There's something incredible about clothing designs from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Stuff you can't really find in clothing or sewing patterns anymore. Pizzazz, uniqueness, creativity, call it what you want, I'm crazy about it.

A few years ago, I started collecting Australian Home Journals, a local magazine produced from the early 1900's that went out of business decades ago, and I recognised that I had found something really special. They were no McCalls, Butterick or Simplicity, they were simply magical.

I have a huge collection of the magazines at home but in my personal opinion, the catalogs are where it's at. I am proud to boast I have one of the largest AHJ catalog collection in the country, with almost every edition from 1941 to 1965 (and I'm not done yet!). These catalogs captured my imagination as a seamstress, with their never-before-seen designs and gorgeous, colourful illustrations evocative of those times.

This shop was a long time in the making, and it took me years to fill my collection to the degree where I'd be happy to start selling their digital reproductions to the world. As rare as they are, I don't think it's fair that only a few people in one country get to see them, so here we are.

That being said, I do have a lot of original sewing patterns, catalogs (not necessarily Home Journal), and sewing or fashion magazines in storage as well that I will be sorting through and selling as well, so keep an eye out for those in the future as LyreBird vintage expands!