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Posted by Candide on January 15, 2006, 4:04 pm
> On 14 Jan 2006 15:29:25 -0800, "180sewing"
>
>
> > Is it worth paying for sewing patterns or are there enough free
> > ones availavle to keep me busy?
>
> You can keep sewing forever without using any patterns at
> all. Patterns were not possible until paper got cheap, and
> were still a novel idea at the beginning of the twentieth
> century, but people way back when wore clothing more
> sophisticated than what we are wearing now.
>
> You buy a pattern because you like the design.
>
snipped
True, but not totally so. Paper patterns may have only been around since
the advent of "cheap" methods of mass production, however prior to that
patterns were certainly around . Godey's Ladies Book among other ladies
fashion books from about the Victorian period onwards had "patterns" for
fashions featured within their pages, only the patterns were all on one
sheet of paper and required the sewer to "draft" the pattern to
scale/size. This is much like a pattern maker would do today or
commercial seamstresses working from designs. Sewing was done much the
way couture sewing is done today; one scaled up the pattern/made muslin
(or some other material) pattern pieces and began the process of running
up the outfit.
There were then and still are now seamstresses whom did not need to use
this method, but rather would look at a garment and either make the
pattern themselves (just as modern patternmakers do today), or simply
just made the garment from "their head".
"Past Patterns" also revives an old tradition of separate patterns for
bodices, skirts, sleeves etc on one pattern (already scaled,but on one
paper pattern, the sewer has to make the correct size pattern in either
muslin or paper), which allows/allowed the sewer/seamstress to combine
various treatments to achieve the design she wished.
Finally their was another "pattern" method popular from about the
Victorian era, dolls sent out (IIRC Vogue and Godey's did this) dressed
in the latest fashions. One would receive the doll and either take it to
a seamstress to produce the garment, or run it up themselves.
Candide
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