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 1940s utility apron sewing patterns

Here at Vintage Visage we love patterns which show us how to use up scraps and odds and ends of fabrics. The wartime 1940s are such a great source of designs for exactly that! These 1940s utility aprons were designed to fulfil 2 functions- number one they used up scraps of material which was so precious during the wartime years, and number 2,  the aprons themselves were worm to protect the day to day clothing underneath. If you were wearing an apron, chances were that your clothing underneath wold not get dirty or stained and so would last longer.....and in some cases would need washing less times than we might do today for our clothing...don't forget, detergent wasn't easy to get either. The stripey one at the end we offer as a free pattern- please read on for how to receive it

This first apron is so lovely- we love the tag line underneath were it says- 'for britain s unsung heroes' 

Its one of our most popular patterns- and here is one that one of our customers made from recycled duvet covers

With the pretty addition of the lace at the bust line, its good enough to wear on its own as a dress.

We also have these aprons patterns from the same era- made from scraps too

This is a lovely classic 1940s apron with a frill

This is a very simple shape and made with tiny crazy patchwork pieces- we also have a pretty waisted apron (or pinafore -pinny for short- as they are sometimes called) with stripes

As with all our patterns- they are deceptively easy to make and we also offer a full email backup service for all you beginners out there who might be a bit nervous! You can find these apron patterns and more by clicking here to purchase and download- however, we do offer the stripey one as a free pattern- just leave a comment and we will send it to your email address as a pdf- enjoy!