"All-Day Frocks" (Weldon's, 1934?)

 This publication doesn't have a date, but the original owner cut some of the free pattern pieces out of newspapers.  Searching Trove for some of the articles printed on the pattern pieces ("RAILWAY PILFERING.  Forty Bottles of Beer Stolen") I managed to date them to 1934.  This would indicate that Weldon's All-Day Frocks pattern brochure was published no later than 1934 (though it could have been published a year or so earlier!)

6248—Smart Dress with Draped Collar.
6249—Pretty Dress with Puffed Sleeves. 

Two delightful frocks, so easy to make and smart in any of the lovely Ferguson crêpes—such as crêpe Fersyl or Rosemary crêpe, or in Courtauld's satin, etc., either plain or patterned weaves, such as San-Toy.

The editors of this catalogue made a lot of suggestions for brand-name fabrics! I leave it to my readers to decide whether they were paid promotions or not.

"Your Easter Outfit" (Home Fashions, May 1933)

Who wouldn't want a little something to cheer themselves up in the midst of the Depression?  For women who weren't quite destitute, but had to watch the pennies, Home Fashions offered an opportunity to create this economical spring wardrobe in 1933.  All the patterns described were offered for free in the May issue of their catalogue (though doubtless they hoped that their readers would buy some new patterns from the catalogue too!)

The newest jacket suit, a gay little blouse, a coat-frock, an afternoon dress, and a tennis dress, all made up for under 55/-.

I do not supose there is one of us who hasn't set her heart on having a brand new outfit for Easter.  So I set out this month to show you how you can defy the "depression," and set yourself up with the  most entrancing and comprehensive new outfit for Easter, spending no more than you would on one mediocre ready-made garment!

(I'm going to leave out the editor's suggestions for specific fabrics (which came complete with prices).  The magazine was having a cross-promotion with Ashley Russell Fabrics, whose main store was located in London.)

ABOUT THE DESIGNS

First let me tell you about the designs.  These include a coat-frock in soft, dove-grey woollen with a detachable shoulder-cape and gauntlets in pale yellow—one of the latest colour schemes.  The frock is quite a simple shape, with a four-piece skirt and plainest of bodices, but the skirt is cut with the new corslet waist-line and this, with the fashionable caped shoulders, makes the dress into a little model...

...Next in our outfit is one of the new collarless jacket suits.  We suggest for it soft brown woollen, worn with a gay blouse in brown and white chevron-striped silk, though another colour scheme could be used if brown isn't your particular fancy.  The blouse has the popular scarf neck-line tying in a bow in the approved way.  A slimming, wrap-over shape is the skirt, cut in three pieces and showing a corslet waist-line effect.  The jacket, being collarless and rever-less, is as simple as can be to make, and the blouse is an easy, sleeveless shape, but the chevron stripes give it real chic...

The afternoon frock is made in rose and white printed artificial crêpe de Chine, and shows the new elbow-length puff sleeves.  It achieves the popular broad-shouldered effect very gracefully by means of an added fichu-cum-cape, crossing over front and back alike.  Apart from this and the sleeves, the frock is the same simple shape as the coat-frock...

The final item, the tennis frock, we suggest you copy in spun silk...

Duffel Coat and Waistcoat (Woman and Beauty, October 1951)

 Get out your drafting pencils and sewing machines! This one is for my readers who enjoy making up vintage patterns.

Both this smart duffel coat and they dandyish waistcoat are ideal for autumn.  Both are easily copied from the diagrams and both are in three main pattern pieces.

The duffel has elastic through the waist and draft-proof sleeves.  It an also be made without the hood and worn with a scarf.  The cross-over waistcoat turns a skirt into a delightful outfit.  It opens flat and straps from the fronts button over to fasten at the back.

Little Black Frock (Woman and Home, January 1945)

 Woman and Home was a magazine targeted towards British housewives.  It contained the usual mix of recipes, household advice, knitting patterns, fiction—and of course, fashion.

By January 1945, however, fashion was pretty thin on the ground.  Even if the magazine's readers had the coupons to buy new clothes, there was very little in the shops for them to purchase.  In this article, Woman and Home comes to the rescue with an article with suggesting ways of making over a worn dress.  All you need is a few sewing skills and a shabby little black frock!

You could alter the neckline and add trimming in worn spots:

Sketch No. 1 shows it with the high neck cut in a "V", the worn underarms covered with curved bands of black satin and a satin tie-belt with a soft bow.  The bands are outside-stitched on to the frock at each side, with the upper bands lapped over the lower ones, and the back the same as the front.

