The Western Shirt - The Iconic Symbol of American Individualism

               McCall's 2118 Men's Western Shirt                           McCall's 2119 Boy's Western Shirt

The "Western" shirt is often attributed to the cowboy; that rugged individualist who forged the path across America at a time of great discovery. That early "Western" shirt was an incarnation of what we now recognize as the "Cowboy" shirt. The embellished, yoked shirt really began as a costume for the singing cowboys of the 1940's and 50's like Gene Autry.

Gene Autry - Singing Cowboy

My father was a singing cowboy of sorts too. He was a square dance caller in Milwaukee from the 1950's until his death in 1995. He wore "Cowboy" shirts with pearl snaps and a "Bolo" or string tie. Of course my mother wore the full skirt dresses with the layered crinoline underneath. It was quite a spectacle to watch from the bleachers when their club would perform their routines .... all the twirling and swirling skirts ... a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.

The Western shirt has never fallen out of favor. It is the mainstay in many a man's (and boy's) wardrobe. No doubt Hollywood has romanticized the whole "Western" culture with cowboy movies, and TV shows that we all grew up with like Bonanza, Branded and The Lone Ranger. John Travolta gave the Western shirt a bit of a giddyup in Urban Cowboy and fashion followed with Western wear everywhere. 

             McCall's 2367 Kid's Western Shirts                                               McCall's 2366 Men's Western Shirts 

But a personalized shirt, in your choice of fabrics and trim, is the ultimate statement of individualism. And wouldn't it make the most cherished gift for that special boy or girl in your life? Original patterns from the 1950's give you the authentic look while offering total artistic license. Do Western shirts really have to be plaid or gingham? Mix your Rockabilly with a bit of calico or China silk. Irish linen with an Ultrasuede yoke? The sky is the limit. 

These father and son or daughter shirts are classic Western styles with wonderful flourishes that would be great beginnings for adding your personal touch.

These 70's Western shirts have the basic elements of the classic 50's Cowboy shirt updated for a more homogenous look. Whatever the look you are comfortable with, the cowboy shirt has a place in everyone's wardrobe.

Find these and more at my CynicalGirl shop on eCrater.

Maternity Tops - 1950's Style

Being pregnant in the 50's and 60's was probably not too different from being pregnant today. Perhaps the language was a bit more subtle. I remember my parents saying she was "fragrant" rather than pregnant. And the baby bump that is so frequently mentioned today was simply "showing". 
One thing that does seem to be different is the mode of dress. It's not uncommon to see a young mom-to-be with her baby bump exposed in public. Definitely something you would not have seen half a century ago.

I remember black and white photos of my mom and her sister, both pregnant at the same time, wearing skirts and sleeveless maternity tops, white socks and saddle shoes. Seems like the saddle shoes were her favorite because they appeared in a lot of those photos from the 1950's.

This maternity top is much like the one I remember from that photo. With only three pattern pieces, this pullover top is easy to sew and an expecting mom could probably whip one up in an hour. 

 

This free download prints out on 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. Download HERE.

Find more of these easy to sew maternity patterns at my CynicalGirl shop on Goodsmiths.

Easy Jersey Gloves

1950s Ladies Gloves Pattern

For the garden or that most anticipated gala event, these jersey gloves will fit the bill for comfort and class. Make a pair in scrap jersey and embellish with fancy stitching. In shortie or gauntlet styles. Pattern and instructions print on 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. Use instructions diagrams to match printed patterns. Download HERE.

Find more gloves, hats and bags patterns at my CynicalGirl shops on Etsy and Goodsmiths.

Learning To Sew

Sewing quality garments that you will be proud of wearing takes time and patience. Finding the right fabric for the pattern you choose is no less important. There is nothing more frustrating than investing your time and resources sewing a garment only to be disappointed with the results. Often those little errors that cause the garment to pull or sag can be avoided by a little pre-cutting preparation.

