Alice 150 - Alice in Wonderland Costumes

Maybe you didn't know, but July 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  In celebration, Alice fans all over the globe are participating in tea parties, museum exhibits, lectures, book readings and many more fun events!

I am a member of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) and a really big Alice fan!

I thought it would be fun and super-interesting to look at all the Alice in Wonderland-related sewing patterns that have been produced over the years.  There's many more than you would think!

Won't you follow me down the rabbit hole to Wonderland?

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat..."

Image via Vintage Pattern Wiki

What have we here?  McCall's 1643 from 1951, celebrating the release of Disney's version of the story.  These adorable March Hare and Mad Hatter costumes are suitable for any mad tea party and just plain really cute.  RARE RARE RARE too.. if you have one of these, treasure it!!  Note that it is copyrighted by Disney, as is the below Alice pattern.

Image courtesy of Pink Blackbird

McCall's 8626, seen here, actually is labeled "Alice in Wonderland."  To be used as a costume or as every day wear, I especially adore the little bunny jacket!  This is a very rare pattern.  It was also featured with the March Hare and Hatter costume in McCall's own advertising.

Image via Vintage Pattern Wiki

This beautiful pattern, Simplicity 2240, features an Alice doll and her clothes.  I think this pattern was produced for several years but it's really hard to find!  A lot of reproduction and PDF copies are out there drifting around, but finding an original that's also in good shape is easier said than done.  Still, a must for any Alice collector and I wish I had one!

(Team member Rose Corners has one in stock, though!)

Picture via Vintage Pattern Wiki

While I think it's not specifically branded as an Alice costume, I think it's pretty safe to say that's what inspired Simplicity 3701 from 1951!  (McCall's apparently got the rights from Disney while Simplicity did not.)

Pattern picture courtesy of Historically Patterns

Here is 3702, which is I think is the number for only the toddler sized version of 3701.

Picture from Vintage Pattern Wiki

Vogue 2454 definitely is also Alice-influenced.  The blue dress is a dead give away! Realllllly cute!  The "Alice band" in the hair is another hint.  A type of headwear so firmly connected to Alice that it's named after her!  I also assume this came out about the same time as the Disney movie.

Picture via Vintage Pattern Wiki

In case you weren't sure if this 1970s dress and pinafore were supposed to be Alice themed, the illustrator has helpfully added a tiny white rabbit to the drawing.

Image via All's Fairy Vintage

From team member All's Fairy Vintage's shop comes this 1960s Woman's Day.  It featured cute Alice-themed toys!

Image via Ebay via Pattern-Vault, in a wonderful article about Alice sewing!

This INCREDIBLY RARE circa 1930s/40s Alice pattern featured a flamingo as well!  I have only seen one... maybe two of these for sale in my lifetime.  Does anyone else out there have one?  Do you want to sell it? :)

Images via The Sunny Stitcher

These rare-as-hen's teeth Alice patterns from Weldon's (a British pattern company) were found in a catalog, I've only ever seen the Alice one for sale.  Circa early 1930s and very rare!

Image courtesy of Marcialois.

Here is a picture of the actual pattern.  Like I said, I have only ever seen the Alice pattern for sale.  If anyone else out there has seen the Hatter or Hare for sale (or in a personal collection) I would be very interested in seeing the pattern.  

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Okay, so that's a look at Alice patterns from the past!  If anyone knows of any others... please let me know!  I want to have the most comprehensive list of them possible.

Let's look at some newer ones now, shall we? :)

Images via Amazon.com

There are really way too many for me to do a feature on each of them individually!  If you want to be an Alice character these days, you have plenty of patterns to chose from. :)

Image via Simplicity.com

These costumes based on the Tim Burton Alice movie are reallly nice.  When they came out, I bought them right away for my collection.  Good luck finding the Alice-print fabric shown in the picture though... I couldn't find it anywhere.

Images from Amazon.com

Still more mostly-recent patterns.

