Home Sewing...a curveball?

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Patentleathershoes

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VFG Past President
I was reading Rosine's thread on dating her home sewn dress. And it got my thinking.

How much does a curveball (if any) does a home sewn item throw to dating items?

I remember reading "A Prayer for Own Meaney" years ago (alright maybe not years but 15 years ago at least) by John Irving and the real thing I remember is the mother who is mentioned in the book. She would purchase a dress, copy it, and return it. And she always looked the same because she copied the same dress over and over for years. Except for one she made in a different color. Certainly, if she was a real person, and we were looking at her clothing, and she used pretty classic fabrics like silk, gabardines, and solid cottons in
pretty standard/nontrendy colors....would we be able to be sure about dating? We could be sure of a "beginning date" but could we say without a doubt on the ending?

Firstly, we can look at zippers. But someone could have zippers lying around. There is always one that gets buried at the bottom, and if you sew for 10, 20, 30, etc years, there are whole style movements that shift several times over.

Secondly, we can look at the style. But someone could have held onto a pattern and made it later. Even 5 years could screw things up.

I am not talking about reproductions, because they are made to modern sizing specifications for the most part, but things that were made in the past, but we don't know how "much past" in which they were made Does that make sense?

Do I think too much??!?!?!
 
Thinking is always good! And throw in someone who today may make a dress from a pattern from one period and fabric from another period and it really makes guesstimating a challenge.
 
You are definitely right! While at times it's easy as you get the girls who wanted to be cutting edge but made it themselves (easier to date when it all fits!) you have the user-uppers the old faithfuls who know only one style is for them and wear it for years (as in our example) and only the fabrics change. And of course in years to come the ladies and gents who purchase vintage patterns to sew these days, and seek out original fixings (metal zippers, vintage fabrics etc.) to use will confuse the heck out of vintage clothing sellers of the future.

We'll need carbon dating, lol! :)
 
And throw in someone who today may make a dress from a pattern from one period and fabric from another period

I think it usually just gets confusing if they mixed and matched that 30-50 years ago . If they did it today, unless they were a reenactor or even so if not, there would be adjustments for movement ease that you would not see if the garment was made before. Most people who are making a day dress would not make it with the intent that they would wear a girdle with it so the waist would be much larger than "period". Or maybe they would wear foundations, but they would not have a necessarily foundation trained body if that makes sense at all??
 
Very interesting discussion here! It gets very difficult if someone is making an older pattern with fabric they've had lying around for ages as well. And if they have an old metal zipper, it's even worse! The things I would look for are interfacing fabrics, buttons, and sometimes thread. Buttons & thread can be deceiving, but I've found that if I lift the facings and look at the interfacings, sometimes that's a pretty good clue to age.
 
"Or maybe they would wear foundations, but they would not have a necessarily foundation trained body if that makes sense at all??"

Yes that makes sense, Chris. Certainly, when doing period plays we had to learn how to walk and sit in the clothes. I can't help but think of the movie Brazil, for some reason - a quasi-melting pot of periods if my memory serves me well.

Anne, you say buttons and threads can be deceiving, but are there really clues in thread?
 
Deborah, sometimes you can get a feel for age of the thread, first by condition--if it's very faded or weak, of course. But also once in a while by its type. E.g., that old-fashioned thick coat thread can be a giveaway if it was used to stitch on the buttons or hooks & eyes, or in topstitching. Also invisible thread was used quite a bit in the 70's (I hate the stuff myself!), but as far as I can tell, not so much in recent years.

I definitely would not use thread to date something as a first, second, or third clue, but once in a while, it has helped me date something, mostly coats, as I sell a lot of them and it can be hard, at least for me, to date coats....
 
This is a excellent point to make about home sewn or even local dressmaker/tailor made garments.

I had a man's local tailor made suit I would have sworn was early to mid 50s, but was dated 1962 in the pocket. The customer, probably an older man, liked the older style and stuck with it.

And just two days ago I saw a mans suit at a thrift that confused me in that the construction seemed older - waistband interfacing, metal zipper, fabric weight - but the DB style seemed too modern. Then I found the dated 1992 Hong Kong custom tailor label, and it made sense.

I think you have to expand the date range from the earliest a homemade garment could be - the year the style first arrived- and figure it could be a style worn or made for 5 to even 10 years after.

And it seems more true of every day wear, more so than party and dress wear.

Hollis
 
Originally posted by Hattysattic
And of course in years to come the ladies and gents who purchase vintage patterns to sew these days, and seek out original fixings (metal zippers, vintage fabrics etc.) to use will confuse the heck out of vintage clothing sellers of the future.
Click to expand...
Hee hee! That's what I do! Nice to know I'll still be causing mischief in many years to come!:smug::P
 
What a great topic.

While thrifting this weekend I came across about 12 homemade dresses, all the exact same style but in different wild polyester prints. I smiled when I thought about the woman who figured out what her favorite style of dress was and stuck with it.

Unfortunately, the previous owner was also a spiller, and the front of each was coverd in stains. :(
 
I know my Great Grandma wore and sewed cotton day dresses until I was old enough to remember her doing it...like 10 or so, that would put her into the mid 1980s wearing the style of dresses from the 50s and 60s.

Of course, the fabric, zips and buttons would have changed, unless she had a stash of them somewhere. Now that I think of it, I bet she did, since she was very thrifty and didn't throw things away.

Well, that's no help.
It did stir up some nice memories, though. Oh what I would give to go back and spend a day with Granny Block, eating homemade bisquits and roast, and going through her sewing room. Wouldn't mind snapping a 55 gallon trash bag of green beens with her. Oh, how I hated that when I was 10!

I'm misty now.
Jenn
 
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