Choosing the Right Size Pattern

Courtesy of RetroMonkeys

Sewing pattern sizes are very differently than Ready to Wear clothing sizes. Many people get confused by all of the variables. Add vintage pattern sizing into the mix and many throw their hands in the air. 

 

The first thing that you need to do is determine your measurements. This is best done with some help. Measuring yourself is usually less accurate than if you have another person measure you. 
Make sure to keep a sheet with your measurements and to make changes whenever necessary. This site has a great one: http://caromodello.com/fashion/measurements

Start at your high bust: 

To find your high bust, measure under arms and straight across the back. Then wrap to front above your breasts. 

Then Measure your full bust by wrapping around the fullest point of your bust. 

So, if your high bust is 36 inches and full bust is 38, then your bust size is 36B. The high bust is the measurement that you will use to determine the bust size. 

Next, measure your natural waist. Some can find their waistline easily, some can't. To find it, with the tape measure wrapped around your torso below your bust, bring it down tightening slightly as you go. When the measurement starts increasing, go back to the smallest area - ta da! Your waistline. 

Hips. There are several measurements to take when it comes to hips. Hips go from below the waist to your high thighs. Again, if you can have somebody else help you, your measurements will be far more accurate.  

See the awesome drawing to the  right. (See the original at: caromodello )

Basically the hip measurement that you need is where ever your hips are the largest. 



Now to Choose! 

Now that you have accurate measurements, it's time to figure out your pattern size(s). 

Most of us are not one size top and bottom. So, you are going to use different measurements to determine the required size. If it's a blouse or top you are looking for, the high bust measurement is the one you want to fit. Alterations can be made more easily to other areas. 
If it's a pair of pants or skirt, it's those hips! A dress - go with the high bust. Keep the skirt style in mind though! The image below shows the most common body types. Make sure the style you choose is appropriate for your body type. There is a flattering style for each and every one of us. 

Most of all, enjoy finding the perfect pattern and making something beautiful. 


To find the Perfect Pattern for you, Visit Pattern Patter Team Page on Etsy! 

FEATURED SHOP HISTORICALLY INSPIRED PATTERNS

HISTORICALLY INSPIRED PATTERNS

Catherine with her Husband and Daughter

Catherine Dean is the owner of Historically Inspired Patterns on Etsy. She lives in a 1920's house on the Historic Register in Richmond, VA with her husband and their three year old daughter. 

McCall's 4049 

Catherine has been selling on Etsy since 2008. I got to know her in 2012 through Etsy. She has had several different shops over the years. She currently has 3 active shops with her pattern shop being her main focus. The other two are a destash shop, and a new fabrics and patterns shop. Catherine was selling vintage items, fabrics and supplies as well as upcycled jewelry. It was during a thrift shop hunt that she discovered sewing patterns and fell in love. She started collecting them until one day she realized they were taking over her office. Before she knew it, she had opened yet another shop. 

Working as a Museum Curator
for Historic Homes in Virginia

Now that you know about how she started selling patterns, you have got to read about who she is and everything she has accomplished in her life! 

Catherine is a Social Historian by trade. She is a wealth of information and is able to help other

McCall 6448

sellers with her knowledge of the correct methods of caring for vintage paper. A true romantic, Catherine has always loved old houses, period costumes, and anything else that painted a picture of "the way life used to be". 

In high school she dabbled in vintage clothing. By the time she was in college she worked in a costume shop, devoured books on social history. My appetite for vintage clothing had grown into a love for historical costumes as well as historic dance. 

Regency Dancing

While still attending college she decided that working in a museum would fit my passions well. She got a degree in Museum Studies and eventually landed a job as curator for the statewide preservation organization in Virginia. Catherine spent most of a decade working in Historic Houses in Virginia until she "retired:" to stay at home with her daughter. 

Today she still does some consulting work as well as running a wholesale jewelry business marketing to museum shops and of course, selling her patterns!  I'm also an active Babywearing Educator. She works to help families learn how to safely use a variety of baby carriers.  

