I kind of like sorting through my patterns periodically. I tend to forget what I've got. Going through everything reminds me of projects I'd intended to make and lets me weed out things I know I'll never use. When I was going through my box on Friday I realized that I've got a nice little collection of vintage patterns. Most of them are from my mum's sewing room, several have written notes and a few of them have stories.



Two skirt patterns: Vogue 8969 and McCall's 5470. The McCall's pattern has a note to my sister on it:

Jane,
I think I used this one and just made it full length.

I'm so curious to know what skirt it was my sister was trying to replicate. I can only remember one full length skirt of my mum's but it wasn't this style. The pattern for the t-shirt in the illustration is also in the envelope - I've had a knit t-shirt pattern all this time and didn't know about it.


Two Butterick dress patterns: 5187 and 3660. I had smaller versions of both of these outfits when I was little. The skirt for 3660 is pretty nifty and I always thought the pockets were great. The hooded dress in 5187 looks like it would fit right into one of my Japanese craft books.


An awesome coat pattern: Butterick 5101. I really need a new rain coat and love those big pockets. I've been thinking of making this up with some of Anna Maria Horner's Oil Cloth.


I can't remember exactly why I've got this pattern. I think I'd intended to use it to make a Hallowe'en costume once. This is the pattern for my mum's wedding dress: Vogue Paris Original # 1077. At $6.60 this pattern is almost five times as expensive as any of the others. It's got some nice little notes on the back circling my mum's size (and making sure she'd bought the correct sized pattern) and noting some alterations she wanted to make. There is also a note about the circumference of the smaller layer of the veil: 316". My mum embroidered motifs of blue hearts all the way around the edge of that veil. I don't know how many there are but I do remember her once telling me that they took fifteen minutes each and she carried that veil all over the place to get them all done.


Stretch & Sew 1567 purchased from Stretch & Sew Fabrics on Dunbar Street in Vancouver according to the stamp on the envelope. There is a note on this to shorten it by 1" - 1 1/2" that I think is in my grandmother's handwriting. I like the middle dress the best and think it would be a good addition to my wardrobe this summer. The pattern looks pretty simple but requires some "Perky Bond Plus" which makes me laugh.


Another skirt pattern discovered in a different box: Vogue's Basic Design 1297. I don't think this pattern was ever cut. I especially like the orange skirt on the end but it might be mostly her hat.


A Hallowe'en costume: Simplicity 9579. There is a picture of my parents in these costumes - faces painted and everything; when I was little I couldn't tell them apart except that my dad was taller. A note on the back says my mum got 14 pom-poms out of 114 g skein of worsted yarn.


This pattern wasn't in either of the boxes but I knew I had it somewhere and hunted around until it turned up (down the side of my yarn storage system). Vogue Patterns 8822: this is the first pattern I ever made. I used a teal quilting cotton with gold stars on it that made it look remarkably like pajamas when it was done. Mum guided me along on her machine and I remember convincing her to do most of the top stitching because the thread kept breaking on me. I'd love to make this again in a soft linen or shot cotton. Another great hat on this one.