Mrs. Depew

Let's talk jackets, my friends. While it's not jacket weather here in humid-as-hell Georgia yet, I know many of you are turning your attention to your fall wardrobes. This is a great time of year for a transitional jacket for just that extra bit of warmth as morning cool down and evenings start to c

I have had this vintage McCall Kaumagraph pattern in my collection for over a decade. I recently discovered it in my January 1938 McCall Complete Needlework Catalog and realized it was far more interesting than I had originally thought. It's not very often that I see a full page of a McCall catalog

Hello my dears, I hope you will forgive my silence for the last couple of weeks (minus our usual first of the month freebie drops). For the last month, I've been completely consumed with prepping for PatternCon 2026 in Atlanta, which was AMAZING. For those of you who were there, you know. For those

Here is another beauty from the same catalog we've been looking through this month. This time, we have The McCall Patterns for Embroidered Garments. I have been lucky enough to add a couple of these to my collection over the years, though one was sadly just an empty envelope. Isn't she a cutie? It b

For the last few months, I've been working on a little side project just as a had a little spare time here and there for pretty artwork. Well, that side project was restoring and recoloring one of my earliest plain black and white e-books to get it ready for a print version. The printed books just c

In my vast collection of pattern dating resources, I have quite a few editions of McCall Needlework, McCall's former quarterly for embroidery and other not-always-sewing patterns. Nearly all of them in the 1920s had a full first page "article" advertising for the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts &

I was toying with the idea of sharing a vintage 1923 pattern catalog with you all, just one page at a time, once each day. Would this interest you at all? Or would you find one post a day to be too much for your inbox?

As much as I love the illustrations on vintage sewing patterns, I REALLY like the envelope back or instruction section where they print a detailed illustration of the pattern pieces. These diagrams always stick in my mind and get filed away as my brain absorbs the shapes of the flat pattern pieces a

I got more pattern inventory notepads back in stock at Mrs. Depew Vintage this week and just couldn't resist grabbing a stack of patterns to count. This gorgeous McCall 1297 from 1946 was a satisfying one to check. Never used and still in the original factory folds. What a dream!

In last month's blog post, I discussed at length how McCall and the Kaumagraph Company collaborated to manufacture hot iron embroidery pattern transfers for a decades long pattern partnership. For today's post, I wanted to share more about how to actually use vintage Kaumagraph patterns. For our pur

A member of the Mrs. Depew Vintage Sew & Tell Facebook group recently posted asking how to sew a gusset into a pair of 1930s tap pants. The following lesson from my 1970s Vogue Sewing Book explained it so much better than I could. I thought you all might appreciate this lesson as much as I did when

What Exactly is a "Kaumagraph"? One question I often get in the Vintage Sewing Pattern Nerd Facebook group I help run is, "What is a kaumagraph?" The short answer? It is a hot iron transfer. The longer answer is better given by Kaumagraph International, the original manufacturer: "...Simply put, a K

Hello my dears! I have put together a rather long, in depth blog post about vintage embroidery transfers while I've been tucked up in my recovery pillow fort. Before I post though, I would love to know your thoughts! I have the option to post one big long blog post here, but I can also drop it in bi

After far too much rest and boredome, I am at least back at writing and I finally present, for your latest dose of vintage fashion nerdiness, the continuation of our blog series, The Language of Fashion. You can find all of me previous Language of Fashion Posts here. Today we continue with B. In our