DuBarry 2401B

She began selling on ETSY  as a way to pay for her first house in 2007. Once she decided to leave her day job, Catherine was able to spend more time working on my pattern shop.  As a result, Historically Inspired Patterns maintains an inventory of almost 2,000

Vogue 1549 
Diane Von Furstenberg
Wrap Dress

items. (plus lots more in various stages of preparation) and nearly 7,500 sales.  Her shop carries  a little bit of everything because she get bored quickly and likes the variety of switching from antique to vintage to out of print to contemporary. She is now branching out into doll patterns, kits, and                                                                  fabrics. 

Who wouldn't want to stay home? 

ETSY has made it possible for Catherine to supplement her family's income while being able to stay at home with her daughter while she is young. 

Catherine's Shop links:

HistoricallyPatterns

Pastcrafts
HistoricallyDestash
HistoricallyInspired  (Currently on hiatus)

Catherine is offering readers a discount. Use Coupon Code:
patternpatter10  good for 10% off through September 30 2014

Focus On: Easter Finery

By Sherri from sewbettyanddot

“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it/You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.”

These lyrics are from the title song by Irving Berlin from the 1948 film Easter Parade (starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire). How did the tradition of wearing elaborate hats at Easter come about? Easter, symbolic of rebirth, is celebrated in springtime, when the flowers begin to unfurl and animals give birth to their young, and it's believed that in premodern times people wore garlands of flowers and leaves to celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of the longer, lighter days of spring. At the end of a cold dark winter, women often gladly switched out of heavier, darker, more practical clothing and celebrated spring with pastel colors, lighter fabrics, and more frivolous hats. Manhattan's Easter parade began in the 1880s and continues today (today's hats are often over-the-top themed hats rather than the elegant chapeaux of the past)--there's still time for you to make your bonnet and book a ticket to New York!

Let's take a look at some hat patterns from the Pattern Patter team...and while we're at it, how about picking a frock to go with your lovely bonnet (interestingly, a "bonnet" is traditionally defined as a hat or cap with strings that tie under the chin, definitely NOT what we think of today as an "Easter bonnet"). And let's not forget the little ones...or the guys...or the dogs!

As always, please click on the image to enlarge it.

Top row, left to right: Anne Adams 4926: FriskyScissors

Butterick 8446: patternshop

Simplicity 5337: RomasMaison

Middle row: Butterick 4146: PrettyPatternShop

Hollywood 1003: SoVintageOnEtsy

Simplicity 8521: allthepreciousthings

Bottom row: Butterick 6033: PurplePlaidPenguin

Simplicity 1761: retromonkeys

Vogue 7325: DesignRewindFashions

Top row: Advance 2082: sewbettyanddot

McCall 6399: ShellMakeYouFlip

Simplicity 3833: VirtualVintage

Simplicity 7482: LagunaLane

Second row: Advance 9457: DejaVuPatterns

McCall’s 3815: PinkPolkaDotButton

Simplicity 4636: ErikawithaK

Simplicity 9769: HoneymoonBus

Third row: Butterick 5282: beththebooklady

Simplicity 1930: EmSewCrazy

Vogue 1351: cottageparkvintage

Fourth row: Butterick 6766: serine23

Simplicity 3132: paneenjerez

Simplicity 7302: BluetreeSewingStudio

Vogue 7207: VioletCrownEmporium

Top row: Advance 3806: JeaniesShop

Simplicity 1019: Jantiki

Simplicity 8368: WEAREVINTAGESEWING

Middle row: Advance 9953: ViennasGrace

Simplicity 4134: Denisecraft

Style 4806: Redcurlzs

Bottom row: Advance 3806: JeaniesShop

Simplicity 4166: VintageNeedleFinds

Simplicity 8928: GreyDogVintage

There is a style for everyone--and that's the beauty of sewing with vintage patterns, don't you agree? Which style suits your fancy? Tell us in the comments!

September Fashion Alert: What About The Pantsuit?

By Amy Russo of Vienna’s Grace

I am sure most of us would agree that there is nothing more perfect than a man in a great suit! This, and of course functionality, must have been the allure for the 1930s androgynous look of Marlene Dietrich. Photographs of her in a trouser suit by Coco Chanel began to make some fashion waves during this time. The style was quickly embraced throughout the Hollywood Scene, with Lauren Bacall and Lucille Ball as some of the high profile stars to sport the new popular trouser suits. But no other comes to mind than that of Katharine Hepburn, with her casual trousers and matching jacket, from which we start to see the first signs of feminine tailoring in the women’s pantsuits.

