Savor your caffeinated beverage of choice and gaze upon the lovely that is Hollywood 1820:
The sheer overlay! The flowing sleeves! The tiny tucks at the hips (which look great here, though they might cause problems for me in real life)! And, most of all, those tiny bows along the neckline! Gasp, gasp!
Extra points for the pretty basket-shaped purse...even though I mistook it for a taco at first.
Ah, Memorial Day -- a time for fun, friends and BBQ. Mr. Pattern Junkie and I are having friends over for ribs, brisket and jerk chicken (Mr. P.J. being quite the king of the smoker), and I find myself wishing for the perfect barbecue ensemble. A quick search of the Vintage Sewing Patterns wiki provided answers beyond my wildest dreams. (It has a knack for doing that.)
First up: this little number, Spadea 602-A:
An Emilio Pucci?! Be still my pattern-loving heart. I'd love to be able to pull off this fetching ensemble, but snug capris would not be flattering to me. Cute as this illustration is, the description is even better:
This way to the beach, barbeque or buffet at home! Double tiers of shaped bands girdle the waist and garter the knees of these snug young pants. For exciting hostess fare that's spiced with Spanish flavor, make them in jewel toned velveteen and embroider the cuffs with swirls of metallic thread.
Snug young pants spiced with Spanish flavor? Love that, although "smug young pants" would be worthy of a T-shirt. What I wouldn't give to see these made up in jewel-toned velveteen and embroidered with metallic thread!
Next up is Simplicity 4061:
Pigs at the grill! A classic really, though I have to admit I've never understood it. It's a little macabre, no?
Here's another his and hers BBQ apron ensemble, this one from the 40s. McCall 1481:
It's another great example of how mid-century patternland men just can't stop having meetings, no matter the setting! Sure, he's wearing an apron -- but the suit and tie are on, and he's reading either an agenda or a memo. (Sure, it could be a recipe, but wouldn't that be in a book?)
Finally, here's the ultimate -- an actual dress designated for BBQ-wear, Hollywood 1989 :
Is it just me, or is this a horrible outfit for eating ribs? (Then again, Scarlet didn't eat at the barbecue, did she?)
U.S. readers, may your Memorial Day be filled with friends, fun, family and food -- non-U.S. folk, may your Monday be the same way!
McCall 957 is an interesting artifact in the history of male/female relationships:
I'm glad it allows your helpmate to "have just as much fun as you!" in preparing dinner and doing household chores, and I do hope that husbands thought they were wonderful. I question the assertion that hubbies particularly appreciated the "I'm in again" note, though. Can't you imagine some hapless young bride making the aprons and presenting them to her beloved every night when he came home from work? "You're in again, honey -- now go peel those carrots." At first he'd think it was cute -- then there'd come the day where the boss had yelled at him and he just couldn't take it. He'd snap and she'd cry, not understanding why the pattern envelope had let her down so.
Katie lowered her eyes. Why couldn't Susie just ignore the Girls in Green? It was so embarrassing! And she knew that nothing good ever happened when Susie said weird things like "I am quite proficient in the White Dragon style."
At the hospital later the doctors re-wired Susie's broken jaw. Her broken spirit was beyond their reach.
Winner for Best. Etsy. Title. Ever. goes to bgitr and her listing for Simplicity 3996:
She called it "I'm happy because I have space aliens on my dress and a teeny waist."
My hat is off to you. A more perfect caption does not exist!
I stumbled upon this wonderfulness while procrastinating taking a well-deserved break from work and, after laughing out loud, perused the rest of her shop Re-Mod: Vintage Inspired. There are some amazing patterns at great prices! I'm exercising self-restraint after a recent pattern-buying spree (details coming soon), but you don't have to. Check out some of these lovelies!
Here's Butterick 7894, "Dangerous Curves Ahead," in a B42. I love the asymmetric details. And only $10.99?!
And how about Simplicity 3009? Only $5!
Or the stripety marvel that is Advance 4906? Imagine the hours of stripe-matching madness! The sense of victory would be worth it, though:
There's even a pattern that was missing pieces, so she went ahead and drafted them for you!
