I See a Pattern Here

"Check out the groovy bell bottoms on that chick!"


"Oh, I love your leisure suit.. does it come in lime green?"

I get in trouble going to yard sales. I'll buy just any old junk. I don't have that discerning eye that Gaye does. So, when I went to an estate sale two doors down, I brought home a big box of old patterns among other things. Iwill share some and use some. I've seen people using pattern pieces in collage and also to cover things, sealed with beeswax. I've seen them in altered books. I can see the pattern envelopes used in a dozen ways. The pattern sheets can even be used as gift wrap, like tissue paper.

These patterns remind me of my college days... bell bottoms and leisure suits. For some reason, it also reminded me that back in college, dashiki shirts were the thing. I volunteered (for reasons that escape me now) to make shirts for a couple of my guy friends. We went to the fabric store together, got a pattern, picked out the fabric and picked out trim to go around the neck. I actually did make the two shirts and they wore them frequently. I think they paid me, but I'm sure it wasn't much. So..... I did a google search to see if I was spelling dashiki right. Holy cow, I think I found the actual pattern I used (see below). It sold for ebay for $5. What? people are paying $5 for old patterns? hmmmm. Anyway, I made the shirts from earthy tones, I think it was a muslin fabric with a brown trim. It was more like the man's shirt on the right, but shirt length, not caftan length (caftan--that's another word I have not heard since the 70's!)

Seems like a hundred years ago.