would permit.  I'm now retired and hope to devote more time to selling (and buying, of course). I learned to sew small, basic items like potholders and pillows in the late 60's and eventually graduated to making clothing for myself and made a lot of my clothing through my college and early work years.  As a young mother of three children in the 1980's, I didn't want to work outside the home, so I built a home-based mail order business selling  historically accurate garment patterns, which I ran for 16 years.  In 1999, since my children were older and didn't need me to be at home 24/7, I sold the home-based business and resumed my career as a government financial analyst.  I'm happy to say that I

retired recently and am loving life with my husband , our two shelties and a new grandson!  While I have so many plans for travel, gardening and sewing (teaching our granddaughters), I plan to continue selling patterns in my Etsy shop.  I really enjoy the Pattern Patter Team - it's a wonderful community of like-minded people!  I feels good to keep these wonderful patterns with their lovely illustrations out there for people to enjoy rather than seeing them be tossed and forgotten.  It's especially heart-warming to come across a pattern that I actually sewed and wore as a teenager in the late 60's and early 70's!

Deb with her adorable grandson! 

A new helper!

Deb is offering all Pattern Patter Blog

 readers a 20% discount through August 31st 2014

Enter PATTERNPATTER20 when Checking out! 

Necklines, Part IV

We don't consider how many choices we have when it comes to necklines Parts I through III each featured five different necklines. In this installment, I have five more to share. There will be a Part V with the final four!

Vogue Patterns Magazine
 September/October 1976

The Surplice Neckline has been a favorite for decades. Proper fit is essential when choosing this neckline since it isn't just a neckline, it involves the entire bodice. That alone makes it the perfect sewing project.  Below are just a few gorgeous examples of patterns that have Surplice Necklines. I chose to show the style over the decades.
 For example, the iconic Diane von Furstenberg Wrap dress was created 30 years ago and is still popular today.

         McCall 7490                   Advance 9362                Butterick 6752              Vogue 7820

        RetroMonkeys              DesignRewindFashions      PatternsFromThePast         SewBohemian

The One Shoulder Neckline is a great style for evening gowns and summer tops. This style has remained popular through the decades as it makes a dramatic statement.

             Vogue 7528                        McCall 6807                     Vogue 1702                McCall's 7156

            by Anne8865                      by Fancywork                  by DesignRewind        by PatternsNew2U

By itself a camisole is the perfect solution for hot summer afternoons. Add a jacket for cool evenings and one dress can transition from daytime to evening with ease. The camisole starts a lingerie and finishes as a business blouse under a suit. Below are 3 examples of camisoles with and without a jacket. 

            New Look 6964                                 Vogue 2618                             Butterick 6093

           ThePatternSource                                Vogue Vixens                            PinkPolkaDot

The Funnel Neckline isn't the most common or the most popular of the myriad of choices. However, it had it's day in the sun. During the mid to late 1960's, the Funnel neckline was fairly common. Similar to a mock turtleneck but a little bit more streamlined. It is often paired with raglan sleeves. 

                 McCall's 2755                                    McCall's 9426                             Simplicity 7161

                     Jantiki                                              ViennasGrace                               CloesCloset

The Gathered neckline, was a challenge. Finding examples was more difficult than I expected. I Tried to stick to the high neckline. Below are 3 examples. A 1950's Dress, 1940's Blouse, and a 1980's Dress. The 1980's dress is what I would call a paper bag neckline. 

                Simplicity 2181                               Advance 4277                                     Simplicity 9823

                  Sydcam123                                  FriskyScissors                                     MonkeyandFriends  

Focus On: Sundresses

By Sherri, sewbettyanddot

It's July, it's hot and/or humid (in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere, in any case!), so let's keep it simple, shall we? Let's look at the easy-breezy sundress. 

By the very loosest definition, a sundress is a simple garment that does not require anything else: no belt, no jacket, no stockings...and if you can get away without a foundation garment under it, so much the better! (That being said, many vintage sundress patterns often have little boleros or jackets, presumably to don when the sun gets to be too much, or perhaps to wear for a bit more coverage while in a restaurant). It is sleeveless and may or may not have a relatively revealing neckline.

Historically, the sundress--loose, comfortable, worn without rigid girdles or slips--follows on from the more relaxed garments seen in the 1920s. In the 1930s women began to embrace the notion of physical fitness, and tanning became popular. This is an interesting sociological development: for centuries, pale skin was desirable because it indicated that you were of an upper class--you didn't work outside so your skin remained pale. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813), Caroline Bingley shows her snobbishness here: "How very ill Eliza Bennett looks this morning, Mr. Darcy," she cried. "She is grown so brown and coarse..." Women worked hard to stay covered up when outside (long sleeves--check; sunbonnet--check; shawl--check; parasol--check). In the late 1920s and 1930s, however, social mores switched course and being tanned meant that you were wealthy enough to have leisure time to spend on the beach, golf course, etc. It is alleged that Coco Chanel started the tanning craze after she accidentally got sunburned while on a yachting trip--one more thing we can attribute to Mademoiselle Chanel!