"The Charleston Slip-Ons" (Modern Weekly, October 23, 1926)

 Modern Weekly was, as it's name suggested, a magazine for aspiring flappers.  It contained fiction, beauty tips, guides to the latest dance steps, fashionable gossip, and of course, fashion.

How to be slim though petticoated!  That's quite a problem, with our new dancing frocks demanding a frilly skirt beneath them and a slim outline above them.  But here it is—a solution for you—a petticoat of four fluttering, picot-edged panels, joined with evening knicks to a long bodice, and made from our Free Pattern of the "Charleston Slip-ons."

Lady's Coat, Lady's Frock... (Everylady's Journal, September 1926)

 ... Child's Frock (4 years)

These patterns demonstrate how women's clothes had been simplified by the middle of the 1920s.  The "lady's frock" (illustrated under the coat at left, and on its own at right) was made up of only three pattern pieces; the front and the back of the bodice and the skirt.

Cardigan Jacket (Make It Easy, 1984)

 Real Life™ is getting in the way this week, so I don't have time to do anything fancy.  It therefore seems like a good time to post Pattern 5 in the "Make it Easy" sewing course.

For those who don't remember, "Make It Easy" was a sewing course/magazine issued by Marshall Cavendish in the mid-1980s.  Each successive issue had a slightly harder selection of patterns for the novice dressmaker to try her hand at making.  This cover features a "cardigan jacket":

Super simple to make, this casual jacket with a traditional cardigan shape, has set-in sleeves and optional neatly-finished pockets with piped-edge openings.

There were detailed instructions for making up the accompanying pattern inside.

Weldon's Ladies Journal, June 1897

 "In this joyous June we are to celebrate an historic event with which the whole world is ringing,"

Weldon's Ladies' Journal was referring to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.   Naturally the readers of the Journal would want a pretty outfit to wear to the celebrations, and the magazine was happy to oblige with a selection of patterns for dainty, ultra-feminine garments.  (Ironically, most of the fashions featured originated in Paris.)  Below are a couple examples:

Can Can Skirt (Flair, April 1958)

 A lot of magazines published sewing patterns for garments that their readers could make at home, but this issue of Flair included instructions for making a circle skirt without a pattern.

The instructions are fairly simple. A modern dressmaker's main problem would be finding a suitable substitute for the fabric recommended in 1958!

On page 24 and 25 we showed you the dual personality skirt made from Comspring's "Can Can" bonded cloth, which is 72" wide.  We made our skirt in a reversible black and marbled grey . . . and incidentally made it in a matter of minutes.  It's easy!  All that has to be done is to buy a piece which is twice the length of your skirt length measurement, plus twelve inches, which is the diameter of the circle you will cut out for your waist.  Then double the fabric lengthwise, and fold in half across the width.  This gives four layers of fabric from which, at the corner that has all the folds of fabric, you cut a quarter circle, by measuring six inches down from the corner and tracing an arc from point to point in tailor's chalk.  Next step is to measure down from the waist arc, the length of your skirt and again cut in an arc.  When the fabric is opened out, there is your skirt in a full circle with the waist opening in the centre (this should measure approximately 37 inches).

To gather in the waist without a placket (necessary if your skirt is to be reversible without a lot of bother with zips and hidden fastenings), buy a length of soft 1" wide elastic (black in our example) which is the same measurement as your waist is.  Then, stretching the elastic as you work, proceed with very loose stitches, to hand-sew the cloth to the elastic.  The stitches must be loose to enable them to expand with the elastic when the skirt is pulled on and off.  So there is your skirt — made with a minimum of cutting, a minimum of sewing, and no seams or hems to bother with.  Wonderful!

"The Ideal House Dress" (Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine, October 1920)

 "... Sure to be Popular.  Notice the Absence of Openings, and Hooks, and Buttons"

By the 1920s The Girl's Own Paper had become The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine.  At this stage it was aimed at a readership of young women, whether married or single, and carried a mix of fiction and articles on homemaking, potential careers, cookery and crafts.  It also advertised its own dressmaking patterns in each monthly issue.  

One pattern would usually be singled out for description in detail.  The chosen pattern would not necessarily be for the most fashionable of garments, but for clothes the editors of The Girl's Own Paper thought its readers might find useful.  The picture and the description below is for a "house dress", or the working costume of an ordinary housewife.  

