Learning to sew with Vogue

I remember very little about sewing lessons at school, except that I disliked them. The emphasis was on pinning in a perfectly straight line and ensuring that all tacking stitches were exactly the same length etc, and each step involved queuing for ages to have your efforts inspected by the teacher. A single, simple, garment took an entire term. What made it particularly tedious was that I was making far more complex things at home with Mum. (Shoutout here to my final sewing teacher, who realised this and kindly let me bring my own projects in to work on - thanks, Mrs Pitkeathly!)

Try as I might, I can't recall what patterns we used to make these (frequently hideous) items. But it certainly wouldn't have been Vogue - that would have been far too fancy for a Scottish comprehensive school in the 1970s. At some point however, there must have been some schools which did use Vogue patterns. The Vogue Patterns School Service had existed since at least 1956, when it launched the Young Fashionables pattern line for use in schools.

Early Young Fashionables pattern with the large envelope and flower motif

Vogue's Well-dressed Girl was another part of their offering. It appears to have been published twice a year, in March and September, and features patterns at the cheaper end of Vogue's price range.

The autumn/winter 1961 edition

It makes sense for Vogue to have had a link with schools. Sewists often have a favourite pattern brand but, because Vogue patterns were expensive, they were unlikely to be the first choice for many. If you were familiar with Vogue from sewing lessons however, there was a better chance that you would stick with them.

To me, this is a curious hybrid publication. It isn't like a younger version of Vogue Pattern Book; there is only the most basic actual sewing information in it.

Mostly repeating the information on the pattern envelope

There are no Girls, Teens or Half Size patterns in the booklet

But nor is it just a subset of a counter catalogue. At the front there are 10 pages of advertisements; for fabrics, interfacings and haberdashery, but also for bras and sewing machines.

Berlei advertised regularly in Vogue Pattern Book

Pinnock was a cheaper brand, but still expensive for a schoolgirl

I was amused by this advert for my dressform, which seems to suggest that getting your mother to do it for you is the best way to sew!

Make it easier for Mum to 'run up' your clothes!

The rest of the booklet consists of the front and back pattern envelope art for a number of patterns, starting with nine for sub-teens.

Dresses

More casual attire

For when your child insists on French couture!

The remaining 23 are mostly in Misses sizes, with a few in both Junior Miss and Misses. Because the illustrations are all from pattern envelopes very few of them, even for the Young Fashionables patterns, look anywhere close to school age models.

There are blouses . . .

. . . and skirts . . .

. . . but mostly dresses

Young and fashionable, but still wearing gloves

One of the patterns available in Misses and Junior Miss sizes

A more casual look

Only the advertisement on the inside back cover, for thread and zips, has any reference to information on learning to sew. There are offers for a teachers' guide to inserting zips and a how-to-sew handbook for teachers and pupils.

Both the guides had to be paid for

Nowhere is there any suggestion that Vogue offers any publications on sewing, which seems an odd omission. I haven't been able to find much information on the School Service, so it's possible that Vogue produced other, more practical, materials for schools. The hunt continues.

Riviera dress completed

With apologies to Jane Austen

I am struggling to generate any enthusiasm for making a new corset. This is based entirely on past experiences, which have all involved a lot of work for a less-than-satisfactory result. So far, I have printed off the pattern and then realised that the size pack I bought, several years ago, is now too small for me. Fortunately I only need the next size up and can grade it from the sizes I have, but it's still not a great start.

Naturally my mind started wandering to "What else can I do instead?", and then I spotted my long-neglected Riviera dress.

This one (in case you'd forgotten)

The name comes from the fabric

The dress was almost complete apart from the gathered ribbon trim I had started to sew around the neckline, but this turned out to be a very fiddly and slow job, so I stopped doing it. In October 2023.

This was why I gave up

Suddenly seized by a desire to finish this dress, I unpicked the ribbon on one side and tried an alternative method - which unfortunately turned out to be just as fiddly and slow. This was the point at which I would normally throw the dress onto the back seat of my car, and take it to Mum's for a second opinion. Instead, I tried to imagine what she would suggest. As it's been so long, doing the simplest finish possible to just get the thing done seemed the most likely response. So, I sewed the ribbon flat around the outer curves, and gathered it on the inner curves. Then I pressed out as much of the fullness as I could. Given that the trim was synthetic, and on the straight grain not the bias, it pressed remarkably well. I added a faux bow at the front.

What I did instead

Although it's not in the pattern, I added a waist stay, mainly so that the corded waist detail wouldn't gape at the zip. Then I hemmed the skirt and, a mere 166 weeks later, my 'easy' dress project was finished!

All done!

Did I mention it has pockets?

And of course, #sewnshownseated

And it's another win for the Stashometer as well.

