Hawk Crossing
Vintage Sewing and More!

Pattern Informer

Circa Dating

I have listed a circa date on all the patterns. However, most patterns made before the early sixties are not dated. I have given my best guess on the dates. I do not guarantee them all to be accurate. Most of them should be but, without copyright dates I can't be sure. You will have to use your own judgement.

Condition

The condition stated under the description of the patterns only refers to the envelope. If there is no statement in the description about the pattern itself it is in good condition and complete. Otherwise any specific information will be noted in the description.

All of the recently added patterns have been checked to be sure all the pieces are there. However, I am still going through some of the patterns that were first listed. Be assured that if you order a pattern and I haven't checked it yet it will be checked before I mail it out.

Sewing Difficulty

Many of the older patterns, especially the patterns from the forties and earlier do not have any markings on them. If you are not an experienced seamstress you may want to wait a while before you try to tackle these earlier patterns. I believe all of the patterns from the late forties and beyond have markings on them.

Preserving Patterns

Many of the envelopes for the older patterns are brittle and may be falling apart. When you get an older pattern you might want to do what my Grandmother did. She would take a 5x7 envelope and glue the important pieces of the pattern envelope to the front and back of the 5x7 envelope to keep them from deteriorating more.

Also, if you plan on using the old patterns often you might want to trace them on some interfaceing or tissue and put the original pattern away. You could make a copy of the envelope and put your new pattern in a 5x7 envelope with a picture pasted on the front.

Sizing

The pattern sizes for women changed at one point in time. I am not exactly sure when that was. I think it was in the late fifties or early sixties. It also seems that some of the sizes varied slightly from company to company.

I have listed a number of charts below. In most of the description there will be a size as well as some other measurement. If you are not sure about the other measurements you can use the size and what other measurement I have given to match them up with the measurements from the lists below.

Ex: If I list the pattern as a size 12 with a 30" bust the first table below will show that the waist measurements is 24" and the hip measurement is 33". If I listed the pattern to be a size 12 with a 32" bust the second table would show that pattern has 25" waist and 34" hips.

Note*** If you are a small lady you might want to look at the child's and teens patterns. They correspond with the smaller women's sizes.

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