Friday, May 21, 2010

Vintage Butterick dress patterns, one maternity



Three vintage patterns I picked up at The Way Station this week. Aren't they something?

  • Butterick 3818. Very 60s princess-seamed dress, complete, cut to the high straight neckline which I love, only a vintage 14 is like a modern 8. Teensy.
  • Butterick 5577. Another A-line with a yoke top and "standing darted neckline" (I was wondering what you'd call that). Pattern is missing the pocket piece (no big deal) but is otherwise all there. The front yoke piece is torn. What's the best way to deal with this? I know tape is a bad idea. Just make a copy if I ever actually use the pattern?
  • Butterick 3111. Great maternity pattern that hangs from the shoulders, with neckline variations. I think I remember my mother wearing something like this in pictures where she was pregnant with me or my brother. It's complete, and cut to use the collar option.
Butterick, oh Butterick, why did you not mark copyrights until the 1970s?  These are pretty clearly Jackie O era but sometimes it's trickier to tell.

By the way, although I can't find the post now, a couple of years ago I asked on this blog for ideas on how to store vintage dressmaker patterns. I finally settled on comic book sleeves made of Mylar with acid-free backing boards.  I take the pattern tissue and instructions out of the envelope, put the envelope on the front side of the board and all the innards behind the board. The instructions are made of such cheap paper that they can wreck the pattern envelope if you leave them inside. Once I run out of comic book bag-and-board I'll have to wait for awhile to replenish, but I am finding this works very well.


1 comment:

Chickens in the Basement said...

I like old-school maternity clothes so much better than the peek-a-boo maternity mama's are wearing today.