I'm not sure if it's ever looked this good

Knitting in 1968

I had hoped to have some actual sewing* to show on here for once, but my current project is taking longer than planned. Also, in a development which will surprise no-one who knows me, I can't find any buttons that I like! I've ordered a couple of different designs online, and am hoping that at least one of them ticks all the boxes.

So in the meantime, having looked at the sewing element last week, here's some of the knitting patterns in the Autumn/Winter 1968 issue of Vogue Knitting.

The cover jumper, shown full length

This issue would have come out in the run-up to Apollo 7, the first crewed flight of the Apollo spacecraft. Which may explain this "Space Setters" feature.

Because nothing says space travel like knitted knickerbockers . . .

. . . or go-faster arrows on your knitted anorak

Hoods seem to have been popular at the time.

Plum from head to toe

There are lots of more classic pieces to make as well, such as this cardigan.

Fair Isle banding and pockets

It isn't all jumpers and cardigans, though, there are quite a few dresses. Knitted mostly on size 10 / 3.25mm (US size 3) needles, I like some of the designs but dread to imagines how long they would take me to make.

Textured dresses

More doable would be this V-neck jumper, here knitted in metallic yarn.

Sadly still tiny needles, though

I once had an evening cardigan knitted in metallic yarn, and it was unwearable over anything sleeveless because it was so itchy. So I won't be rushing to try making the lurex lace dress on the left. I'm not sure that the angora dress beside it would be much better on me.

Ouch

Not all the dresses are fancy; this one reminds me of Butterick 4384, from 1967.

Looks familiar

Also reminiscent of my own makes is this cardigan-coat, which looks like a longer version of my gingerbread Express Line cardigan. It’s knitted on ¾" needles, using six strands of wool together!

Super-chunky yarn is much easier to use

Also knitted on ¾" needles, but using only two strands of DK wool together, is this chunky "aprés ski" sweater. The woman's version is embellished with sequins, approximately 1,750 of them, threaded onto the wool.

Not the most Alpine of backgrounds

Showing how the sequins are knitted in

If knitting with sequins is your thing, then you are in luck, as there's also an embellished waistcoat in this issue. This uses a mere 1,400-1,600 of them, depending on the size knitted.

More sequins

Finally, there aren't many advertisements in the magazine, but the one on the back cover is a stunner. Why anyone thought that large brass instruments were the obvious thing to put in there is entirely beyond me!

Tubas. For a yarn advert. Groundbreaking.

* - Remember, that thing with fabric, needles and thread that I used to do regularly.

Knitting and sewing

I'm strenuously avoiding starting a collection of Vogue Knitting magazines, but I couldn't resist this one.

Autumn/Winter 1968

The attraction wasn't the jumper on the front (although it is quite tempting), but rather the reference to dressmaking patterns. Condé Nast had sold Vogue patterns, along with the pattern book publication, to Butterick in 1961, but had kept Vogue Knitting, so this suggested some sort of collaboration between the two companies.

The eight pages are towards the back of the magazine, partway through the instructions for the various knitwear designs.

The sweater and stockings on the left are from a pattern in the magazine

As are the cardigan and beret shown top right

No knitted items in this spread

The final page is pattern yardages and sizes

There's no fanfare or editorial for this new feature, apart from the reference on the cover. However, there is an advertisement for the autumn issue of the pattern book right at the front of the magazine.

Autumn 1968

This issue of Vogue Pattern Book, in turn, carries an advertisement for Vogue Knitting.

The two advertisements

I had assumed that the photographs in Vogue Knitting would have come from Butterick, but I was wrong. All but two of the patterns featured here also appear in the pattern book, but with entirely different artwork.

Vogue 7384. Vogue Knitting on the left, the pattern book on the right

Several of the patterns featured are designer ones.

Vogue 1999, by Jacques Heim

Vogue 1998, by Nina Ricci

Vogue 1970, by Valentino of Rome

This was the era when Vogue Pattern Book seems to have been obsessed with bulky fabrics. The versions of the clothes shown in Vogue Knitting all appear to have been made in lighter fabrics and, to my mind, look far better for it. Several of the garments are also quite a bit shorter.

Vogue 7364

Vogue 7372

Vogue 7378

As far as I'm aware, most of the clothes which appear in Vogue Pattern Book were made up in the US, using materials which were bought there, and the same images were used for the British and American issues of the magazine. This is why the British edition rarely has any information on the fabrics used other than the type. Vogue Knitting however seems to have been an entirely UK publication. The recommended yarns for the various patterns are all from British firms, and details of the accessories shown and where to buy them are all included. The same approach is taken on the dressmaking pages.

Vogue 7366, with details of the fabric used and jewellery

I have so many questions. Were the softer fabrics and shorter lengths a reflection of what was popular in Britain at the time, and this was different from American taste? Also, who paid for all the fabric and making it up, as there was nothing in it for Condé Nast in terms of pattern sales? Was there perhaps a keen dressmaker on the Vogue Knitting staff? Alas, we will never know!