Sewing in (my) history

The idea for this post, which will perhaps be the first of a series, is my husband's.  He found me wasting time on the www trolling for vintage patterns.  It's all Carolyn's fault... well, for today, that is.  I have several "vintage" pattern websites bookmarked which I look at compulsively.  I'm searching for the patterns from my past, you see.

I made my first garment (a dress, pattern lost) in grade 8 which was many decades ago.  Through high school, I sewed and sewed.  At the very beginning, I favored Simplicity patterns.  It was the late 60s and they were fresh and cute.  Later on into the early 70s I made Butterick patterns - the ones designed by Betsey Johnson and Kenzo were my favorites but I continued with Simplicity, especially the "Young Contemporary" ones.  Only later, in university and beyond, would I graduate to the occasional Vogue.  I can only remember ever making a couple of McCalls patterns and I don't know why they didn't grab me.  That was my entire world of possible sewing patterns, then.

I have many of my patterns from the university days but unfortunately, most of the ones I made before then were lost when my parents moved (sniff, Mom & Dad, maybe I'll forgive you someday...).  They would have been gone forever but the internet gave us all a way to reacquire the ephemera of our past lives.

Here's a little dip into my sewing memories and my collection.

I'm still looking for the very first dress pattern I ever made.  It was ca1968 and it was (natch) a mini dress.  I made it out of a lurid cotton print featuring hot pink flowers, which had a nice substantial weight and texture.  It was A line with puffed sleeves, a square faced neckline and big patch pockets.  But the most astonishing feature of the design (I can hardly credit that I chose, and successfully made this pattern for my FIRST EVER garment project) was the bust darts.  They originated in the side seams, charged out horizontally at a level just below the bust and then took a hard (square) turn upwards.  CUTE!  But DIFFICULT for a beginner, no?  My Home Ec teacher must have sighed deeply when she saw it, but kudos to her for not insisting that we all make the same boring and ugly navy blue cotton top with back zipper and V neck that would never be worn.  I wore that dress a lot, and the positive charge I got out of making it set me on my way as a lifelong sewer. 

While I can't show you the 1968 dress, I can show you another pattern which was perhaps the 2nd or 3rd one I made, and has the same kind of darting.

You can best see the darts on the pink dress but the great shape they gave to the dress is more evident on the white one.  Every time I look at this picture, I smile.  I remember those flippy hairstyles (which my hair would never ever do) and those little skinny knees (unlike mine at the time) and the cute girls in grade 9 (which I wasn't).  I remember that I made this dress twice.  I vaguely remember that there was a first pink version but my total favorite was another substantial cotton print with a warm mid-beige background and abstract print in yellow, a nice fresh green, white, black and perhaps other colours.  I think the coordinating scarf was green poly chiffon (way to go ME for tackling this difficult fabric, if I made it, which I can't remember).  I must have made that dress in 1970 since I think I was wearing it for my grade 10 photo.

My memory of the cute girls in grade 9 has had a serious boost recently as my mother found and returned to me my yearbook of that ancient day, only this Christmas.  She gave it to me along with my report card from grade 1 (where is the museum conservator for this ancient paper?).  I got a huge laugh from the report card when I read as follows:

ART
Shows self-expression ... yes
Evidence of particular talent or unusual ability ... no


MUSIC
Enjoys musical activities ... yes
Evidence of particular talent ... no

Can you who are parents imagine reading this about your little darling, whose every accomplishment is a marvel and whose lives and futures stretch out, unblemished and full of promise?  Boy, they really knew how to throw cold water on creativity in those not-politically-correct days at the Mountainview Elementary School!  (To their credit, I don't think my parents put any stock in the artistic judgment of my grade 1 teacher, and I like to think she was a little bit wrong.)

Since I am reminiscing about grade 1, there I am, sitting nicely in the front row of my class picture in regulation navy box pleated tunic and white shirt, complete with skinned knee.  I didn't realize I was doomed to have no artistic or musical talent! 

Anyhow, Simplicity 8805 was lost to me until I acquired it from one of my favorite vintage pattern sites, Lantez Living.  I have considered making it again, though a bit longer.  What do you think?



One more for today, accompanied by a photo of yours truly wearing it at her high school graduation (with BF of the day). 

OKAY YOU CAN STOP LAUGHING NOW!

For your information, the dress was made from a soft and beefy but seriously synthetic knit fabric in shades of off-white and dusty rose.  One side was a check, and the other was a heathery solid.  I used the contrast for the collar and cuffs.  Looking at the photo, I believe I would have thought the dress a little on the long/modest side.  I used to measure the "right length" in those days by whether the tips of my fingers brushed the hem, and I have short arms(!).

I didn't like this pattern enough to buy it again (and it was the wrong size by a mile) but I saved the image. 

Tell me if you found this post (a) illuminating or inspiring, (b) amusing, or (c) embarrassing.  Based on your responses, I'll decide whether to share more of my ancient sewing history, or sulk and keep it all to myself.