1907 McCall Pattern Leaflet

Lauren from Wearing History sent me this fabulous leaflet she found in a 1907 McCall's magazine to share with all of you.  It gives details on what all the notches and holes stand for in the early unprinted McCall patterns.  What a find! Thanks Lauren!!

A Look Inside Early McCall Patterns: 1910's to 1930's

Today I thought we would take a look inside some early McCall patterns to see how the patterns themselves evolved over time.

I want to give a special thank you to Lauren from Wearing History (a fellow McCall pattern lover) as she helped me put together some of the information for this post and kindly contributed several pictures!

Here's what a pattern piece from a 1910 McCall pattern looks like:

 Photo credit: Lauren from Wearing History

Notice how it's unprinted but does include notches and circle and triangle holes?  That's the guide for different construction techniques such as darts, etc. 

The earliest McCall pattern I have is from the 1920's.  Here's a look inside at both the instructions and the sleeve pattern piece:

A few things I noticed right away with this 20's pattern is that the instructions (called 'Printo Gravure') are printed on the same tissue paper as the pattern.  You'll also notice that the sleeve pattern piece has a pictorial guide on it on how to alter the sleeve for special measurements.  I've only seen this on 1920's patterns but I really like it.  In the last picture above you can see that the instructions contain a lot of real photos including how to make a bound buttonhole (in photos as opposed to drawings).

McCall's in the 1910's

Photo credit: Magazine cover by Coles Phillips [1880-1927], scan via American Art Archives

As we embark on the year that commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the titanic, there will be lots of looking back at Edwardian times.  I thought I would put together a post of some lovely scans from McCall's magazines of the 1910's.  Hope you enjoy!

 Photo Credits: 1. August 1910 McCall's Magazine via Christine592 on Flickr (also known by the blog Vintage 123), 2. Winter 1913 McCall's Magazine via Clothes Circuit, 3. April 1914 McCall fashion plate via Vintage Fan Girl

 Photo Credits: 4. March 1914 McCall's Magazine fashion plate via Christine592 on flickr, 5. 1915 McCall's Magazine fashion plate via the NYPL Digital Gallery

  Photo Credits: 6. 1916 McCall's Magazine fashion plate from Iowa State University Library Special Collections via Old Rags  ,7. April 1917 McCall's Magazine fashion plate via Christine592 on Flickr, 8. January 1918 McCall's Magazine fashion plate via Christine592 on Flickr.

More 1910's McCall's resources:

• Scans from the August and December 1917 McCall's Magazines from Vintage 123. 

• A story from the April 1916 McCall's Magazine on auto-camping across the United States from The Vintage Traveler (a fabulous blog and fellow vintage pattern lover!)  Lizzie explains ... From Coast to Coast, A Nine-Thousand-Mile Vacation for Two for  $350.  The story is the first person account of Beatrice Backus and her teacher husband’s decision to drive from Massachusetts to San Francisco during his summer break.  In 1916 the automobile was still relatively new, and many parts of the country did not have any paved roads.  There was no highway system, no AAA, no reliable maps for many places.  But that did not stop these intrepid travelers who decided to auto-camp their way across the country and back.

• Scans from the May 1913 McCall's Magazine that this lucky blogger found at a garage sale!!

• Scans from the December 1911 McCall's Magazine from Clearly Vintage.