Vintage Pattern Handling

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I always like to think of sewing as a sustainability skill.  While perhaps not as immediate and primal as knowing how to start a fire, or use dried beans, sewing certainly comes in handy if you are trying to get the most out of your clothing and textiles.  Like so many young women of my generation, I learned to sew in home economics class and in Girl Scouts.  My mother was a home sewist, and sewing was deemed an inexpensive method of expanding one’s wardrobe.

Expand I did! I made dresses, formals, skirts and even costumes.  Here's the pattern for the first dress I ever made!  At the time, my clothing budget for school and social occasions was very small and I was a student of international folk dance with a limited budget for ethnic dance ensembles.  

As an adult sewist I have gained an appreciation for vintage patterns.  I use them to create period costumes, and also to enhance my everyday wardrobe.  I’m always thrilled when I find a pattern that excites my imagination.  The fact that the pattern is still around (and not at the bottom of some landfill) is impressive.  Even more impressive is the fact that this pattern can still be used to create a special piece of clothing evocative of a long-ago style. 

I scour estate sales, thrift shops, and yard sales to acquire vintage patterns.  I keep many for myself, and I also sell them in my Seams Sustainable Etsy shop.  When I get the patterns home, I open each one and go through it to ascertain that all the pieces and directions are present.  Some vintage beauties are very challenging because of unprinted pattern pieces and minimal directions.  In times when many women could sew, the directions seem very minimal compared to the step by step directions included with more modern patterns!  Also, they require some special handling due to age!

I then consider whether the pattern will withstand use.  Tissue paper is usually acid-free and remarkably resilient.  However, the pattern’s past use and storage play a role in its present utility.  I have encountered pattern pieces crumpled into the envelope, wadded together from water damage, and torn either due to past pinning or due to labeling perforations becoming tears. In all of these cases, I very gently peel back the onion layers and try to separate the pieces.  Some patterns will just not be salvageable, but most I find I can gently separate. 

Once I’m sure that everything is present and can be separated, I decide whether to keep a pattern or resell.  Though grading a pattern up is very doable, I generally only keep patterns close to my measurements unless I am seeking a challenge.  My sewing time is short enough without adding complex fitting problems! 

Whether I am reselling the pattern, or keeping it, I next flatten the pattern, either to fold it back into the envelope or to use it.  For this, I will often use my iron, on a very low dry setting.  If the pattern seems fragile, and I plan to use it, tracing it onto newer tissue, exam table paper, or other pattern paper will help to preserve the original for posterity.  If the pattern is made of sterner stuff, I recommend using pattern weights instead of pins to keep your pattern intact.

Enjoy your summer sewing!  Do you sew with vintage patterns?  If so, what methods do you use to preserve them?

To Pin or Not To Pin

I'm not referring to Pinterest. I mean, do you use pins? When and for what purposes?

According to many, many of the sewing goddesses I read and follow, one should use pattern weights and a rotary cutter when cutting fashion fabric. Pins can pull your fabric off grain and cause inaccuracies. That said, my personal preference is for pins over pattern weights. I find that I do a better job if my fabric is well pinned to the pattern. This is the way I learned way back in the day, so it's still the way I roll today!

And how about during construction? Do you baste, or pin? Again, back at South Junior High, I learned to pin my pieces together, carefully removing each pin as I went along so as not to sew over the pins. Sewing over pins is like sewing Russian roulette. You never know when you'll hit a pin and bend it, break your needle, or screw up the alignment of your needle housing. For very slippery fabrics I do baste and for some sturdier fabrics I can go pinless to speed up the sewing process.

Occasionally I come across cut patterns in my UFO pile with pins still intact where the pattern was pinned to the fabric. Sometimes moisture in the air has caused these pins to rust. Thankfully, I've not had to discard anything due to damage, but I try to recall these pieces when I'm tempted to put aside something I've cut in favor of another project.

To be optimally useful pins should be straight and free from surface problems like rust spots. Periodically, I go through my pins and repurpose or discard those that should no longer be used on good fabric. Also, I sort out bad ones as I sew.

"See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck"! I guess that makes we sewists very, very lucky!