Wow, that was quick. It took less than ten days for my PERFECT PATTERN to reach me, all the way from Canada! Bless her, Zoe from HoneymoonBus had already sent me a lovely convo via Etsy, to say thank you for mentioning her on my blog, and to let me know that she’d included a little gift. I didn’t know it was going to be a second pattern! That one’s Simplicity 3224, a sundress from 1950 with the options of fantastically enormous pockets and a matching bolero jacket. Fantastic! That one doesn’t have its original envelope, but thanks to The Magic of the Internet I’ve been able to track one down, so I can see how much fabric I’ll need to make it.
And just look at this simply gorgeous promotional needle case from Sunbeam Bread:
Isn’t it a beauty? Almost completely intact, you can just see where a couple of needles are missing from the right-hand green panel. On the back is a little paragraph explaining that adding vitamins to bread doesn’t affect its taste or texture, and reassuring us that it’s the best way of staying healthy.
And here’s the pattern itself! I’m really pleased that Simplicity patterns were printed ones by the 1950s, as unprinted dress patterns tend to confuse me a bit. This one seems to have been made up as a short-sleeved blouse – the long sleeve and skirt pieces remain uncut. The previous owner had also done exactly what I was going to do, which is to take about an inch out of the bodice length to make it smaller – her original folds are still in place!
Once I’ve given all the pieces a gentle smoothing with the iron, I’ll trace them to keep the original safe for future use. I also need to make a few alterations, and it’ll be much better for me to scribble all over a new brown paper pattern than on this original one.
I popped into town yesterday to buy some frog fastenings and sequin trim to finish off my velvet cape, but both were out of stock and I had to order them in. Now I don’t feel so bad about putting the coat to one side while I start work on these lovely dresses!
Oh, and the reason I ended up buying from HoneymoonBus, rather than one of the many other vintage pattern sellers out there? Her Etsy store is arranged by size. I appreciate that if you’re looking for a pattern from a particular decade, that might be a bit annoying. But I’ve spent so many hours looking at vintage pattern sites, finding something I like, and discovering it’s too small, that to be able to go a place where I could just look in one section and find something in my own size was such a relief! So thanks again to Zoe, I can’t wait to get sewing!
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