This week I’m going to show you a pattern you won’t ifn anywhere on the internet. I’m not selling this pattern, it’s just some inspiration to those of you who love the fashion of the 1950’s as much als I do.
It’s not just the style of the fifties that I love, one year ago I also started collecting fashion and sewing magazines from that time. During this time I could get my hands on some very interesting patterns and I even sewed some of them already. But since I own more vintage patterns now than I can ever sew I still want to show them to you – One pattern per week. May they turn on your vintage mojo and inspire you to sew wonderful things.
Waiting for the bus
This pattern is from the german magazine “Günther Modeblatt” 10/1952. It’s not a cover model, anyway it’s only a small illustration on page 61, where it is placed with another dress (pattern) and an advertisement for bras. There are many black-and-white photographies of the sewn patterns in the magazine but this one only comes with an illustration.
The little bus stop in the background just caught my eye. Next to the bus stop you can see an illustration from the backside of the dress.
By the way… That’s how that 1950’s “Triumph Plastellina” Bra looks in real live. It’s not produced anymore since a long time, but still beautiful.
I measured it: Which size is it now really?
The thing with the size went around in my head and since I decided to actually sew that dress, I copied the pattern and started measuring.
When I took the measurements of the pattern I found out that the (missing) size chart of the Günther-Magazine does not seem to match the chart from the Beyers-magazine I showed above. The measurements of the pattern are quite tight and fitting for a size 40 in modern sizes.
The pattern details
The dress bodice is full of nice details: The most exciting one is the shawl collar, that looks like it’s tucked in button-front of the dress, with a double row of big buttons. The bodice is shaped with darts in the front and back section.
The sleeves are very wide, but not gathered on the shoulders. The end in nice cuffs, where they are sewn on in little pleats
The skirt is made to a big pleat in the back. To avoid bulky fabric, the inner side of the pleat is cut out already in the pattern and closed with a seam. In the front section the skirt makes two little pleats.
I noticed that the dress has no zipper, so it’s only closed by the buttons in the front. If the waistline is very slim, then it’s impossible to get in and out the dress, so the waistline has to be a little wider to put in on. To accentuate and shape the waist nicely anyway, a belt is recommended in the sewing instructions.
How to sew this
This pattern comes with very short sewing instructions. Darts, button holes, pleats or finishing for seams and seam allowances are not mentioned in the instruction, they might have been basics back in the fifties. Also the lining of the dress is not mentioned anywhere in the instruction. The description under the illustration only mentions a “tight lining skirt”.
But since the dress is made of wool or wool-like fabric, a lining is absolutely neccessary.
Sew you soon – When I sew that dress
Writing about that pattern makes me want to sew it so much… That I just started 🙂
So you can look forward to a post with all the sewing details (and the lining^^) in a few weeks.
yours
Lasercat
