For Sale - 1930s German Sewing Pattern Magazine

Well, I'm not here to blog, but rather to flog something - I have a 1937 German sewing pattern magazine for sale on eBay, which some of you might be interested in, find it here.

I somehow ended up with 2 of these, hence why I'm selling this one.  There are some stunning patterns, 91 in total, every outfit pictured inside (and on the cover), unlike some of the magazines which only have some.  It's in pretty good nick, plus the pattern sheets are untouched and in great shape.  For those of you not interested in bidding, I'm sure you wouldn't mind some delightful images for inspiration:

 

Variations on a Theme

Lots of sewing bloggers are taking part in Tilly's great One Week One Pattern challenge and, though I'm not participating, it set me thinking again about a simple, 1920s inspired dress pattern that I have been meaning to draft for ages (story of my life).  It's a semi-fitted shape, with fullness at the hip by means of a slash, which is then bound and gathered. Comfortable, flattering and would easily lend itself to variations in order to make several versions.

I had a sketchbook for Christmas and due to my previously mentioned procrastination and my perfection complex, I had only managed to doodle on the front cover!

But today I decided to plan some variations of my design, to get a little closer to actually making them.

I have some lovely fabrics in my stash that I intend to combine to make the design more striking and quirky.

I have had this floral, shot-silk sari fabric for 20 years (!) and it was a present from an ex boyfriend's sister, who brought it back from a family visit to India.  The other fabric is a pale cream habotai silk, left over from a jacket lining, also years old.

Pale silk yoke, sweetheart shaped neckline, contrasting, bias bound neck and armholes and buttons at back.  The slash at the hip is bound in the pale silk.

The floral, slinky, synthetic print is actually beige, not pinky as it shows in the photo, and it was from Etsy.  The cream lace is from a charity shop.

This design has gathered pockets at the slashed, softly pleated hip, bound in off-white silk.  The sweetheart neckline is bound too and the lace yoke fastens at back neck with dimunitive, red buttons.

This final design and fabric combination is my favourite.  The 1960s bright orange, daisy print, cotton lawn fabric is from Etsy and I plan to combine it with white silk and spotted net fabric, both from charity shops.

The spotted net yoke has the neck line and armholes bound by the white silk and the silk is also used for a scalloped edged where it meets the bustline, which is echoed at the hip slash in the front.

I have, as ever, so many projects that are in various stages of incompletion, including two toiles of patterns from my German pattern magazines, which I hope to finish at some point, so spending time on the above plans does seem foolish...  BUT, I really enjoyed sketching and planning and it has ignited a small creative spark, which will perhaps spur me on towards actually finishing something!

Finally I want to say thank you to 3 wonderful bloggers who have recently given me blog awards:

The Makings of an Urban Rustic

Per bar one Penny

Adventures in Adventuring

All of these lovely ladies seem to like my inspiration posts, which is a bloody good thing as if they were mostly turning up here expecting sewing-related content, they'd be sorely disappointed...  I will do a post about the awards and who I am passing them on to in the near future, honest!

Spoilt for Choice

I have been busy with the tedious task of tracing patterns from a few of my magazines and, as usual, I am crippled by choices.  I choose a pattern but then cannot find a suitable fabric from my huge stash, then I get drawn to a fabric, but no pattern seems perfect for it. 

So, you can understand my ambivalence that the wonderful fabrics from the 1937/38 Fall & Winter Sears Catalogue (picked up cheap on Etsy) are not available to buy... I don't need more options, but these are vintage heaven:

These 'Tiara' Pebble Print Crepes are my favourite

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I have traced a pattern from a 1937 Beyers Mode Für Alle for this dress:

Each pattern piece is numbered at the corners, and you match up the corresponding numbers to construct the dress.  I am able to work this out without being able to read the scant instructions, however, this particular pattern has what I first though were tucks on the bodice, short sleeve and pocket, yet it appears from the photo that they are tapered, like darts.  Now, I need to know a) what amount to take out, as all the pattern pieces show are lines and b) are they tucked or tapered to nothing??  From looking at the pattern pieces, I think the pocket and sleeve are likely tucked and the bodice has darts (in the bodice at least).  I can read that it says 'pocket' '1cm', 'bodice' '1/12cm' and 'sleeve' '1/2cm' but my google translation didn't help me further.... I hope someone reading this speaks German AND understands what I am on about!  If so, I would be most grateful if you could leave me a comment!  Here are the pattern pieces and instructions:

It is a size 88 bust, which means the measurements are for a 34 1/2 inch bust, 27 1/2 inch waist and 37 3/4 hip, and I'm approx 35 1/2, 26 1/2, 38 1/2 so hopefully it will fit without too much alteration.  I have no idea what kind of ease it will have so I will make a partial toile (muslin).  I plan on making this in black crepe, and may not embroider the collar, cuffs and pocket flaps but use a patterned fabric instead.  I expect the lack of instructions to cause me quite a few headaches during construction!