Simplicity 9947, image via Ebay.

Images via Amazon.com and Simplicity.com

OH WOW, there are so many.  I'm exhausted just looking for them all.  And I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of what's out there.  As you can see, Alice is very popular!  I'm sure there are many more patterns that are Alice-themed and I would love if you would share if you know of more. :)

But, you can make an Alice costume without an "ALICE" pattern.  Almost any dress with a pinafore apron can be an Alice costume!  Any snazzy suit in a loud checker print can be a Mad Hatter.  How about these ideas from the Pattern Patter Team?

Images courtesy of the Pattern Patter Team

Any of these patterns would make a very cute Alice costume!

Row 1: Vienna's Grace; Lonestar Blondie; She Finds Vintage

Row 2: Wits End Design; Roma's Maison; Rose's Pattern Treasury

Row 3: Lady Diamond's Emporium; Keepsake Studio; Vintage Needle Finds

Images courtesy of the Pattern Patter Team

Or how about these wonderful patterns for your Alice costume?

Row 1: All's Fairy Vintage; Clutterina's Shop; Erika With A K Vintage

Row 2: Keepsakes Studio; Patterns Plus Notions; Maison Mignon

Row 3: J Ferrari Designs; Stitching By Numbers; Jersey Girl Patterns

Images courtesy of the Pattern Patter Team

Still more patterns that could easily be adapted to make a pretty Alice costume!

Row 1: Em Sew Crazy; Vintage Sewing Shoppe; Pitter Pattern Place

Row 2: Pitter Pattern Place; Find Crafty Patterns; Kinsey Sue

Row 3: Redcurlz's Patterns; Vienna's Grace; Cloe's Closet

WOW!

Don't you think you could make a cute costume?

I hope you enjoyed this look at Alice costumes.  If you know of any more, please let me know in the comments!  Do you have any tales of Alice that you would like to share? :)

Also, please be sure to visit all the great shops of the Pattern Patter Team!

Interesting Selections From Butterick Catalog of Fashion, 1900 - Part 1 - Ladies in Sports

Part 1 - Women in Sports

I thought I would share some interesting selections from Butterick's Catalog of Fashion from Spring of 1900, many years ago!  We're all mostly familiar with long dresses for day wear, evening gowns, and other iconic fashions of the era, but how about some of the lesser-known types of clothing?

Here is the cover.

Lets see what interesting things are inside!

Would you play golf in this?

Seen here we have a skirt touted as being for "Golf and General Outings"... the shorter length shows that this was a sporty skirt.

"Stormy Weather"

These skirts are suggested for "cycling, golfing, skating, stormy weather, etc.,"   I can't imagine doing any of those things in such a skirt, but I have gone hiking in a dress before...

"For Cycling, Golfing, Rinking, Stormy Weather, Etc."

Look at the changing times, though!  Here are some "knickerbockers" that are much more suited for sports.

Don't get them caught in the spokes!

These "Turkish Trousers" are more voluminous and perhaps slightly more feminine, suggested for cycling.

I'm glad I don't have to ride a horse in that get up.

Here's a selection of equestrian outfits, English and American styles, the "safety" of the American style is that it "is to be worn with trousers, breeches, tights, or knickerbockers," but I'm not sure if that's to make you less likely to be injured or less likely to expose yourself. :)

Little over-gaiters are pretty cute.

More equestrian wear.

Divided like pants, but you'd never know it.

These "Divided Cycling Skirts" are rather like gauchos or a modern split skirt, but only suggested for ages up to 16 years.

The ladies who wore these would be surprised to see what their grandchildren wore to the beach!

Probably the most interesting to me are these outfits for swimming, gymnastics and other sports.  The bathing suits include a skirt while the gymnastic costumes are more like pants.

Of course, all of these patterns are *extraordinarily rare!*

But, Pattern Patter Team members always have some antiques laying around!

Check out some of the antique patterns and reproductions available by CLICKING HERE.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where some work outfits will be featured.