I found PLUS SIZE vintage patterns!Unbox them with me (because yes, I shop on eBay far too much)

[@expatpiskie]

I always laugh at those who claim that plus sized people didn't exist in the past. I have a slew of family photos to prove otherwise, going back to my ggg-grandmother. I'm just following a family trend.

[@StephanieCanada]

Same!! My great grandmother and grandmother were both larger women.

[@romeoslover817]

me too

[@megb9700]

Me too, and my dress size 24 grandmother made the clothes for ggma, her daughter, and me! How do you think our ancestors survived the great potato famine?

[@paigerasmussen5212]

My family described our larger members as "big-bosomed" 😅

[@KlingonPrincess]

Aunt Bea on "Andy Griffith" was never nekkid. Proving plus sized women did actually exist, and wear clothing. (At least by the 60s when it was filmed.)

[@adriennesimpson9679]

From what I've heard, there were plus size patterns in the past but since they were used the most they wore out and no longer exist, or rarely exist, anymore. What is left behind, usually, are those that were either never used or rarely used. This same goes for just about any vintage object. "And now you know." Also, I know this because I have a sewing pattern from the 1920s(!) that's a size 52!

[@StephanieCanada]

That is correct!!!

[@neanahidden]

Also bigger clothes had more fabric to use so they were easier to transform into something else. They were not wasted in the attic.(a bit like people nowadays buy larger sizes from thrift shops for remakes) Our family shares a story of how my great grandmother had surprise twins. They had only expected to have one baby so they had to scramble to get double amounts of baby clothes and diapers fabric etc. Thankfully her father had been a very very tall man, so they used bottom half of his shirts as a fabric stash for the babies. The top part could still be used as a shirt by the “ordinary tall” men in the family 😂

[@expatpiskie]

@@neanahidden not just clothes from bigger people. My mum used the skirts from her very full 1950s skirts to make clothes for my sister's & I in the mid 60s. When I think about it I could cry, but then again she was only 5ft1 with a 22 inch waist when she wore the dresses so I couldn't have worn them. I think I was about that in my early teens. 😂🤣

[@dawnelder9046]

Also remember. Most people are their smallest during their teen years and pre first baby. So more time for sewing and the group most likely to buy several new patterns.

[@ulexite-tv]

The boxy jacket one -- that looks exactly like an "early maternity" jacket my mother made. Not for the entire preganacy, but to "keep the boss from knowing" as long as she could so as not to get laid off.

[@lucindasutherland1073]

That's what I was thinking, too, when I saw it. Given that the baby boomers had to come from somewhere you know their mothers needed maternity clothes.

[@Shes_Sew_Amusing]

That McCall's 9347 needs to be in my stash like yesterday. It's so timeless. UPDATE: I JUST PURCHASED IT!!!!

[@jenniferpearce1052]

That sailor pattern is why I never stick to "only keep 2" kinds of rules. And have a home overrun with stuff

[@DebTallbroad]

Honestly, if you kept 3 instead of 2, none of us would beat you up!!

[@StephanieCanada]

But if I did that, my house would be an even bigger mess than it already is.

[@howcanikeepfromsinging]

ANd it's a slippery slope

[@mellie4174]

Just do it. Just keep 3!

[@brendabelcher3197]

There were all kinds of plus size people in the past. The reason you find tiny patterns is that they weren't used! The plus size patterns were used up!

[@StephanieCanada]

Exactly!!

[@cliftonmcnalley8469]

Yes, that is a very interesting point!

[@dawnelder9046]

7982 is adorable.

[@StephanieCanada]

UPDATE: All patterns were listed to my website! Due to a family emergency, I was not able to get all the patterns up yet. They should all be on the website by Saturday (6/3) at 7pm. My sincerest apologies.

[@macieparmenter4544]

Hope you're family is alright! Sending good vibes!

[@juliemcleod1119]

Hugs, family first. Sending good vibes.

[@obsidianrosestudio2663]

Family first! Hope everyone is ok ❤

[@bravehearticus]

Hope everything is okay. Love to you all xx

[@shdwstrm]

No need to apologize. Family always comes first

[@michaeltres]

The Lumière brothers produced many reels of film showing everyday life in Paris around 1895. The reels are famous as some of the earliest motion pictures in history. One of them shows workers leaving a factory, and the notable thing about the hundred or so women in the film is that NONE of them are skinny. Not a single one. They are all buxom lasses. When people talk about body types of past decades, they rarely rely on evidence like that. They prefer personal bias and, frankly, hatred.

[@StephanieCanada]

❤️❤️❤️

[@meespatti693]

True, but they were probably 5 feet tall, and small frame. My 98 year old mom was 5'6" tall in the forties and slim 130 lbs but medium frame. She towered over all the girls in her photos.