During World War II, when men were called to war, all the men’s suits left hanging in the closet sent women to their sewing machines, altering and darting in waistlines to create a working women’s suit. They sported this new fashion with pride for the men defending their country and with pride in themselves for changing the workforce forever.

In the 1960’s, two styles of the pantsuit hit the fashion designer scene. Andre Courreges created what was thought of as a space-like pantsuit. The close fitting design, with collar and sleeve variations, was made in the newest stretchable fabrics. I think this look later evolved into the women’s leisure suit. Although it is not my favorite fashion look, this did serve a purpose for the style evolution of the women’s pantsuit. Then in the 1960’s, Yves St. Laurent hit the disco fashion scene with the femme fatale look of the Le Smoking suit, a men’s classic tuxedo designed for a women’s body. No doubt, the well-known tuxedo scene in Flashdance owes some credit to Yves St. Laurent.

Here are some of the pantsuits that have hit the recent runway, some with bold prints, and others classic in design. There is something so flattering to a women’s silhouette in a suit jacket and trousers. I guess that is what has sent women through the last 90 years, in search of the perfect fitting pantsuit.

Etsy treasury for individual listing links

(reading left to right)

1. Kinseysue-Simplicity 6193 2. Finickypatternshop-Simplicity 9215

3. Fancywork-Simplicity 2395 4. Sutlerssundries-Butterick 6929

5. Retromonkeys-Hollywood 899 6. JFerrariDesigns-Butterick 4202

7. ThePatternSource-Vogue 2956 8. CloesCloset-Vogue 8491

9. Vogue 1326 10. Patternshop-Simplicity 6104

11. MantueMakerPatterns-Simplicity 8866 12. Paneenjerez-DuBarry 6038

13. ErikawithaK-Vogue S4640 14. DesignRewindFashions-Butterick 3916

15. Sewbettyanddot-Vogue 1428 16. Allthepreciousthings- Vogue 8519

Focus On: Collars

By Sherri of Sew Betty and Dot

We may not often give too much thought to collars, but the collar in its many forms is an important design element on a garment: when one says "Peter Pan," "sailor," or "Mandarin," we all instantly know what those specific collars look like. And the word "collar" features in several English-language idioms: "blue collar worker"; "hot under the collar"; and in law enforcement terminology, a suspect is "collared" (perhaps derived from the fact that policemen grabbed suspects by the belt and collar).

The history of collars is a bit murky, but it appears that they developed out of the drawstring edge of a chemise, the undergarment that men and women wore for centuries under their outer garments. That ruffled edge developed into ruffs--think Queen Elizabeth I--and then into other forms and shapes.

Until the early twentieth century, men's shirts had detachable collars (and cuffs)--because the body of the shirt was usually hidden under a waistcoat or jacket when the man was out in public, the fact that it hadn't been washed for several weeks wasn't readily apparent; filthy collars and cuffs, however, would be instantly noticed, so clean ones could be substituted much more frequently than the shirt itself was laundered.

Let's take a look at some collars--by no means an exhaustive examination--and observe how they change the look and feel of a garment.

 Clockwise from top left:
1. Stand-up collar with horseshoe neckline: Simplicity 8307
2. Sailor collar: Butterick 3532
3. Wide notched collar: McCall's 5251
4. Jabot collar: Butterick 4658: DejaVu Patterns

Clockwise from top left:
1. Petal collar:  Simplicity 8485
2. Nehru (technically a Mandarin collared jacket, but wanted to show the guys some love!): McCall's 9484
3. Cape collar: Advance 8234
4. Ruffled collar on bateau neckline: Vogue 1355

 Clockwise from top left:
1. Peter Pan collar: McCall's 4162
2. Roll collar: Advance 3111
3. Ruffled collar on V-neck: Simplicity 5896
4. Flat collar with ruffle: Simplicity 4913

Clockwise from top left: 
1. Mandarin collar: Simplicity 6537
2. Sailor collar: Marian Martin 9442
3. Bow collar (and Mandarin!): Simplicity 3438
4. Scalloped shawl collar: Butterick 4558

 Clockwise from top left:
1. Dog ear collar: Simplicity 9691
2. Cowl collar:  Vogue 5558
3. Wing collar: Butterick 5216
4. Chelsea collar: Simplicity 3615

Picture yourself in one of these collar styles--which one do you prefer? Tell us in the comments If your favorite style is not pictured here, tell us about it.