I should note that I have no affiliation with this shop and have never communicated with the owner -- I just loved the title and her items. Those of you who've never looked for vintage patterns on etsy, do check it out -- there are many wonderful sellers there and many hours to be lost.
At first I thought the woman in McCall 7804 here was holding a golf club, and thought it was unfortunate that sexism had landed these golfing ladies in the weeds. But take a closer look -- that's no golf club. It's a roasting fork with a wienie speared on the end!
But where's the evidence of the wienie roast itself? Where are the picnic baskets, the laughing kiddies, the ants, the pickle relish? Why is Yellow Sweater holding the wienie so close to the ground? That's very unhygienic!
The wienie, I'm quite convinced, is evidence of a heinous crime. Look at the suspicious poses of all three women. As Yellow Sweater disposes of the offending wienie, Green Slacks and Red Sweater serve as lookouts. As soon as it's buried, they're all jumping in a car and driving off to Mexico. Really, this illustration could double as a Dashiell Hammett novel cover or a film noir poster.
The real question is: what's the crime? What's the motive? I'm wondering if these three found their husbands engaged in a late night memo meeting...
Remember just last week when I suggested that Simplicity 1617 here was a prime example of The Pajama Problem? That the poor illustrator, perplexed at having to visually explain why two men were in PJs together, made it into a virtual horror movie -- what with Stripes and his missing eye and different colored hands?
Lo and behold, a few days ago I was going through patterns to list in my etsy shop and I found this very same pattern! It was then that I discovered that some of my conclusions were quite wrong -- the mismatched hands and missing eye are the result of aged paper, not illustrator madness See? Here's my copy:
Stripes isn't missing an eye -- both of his eyes are closed. And I can't believe that I missed the golf club in his right hand! For some reason the stripes on his pajamas show through it -- is it clear? Invisible?
So, dear readers, I must revise my earlier interpretation. White isn't in the middle of performing horrible medical experiments on Stripes. And, of course, there's a perfectly logical reason why these men are in pajamas together. Stripes is sleepwalking (hence the closed eyes) and has wandered into White's house, disturbing him as he's reading. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure Stripes is dreaming about golf -- that's why the club blends so perfectly with his pajamas.
This mixup of mine calls for a mea culpa in the form of a PATTERN GIVEAWAY, so let me know what you think! Is there another explanation for what's going on here? Leave your answer in the comments -- you have until Sunday night, 2/21/10, midnight PST, and the pajama pattern is yours!
With just under a week to go until Halloween (one of my favorite holidays -- I'm still rubbing the blood off my arms from the "Carrie at the prom" costume I wore to a party last night), I'm declaring it "Costume Countdown" week. I'll be featuring vintage costume patterns every day until Halloween.
Today: SCI FI MADNESS!
First up, Butterick 6756, which you can find on etsy at the lovely PatternMania's shop.
I love this illustration. I like to imagine it's actually from a children's book, "The Littlest Spaceman," about an astronaut's son who takes dad's spaceship and lands on the Planet of Animals. As he shouts "I'm Lord of All I Survey!", Panda and Leopard bow compliantly, while Lion does a welcoming dance. Sadly, the Littlest Spaceman has led a sheltered life on the space compound, and doesn't realize that Rabbit and Carrot have other opinions. A coup's a coming, and it's not going to be pretty.
Now, no Sci Fi costume post could be complete without McCall's 8731, which any Star Wars fanatic should grab from PatternPeddler posthaste. It is -- hold your breath now -- an Ewoks pattern. OK, so some Star Wars fans may buy the pattern to burn it, but I'll take the cutesy Ewoks over Episode One any day.
I was excited to post this because I thought it gave me a valid reason to link to the Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978, until I remembered that that gem of television history featured Wookies, not Ewoks. I'm linking to it anyway, because you've never seen such a confused mess in your life. Poor Harrison Ford.
Finally, why limit Sci Fi wonderfulness to Halloween? Erin over at Dress A Day finished her Tetris Dress, and it's great! Here's a pic of the wonderfulness, but go to her blog to get the full story!