[@siwlasilva]

🌻❤️

[@FlickiChicki]

I really need to sort Grandmas patterns and send them your way. The smallest that I’ve found is a 44 bust.

[@StephanieCanada]

Oh my goodness!! That is amazing!

[@WthrLdy]

I'm a 48/50 and never find anything. I keep looking though

[@obsidianrosestudio2663]

👋 Hi, it’s me, a seamstress that is really good at refolding patterns 😂 It’s one of my ADHD super powers, but I would never call it FF. I love it when I find patterns and vintage garments that are bust 38 and up even though I run Bust 34/waist 28. I get excited that I can offer the larger sizes patterns and vintage garments.

[@lauralake7430]

I can also refold a pattern like a sewing ninja

[@stevezytveld6585]

Teach us plebeians, Oh Mistress of the Folding Powers... {like, seriously, what's the trick... me and my OCD would appreciate it...} - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi

[@obsidianrosestudio2663]

@@stevezytveld6585 practice and being very visual helped a lot 😅 when I worked in a craft store people would open up the patterns and they would get brought to me. I would gently lay them out on the cutting table and line up all the creases and folds and the trick is finding the first fold line. Once that is found and everything is lined up correctly you just follow the folds. If I need to open one I pay attention as I gently unfold it and know what sheet layer order is and then reverse. If you don’t iron or smooth out the pattern completely you can get it back. I would get everything back in the envelope and put a heavy book on top to help press any excess air out of the paper. ☺️

[@Thomas-v2i5s]

You are going to look great in the Sailor Dress. Good choice. Thank you for sharing all the patterns!

[@StephanieCanada]

Thank you for watching with me! I really appreciate it.

[@lisathebear33]

My husband was staring at me because I was screaming 'TAKE THE SAILOR DRESS' at you through the TV 🙃 Great choices!

[@StephanieCanada]

🤣🤣🤣

[@WthrLdy]

OC larger sizes existed. My greatgrandmother, born 1903 was considered plus due to her, ahem...large tracts of land, but she also knew how to sew and tailor. She simply tweaked a pattern, drafted a new one out of brown paper (as I do) and made that pattern over and over. As fashion changed, she'd tweak it again. My great aunt, born 1890s, was also large, short and busty. She was able to pay a seamstress to tailor make all her store bought clothing, or had things bespoke, custom made from scratch to suit modern, trending fashion.

[@StephanieCanada]

My grandmother and Granny were also not small!

[@daxxydog5777]

Almost no one gets that movie reference, I was thinking of that the other day! “But she’s got HUGE tracts o’ land!” 😂😂😂

[@WthrLdy]

@@daxxydog5777 I inherited those tracts plus some. Ugh. 50" Bust with a 40 waist is annoying as heck.

[@rjlaxvespa1742]

There's almost nothing that comes off a shelf that would not benefit with a little bit of discreet tailoring makes the difference between looking like a boxy person or something acceptable to the world's bigoted eyes... I have shoulders like a linebacker oh, I also don't have Oprah arms... fairly full busted but I don't look like puppies under the blanket playing... my waist is also fairly small.. LAXVESPA-LOSANGELES

[@jeansando6849]

Someday someone should send Stephanie all the patterns in separate boxes so she can keep them all!!

[@zeusathena26]

My great grandmother who was as born in the 1880's was a big woman. It's genetic. We women either took after her, or my grandma who was thin. I wound up plus size. They existed!

[@aureyd2515]

Yes, one of my father's favorite stories was about how most of his aunts had to go to the feed store to get weighed, since the scale at the doctor's office didn't go high enough. Very few of the women in my family are "pettite." (He grew up in the Great Depression Era.)

[@StephanieCanada]

Fully agree! My grandmother and great granny were also larger

[@WthrLdy]

YES! I have one great gran that was a teeny tiny English woman, sister got those genes, and another that looked like Boudica, swinging a sword-baby on each hip, all while hauling coal from the mountaintop....that's what I got. Build like a stone chickenhouse is what they call it ....

[@zeusathena26]

@@WthrLdy yup! My aunt's were divided in half. My mother as skinny as could be. I didn't inherit those genes. I got the opposite when being skinny was the style. Rather than just being healthy.

[@tinafisher]

i hope you show us that sailor pattern all finished, its smashing.

