McCall 2379 - Girl's Middy

1920s.

This is one of a special series of "school patterns" that McCall issued for beginners.  After mastering other patterns in the series for a nightgown and a petticoat, the novice could move on to this iconic middy blouse.

McCall patterns at this time didn't have separate instruction sheets.  Instead,  the instructions were largely printed on the pattern pieces themselves.  This isn't a bad approach. You quickly learn to keep the pattern pieces pinned to the fabric until you're ready to sew them, then to review the instructions on for each of the pieces you're about to sew.

For this series, however, McCall decided to print all the instructions together at the bottom of the sheet of tissue.

Look at all those pleats at the bottom of the sleeve!

Ladies' Home Journal 2452 - Men's and Youth's Overalls or Mechanics' Suit

By the style of the envelope, this one is probably the late 19-teens to the 1920s.

When you unite a shirt with a pair of pants, you get union overalls.  In the UK this garment is called a boiler suit.   The other major style of overalls would be the apron or bib-and-braces style, which we've seen with Pictorial Review 3701, Boys' Overalls.  Either of these garments is also called coveralls.  Confusingly, overall or coverall (singular) in some cases refers to a woman's apron or rarely, a shop coat.

Making a ladies' apron at home offers the maker some opportunities for self-expression, if she has the money for pretty fabric and the time to add embellishments such as rickrack or embroidery.

Making overalls at home, on the other hand, is purely about getting the gentleman suitably dressed for his job.  The 27" fabric width is common for denim at this time.  There is nothing easy about cutting out, basting, or sewing denim.  While treadle sewing machines handle multiple layers well, button holes will still have to be sewn by hand.   In some household economies, home-made overalls must have made more sense than placing an order from the Sears, Roebuck catalog.

This unprinted pattern has been used and subsequently led a hard life in storage - it's been a little mouse nibbled.

Here's a nice variety of overalls worn by the crack mechanical team of 1919 at the Haverford Cycle Company in Washington D.C.

Found at Shorpy

McCall 1310 - Boys' or Girls Western Shirts

 1946.  With Embroidery or applique trim.

A terrific western shirt, particularly appealing because it allows the girls to play, perhaps in the Dale Evans role.  Who wouldn't want to be "Queen of the West!"

From http://www.denveroldwest.com/

This printed pattern has been cut but doesn't seem to have been used.

Butterick 7892 - Little Girls' Romper Dress

A few years before 1921

In a time before it was acceptable for women or girls to wear trousers, this seems to me like a humane way to dress an active little girl.  The rompers themselves aren't much different from boys' rompers.

But at lunch time, or when one of those old-fashioned, elderly relatives appears, give her hands and face a quick scrub and button on her skirt and you have your little lady (more or less.)

You could even make extra skirts so that you always had a clean one on hand.

This unprinted pattern is unused.

Interestingly, this idea of rompers-and-detachable-skirt shows up for women in the 1930s through the 1950s, when it's known as a "play suit."

Aladdin Apron Company - Bungalow Apron

1926

This pattern is the first documentary evidence I've acquired showing that some women expanded beyond home sewing into cottage industry.  It seems logical that a woman who sewed well and efficiently might chose to supplement her income by sewing for others with less time or skill, but without some sort of documentary evidence, it's impossible to prove.

The Aladdin Apron Company of Asbury Park New Jersey may have been a side business for a textile mill, or it may have been a small entrepreneur (perhaps even a woman,) negotiating deals for materials and then taking out classified ads in small town newspapers like the Kingsport Tennessee Times for May 10th, 1926.

The instruction sheet provides fascinating details.

Note that among the potential customers for these high grade percale aprons are factory girls.  It's also interesting how much emphasis is made in the instructions to work neatly and evenly.   A poorly made apron won't generate repeat sales for either the maker or for Aladdin.

As the instruction sheet indicates, the pattern for this very simple bungalow apron (house dress, more or less) has been cut from unprinted lightweight brown kraft paper that will stand up to repeated use better than the usual pattern tissue used for most home sewing patterns. Only one "fits most" size appears to have been available.  This particular style with the two-piece front was very popular in the 1920s.

Maudella 2987 - Keep Fit Costume

Late 1930s, early 1940s.

This seems to be a pretty early Maudella offering.  In the United States this would almost certainly be called a "gymnasium suit," and might be worn with a white blouse underneath.

This pattern may have been offered in response to movement started in the 1930s to promote fitness for women.  It's tempting to imagine Maude Dunsford reading about (or even being a member of) the Women's League of Heath and Beauty, founded in 1930 by Mary Bagot-Stack and in 1935 carried on by her daughter Prunella. (1)

Click on the image to watch a lovely 1930s British Pathe film of League ladies going through their paces.

This pattern is unprinted but each pattern piece is stamped with its name.  There is no separate instruction sheet, only the text instructions on the back of the envelope.

                                                                                                                                                                        

(1)The League survives today as The Fitness League.

Standard Designer 3804 - Surgical Gown and Cap

1920s

This one could use a little research.  I don't have enough context to know whether this is really intended for medical use or is a costume pattern.  The only other costume pattern I have from Standard Designer dates to about the same time but is in an entirely different number range.

Just a few years earlier during WWI, the Red Cross authorized patterns for surgical gowns, so the idea of home-sewn medical wear isn't entirely new.

This unprinted pattern and its envelope both show signs of wear.