Pattern Purge and Purchase Possibilities!

My Etsy shop, Metamorphpursuit has reopened!! Right now there are over 30 patterns there, more will be added over the next two weeks. I have Vogue designer patterns from the 1980-90s, vintage Advance and Simplicity patterns from the 50-60s, and various others. Go check them out using that new widget to the right!

Buying that small group of patterns at Hancock Fabrics; no matter how cheap they were, still made me feel guilty for all the others I own and haven't used. This inspired me to finally finish a project I started two months ago when I came across a vintage store that had a booth devoted to thrift and antique fair supplies; vinyl bags, stickers, tags, and display stands. I bought myself some 9" x 12" plastic zip bags* after I saw how they packed their own vintage patterns. Instead of getting a bag that just fits the average sized patterns they used much larger bags and placed the pattern perpendicularly in the middle and wrapped the ends to the back and used archival tape to anchor the two sides together. I took a day and wrapped most of my patterns, including all the vintage ones, the oldest, my T-N-T (most used), and the ones I finally decided to sell.

Covered vintage patterns and ex. of what happens without preservation.

I made sure to use the new bags and my original 6 x 9 plastic protectors to make sure that all the vintage patterns have some kind of coverage. Unfortunately, without protection, some of my older pattern envelopes have become crispy, as you can see above. In those cases, I have carefully removed the folded instructions and pattern and placed them in the bags individually so that future damage to the envelopes will be minimal.

This protect and purge session ended up freeing 70+ patterns that I realized I'm either never going to make because of the style or a size I will never fit into again and the idea of reopening up my Etsy store was definitely the way to go.   

To make those elimination decisions, I used this ranked order of criteria:

1. Could I still see myself wearing these items still (or ever) since some patterns had been inherited from others? I had to see these patterns fit into my current and future wardrobe.
2. Could the size range of these patterns fit me? (I'm currently a size 14/16 and I could see being a 12/14 again but I had unused patterns from high school when I was a 6-8!)
3. Do I have the patience or motivation to undertake this pattern? I had some Vogue designer patterns rated Advanced in the mix.

For years, I've kept a photo inventory of the staggering amount of patterns I owned on Flickr. There will always be a few that I keep for sentimental reasons, but once I moved the ones chosen for sale to a separate album my inventory numbers changed drastically:

Vogue: Group of 62 condensed down to 37.
Simplicity: Batch of 54 scaled back to 28.
McCall's: Lot of 31 shrunk to 17.
New Look: Cluster of 21 reduced to 15.
Butterick: Set of 15 decreased to 9.

So from a quantity of nearly 200 patterns I now have a much more usable group of 106.

Of course that still doesn't include the 20 or so downloaded PDF patterns I may also own. But, baby steps, baby steps...

* For archival purposes, make sure they are 2 mil uncoated polyethylene bags.

Purple Top Revisited - New Look 6977

This project was created from remains of a 2009 top that no longer fit, New Look 6807.

Pattern: New Look 6977, c. 2010

Pattern Description: Misses' top, pull-on full/slim skirts and pants. A Just4Knits pattern.

Pattern Sizing: Size A (6-16) I originally cut a size 14 according to finished garment measurements.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, though I did make two small alterations.

New Look 6807 to New Look 6977

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, very much. There isn't much to them but I did appreciate that the pattern begins with some tips on sewing knits. Therefore, I used a combination of straight and zigzag stitches.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The shape seemed very flattering. I chose it because it had a similar neckline and sleeves to a top I made in 2009 that had stretched so much that I could no longer wear it. However, this was more form-fitting and its pieces could be cut out of the original. The only change was I eliminated the gathering detail at center front.

Fabric Used: A rayon/Spandex knit in Potent Purple from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Gutermann polyester thread in #447, Mulberry.

Now - Then

Now - Then

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I liked the neckline and drapiness of the original design (New Look 6807). Unfortunately, this jersey knit kept growing so much that I had not worn it for months. One night, I went out with some friends and had to keep adjusting it every time I moved. It was falling off my shoulders so much that within 10 minutes of getting home I had my seam ripper out and started ripping! I was able to completely cut the new pieces out of the old ones, no additional fabric needed. I even reused the old neckline for the new one.

