While taking pictures of my patterns to post this week, I came across three more that I could get rid of. Yay for pattern destashing! :)
Being young and naive, I grew up thinking how much fun it would be to sew clothing for my children someday. I had more children's patterns than adults for a time, I think. Having grown up and seeing how little time my mothering friends have, my collection of patterns for children have dwindled to just a few.
I suppose this one could go into the category of historical reproductions, but it'd be the only infant pattern apart of that, so it's listed here. The little dresses and jackets are adorable.
Now before you get on my case of these dresses looking decidedly 80s, you must allow me to dream of play clothes and costumes for children! :) Having grown up on Little House on the Prairie, and seeing these patterns from the dresses & pinafores that Mary and Laura wore, (not to mention for pennies at the thrift store) who could resist?
The Cabbage Patch pattern has a history. Several years ago Grandma gave us this pattern and asked if we remembered it at all. Of course we didn't, but when she brought up the pretty calico pink dress that my sister Erin wore as a flower girl in our Uncle's wedding, then we remembered. I'm not sure how the pattern found its home in my collection though, so I should probably as my sister!
And who could say no to a Lanz of Salzburg nightgown? :) My sisters and I wore these nightgowns or pajamas as children, and have fond memories of the cozy flannel feeling as we were tucked into bed at night. To this day, one of my sisters still wear the nightgowns made by this company. :)
3 comments:
Cheri,
Your recent posts have inspired me to cull my pattern collection even more! While I do sew regularly for myself and my children (okay, for my daughter :-), it's a bit ridiculous how many commercial patterns I have when you consider how much I dislike them. They always add too much ease, so children's garments end up huge (when following the fitting measurements), and I usually don't want the fuss of self-fitting an adult garment. I just need to be more honest with myself about which patterns I will actually use! And let's face it -- if I really need a new pattern, JoAnn has regular sales. It's kind of a shame that many of the patterns I'm getting rid of have never even been used (even if they were only $1).
After this cull, I'm down to three drawers of a plastic drawer tower, plus a drawer of vintage patterns in my sewing machine cabinet. That means I've emptied an extra drawer to be used for other purposes -- which gets me closer to my goal of reducing my "craft storage footprint" (in case our next home has less storage space). So thank you for some much-needed inspiration! :-)
Blessings,
Shannon
Those are sweet! Nothing wrong with 80s/90s styles, I say. :) I miss the Victorian Revival if I'm honest!
I also need to sort through my patterns -- I was given a bunch of free vintage children's patterns a while ago, and I probably won't ever use most of them!
I've been evaluating lately my past sewing projects and what made them successful or not -- where I bought the fabric, what pattern (if any) I used, etc. I definitely want to be more purposeful about the patterns I add to my collection and be more supportive of independent pattern designers, since as Shannon says, the Big 4 patterns often result in fitting frustration. A lot of my sewing lately has been without a pattern but that can sometimes be a frustration, too (if it doesn't turn out the way I hoped). I at least like to have something to jump off of -- makes it so much easier!
Shannon,
I too have been guilty of buying from "the Big four" companies when they've just been a dollar, especially if it's cute, or someone else has used it (I've very guilty on that one!). But as with anything in life, it's a learning process. :)
Happy to hear that you've been able to sort through some to create more space. Yay!
Laura,
Glad to know there is another kindred spirit in the old-fashioned "Victoria-magazine" look. ;)
Thanks for sharing what you've found to be helpful in thinking through projects and patterns. I think that it one of the reasons I've kept some "basic" patterns; just as a help to spur on the boring to the next level of creativity.
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