I have in my possession over 1,000 patterns. When one has been sewing for more than fifty years one would expect to own a few hundred patterns; however, I was somewhat surprised to find that I have accumulated so many.
I have a few from the seventies when I was in high school.
I have some of my mom's old patterns....
I have not consistently, aggressively, pursued a sewing clientele. It has been a haphazard effort for the most part. So why do I HAVE SO MANY!
Of course I have patterns for my daughters that go from the Cabbage Patch Kids, to Barbie, and the American Girls. From Donna Karan to DKNY and back again...
Over the years I have tried to purge some of them. Like when I moved from Houston to Orlando I donated a considerable amount of patterns-- mostly from the eighties--to Houston Community College's Fashion Design program. I also sold a few at a moving sale.
I have no clue when the stash grew so large, but several years ago I decided that I needed to catalogue them using an excel spreadsheet with a tab for each pattern company. While it made it easy for me to search for a particular pattern by number, I had no idea what it looked like.
One of the ladies that I met at a PatternReview weekend in Austin told me about Pattern-File software. I purchased it and now I can store as much detail about my patterns as I want or need. I immediately enter new purchases into the database and there is even a mobile application that I can use when I am on the go. I can also friend others on the website and access their database of patterns. It's not perfect but it sure beats having to rummage through all those boxes when I am looking for something in particular.
But seriously why do I have all these patterns?
I buy the ones that I think I would like to make for others or myself when they go on sale. I have some patterns in multiple sizes just for the joy of sewing something special for my friends.
I can take the ready made pattern and tweak it here and there and it becomes something totally different from the original design.
Of course the answer is "I simply love fashion and these patterns allow me to create something fabulously unique and special."
I have a few from the seventies when I was in high school.
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| Simplicity 9483 |
I have some of my mom's old patterns....
I have not consistently, aggressively, pursued a sewing clientele. It has been a haphazard effort for the most part. So why do I HAVE SO MANY!
 |
| DKNY 1989-1990 |
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| Donna Karan Collection 2013-2014 |
Over the years I have tried to purge some of them. Like when I moved from Houston to Orlando I donated a considerable amount of patterns-- mostly from the eighties--to Houston Community College's Fashion Design program. I also sold a few at a moving sale.
I have no clue when the stash grew so large, but several years ago I decided that I needed to catalogue them using an excel spreadsheet with a tab for each pattern company. While it made it easy for me to search for a particular pattern by number, I had no idea what it looked like.
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| Vogue 9406 1986 |
But seriously why do I have all these patterns?
I buy the ones that I think I would like to make for others or myself when they go on sale. I have some patterns in multiple sizes just for the joy of sewing something special for my friends.
Of course the answer is "I simply love fashion and these patterns allow me to create something fabulously unique and special."
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