I used the pattern's finished garment measurements to select the size and of course it was STILL too big!! Luckily, the armscye was large enough (!) that I could safely cut the sleeve in a smaller size; therefore, decreasing the length between shoulder and the bust. It eliminated one inch of length on each side. I then had to taper the top bodice line from a 14 at the armscye notch to a size 6! at the neckline.

At this point, fearing the fabric would stretch even more I fused knit interfacing to the neckline and sleeve openings. At that time, I chose to use a different method a la Alabama Chanin. Using the single-fold binding from the original top I encased the raw edge inside the fold and hand stitched around the neckline with fuchsia thread.

I took note of a suggestion by grays08 on Pattern Review about gaping back armholes. I made sure to baste the top together and try it on again after my alterations; however, I didn't have that problem.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes. but only because I have successfully adapted the sleeve pieces and altered the body shape to fit me. I am unsure about recommending the pattern because I don't know how much of my problems were due to the fabric or to the pattern. I suggest not only measuring the flat pattern but to also construct a muslin in suitable and similar fabric.

Conclusion: I love the finished result but to get there I needed to make multiple alterations to this pattern. Though not ideal, I do now have a custom pattern to make as many of these as I want and I definitely want more.

6. Summer Tank Top - Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank #31001

Pattern: Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank #31001

Pattern Description: (0-18) Tank top with bust darts, bias bound edges, and a slightly relaxed fit.

Pattern Sizing: Neck, shoulders to underarm in size 8, the rest in size 10.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, very much.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like how the tank is fitted at the top but flows along the rest of the torso. It does not use a lot of fabric or take up a lot of time to sew. I loved the bias-bound neckline as it gave a RTW look.

Fabric Used: A somewhat shiny, lightweight, horizontal striped gray fabric with a foulard pattern perfect for a man's tie. The fabric is a recycle of a dress that Slapdash Sewist wasn't happy with, in fact, she called it her "Prison Matron Dress".

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made?: I originally was going to use the dress as a dress, slim it down or make a tunic out of it. However, I had the Grainline pattern raring to go and I had made a promise not to buy any more garment fabric, so...  A great recycling project at hand, I laid out the pattern on the dress and it was going to work! The only difference would be that there was a back seam.

The first thing I did before I cut any pieces was to make sure the fabric was on grain. It was not, so I used the pull-a-strand method and luckily still had enough width to cut the front with no piecing. However, because of the grain being off I  could not use the existing back seam. I recut the back on the grain and sewed a 1/4" seam allowance, folded it to one side and made a flat fell seam. In addition, since this fabric seemed to unravel at a glance I encased the shoulder and sides in French seams. I finished it by following the instructions for the tiny 1/4" hem.



This is the true color



Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I will make this again, as a top and also as a dress. I also love how Grainline patterns are nested so that you don't have to sacrifice the smaller sizes when it is cut out.

Conclusion: This is a great versatile tank for summer.

Images: my own photos, GrainlineStudio.com

1. A Repurpose Project - Elastic Waists are EVIL

To the left is an example of why I no longer wear my gray gathered skirt. It did that to my waist.

No offense to Very Purple Person but I need it known that my waistline is smaller than my other two measurements! So I decided to take that skirt apart and make a proper flat waistband for it.

That was half a year ago. I removed the elastic and moved the still mostly intact skirt to the mending pile. While surfing the web last week, I came across Pattern Runway 's FREE Very Gathered Skirt pattern. Yes, so there are gathers still but they are all in the back, all you see from the front is the flat waistband.

I am not doing a true review of this pattern only because I ended up changing quite a bit from their instruction. I ended up using it only for the width of the front and back sections, the slight hip curve, and the pocket pieces; which was something the original skirt lacked.


I instead made the skirt that is a blend between the Pattern Runway skirt and View B from Butterick 5285.



I was able to keep the back waistband from the original skirt. The back pattern piece was much longer than my hemmed skirt so I just used the pattern piece to cut the skirt down to size width-wise, keeping the hem intact. On the front, I removed the old waistband casing, used the front waistband piece and interfaced it for stability. I had just enough fabric left to cut the four pocket pieces. At the time, I didn't have the inspiration picture available so I just eyeballed the pleats, stitched up the skirt, and was done.


Sorry, took picture but had forgotten to press pockets. After these pictures were taken I opened up the back casing and took 1.5 inches of elastic out. The skirt fits more snug now and at my correct waistline.


Before and AfterImages: verypurpleperson, my own pictures