Size And Fit Vintage Patterns

Sewing with a vintage pattern, in its all original form, is a fantastic experience and also a great form of re-creating the interesting and sometimes very intricate details and designs of our past. Aside from the fragile envelopes that they come in and the delicate tissue the pattern is printed on, they do look and read very differently than the more commercialized patterns that we see in use today.

Sizing For A Vintage Pattern
One of the most important things to know about vintage sewing patterns is that the sizing is very different from today's modern sewing patterns. You will not be able to purchase a vintage sewing pattern based on the measurements stated on the pattern. There are many reasons it is very important to measure before buying a vintage sewing pattern.

Over the years, sewing pattern manufacturers have increased the size of their measurements, for more comfort and loose fitting garments we wear today. The vintage sewing patterns of the 1940's and 1950's were cut with the thin woman in mind. Not because all women in those days was necessarily thin, but because the fashion image of women was to look thin. In other words, women of yesterday, wore undergarments that helped promote the more thin image such as corsets and girdles.

Yardage Recommendations
In the mid-1950s, many fabrics could be purchased in a narrower width than those more contemporary fabrics of our current time. Therefore, fabric cuts that measured 36 or 39 inches in width (unlike today's 45- to 60-inch measurement cuts) were much more common. That fact means that you should expect to complete a few yardage conversions while you shop for that perfect fabric.

Pattern format
You may also find that formats of the pre-1950s vintage patterns varied somewhat from the fine, preprinted tissue sheets that we know and love today. With the older vintage patterns, most of the tissue paper pieces were already pre-cut and there was no printing. McCall's patterns were the only ones to feature the Printo Gravure type of pattern (which was the earliest recorded printed pattern) and this was around the early 1920s. Instead of printed patterns, there were machine-made perforations, which consisted mainly of circles, triangles, and plain squares. These shapes were mainly used to indicate to the user such information as the straight of grain line, notches, and other marking symbols. The meanings of the perforations could vary with each company. Quite frequently, the maker's name as well as the pattern number would not be included on every single piece. Instead, the user would find the pieces marked by a perforated letter or number that corresponded to the included diagram. Labeling each piece of your traced version can help to avoid any confusion later.

Pattern Instructions
In the earlier years, pattern instructions were vague, or little to none. In several of the earlier commercial patterns, there was very little instruction that was included. Instead, it was commonly assumed that most women were familiar with the sewing of practically any garment. In the mid-1920s, though, pattern companies finally began to print much more detailed layout diagrams, instructions and schematics of these pattern pieces on another separate sheet. Some of these patterns may require a little research for specific instructions as we see in today's patterns.

Seam Allowances
Several of the popular pattern companies today have an established allowance for the seam of 5/8 inch. However, that will not always be the case.
For several of these companies, depending on the manufactured year, seam allowances might be 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 or 5/8 of an inch. Instead of having a standard, these seam allowances are set by each different pattern maker. An example is the patterns of the later 19th century and the early 20th centuries. Butterick's patterns offered 3/4-inch seam allowances for some of the edges, and then offered a more standard 3/8-inch allowance for all of those remaining edges. Finally, the 1940s era established that the companies have a more standard and uniform seam allowance which is that of 5/8 inch.

Differences In Fit On Vintage Patterns
The bust line is often the area with the most ease, even for those sizes that happen to be smaller than the more common B cup. With the pre-1940s patterns of McCall's, the bust dart placement was somewhat higher. If you lower that bust dart you will be able to easily alter any of the extra ease found there.
Other more common areas that require adjustment to be acceptable today are the long rise trouser styles that were patterned prior to the mid-1950s. Some of these patterns can have almost 1-1/2 inches of extra length in the rise which just does not fit with the style of today or the taste either for that matter. Set-in sleeves may also need to be adjusted at the eye of the arm and at the shoulder to loosen any restriction that many of those older patterns unfortunately often have.

Working With The Original Pattern
Some of yesterday's patterns were not meant to last for very long. Many of them were thrown away after one time use. The delicate nature of the vintage pattern may require the user to take special care when using it to preserve the original pieces. For this reason, we suggest to make a copy of your vintage pattern pieces your planning to work with. If your planning to use the original vintage pattern there are some options to take in order to preserve the pattern and not cause too much damage to it's original contents. One way to preserve the original contents is to have a reproduction of the pattern made. You can also do a few other things listed below that will help to protect your vintage sewing pattern.

Tracing
By using a pencil or a pen that doesn't bleed, gently trace the lines of the pattern. Make sure that you transfer each marking, including the straight of grain symbols, the darts, or any stop-stitching points or notches that you may find. It's also very helpful if you can number each piece, this way, you can check to see if you're missing any of them a bit easier. By using a dry iron setting of low heat, you can easily make the factory folds disappear to allow for much easier tracing.

Sewing Patterns 1920s to 1950s