The first sundresses (as we know them) appeared in the 1930s...not coincidentally, around the time playsuits became popular and around the same period when swimsuits exposed more skin. And fashion has never looked back: every decade has seen some version of the sundress--halter, maxi length, mini, backless)--and apparently sundresses are on trend this year. 

So let's look at some lovely sundress patterns from members of the Pattern Patter team:

Top row, left to right: Pictorial Review 7022: kinseysue

McCall 8147: anne8865

Butterick 8473: PrettyPatternShop

Simplicity 2766: ThePlayfulNeedle

Second row: Butterick 4863: sydcam123

Anne Adams 4613: BluetreeSewingStudio

Butterick 4947: FloradoraPresents

Simplicity 1297: DesignRewindFashions

Third row: Vogue 3208: VioletCrownEmporium

Vogue 6446: patternshop

McCall 5995: ShellMakeYouFlip

Vogue 6710: ViennasGrace

Fourth row: McCall 6816: VtgFashionLibrary

Marian Martin 9201: FriskyScissors

Vogue 5782: retromonkeys

Vogue 3206: sandritocat

Top row: Marian Martin 9108: RebeccasVintageSalon

Butterick 6527: redcurlzs

McCall’s 3998: EmSewCrazy

McCall’s 3179: sewbettyanddot

Second row: Advance 5511: historicallypatterns

Patt-o-Rama Mail Order 8201: PinkPolkaDotButton

Simplicity 1197: Fancywork

Australian Home Journal 7814: BessieAndMaive

Third row: Advance 6398: paneenjerez

Simplicity 2113: AdeleBeeAnnPatterns

McCall’s 8946: HeyChica

Simplicity 8395: RomasMaison

Fourth row: Advance 7903: mbchills

Simplicity 3187: Clutterina

Simplicity 4708: ThePatternSource

Simplicity 1626: MidvaleCottage

Top row: Simplicity 3471: ErikawithaK

Simplicity 4930: Cloes Closet

Vogue 6478: MaddieModPatterns

Simplicity 3430: Selvedge Shop

Second row: McCall’s 6818: JeaniesShop

Butterick 4890: VogueVixens

McCall’s 4474: SmilingCatVintage

Butterick 5993: finickypatternshop

Third row: Vogue 9775: dizzyfloozy

Simplicity 6388: allthepreciousthings

Simplicity 7539: retroactivefuture

Simplicity 7869: Denisecraft

Fourth row: McCall’s 7500: PeoplePackages

Vogue 9333: stitchingbynumbers

McCall’s 8037: omasbricabrac

Butterick 4183: SissysPatterns

Which of these sundresses floats your boat? Tell us in the comments!

Necklines Part III

by Mary Beth, RetroMonkeys

The necklines in this post, see the previous posts on necklines Here and Here, are all appropriate for evening wear as well as daytime looks. 

The first neckline is the Sweetheart. The Sweetheart has a  a curved bottom edge that is concave down and usually doubly scalloped to resemble the top half of a heart. Here are a few examples of the versatility of this neckline. Some are very defined and deep some are more subtle. 

                Simplicity 2219                   Vogue 7944                           Simplicity 4321         
             WeAreVintageSewing             CloesCloset                                  Sydcam             


Next is the Décolleté. A low cut V neckline in the case of the example, any revealing cut that accentuates the bust can be considered a décolleté neckline. 

               Vogue 8546                      Modes Royale 965                   Simplicity 6563
              DesignRewind                  RebeccasVintageSalon                EmSewCrazy

The Plunging Neckline is rarely seen except in evening gowns. A popular choice on the red carpet. The neckline usually extends below the bust line sometimes as low as the navel. 

                                            Vogue 1030 Badgely Mischka              Vogue 7630
                                              PeoplePackages                  ShellMakeYouFlip


Strapless tops and dresses have been a favorite over the decades. From formal dresses to a corset or bustier with jeans, the strapless bodice is timeless.

       Vogue Couturier 1113               McCall's 2304                       Simplicity 4272

            SoVintageOnEtsy                        ComeSeeComeSew                       BethTheBookLady

The first thing that enters my mind when I think of Off the Shoulder is Olivia Newton John in Grease. Of course her look in the movie is just one example of the off-shoulder neckline. 

                       McCall 7919                                  Simplicity 5289                     Butterick 8152

                SweetSorotVeasman                              RetroMonkeys                  PinkPolkaDotButton

Halters are a great summer style as well as an evening favorite. Comfortable and sexy with most having a bare back. 

               McCall's 8870                                  Simplicity 3081                         Simplicity 5349

              OmasBricaBrac                              PinkPolkaDotButton                      CloesCloset

That's it for now, Next time - Surplice, One Shoulder, Camisole, Funnel, and Gathered.