All home-dressmakers on the look-out for a really practical design for making a comfortable house dress will welcome with pleasure this pattern we are illustrating on this page.

Besides being easy to make and easy to put on, this little design combines all the essential qualities necessary to the comfort of the housewife when engaged in household tasks.

The dress slips on over the head, has no openings to get untidy, no gaps at the waistline, no tight belt, and no pinning or hooking to keep bodice and skirt decently joined.

The back is cut straight—hanging from the shoulders, and the front is made like a bodice and skirt joined with a belt at the waistline; the belt then extends free across the back—holding in the fulness to the figure—and fastens at the underarm.

By this means the bodice is able to be given the requisite fulness, without giving the bulky appearance below the waist-line, unavoidable in in the ordinary straight one-piece dress.  Another advantage this gives over the ordinary frock is, that when stooping, the belt adjustment prevents the skirt from dropping and getting under the feet—a great gain for a working garment.

The dress is also an economical one, as it only requires 3½ yards of material 36 inches wide.  Poplin, gingham, print or cotton crȇpe would all be good fabrics for the making.

The collar can be made of a contrasting material to the frock, if desired, and would look well in white if the dress itself is of dark fabric.  Saxe-blue with a white collar is a pleasing combination, or some of the pretty striped fabrics now so popular would be becoming for this design.

If the collar is white, it should be made detachable from the frock, so that it can be removed when the dress requires washing.  This can easily be done without much extra work, and as the neck of a dress is always the first part to get soiled and crushed, it is always an advantage to have the collar detachable and able to be laundered apart from the frock.  All that is needed is to bind the neck edges of the dress and collar in position instead of neatening the two edges together.  Half a yard of material will be sufficient for the collar.

Frock and Jacket from Paris (New Idea, March 11 1959)

 

Almost exactly 65 years ago, The New Idea published this pattern for a paired dress and jacket.  Home dressmakers who want to add a touch of fifties glamour to their wardrobe, should have no trouble in following the pattern today.

If you are a working woman or a housewife on a shopping spree, this is just the suit for you to wear to the city.  This outfit is simple in design and the instructions are easy to follow.

You will be perfectly at ease, without that negligent look, in this dress and jacket.  The outfit is quite suitable for this time of year, with its short-sleeved jacket and tuxedo lapels. 

MATERIALS:  2 2/3 yards of 56 inch flannel; 14 in. zip fastener.
CUTTING: Reproduce the pattern on paper marked with four-inch squares.

TO MAKE THE FROCK; Place the pattern on the unfolded material.  Make the bust and back darts.  Join the front and back by the side and shoulder seams.  Try on the frock and make any necessary alterations for the fit.  Join the neck facings by the seams AA and the armhole facings by BB and CC.  Place the facings right side against right side and sew.  Turn the facings inside and hold them in place by hidden stitches.  Make the hem at the bottom and place the zip on the left side from E to E.

TO MAKE THE JACKET: Fold the material in two lengthways and place the centre back on the fold.  Allow extra for seams and hems.  Make the bust darts and join the fronts to the back by the side seams from the armhole to A and by the shoulder seams.  Fold the facings of the side vents back to the inside and hold in place by hidden stitches.  Sew up the sleeve seams and place then with X to the front and B meeting the shoulder seam.  Make the hems at the bottom of the sleeves.  Join the facings by seams C.  Place them right side against right side of the coat.  Turn them inside and hold them in place by hidden stitches.

Just a few strands of pearls and long gloves will transform this dress into a cocktail frock that will be perfect for dinner and a show after a day in the rush and traffic of town.  

"Answers to Your Question on Suit Making" (McCall's Style News, April 1953)

 In the early 1950s, women's suits were very fitted and very structured.  This left the average woman who wanted to wear a suit in a bit of a dilemma... buy a ready-to-wear suit in standard sizings (that might or might not fit) or try making her own?  McCall's obviously preferred the latter, and in this issue of McCall's Style News it even offered a few hints on how to make a success of it.

Above: McCALL'S 9248.  The diagonal swing of the jacket closing is something new.  Notch collar, two-piece sleeves, slim skirt.

First was the vexed problem of shoulder pads:

So much is said about natural shoulders.   Should I make my suit jacket without pads?

Definitely no.  Use thin pads.  The new smart shoulder pads are delicate, beautifully shaped and excessively thin.  You need just that amount of padding in the shoulders of your suit.  Don't use any old pads, they are probably all wrong. 

