Vintage patterns and making

1940s Make Do and Mend Aprons made from old clothes- sewing pattern

As we know, the wartime 1940s gave rise to a number of interesting designs and patterns as women looked to old clothes to make new items. Make do and mend was the motto- and when the husbands shirt had already had its cuffs and collars 'turned' to stop the fraying showing- what could you do with it?- why- make it into an apron of course!

This apron is made from an old shirt 

and the cute little girls apron below is made from an old dress-

Both of these 'pinnies' as they were called then, would be great made up today from recycled clothes- or if you are a re-enacter of the 1940s  then you could recycle some vintage clothes too- heres a use for that very pretty fabric which has gone a little 'ripe- fuse it onto interlining and reuse it as a pinny!

We have put both diagram sewing patterns together on to one pattern- and you can now purchase and download it from our Etsy shop here

Vintage handbag sewing patterns now available on kindle

We are adding to our range of patterns available on kindle all the time. Kindle is fast becoming a convenient way of storing lots of patterns at once- and is very handy to keep in your craft bag!

You may wonder how we can sell a sewing pattern on the kindle- well, of course we can't give you actual paper pattern pieces- but what we do give you are very very simple instructions of the shapes to cut for making our ingeniously simple yet stylish handbags.......

Here are a few available- the links to get you to the kindle store are at the bottom of each picture- just click and it will take you straight there......

This is a gathered 1940s clutch bag- very simple to make- find it here

Heres what the cover of all our patterns on kindle look like- this is a very sweet little petal trim bag- perfect for evening, bridal or flower girls.....find it here

And this is the stylish bandbox handbag-its great as it looks like a mini hat box...find it here

We have many more knitting and crochet patterns on kindle , as pdf downloads from the Vintage Visage website, pdfs via email from our Etsy shop and also as printouts in our Ebay shop 

 

Vintage 1940s toy sewing patterns- giraffe, monkey, lamb, frog, camel, etc

We have just sourced a wonderful book of vintage 1940s toy sewing patterns. There are 10 altogether- there is a giraffe, a camel, a lamb, a tortoise, a monkey, a china doll, a peasant doll, a frog, a clown and a cockerel. They are  all very cute and definitely have that vintage retro feel about them!

The patterns are all in diagram form- which means that there is a squared grid which shows you the size and shape of the pieces to be cut. You would then transfer those shapes onto 1 inch squared paper.That means that the sewing patterns are perfect for delivery as a pdf or on a cd. 

They are all quite simple to make and only have a few pieces each to cut out. If you are an experienced maker you will already understand how to resize a squared grid to make the toys bigger or smaller too.

At the moment they are on Ebay as a cd- but look out for them on the website soon as a pdf download. Click here to find them

How to make a knitted flower necklace- vintage 1940s flower knitting pattern

This is a 1940s vintage knitting pattern for a very sweet and deceptively easy to make knitted flower necklace. The pattern originated in the 1940s when every resource was scarce and every use possible was made of left over and scraps of yarn. 

The flowers are nice and easy to make and once you understand the process they can be made in all sorts of sizes and colours- you can make them as a necklace as shown here, or design your own necklace, or use them as pins and brooches.

You could also make them to decorate hats, bags and other clothing too- its a very versatile pattern.

You can find it here on our Vintage Visage website as a pdf download with lots more knitted and crochet jewellery patterns too

How to make crochet beads and bows- vintage 1940s crochet pattern

This is a lovely and very sweet pattern that originated in the 1940s for a 'dickie bow' and crochet beads.

The bow would make a very cute brooch or pin, and the beads - once you understand the process- can be made in any type or colour of yarn that you prefer. You can make them as necklaces, or in clusters as pins or brooches, or use them to decorate hats, bags accessories etc.

This pattern will help you use up all your odds and ends of yarn- even tiny pieces as you could make the beads stripy......

You can find the pattern as a pdf download at our website here with lots more necklace and crochet jewellery patterns too

Vintage glove patterns - knitting and crochet patterns for warm gloves....

Nows its really getting chilly in the UK its time to start making warm gloves both for ourselves and possibly for gifts for the festive season. Gloves- and especially mittens- don't take too long to make and can use up lots of odds and ends of yarns- you can make then in stripes of 2 rows each to make then pretty rainbow colours....

Here are some of the patterns on the Vintage Visage website for you to download and start amking asap.....

