A Little Vintage Goodness

The Sewing Dork, and Brown Paper Packages are reviewing patterns this month. You can find an entire month of pattern reviews on their blogs! From vintage, to PDF's to paper patterns. They've showcased a little bit of everything.
I've had some vintage patterns I've been wanting to try out and when Cynthia asked if I'd like to review one as part of their pattern review month, she didn't have to ask me twice! :)

The only bad thing about reviewing a vintage pattern is that if you are looking for a particular pattern, it may be hard to find. Vintage patterns in themselves though aren't hard to find. just do a quick google search, there are thousands! I can give you a bit of general info though on what you can expect to find in a vintage pattern.

 

I chose this sweet McCalls pattern from 1968. Adorable, don't you think?
One thing to keep in mind if buying a vintage pattern is that many of them don't come in an array of sizes. This pattern for instance is a size 6X. It shows a range of sizes on the back of the pattern, but this is only to show the sizes it could be purchased in.
This is nice because you don't need to trace. It's a bit of a bummer too though if you'd like more than one size. I would have loved to have had this pattern in a size 5.

This pattern also had additional instructions on how to change the fit for larger girls. This gave me a bit of a chuckle. You would never find this sort of terminology on a pattern today!

 This is the face of a little girl who doesn't want her picture taken.

Unlike some other current day McCalls patterns I've used, I felt this dress turned out perfectly. The pattern pieces were well drafted, and the finished result was true to the pattern photo. Unlike many patterns of the 60's and 70's that usually run short, this pattern was quite long and I didn't have to lengthen it. It was big everywhere else too though and needed to be taken in.

A promise of candy. Now she perks up!

I love the sweet little collar and puff sleeves. Such a cute, simple, classic dress for play. This dress was really easy to sew as the front is just a faux placket.

This is a great dress for showcasing great buttons. One thing about a faux placket though, is there has to be a zip down the back.

The only hang up I had on this dress was I had taken the collar off at one point to take in the dress a little to make it smaller for my 5 yr old. I yanked a little too hard, instead of picking my stitches as much as I should have, and made a rip in the back. So, see those two little back pleats at the top? Not supposed to be there...
I had to find a way to fix the rip without having to start over!

I really like this dress and will make it again. Next time I think I'll make one of the more grown up views for my almost 7 yr old.

What do you think?

I have to say I've become a bit addicted to seeking out vintage patterns as of late. You can really get lost on ebay browsing them. Give it a try, I think you'll love them too!