A Blast From the Past

 some of my children's patterns

It doesn’t happen often, believe me, but I was recently in the mood to clean out old stuff that had been boxed up since our 2009 remodel. One part of the task involved a cardboard box full of ancient sewing patterns. There was a time when it was helpfully economical to sew clothing, and most of my sewing was done for my small children for the simple reason that I could make cute outfits out of marked-down remnants and inexpensive lace, elastic, buttons, and trim bought in bulk from a local outlet and a mail order company called Home-Sew. A little girl dress or boy shorts could be sewn for as little as 25 cents. Even if I broke the bank by creating a 50 cent outfit, it was still a great deal in the 70s and 80s.

Notice in the photo that besides girl's dresses are patterns for very cool boy's short shorts, foxy jeans, and stylish rib-necked t-shirts.

Not shown in these photos are patterns for prom dresses, wedding dresses, a Civil War ball gown I made for Teresa, pioneer dresses, and an American Girl doll pattern.

 Craig was the beneficiary of some of my sewing projects--shirts, robes, pjs, jackets, ties. Clothing is relatively cheap now and fabric more expensive, so I won't be using these patterns ever again!

  I sewed various curtains, draperies and window shades, some of which did not require a pattern.

I'm handing off the old patterns  to my friend ML, who sews costumes in her spare time. Except for one: the first pattern I ever used, which was bought for my 7th grade Home Ec class in 1966. All of us girls sewed an A-line skirt using this pattern. It brings back happy memories of learning to satisfy my creative self.