Vintage Handknit and Classic Pattern Sweaters: The spotlight comes round again.

My love affair for vintage clothing started when I was in high school in the early 1970s. My grandmother was thinning out her closet and she let me pick what I wanted from the discards... I went off with an armload...sheer nylon blouses with rhinestone buttons, cropped orlon cardigans, pleated plaid skirts, her beautiful war time floral rayon dress and two fitted suits.  I loved my Grandmothers classic vintage style and wore everything until it was threadbare. Looking to expand my wardrobe I made my very first vintage purchase at a little shop called Shaky Jakes which specialized in cool "old" clothes (the term vintage was not coined until years later) I picked out a 1940s star patterned ski sweater which precipitated what became a life long obsession.

Over the years I have amassed a rather large collection of classic vintage wool sweaters. They are a staple of my cold weather wardrobe. Living in New England means long frosty winters and having a large stash of festive sweaters helps to brighten things up. Aside from their fetching designs, I love their fine quality. The wonderful worsted and mercerized wools of yesteryear that do not pill and have such a lovely sheen. After all these years I am still finding new additions for my closet because there are so many styles to choose from, many of them with long histories. From Norway there is the Setesdal Sweater with its intricate designs and hand embroidered collar and cuffs as well as the Selbu Star (like my first sweater). Iceland gave us the Lopi sweater with it's bold yoke pattern and from Sweden the more subtle Bohus Stickning patterns. These traditional styles are timeless and beautiful but I'm also fond of novelty sweaters, especially the Mary Maxim styles.

For decades, classic knit designs have made their way into the fashions of the day. Interest has ebbed and flowed but it never goes away. Over the past year popularity has risen again and both designers and retail customers are snapping them up. It will be interesting to see how they inspire the coming trends and collections.

 Lopi Sweater circa 1970s

 Hand knit mittens from the 1940s with the Selbu Star pattern

 Norwegian hand knit cardigan with pewter buttons

 Mary Maxim "football" cardigan, early 1960s

 

 Ad from a vintage knitting magazine for worsted wool

1950s ad for knitting pattern, novel interpretation of a Scandinavian classic

Sewing with Vintage Patterns

A lot of you know that I recently moved my vintage business to a beautiful new studio space. It's been one of my better decisions and I could not be happier, but it's also been a heck of a job. I'm still in the process of transitioning inventory. This week has been dedicated to bringing over my stash of vintage patterns, sewing books and fabric. Last week I spent some time sorting vintage buttons and I still need to process through all my vintage trims. It's all very tedious and a bit overwhelming but I know it will get done and I look forward to finally being organized. I also look forward to expanding my website and Etsy shop to include many of these treasures, but that's a future plan. First things first as they say!

Handling all that lovely fabric made me nostalgic and I started to wonder what might be happening in todays world of dressmaking. It's been a long time since I had my own dressmaker/millinery business and the only sewing I seem to have time for now are repairs and alterations for my customers, but I still love the craft. For a little break I decided to check out the internet and see what's going on out there. I was especially interested in who might be sewing from vintage patterns.   I did the Google and discovered there is a vast and wonderful world of people making their own "vintage" clothing. I found a number of great blogs. Some folks were purists others not so much but they were all really passionate and I had a ball reading what they had to say. I'd like to share a few of my favorites.

The Little Tailoress - Tips for working with vintage patterns

Some good practical suggestions for using vintage patterns and a really great blog site!

 

Sew Retro Rose. This blog site is dedicated to sewing vintage fashions from original patterns.  She has some great tips

 

Sew Mama Sew – Tips for sewing with vintage patterns

Fairly new to the game this gal is sewing her little heart out and loving every minute of it! Her jump-right-in approach is relaxed and fearless, which might not be for everyone, but her confidence is contagious and inspiring.

 

Elegant Musing s-The vintage pattern primer

A wonderful intro article to sewing with vintage patterns.

 

And finally a few pics of my vintage sewing stash that is slowly making it's way to the new studio.

 A few of the many vintage sewing books I've collected over the years.

The most tedious job of all. Sorting buttons a little at a time. Just a few more boxes to go....

An unruly pile of cotton prints waiting to be folded and stacked.

 

One shelf of woolens all done :)

I am NOT a vintage pattern hoarder...really I'm not. OK so maybe a I am a little but I do intend to list them...well most of them...someday...