Authentic Vintage Patterns
Welcome to AVP where you will find only original, authentic vintage sewing patterns.
My mom taught me to sew when I was just a kid: my first project was an adorable felt hand puppet (I wish I still had it).
Mom was from a large rural farming family, and her order of birth tasked her with being the family seamstress. Her oldest sister helped Grandpa outside with his chores, the next one helped Grandma inside with the cooking and cleaning, the next one was back outside with Grandpa, and then Mom was next, earning her the position of mending and making clothes for everyone.
She not only made clothes for all eleven kids, she also sewed for Grandma, of course, and mended all of Grandpa's workclothes. Often, she redesigned clothes with blown elbows or knees into "new" clothes for the younger ones, including winter coats, even.
One of my favorite things to do at home on our family farm where I grew up was to pull out the huge pattern book that Mom had cleverly sweet-talked from the dimestore uptown and we'd sit at the kitchen table and leisurely flip through the pages. We'd dream about where we'd wear a dress made from this pattern, or that one, or what kind of fabric would work best for this skirt or those shorts. That made some very special memories that are held dearly now.
Years later, after managing a brick and mortar vintage shop in a college town, I went to The University of Hawaii where I earned a bachelor of science degree for fashion design and marketing, always keeping my mom's lessons with me in mind and in practice.
Now, as vintage dealers once again, we've been fortunate to acquire many wonderful sewing patterns over the years. Rather than list them with our curated vintage clothing and accessories in our main shop, The Vintage Merchant, here on Etsy, we decided to open this little specialty shop to offer them for today's seamstresses, and for those who love to sew and/or sell their creations!
Our patterns are all original, authentic vintage. We do not sell copies or reproductions, although we do have one Vogue "reproduction" pattern that we acquired many years ago, but we are keeping that in our personal collection, for now.
We hope you have fun shopping with us, planning your next sewing project, and that you'll enjoy the creative process as much as we do!