Interfacing was another worry.  It was clear that some dressmakers would prefer to do without it:

Is it necessary to put interfacing into a suit when the material is firm in itself?

Definitely yes.  Especially in the collar, revers and through the shoulders.  Often down the closing.  Your pattern tells you where, and that is expert advice.  Don't make hard work of it.  Hair canvas interfacing is easy to work with—it's a woven material, not stiff or hard and the needle slips through as lightly as through silk.

Wouldn't interfacing make the points of collars and revers bumpy?

No, because you do not carry the interfacing up into the corner.

Keeping everything in place was another problem:

What can I do to keep the waistband of a suit skirt from wrinkling down?

Make a belt of boned belting in the same width as your skirt band is when finished.  Sew hooks and eyes on the ends, and stitch this belting belt to the top edge of your skirt band.

And there in a condensed form you have it—the not-so-simple art of making a woman's suit in 1953.  I suspect less experienced dressmakers would have given up at this point, and turned their attention to making something easier! 

Home Fashions (July 1914)

 Here we are, a couple of months out from the First World War, and looking at these summer blouses it's clear that the process of simplifying women's clothing is already well under way.

Clockwise, from the striped blouse on the left:

Pattern No. 18,998... an example of the newest and simplest shirt blouses.  The smart roll-collar is so arranged that it can be rolled high or low as desired.

Pattern no. 18,999.  The top centre figure represents a pretty crossover blouse, with the sleeve set in.  The collars and cuffs of a contrasting material form a pleasing finish.

Pattern No. 19,101 shows the popular new yoke which is cut in line with the sleeve.  The fronts cross over slightly, while the wide revers add a smart touch to the blouse.

Pattern No. 19,100, a dainty design for embroidery.  Cut all in the one-piece, with added collar and cuffs.

The diagonal closings are novel, but the most noticeable thing about the blouses is that they no longer have the high, boned collars and excessive ornamentation so fashionable only a few years earlier.

"But Yes, You Have Time..." (Elle, July 23, 1951)

 This one is for my readers who are enjoying a northern summer—a simple pattern for a terry towelling beach coverup.  The instructions are minimal, alas, and the translation my own (with help from the Dictionary and Google!)

Cut, Stitch, Love the Terry

Terry cloth is everywhere, in all bright and cheerful tones ... it washes easily, it does not wrinkle, it has, in short, all the virtues especially the essential: it is furiously fashionable.

The terry tunic.  Two rectangles assembled by the side and shoulder seams, short and straight sleeves, a horizontal neckline bordered by a lapel, two patch pockets, an elastic drawstring at the waist, English seams (so that the fabric does not crumple)...All this is as easy as pie and will make you an ideal bathrobe to wear over a bikini. 
(1 m. 60 by 90 cm)

Front

Back

"A Dress To Make By Guy Laroche of Paris" (Woman's Journal, January 1958)

 Couture was not for everyone: even in the 1950s only the super-rich could afford one-off, custom-made designer garments.  However, less wealthy women also wanted to wear the latest styles from the salons of London and Paris.  How did they do it without breaking their budgets?  Well, they might have bought mass-produced copies of couture fashions.  The couture houses made a large part of their income by licensing copies, and further down the line there were people selling pirated copies of the copies.  The materials and the workmanship were poorer, but the general style remained.

Alternatively, the would-be fashionista could have made her own version of a couture garment, using an authorised pattern.  In January 1958 Woman's Journal offered its readers the chance to buy one such pattern (Model Pattern 3556) based on a design by Guy Laroche.  The interesting thing is that the magazine printed a photograph of the original dress as well as a photograph of a version made from their pattern.

Below is the original model we bought and photographed in Paris.  A romantic short evening dress—young as a dream—full-skirted and low-backed.  To get the effect of this warp-printed satin, an excellent material to use would be Jacqmar's warp-printed satin-cotton.

 And ... we show our copy of this charming dress made in beautifully plain duchesse satin... The bodice front of the dress continues round the back to form a strap and ties with a large bow at the back of the neck , while the full skirt forms pintucks down the panels , and the seams are double stitched to give a gored effect to the skirt.

POINTS TO NOTE

1. The full skirt is gathered into waist, and pin tucks are stitched on the wrong side to give a gored effect.
2. The bodice front has a round neck line, and is cut with extensions which are joined to the wide tie-ends to make the large bow on the nape of the neck.  The small, cap sleeves are cut in one with the front and completed with two-piece underarm gussets.
3. The back of the bodice is cut into a low V which is partly filled by the bow.  It is fitted with darts and the waist edge of the bodice extends ¾-inch below normal waist line.

