Vintage Pattern Review: Job Lot 3 (items 61 - 71)

Pattern reviews 61 to 71...

#61

Style: Style 4582

Era: 1974

Size: 18

Would I have bought it? No

First thoughts: Blah. Tis another shift dress, so yeah, blah.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

#62

Style: Maudella 5653

Era: late 1970s (?)

Size: 18

Would I have bought it? No

First thoughts: Fairly cute, I think I like view 2 best (buttons!). Although these remind me of waitress uniforms from 1970s diners.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

#63

Style: Le-Roy 8833

Era: 1970s (?)

Size: 14

Would I have bought it? No-ski!

First thoughts: The illustrations are a bit crazy and to be honest I'm struggling to see through them. Concentrating on the shape of the coats, and not the insane paisley,  I can tell that they are not for me. I prefer a fitted coat, the shape here is too tent-like for my tastes. The dark side of the 1970s.

Difficulty: Medium

#64

Style: Butterick 5823

Era: early 1970s

Size: 18

Would I have bought it? No - but I should of!

First thoughts:  So cute! Although I have some trepidation about wearing such revealing clothing (I'm assuming that these are intended for the beach) I love these. The illustrations are to die for.

Difficulty: Hard

#65

Style: McCall's 5773

Era: 1977

Size: 16

Would I have bought it? Nope

First thoughts: You can see the pattern envelope illustration here. It didn't add to my first thoughts.

Difficulty: Medium

#67

Style: McCall's 5660

Era: 1977

Size: 12 - 16

Would I have bought it? No

First thoughts: I had to google the pattern envelope illustration to see if it inspires any thoughts as I struggled to have any opinion based on the above, you can see it here. I must say the pattern envelope did help me see the potential more for one of the options, namely far right, although it confirmed my thoughts about the other waistcoat/skirt/jacket combos (frumpy-rama). I think the shirt/trouser combo is one of those that has weathered the years well and come out looking edgy and cool.

Difficulty: Medium

#68

Style: Simplicity 7120

Era: 1967

Size: 18

Would I have bought it: Mayhaps

First thoughts: Another. Shift. Dress. I'm going to have a lot of shift dresses at the end of this. This is cute, I like view 2.

Difficulty: Easy

#69

Style: Le Roy 1014

Era: late 1970s (?)

Size: 14 to 18
Would I have bought it? No.

First thoughts: Until I bought this job lot I didn't know about 'Le Roy - continental patterns', I'm flummoxed as to whether this is a British pattern trying to be continental, or a genuine continental pattern. I suspect the former, mostly because I can't imagine a chic French or Italian woman wearing this. I can however imagine this is what a 1970s British pattern designer might have thought Johnny Foreigner's women wore. I'll give it a Google.

Back to the salient points. This pattern reminds me of my Grandmother, a woman beloved for her gentle disposition and kindness, but not ever lauded for her dress sense. Except by me of course. I have a strong and abiding love for the eccentric, especially when those things are a bit rubbish (in the case of this pattern I refer you to the weird boob hole detail across the front of the dress); and I loved my Grandmother very much. I initially wanted to dismiss this pattern as completely lamentable, now I think I should try to make it wearable in homage to my Grandmother. I need to keep its eccentric crapness to some degree, I think it would benefit from a very floaty light, or silky, material maybe with a crazy pattern.

EDIT: Google confirmed my suspicions, it is a British company *smirk*. Feast your eyes on this mustard lovely. Hmmmm!

Difficulty: Easy

#70

Style: McCall's 6242

Era: 1962

Size: 16

Would I have bought it? Nope, as I said in an earlier post, I like my nightwear less subtle.

First thoughts: The nightdresses are quite cute, although I'll be going for a stronger colour than the illustrations. I don't like the 'Duster' as it reminds me of old lady hairdresser's gowns for when you get your hair cut. I wasn't going to make it, but I think I have to; simply because I want the full experience of early sixties nightwear. I can't wait to unleash this combo on a man and see what their reaction is.

Difficulty: Easy / Medium

#71

Style: News of the World 228

Era: 1980s

Size: 12-16

Would I have bought it? Yes.

First thoughts: Love it. Love it so much that I just went on ebay and bid on the available News of the World patterns. I'm going to make the dress, and I love the illustrations so much that I'll keep an eye out for a similar print of fabric. Also feel quite inspired by the hair styles.

Difficulty: Hard (no instructions!)