The Bride of Frankenpattern

Among other things, I am slowly working through the box of patterns which I bought in the summer. As there are around 100 of them, this will take some time.

The dates range from 1950 to 1997, and among the 1990s patterns are these.

Patterns from 1990 and 1992

That's a lot of wedding dress patterns for one person to own. At some point I will write a post about the whole collection, but from the information I've gleaned so far, I think that the owner of these patterns used elements from all four patterns for her daughter's wedding. Some of the pieces are cut out to size 12 and some to size 18, so I'm guessing that they were used for the bridesmaid(s) as well as the bride.

The off-the-shoulder look was clearly popular at the time.

Style 1883 - 1990

As were tight sleeves, princess seam pointed bodices, and full skirts.

Style 1888 - 1990

The pattern pieces for fabric roses were used from the three patterns which include them.

Simplicity 7919 - 1992

This option is slightly different - a straight skirt with a full overskirt.

New Look 6686 - early 1990s

Initially I thought that I would be able to work out the look of the dress from the pieces cut out from each pattern, but this wasn't possible. The ruched sleeves of Style 1888 were definitely used, but so were skirt pieces from three different patterns. I wonder if an initial idea was tried, and then replaced? Either way, the owner must have been a skilled dressmaker to blend all the elements together.

The collection also contains this pattern, complete with suggested neckline alterations.

Style 1674 - 1988

However it is unused and still in its original folds. Perhaps a different pattern was used and has since been lost, or maybe the bride chose not to have a flower girl after all?