This is a set of 4 vintage crochet patterns for gloves from the 1940s

These are cute little eskimo mitten gloves for little children- a great stocking filler or gift

Easy to make fingerless mittens- this pattern originated in the early 1900s and they were originally made plain- but imagine these made in lots of fine stripes of your favourite colours.....

Wonderful palmless mittens or wristwarmers- these are so sweet and are very fashionable today even thought they were designed over a hundred years ago.....

Lovely warm cabled aran mittens with a matching hat-  now that little set would have to keep you toasty and warm!- make it in traditional cream to match all outfits, or use some of the lovely bright colours available in aran yarns these days.

This is a set of 3 lovely patterns dating from the 1940s for fabulous textured gloves perfect for elegant ladies to keep warm.....

This is just a small selection of the downloadable patterns that you can purchase from the Vintage Visage website as instantly downloadable patterns directly to your computer. We have lots more gloves and mittens, and patterns for all sorts of other wonderful items to crochet, knit , sew, or embroider.We offer a full email back up service, so if you are a beginner and get a little stuck, we can help guide you through the process and get you making lovely items for yourself or to sell.....

 

How to crochet rugs for your home- vintage patterns

This is a set of 3 patterns to show you how to make lovely rugs from crochet for your home. They would look good in retro style homes, but also imagine them in classic creams and neutral colours- or in contemporary bright pinks, blues and greens for modern homes too....

They are deceptively easy to make- and could also be a great way of using up odds and ends of yarns from your stash of leftovers- colourful stripes always work well, and imagine the hexagon rug made from hexagons which have lots of different colours within each hexagon....delicious!

If you like hefty heavy rugs you could try making these from yarns doubled or even trebled up and use your biggest hooks to make them- that way they make up nice and quickly too!

You can find the patterns- they are all included in the one pattern- on our Vintage Visage website by clicking here.....enjoy!

Knit a tiny Vintage Santa to decorate the christmas tree

This is such as cute tiny little Santa which you can knit as a little character or as a Christmas tree decoration.

This Santa, or father Christmas as he was more popularly called in the wartime 1940s in the UK when he was originally published, measures 4 and three quarter inches- perfect for the tree!  he was originally made in a fine 3 ply yarn, and so if you wished for a larger Santa then you could make him in 4 ply or DK and he will be a little bigger.....

We guess if you are clever and inventive that just by changing the colour of his clothes and hair, you could also make nativity characters from the same pattern which would also look very cute on the tree.

The pattern to make him can be found on our Vintage Visage website by clicking here- enjoy!

How to sew or knit a cute little vintage llama toy pdf

Llamas are such wonderful animals and have recently become very popular to keep for their coats which can be brushed to obtain the fibres to make luscious yarns.

They are such cute animals too- even though they can be a little naughty towards some humans (they can spit and chase!) they are very loveable and have many fans.

If you wish to make your own little llamas- you may keep llamas yourself and want to sell cute little toys to go along with the other merchandise- we have a couple of vintage patterns that you might like.

One is to sew, and one is to knit....

1940s llama vintage knitting pattern

this is Lucy llama who dates from the 1940s and who you can knit- shes very cute - especially if you knit her in lovely soft alpaca yarn...you can find the pattern to purchase by clicking here

If you prefer a sewing pattern- this cute little llama toy is available to purchase as a pdf download

 

1940s sewn llama

This is Holly llama who again dates from the 1940s and is made via a diagram sewing pattern (eg the pattern is charted on a grid and you would then transfer the shape onto squared paper). You can find her as a pdf download to purchase by clicking here

Little llamas make great gifts- there is definitely a cuteness about their funny little faces!- enjoy!

1940s wartime lace stitch camiknickers vintage knitting pattern

In the wartime 1940s when everything was in short supply, women were encouraged to make lots of items at home, including their own underwear! This is a very sweet lace stitch knitting pattern for delicate winter warmer camiknickers

This is a great pattern for re-enacters or even burlesque entertainers- and they could even look good as modern beach or sun wear- or even clubbing wear for the brave!

They are knitted on 2 needles and you will also need to know basic crochet as there is a picot crochet edging to trim. As always this pattern is available at our Vintage Visage website, which you can get to by clicking here. We have other underwear patterns such as stocking and garters too so do have abrowse around whilst you are there.