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Third Anniversary Sale!
Image via PatternVault on Etsy. To celebrate the three-year anniversary of my Etsy shop, I’m having a week-long sale: 25% off everything in the store—including new items and PDF e-booklets. To receive...
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Envelope Fail: Vogue 2893 by Donna Karan
Donna Karan Spring 2005 ad campaign. Model: Erin Wasson. Photo: Peter Lindbergh. When I first started collecting sewing patterns, Naomi was baffled. She couldn’t understand my interest when the styling...
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Vintage Designer Menswear: Vogue Patterns
Vogue 2917 by Bill Blass (1973) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki. It’s been some time since Vogue offered designer menswear patterns. In the 1970s and 1980s, home sewers could choose from licensed...
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The Fantastic Mr Fox: Style Patterns by Frederick Fox
Queen Elizabeth II wears a Frederick Fox hat with 25 “bells” to the Silver Jubilee celebrations, 1977. Photo: Douglas Kirkland. Image via Royal Hats. Ascot begins today. To celebrate, this post is...
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Linda Evangelista
Vogue Italia, February 1990. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image via Bellazon. In celebration of Canada Day, this models post is devoted to Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista. Born in St. Catharines,...
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Third Blogiversary + Giveaway
Vogue Patterns booklet, December 15, 1931. Image via PatternVault on Etsy. Today marks three years since my first post on this blog. To celebrate my blogiversary I’m throwing a giveaway: one lucky...
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Vintage Jumpsuit Patterns
Vogue 8331 (1972) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki. Versatile and contemporary, jumpsuits and their cousins, playsuits and rompers, have become increasingly popular in the last few years....
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Bias Cut Blueprints
A while back, I mentioned that I was editing a sewing book. Now that it’s out, I can share the details: the book is by Julianne Bramson and Susan Lenahan, and it’s called Bias Cut Blueprints. Bramson...
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Make the Clothes that Make the Woman (Part 2)
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, or are a connoisseur of 1950s sewing advertising, you’ve seen images from McCall’s mid-1950s “Make the Clothes that Make the Woman” advertising campaign....
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Krizia: McCall’s Patterns
Krizia Fall 1979 advertising campaign. Photo: Barry Ryan. Krizia was already an established label when McCall’s licensed Krizia patterns in the late 1970s. Designer Mariuccia Mandelli (b. 1933)...
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Patterns in Vogue: Helmut Newton at the Beach
Detail, Vogue, May 1, 1964. Photo: Helmut Newton. In the mid-1960s, Helmut Newton photographed a two-page Vogue Patterns editorial for Vogue magazine on location at Wanda Beach, near Sydney, Australia....
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Benedetta Barzini
Vogue Italia, September 1967. Photo: Peter Knapp. Image via NYMag. In honour of Labour Day, this models post is devoted to iconic model and political activist Benedetta Barzini. Benedetta Barzini (b....
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Krizia Playsuit – McCall’s 6624
It’s officially fall now, but the recent warm weather gave Naomi and me the chance to photograph my late 1970s Krizia playsuit, made using McCall’s 6624. (See my post on Krizia patterns here)....
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Preview: Lyanna Stark Costume – McCall’s 6940
This Halloween I went as Lyanna Stark. Full post to come when I’ve had the chance to do a real photo shoot… If you’d like to see a preview, I used a commercial pattern, McCall’s 6940, so was eligible...
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Patterns for the Great War
Pictorial Review magazine, July 1917. Image via eBay. This year marks the centennial of the beginning of World War 1. In honour of Armistice Day, this post looks at commercial sewing patterns...
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Donna Karan: Vogue Patterns, Part 1
Donna Karan Fall 2014 runway presentation. Image via the New York Times. With her Fall 2014 collection, Donna Karan celebrated the 30th anniversary of her label. This new series marks this milestone...
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25 Jahre Mauerfall
Lissy Schaper in an ensemble by Staebe-Seger, Film und Frau 3, 1961. Photo: F.C. Gundlach. Image via Suites Culturelles. To mark this month’s anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, here’s a look...
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Yves Saint Laurent for Dior: Vogue Patterns
Detail of Vogue 1471 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior, Vogue, January 1, 1960. Photo: Leombruno-Bodi. For Paco Peralta. Before Vogue Patterns introduced Yves Saint Laurent with patterns from...
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Patterns in Vogue: Striking Gold
Detail, Vogue, November 1979. Photo: Deborah Turbeville. “Striking Gold,” a 1979 editorial by the late Deborah Turbeville, includes a two-page Vogue Patterns spread that has a festive sparkle....
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Lanvin at 125: Jeanne Lanvin
Lanvin anniversary logo. Image via WWD. Lanvin celebrated its 125th anniversary this year. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, the house marked the occasion with an extensive look into its archives on...
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