DOWNLOAD HERE

This 1962 booklet published by Advance pattern company, details every aspect of your experience from finding your body type and choosing a pattern that will fit to preparing your fabric and your cut pieces. Only 20 pages in this Bishop Method of Clothing Construction booklet but it is packed. Grain lines, staystitching, directional stitching and unit construction are a few of the lessons covered. 

Success can never be guaranteed but it can weigh in your favor with some basic preparations before you begin to sew. Avoid frustration and make something you will be proud to say "I made this" with a little help from Advance patterns and the Bishop Method of Clothing Construction.

Easy Holiday Decor

Easy To Sew Christmas Ideas

This pamphlet for Holiday Decor from Coats and Clark's features Indian Head Cotton fabric, Bondex trims, Boiltex rick rack and Coats & Clark's sewing thread. Easy applique hostess apron, square or oval tablecloth, Christmas tree skirt and stocking. Download pattern HERE. 

Easy To Sew Christmas Ideas

1940's Cotton Day Dress

Rochelle from Lucky Lucille and Tasha from By Gum By Golly teamed up to host the Fall For Cotton Vintage Sew Along. I found myself with a free weekend and decided to tackle this lovely 1949 Advance dress pattern for my entry.

Advance 5185

I had been checking patterns to be sure they were complete to list in my Cynical Girl shop, and found this flared skirt dress pattern in a great size (though a little big for me), lacking instructions but still in it's original factory folds. This was the one. It was, after all, a vintage sewing challenge sew-along. I doubled up on the challenge part. An unprinted pattern with no instructions. Let the puzzle begin.

7:00 AM. My husband had just left for a writer's conference so I began, keeping the experience as vintage as possible. The fabric I chose was a piece of Cranston cotton I purchased over 30 years ago to make a copy of a vintage dress I really loved but never got to. It was perfect for this day dress. 

By 8:30 I had my pattern pinned, cut out, notched and marked.

I tried to find an 18" metal zipper in navy blue from my vintage stash but had to settle on a 22" navy or an 18" in cloister brown. I went with the blue.

Then the sewing began...... By 2:00 PM I had much of the larger pieces put together. The front facing and front of the bodice joined to make a shawl collar. That is one of my favorite types of collars so I had little difficulty figuring that part out without instructions. My 30+ year old Athena dress form isn't standing so straight any more. She is padded now with Fabulous Fit for that little extra I am carrying around now. It was a lot less expensive than purchasing a new dress form.

I decided not to serge my seams and instead use seam binding tape.

By 5:30 I had everything but the detail work to do. My pockets and buttons are pinned in place.

The buttons are vintage shell buttons upcycled from a vintage jacket that had seen better days. The buckle is shell as well. I will use white crochet cotton for the saddle stitching.

By 9:00 PM my dress was finished except for the marking and hemming.

And so I completed my Fall For Cotton Vintage Sewing Challenge. I entered it into the Flicker Fall For Cotton Group Page. So many lovely and just plain delightful entries into this challenge. I look forward to participating in another.

Prims Convertible Tote Bag Pattern

Another Prims 1960's Cover Your Own Buttons pattern. This is the Convertible Tote Bag. Download the free pattern HERE.

The William Prym Company of Dayville CT, a sewing notions manufacturer, who, together with Dritz, developed the first patent for fabric covered buttons.

Prims Whale of a Kari-All and Toy

Fun and whimsical, this whale shaped carry all can carry it all. This was a promotional pattern developed by the Home Economics Department of William Prym Sewing Notions Company of Dayville CT. Distributed in the 1960's, they encouraged the use of Prims Cover Your Own Buttons, Buttonsnaps and Buckles. Click HERE to download a free pattern.

Half Scale and Minikin Patterns

Half Scale and Minikin patterns have been used since the turn of the 20th century or earlier, in both educational and commercial applications. Fashion designers draped miniature dolls or half, quarter or any of a range of size dress forms to perfect their ideas before committing to the full size model. 

