Simplicity Patterns
For hundreds of years, women made their own clothing from self-made patterns, tweaking sleeves, skirts and silhouettes as fashions changed from year to year.
In the early twentieth century, however, commercial patterns became available. One of the most popular has been Simplicity patterns.
Simplicity began in 1927 and offered the average woman an easy way to emulate styles of the day. Each pattern comes with pattern pieces and complete start to finish directions for constructing the garment.
Simplicity has long prided itself on providing straight forward, simple designs that the average sewing hobbyist can construct, while staying on trend.
Simplicity patterns can be found at almost every sewing store in the United States. Pattern books are laid out on tables, where sewers can flip through to find the designs they want.
By finding the corresponding numbered pattern in the nearby drawers, and grabbing the envelope marked with their size, they have exactly what they need.
The outside of the pattern envelopes list what supplies are needed to make the garments. Listed here are types of fabric that will work, and how much fabric is needed, along with notions.
Notions are everything associated with sewing that isn’t the fabric: buttons; closures; lining; thread; etc. Most sewing stores are one stop shops, and everything needed can usually be found there.
When the sewer gets home and opens her Simplicity patterns, she’ll always find the same things. There will be a set of thicker papers, like newsprint, on which the instructions will be printed. The other packet will be of very thin tissue, and these are the pattern pieces themselves.
First, look at the instructions and determine exactly which pattern pieces are needed for the style and size you are making.
Use very sharp sewing scissors to cut the pattern pieces apart, and iron them with a cool iron. Use the diagrams on the pattern instructions to lay the pieces out on the fabric.
Pay close attention to folds in the fabric and on the diagram, and from there, just follow the instructions in the Simplicity patterns.
