Vintage sewing patterns are a piece of the past. They represent days gone by. It's great to look at these memories and dream of better days....Maybe. Anyway, vintage patterns are great to collect and even to sew with.
Older patterns were made of tissue which was so delicate that just breathing on one would destroy it(or so it seemed). I really don't know how anyone could possibly pin this fragile thing onto a piece of fabric and then manage to cut it out without completely destroying it.
Older tissues were shaped pieces that had only perforated corresponding letters on them. There are no seam lines or any written instructions on the tissues. Not like our present day tissues which tells you how many pieces to cut, if the piece is to be placed on the fold, to be placed on the grain and other such information.
Sometime in the forties (will have to check for the exact year) pattern companies started printing on pattern tissues. I bet this made it alot easier for some of those earlier seamstresses. As time progressed tissues got a little heavier (not really the word I want to use) and a little more durable. I mean you still can't use a steam iron on them....pucker city!!!
Another fact about older patterns...they are sized smaller. A size 14 in the fifties is like a size 12 or smaller in 2000's. Were women slimmer back then because they didn't have all of the temptations we have today.... fast food restaurants on every corner, microwaves, prepared meals from the box and all you can eat buffets?? Makes one wonder...hmmm.
I will be back with pictures on some earlier tissues to show how they looked then and to compare them with their more modern day cousins. Have a great sewing day!
