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Wednesday, 18 September 2013

1940s Lingerie Pattern


The envelope is a bit tatty, but all the pattern pieces are intact inside, all folded together.



The long nightdress is particularly slinky, but that isn't what fascinated me about this pattern.



It was the small print on the front ...



... and the instructions inside



... which describe everything you need to do in preparation



... for laying the pattern onto panels of parachute silk.

Today's bit of fun is a link up with Beth's blog Love Laugh Quilt  to join in with the Sewing Museum.  If you want to see lots of fascinating sewing boxes, buttons, machines, ribbon, thread... all the sort of stuff I squirrel away into every spare corner... click on the link.

Welcome to LynCC, the latest follower - thank you for joining! 

10 comments:

  1. I can remember my one auntie used parachute silk to make 'unmentionables' as part of her tailoring business. This was a delight.

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  2. Thanks for sharing. It was fun reading the instructions on this old pattern. ;)

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  3. what a little gem of history you have. I have an acquaintance who made her wedding dress from a parachute and its in our local museum now.

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  4. WOW! What a surprise ending to this post! I did not know patterns were made specifically for use with parachute silk! Thanks for sharing such a valuable piece of history!!!

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  5. How fun! Yep, the historian part of me is as fascinated as the fabric arts part. :)

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  6. How neat!!! I'd love to tackle that project.

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  7. Oh, that is news to me, and so interesting! Of course the parachute silk would have been reused, and someone thought to print a pattern for it! Women are amazingly resourceful, aren't we?

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  8. Awesome! My grandmother used to work in a cotton mill. It is amazing what they did with the scraps! I wish she was able to tell me about it again now that I'm interested. Maybe I'll catch her on a good day soon. :)

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  9. Very cool sewing museum item! Gosh, they were ahead of their time in recycling!

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