Focus on: Pockets

By Sherri of Sew Betty and Dot

This is the first in a series of blog posts focusing on a particular aspect of a garment's design.

Today we look at pockets, those oh-so-handy (pun intended) applied elements that began as a practical solution to carrying around necessities and then began to take on a design or decorative purpose over the ages. The pockets below are clearly just decorative! (Or maybe a small lipstick and one house key will fit?)

Butterick 7445: Sew Betty and Dot

The word "pocket" is derived from the Anglo-Norman word "pokete," which means small bag or pouch. And the first pockets were indeed small bags sewn onto a thin band that was then tied around a woman's waist, usually over her shift and under her petticoats (men's pockets were sewn right into seams and linings)--women's dresses did not have pockets as we know them, sewn into/onto a garment, until the eighteenth century. Remember, dresses were full and wide-shirted, with petticoats and/or panniers and hoops under them. A pocket could be worn with no interruption to the line of the dress itself.

And these tied-on pockets seemed to have held quite a lot: handkerchiefs, needle kits, combs, pocket-books (small diaries), snuff cases, scent bottles (often held up to the nose to block out some of the unpleasant odors associated with urban living), and sometimes even small food items (!). Pockets were often hand made and frequently made by friends as gifts.

Image courtesy
 The Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century,
who I believe got the image from Victoria and Albert online (see below).

When fashions changed to the more straight up-and-down form familiar from the Regency period (Jane Austen, anyone?), the tied-on pockets, which added bulk, no longer worked: voila, the reticule (a very small, often drawstring bag) was born.

Image courtesy JaneAusten.co.uk

By the 1840s, as fashion changed again and dresses and skirts became full again, they began to have pockets sewn into the seams. (All of the pocket history comes from the Victoria and Albert Museum, which, in addition to being one of my very favorite museums,  is a fabulous fashion/costume resource online.) But enough history: let's look at some gorgeous vintage sewing patterns where the pocket is prominent.
Butterick 3918:
Dresses from the 1920s--again, with straight up-and-down lines, for the most part--didn't lend themselves to pockets. The dress above (late twenties/early thirties) has small diagonal patch pockets, not terribly noticeable. In the 1930s:

Butterick 3918: 

New York 971:  GreyDogVintage

Patch pockets, often relatively small...

Simplicity 1562: MissBettysAttic

DuBarry 1184B: All the Precious Things

McCall 9451: PaneenJerez

And an evening dress with tiny decorative pockets!

Pockets became more decorative in the 1940s; you often see contrasting colors or bias pockets, or designs where the pocket is a feature of the garment.

Simplicity 2075: PeoplePackages

Simplicity 4496: FaithfulFabrics

Simplicity 2903: DesignRewindFashions

McCall 7544: Sandritocat

McCall's  7735: Anne 8865

Enormous pockets!!! And then the 1950s:

Simplicity 4354: RetroMonkeys

McCall's 8731: Vienna's Grace

Vogue 553: DejaVuPatterns

Butterick 6125: RomasMaison

Modes Royale D-154: SydCam

Simplicity 4680: Cherry Corners

 And some Swingin' Sixties pockets:

Butterick 9550: SelvedgeShop

Butterick 2288: RedCurlz

 Butterick 2938: SewUniqueClassique

 Vogue 1867: SewBohemian

   Finally, 1970s pattern pandemonium:

Simplicity 8778: Sewing With Miss Dandy

Butterick 6548: GrandmaMadeWithLove

McCall's 5058: QuiltCitySue

Simplicity 7311: MBChills

Butterick 6243: CaliforniaSunset

Pockets! Pockets!! Pockets!!! It's a Pocket-Palooza!

Tell us in the comments: which pocket-centric pattern would YOU be most likely to wear?