Between Seasons (Beyer Mode, October 1960)

 Spring and Autumn can be a difficult time sartorially.  What do you wear when it's too cold for short sleeves, but too warm for coats?  In October 1960 Beyer Mode made a suggestion.  The slim-skirted dress on the cover of the magazine has a characteristic early-1960s elegance.

 Das schmale Tageskleid mit betont sportlicher Note.  Hemdblusenform - ist ein beliebter Anzug für die Zeit zwischen Sommerkleid und Herbstkostüm.  Breit abgesteppte Passen akzenturien das Oberteil und die Hüftpartie.  Kennzeichen des Herbstes: die halblangen Armel, das krӓftige Material und die aktuelle Farbe.

 [The narrow day dress with a decidedly sporty touch. Shirt-blouse form - is a popular suit for the period between summer dresses and autumn suits. Wide quilted yokes accentuate the upper part and the hip area. Characteristics of autumn: the half-length sleeves, the strong material and the current color.]

"With Or Without Pockets" (New Idea, October 17 1956)

 This was a "Gold Seal Pattern" offered in the New Idea issue of October 17 1956 (just send postal note for 3/6 with your order form).  The pattern was available in sizes 14, 16, 18, 20.

A SMART coat-frock style that is suitable for any time of the day.  Make it in a fabric for Spring, or in a Summer material for the warmer days ahead.  This is a must in your wardrobe, as it is so variable.

I've got to say that I find those big pockets on the left-hand model enviable!

"New Idea Star Pattern" (New Idea, June 8 1955)

 

New Idea wasn't a fashion magazine.  It was a weekly that offered the standard mix of fiction, recipes and housekeeping advice found in most women's magazines. It also published many knitting and crochet patterns—and each week advertised a few sewing patterns, obtainable by writing to the magazine.

This pattern for a "feminine house dress" is aimed squarely at its main readership: housewives.  The magazine suggested that it be made up in cottons "in gay designs" and it featured a buttoned yoke, ric-rac trim and gathered pouch pockets.  The magazine promised that the wearer would feel like "the queen of the household" in this dress—no doubt while doing her daily chores!

"It's Smart to Restyle" (McCall Style News, July 1945)

Now for another round of WWII restyling—courtesy, once again, of McCall's Patterns:

"MCCALL 1064—Printed Pattern for Making Over the Tops of Old Dresses...With this new "conservation pattern", turn an old dress into a smart makeover.  Cut any of the yokes or lower waist sections shown, from the two master patterns for blouse fronts and backs.  Results: the high-style, two-tone effect, achieved with contrasting fabric."

I have another version of the same pattern from 1944 posted here—re-using and "making-do" clearly applied to pattern companies as well as home dressmakers!  This illustration of the pattern includes ideas for making over sleeves and accessories as well as the bodices.

"Deux tailleurs d'ete" (Le Petit Echo de la Mode, 23 Mai 1937)

 For daytime glamour in the 1930s there was nothing quite like wearing a tailored suit.

These two examples depicted on the cover of Le Petit Echo de la Mode were available in the form of patterns—PATRONS-MODЀLES—from the magazine for 3 francs each. 

"Costume tailleur en tissu quadrillé blanc et noir, garni de drap bleu vif, composé de la veste T 82513 et de la jupe J 81069.  Veste cintrée, à double petite basque.  Col et boutons en drap bleu.  Jupe avec gros pils creux devant donnant l'ampleur du bas."

["Tailored suit in white and black checkered fabric, lined with bright blue cloth, consisted of jacket T 82512 and skirt J 81069.  Fitted jacket with double small basque.  Blue cloth collar and buttons.  Skirt with large box pleats in front giving fullness to the bottom."]

"Costume tailleur en serge rouge bordeaux, composé de la veste T 82514 et de la jupe J 80086.   Veste smoking, de forme classique, avec col et revers tailleur ouverts sur une blouse de voile blanc à pois rouges.  Jupe droite, ave pli soufflet dans la bas, devant et derriѐre."

["Tailored suit in burgundy red serge, consisting of jacket T82514 and skirt J 80086.  Tuxedo jacket, classic shape, with open collar and tailored lapels over a white voile blouse with red polka dots.  Straight skirt with accordion pleats at the bottom in front and behind."]