The Parfait

This was my first Colette pattern I have ever made; in fact it is the first modern pattern I have ever made, as any patterns I have used in the past have been pre-1976!  It was as user friendly as the internet folks say it is, and I had no problems with it. 

I cut a size 2, which I now feel is a tag snug, it fits but I think I could’ve cut a 4 for the midriff and skirt and it would be more flattering.  I didn’t make a toile and was apprehensive that the bust would be too generous, as has been mentioned about Colette patterns, but it fits fine. 

I added 1/2 inch to the midriff length and decided against making buttonholes for the straps and just sewed them together adding decorative buttons, same for the pockets.  I also felt the pockets were too small for the design, so added 2 or so inches to the length and slipstiched them to the dress instead of topstitching.  I zigzagged the seams, which doesn’t look the best but it will do.

I used an invisible zip for the side, as instructed, and despite using them in the past with no problems, I managed to put it in incorrectly THREE times before getting it right!  I also found it tricky sewing the midriff pieces to the bust, so snipping the seam allowance on the bust piece at regular intervals, almost to the sewing line, before sewing them together, really helped in making it sit flat in order to stitch it. 

I used self fabric for the lining pieces, as per the pattern instructions, but if I made it again from cotton or a heavier fabric, I would probably use lining fabric, as I felt it was a bit too thick overall along with the interfacing too.

I choose to contrast the seagull fabric with black because the dusky pink colour is not the most flattering to my skin tone, so the black makes it less wishy washy.  I got the fabric from a charity shop years ago, it was £2.50 for 5+ yards in a very wide width, and already have a halter dress I made from it, which I rarely wear due to the colour, so I hope the addition of the black will prevent the Parfait suffering the same fate. 

The fabric is a pain to press, it creases so easily and retains them, and I think it looks a bit shoddy due to this.  I want to make up a couple more in prettier prints and more slinky fabric.

I have another Colette pattern, Ceylon, but after reading Zoe’s account I have been slightly put off!

I'm on a roll! I made a 50s frock from Simplicity 3505, view 2, a pattern I had been given and was going to sell, but after another look, thought the simple lines would be great for a day dress.  I have far too many ‘going out’ dresses. 

I thought the red 50s border fabric I bought from Etsy over a year ago would be perfect, so made a toile (muslin) of the bodice to check fit and was pleased it fitted great, and was also pleasantly surprised at how little ease the pattern had, pattern was for 26” waist and finished waist measurement was 26 ½ (breathe in).   Only problem was that I didn’t have enough fabric needed for the skirt, so I redrafted my own pleated skirt with these instructions, using 200cm of fabric (plus seam allowance).



I debated if to line it but decided against that as it would involve cutting, marking and sewing up practically another dress, so I’ve resolved (again) to make a waist slip, with just one hem ruffle that I can wear under all my full-skirted dresses instead. 

I used a centre back invisible zip, which was not my intention but as I only realised after I had constructed the dress that a lapped or centred zip would have had to be inserted BEFORE I pleated the skirt section, then it was my only choice.  I like invisible zips, but they are a bit fiddly without a zipper foot (which I don’t have) and they are expensive.  Ideally, I would have inserted it into the side seam, but the skirt was only one piece of fabric with a centre back seam.  I pinked the seam edges, ‘cos I’m lazy and figured I could get away with it with cotton.  I usually line things to avoid finishing a seam edge, which is probably far more time consuming but that’s how much I hate it!

I love the dress, there were no problems, no seam ripping, it went together beautifully and, along with the 70s top, has helped to reignite my sewing enthusiasm.  The only negative is the square neckline, it gapes a bit and doesn’t lay right, I’m annoyed I didn’t tweak it in my toile and I will fold out a diagonal section at each corner  (in the paper pattern) to tighten the neck for when I make it again. 

(Sorry about the photo quality, some were taken with a camera phone so are fairly low resolution.)