La Bricoleus

These miniature versions allow the designer to view the garment in it’s entirety. By seeing the whole garment at once, the designer can easily correct any problems to ensure they don’t surface while constructing the full size garment.

atelier reverie larke

Madeleine Vionnet used miniature models to envision her designs.  "Vionnet's apparently simple styles involved a lengthy preparation process, including cutting, draping, and pinning fabric designs on to miniature dolls, before recreating them in chiffon, silk, or Moroccan crepe on life-size models. Vionnet used materials such as crêpe de chine, gabardine, and satin to make her clothes; fabrics that were unusual in women's fashion of the 1920s and 30s. She would order fabrics two yards wider than necessary in order to accommodate draping, creating clothes - particularly dresses - that were luxurious and sensual but also simple and modern. Characteristic Vionnet styles that clung to and moved with the wearer included the handkerchief dress, cowl neck, and halter top." Wikipedia

Madeleine Vionnet in her studio about 1920

Both the commercial Half Scale and Minikin patterns are printed in miniature. The Half Scale patterns by Simplicity include instructions printed specifically for the small scale whereas the McCall's Minikin is exactly the same as the full size pattern in every regard but the size of the tissues. 

 

But other pattern companies produced Half Scale patterns such as this Advance Pattern

Advance 6535 Vintage Pattern Wikia

Half Scale patterns can also be up-scaled to your size. How to Enlarge Patterns From Half Scale to Full Scale, published by the Center for Pattern Design is useful in understanding the various ways one can enlarge a pattern. There is even a section on how to utilize the images from the CoPA Archive to recreate patterns from their schematics.

Sandra Erickson 2012©

For drafting your own patterns, the small scale is perfect for working out ideas for flat pattern designs with minimal waste.  Visit TheSewingDivas blog HERE to see the process of working in half scale to make the Pyramid Dress by Julian Roberts Subtraction Cutting Method.

For more on this please visit Threads Magazine for Half Scale and 

To purchase Half-Scale Patterns of Representative Period Silhouettes visit Seeing Silhouettes

See how to cast your own Half Scale dress form  

Working with Half-Scale Patterns Video: 

 

Prims Camelot Casual

Prims Camelot Casual Skirt, Apron, Plastron and Babushka

Another 1950's Prims pattern. Do take a look at the 

caterpillar kilt pin. Download this pattern HERE.

Pleated skirt, Apron, shaped plastron, and head scarf. I suppose the term "Camelot" comes from the kilt and breast plate of the plastron.

The Prym sewing notions company traces back to the 16th century where it is the oldest family business in Germany. Hans Prym immigrated to America and in 1924 he established Prims, a sewing notions manufacturing firm as an autonomous offshoot of the historic Prym family business in Germany.  The Long Island plant expanded quickly and soon moved to a larger plant in Dayville, Connecticut. During World War II it's specialized machinery was applied to machine shop production of defense products. Today Pryms Consumer USA products include Prym Sewing, Dritz and others.

Fascinator Hat Patterns

Lovely Vintage Fascinator Hats

Prims Yummy-Yum Lounger with Mob Cap

 Sew up this sweet lounger and cap for your favorite little girl.

This 1960s pattern for a girl's Lounger Nightshirt and Miss Muffet Mob Cap was included with the purchase of Prims covered button kits. Click HERE to download pattern in easy to draft 1" scale.

Prepared by the HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT, William Prym, Inc. Dayville CT
Prym Consumer USA 

Brides Blue Garter

Thomas Wilson Lace & Co., Inc. New York, NY, was producing fine lace as early as 1902 and perhaps earlier. Known for it's lingerie lace, Warner Brothers Company was one of it's important clients. After a dispute over infringement of it's 1964 copyright on a pansy lace design first embodied in an elastic "spandex" and later a rigid nylon fiber, and a labor dispute in 1971, the company dissolved in 1986.

 

Wilson Maid Lace

This 1950's insert for packaged lace from Thomas Wilson & CO., Inc. Wilson Maid Laces, includes instructions to make a Brides Blue Garter. Click to download instructions here.