Monday, August 15, 2011

The Thing About Vintage Patterns

The thing is... you can become obsessed by them. Not actually using them, mind you, but simply acquiring them. And I don't mean shopping for a specific pattern or style and paying a pretty penny for them.


No. I'm talking about happening upon a pattern stash at a garage sale, or an estate sale, maybe a flea market, and getting a bunch for a steal. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had mostly struck out. Now, I'm not an "every weekend" kind of garage saler, so I suppose my luck might be better if I was. But I do usually scan the newspaper on Thursdays to see if any listings mention sewing. I guess you might say that my obsession is kind of haphazard.


Nevertheless, a couple of weeks ago I hit the jackpot! There were at least a couple hundred patterns, probably more and all for 20 cents each. Yes. I was picky though. I didn't buy the whole lot, but went through each box and picked the best ones. I have my standards! Only a couple from the 1980s, and no children's patterns (there were a bunch of those). It turns out I picked the most from the mid-1960s.


Anyway, I plan to use a few, and trace a few more, but I'm putting the rest in my Down the Street etsy shop. And all for reasonable prices. And, please feel free to use that coupon listed over in the side bar, sewingblog15, for 15% off everything in the shop.


Enough reading... here are a few of my favorites!

5 comments:

  1. Yeah, I've done that....buy the whole lot of Vintage patterns. They are packed in 4 Avon boxes. I went through them and separated by the pattern company and repacked. And now they sit.....what was I thinking? LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great find. I've never been that lucky. Although I do have all my mothers patterns stashed away and I'm sure there will be a few treasures in them when I finally go through and sort them out.

    Will you be making any of them? I would love to see what you do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a nice haul. Think I would have lost my mind finding those patterns.

    ReplyDelete
  4. good for you not being a hoarder!!! Vintage patterns should be shared! My friends and I trace copies for each other! AND these are fantastic designs!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mmmm.. Fantastic finds! I love the McCalls 6449 (Sheath) and the Butterick 9969 (with the sleeves) in particular.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails