Having a go

This may be a bad idea (although goodness knows, it won't be the first of those to grace this blog) but, despite having next to no sewing time at present, I've decided to take part in this.

It's been a while

Although I did a little historical sewing in 2024, I haven't participated in the HSM since 2020, and I miss it. So on the basis of 'what is the worst that could happen?' I'm just going to jump back in with a project I've had in mind for a while - making a 1915 outfit. As I have no clothing at all from that era, I need to make the full ensemble, ideally working from the inside out.

1915 fashions from Fashion: A Timeline in Photographs: 1850 to Today

Luckily for me, I've got some help. Back in July 2016 The Dreamstress spent a fortnight living as much as possible like a middle class Wellington housewife would have done a century earlier, and documented the experience on her website. There was information about food and keeping house, but also a fair bit about what she wore. Since then, she has issued several of her own patterns for garments from the era. And I am shamelessly using all this information to build my own wardrobe.

First up will be the base layer, for which I am using this pattern from Wearing History.

Chemise or combinations, circa 1917

It comes with a warning that the original instructions are very limited, but having made period undies before it looks quite straightforward. Plus, The Dreamstress made this pattern up for an HSM challenge and wrote about it, so I have lots of hand holding for my first foray back into historical sewing.

I'm horribly aware that my plans could very easily be derailed by Life at any moment. But if that happens, it happens. I'm not making this for anyone else, or for a deadline, so it's a very low risk project in terms of getting it completed. And whatever may be waiting in the wings, I will get more done than if I had never even tried. So here we go.

More from the eighties

I haven't become obsessed with the decade, honestly. It's just that I’ve found another 1980s item which is relevant to this blog.

A while ago, I bought a number of issues of Vogue Pattern Book at auction. I didn't have the time to go through them properly when they arrived, but last week I finally did. And discovered that the lot included a couple of issues of Vogue Knitting, including this one.

Autumn/Winter 1984 issue

From reading the very small print (literally so, I had to use a magnifying glass!) I discovered that this was not the magazine I'd posted about previously. In 1968, Vogue Pattern Book was published by Butterick, but Vogue Knitting was still part of Condé Nast. At some point Vogue Knitting must have ceased publication, and was then relaunched in 1982 by Butterick. Butterick appears to have bought more than just the name from Condé Nast, as each issue includes a pattern which has previously appeared in the magazine.

From the Fall/Winter 1965 issue

Vogue Pattern Book always had a British edition, containing advertisements and occasionally some editorial from the UK, and the original Vogue Knitting was the same. The new version however was purely a US publication. This had clearly led to complaints from readers in other countries, who couldn't get the yarn required for the patterns - hence the reference on the cover to the "international yarn buying guide".

A lot of the designs are very 1980s. Both in patterns in the magazine and advertisements for wool companies.

Two patterns . . .

. . . and two advertisements

As with the pattern book, there are some useful 'how to' articles, including cable knitting and how to size up a pattern. I was less convinced by the piece on the new (and I suspect, short-lived) trend of 'condo' knitting, done one 19mm and one 4.5mm needle.

The 'condo' pattern

There are some patterns I like, however. I have seen this somewhere else recently, and had no idea that it was from the 1980s.

I'd never wear something like this, but I like it

And then I turned a page, and found this.

Looks familiar

It's the jumper which had appeared in the Autumn 1984 issue of Vogue Patterns, which I blogged about here. I wrote in that post that I was rather taken with it and might need to look out for the issue of Vogue Knitting.

I could remember where I'd seen this before

Because this is a 1980s magazine rather than a 1940s one, the pattern is given in several sizes, so I don't need to refer to that article on sizing up. There's even a handy schematic, so I can work out how to shorten the design to fit me.

All the information you need

Of course, this is entirely hypothetical at present. My ability to find things I want to knit vastly exceeds the speed at which I actually knit. But it's good to know that I now have the pattern.

Where you find it

I am back to hospital visiting on an almost daily basis, and when that is finished, I will be spending a lot of time visiting my mum at home. Dressmaking isn't the most portable of pastimes, so I can see a lot of knitting getting done. (It's a good job I have a few projects planned!)

I've been working away on my Dandelion Air shawl over the last few weeks, even taking it with me when I go to visit Mum, and squeezing in a cheeky row or two while we chat. (Annoyingly, the train journey is far too bumpy for knitting - note to Transport for Wales: please fix this!) Initially the colourway of the yarn reminded me of carousel horses, but knitted up it's more like a particularly jaunty fruit salad. Either way, it's nice to be working with something so bright and cheery just now.

On a circular needle - I did learn from my past mistake!

Several of the other ladies on Mum's ward knit, so they were keen to see what I was up to. One was especially taken with my yarn holder.

It rotates as you pull on the yarn

It's meant to hang from the wrist, but I found it a bit of a distraction there so I push it up towards my elbow, which is perfect. When I'm at home, I hang it from my work lamp. Mine came from the annual yarn fair in Port Sunlight, but I have since found them for sale online.

Because the work in progress prompted so much interest, I ended up wearing my Reyna, Close to You and Blue Dahlia shawls on different visits. None of my friends knit, so it was lovely to have an opportunity to chat about all things woolly with some other knitters, albeit in unexpected circumstances.

Rimini

The pattern I used for my 1986 dress was part of Butterick's "Rimini" line, which I had never heard of before. So of course, I had to vanish down the rabbit hole of research.

I'm not sure how I had managed to avoid it, as there are lots of Rimini patterns for sale online, dating from 1984 to 2000.

The earliest and latest examples I found

There were a couple which were overly frilly for my taste.

Not for me, thanks

But overall, there was a very definite 'look', which mostly chimes with my non-frilly aesthetic.

More like it

I may have managed to miss a line which was sold for at least 16 years and included a number of patterns I would have happily made at the time, but others didn't. Judging by the frequency with which this 1987 pattern appeared in my ebay and Etsy trawls, it must have been hugely popular.

Clearly a bestseller

All of which was very interesting, but didn't provide me with a lot of information. "Rimini" is too vague a term to search on, and "Rimini pattern" brought back a lot of ceramics! So instead I tried the name which appears under the Rimini logo.

A possible clue

This was much more useful. Richard Warren was a designer for the Warren Group, which was founded by his late father David in 1967. Seeing a gap in the market for better quality dresses in luxurious fabrics, he designed a line under his own name to fill it, and sold the garments in stores including Neiman Marcus. The Warren Group also included the labels David Warren, DW3, Reggio, and Rimini.

Butterick clearly had an extensive relationship with the Warren Group, as I was able to find patterns for all of the labels apart from Reggio.

David Warren

DW3

Richard Warren

My Rimini dress undoubtedly included design details which took time to make but lifted it out of the ordinary - as Richard Warren intended. What I haven't been able to discern is how the labels (or patterns) differed from each other in terms of intended market. If any American readers can shed any light on this, I'd love to hear from you.