[@StephanieCanada]

I absolutely will

[@bunhelsingslegacy3549]

7282 with the weird pockets is kind of intriguing, though I don't think I'll ever bother with a commercial pattern again since my shape is kinda "dad-bod with boobs" and all my measurements lie (even the hips, despite the myth), I'm intrigued by the pocket details cause it looks like it might potentially make me look like I have hips when I kinda don't! My current trick for pretending I have hips and minimizing bulk at the waist is making a wider curved waistband so any gathering can be at my high hip to help fake it! I guess because of musculature under my flab I now count as a plus size, bust measures at 40 but if I wear a 40-B bra my boobs fall out the bottom, I guess I have the same problem with my bust-underbust ratio as I do with my hip-waist ratio. Silly bodies. Silly commercial patterns, assuming everyone has the same ratios :P

[@ColorJoyLynnH]

At 65 yrs and 5’2” I love half sized patterns. Early 70’s is my favorite. I didn’t know halves had a shorter torso, but I love that the waist is not as small in proportion to bust and hip. Still hourglass but barely.

[@sallyatkinson1682]

Such a fun video! Thank you for sharing the “grand openings”. My mother, grandmother, aunts were all plus size women who made their clothing so ……… I hope your wrist heals soon, although becoming ambidextrous is a positive thing.😂😂

[@StephanieCanada]

Thank you! And I am getting shockingly good at eating with my left hand. 🤣

[@shdwstrm]

I have to try and find that sailor dress pattern. Vintage Sailor Moon cosplay!!

[@agcons]

Here's a thought or two: if you may keep only one pattern per lot but from one lot you don't keep anything, that counts as a credit - right? So, if you see two patterns you want in the next lot, you're fine. Also, is it the number of patterns or is it the lot itself that matters? If you buy two lots and see two patterns in one lot but none in the other, you're still not violating your rule - right? If you hadn't thought of these yet and would like more creative ways to dodge rules, please let me know. 😁

[@poetmaggie1]

Both my grandma's, most of my aunts, my self and a sister and some nieces bringing us at least 80 years of plus sized relitives, and lots of neighbors. So there people who don't think "plus" didn't exist. We have always been around.

[@zqingng1123]

That McCalls Sailor dress is my dream pattern!!!!!😍😍

[@susanstewart1402]

Love the arbitrary rules for yourself .. "I'm only allowed to keep two!" I think you should keep whatever makes your heart sing. If you can clearly imagine yourself in the outfit then it is a keeper for sure. You can always change your mind later after all.

[@cliftonmcnalley8469]

If I needed a bolero (I don't), I'd absolutely pay you for the one with the mouse "markings". The pattern was THAT cute!

[@StephanieCanada]

It really IS cute! I think I need to trace her out.

[@JanealJohnson]

The yellow that you put back reminds me of the dress on the mom in the parent trap.

[@marciahighsmith4820]

I had two aunts who were plus sized in the 50's and 60's and beyond!

[@vickismallwood2082]

I absolutely love your pattern unboxings.

[@StephanieCanada]

Aww thank you!

[@TamiVonZalez]

Now I want to buy mystery boxes of patterns! And keep the sailor dress pattern

[@theMermaidRhonda]

I had to laugh when you said "one of those seamstresses who refold" ....I'm one of them. I refold all my patterns along the factory fold lines. They fit back in the envelope so much better that way!

[@hyacinth4368]

My grandma, born in 1876, was a plump little lady, as were her daughters. Other grandmother, however, was quite slim.

[@Cassandra-..-]

Glad you kept the sailor dress!

[@StephanieCanada]

Me too!

[@nancilycett9360]

I'm glad you decided to put the one pattern back. It looked like the waist- band was much too high. Plus, the sailor dress is SO you.

[@7peacefrog]

First, I love you! I say this because the first think you said, is (yes plus size people did exits in the past)! 1 would really start to wonder if they even do now🤔 I only say this because even now when I go to a store to look for patterns there are so many really cute patterns for smaller, but a small amount for larger/plus size 🥺😭 (not fair)! We would like more cute patterns to make clothes. Thank you 💜

[@rachelamdecker09]

OMG I screamed out loud at that sailor style McCalls! I just paused my video to go immediately to the pattern wiki and save a picture to my inspiration folder. its soooooo gooooooood!

[@maggiekedves]

Oh I need to find that pattern wiki you speak of... hallelujah

[@Hiker_who_Sews]

The princess seamed jacket has the oddest sleeve. You're a gem, Stephanie, for posting all the things!

[@paulamhall]

Started watching your channel because I have been working from home with a broken right wrist! Love your stuff. And today I was able to touch my pinky and thumb! 🎉

[@lijohnyoutube101]

I would love to see a video on how she targets decades so quickly with particular lines/styles etc Like she is so fast! Perhaps start like 50ish yrs ago in the 70’s (or maybe 80’s) and go backwards like 100 yrs. 1880~1980??

[@stevezytveld6585]

I just missed out on Butterick 3314, dang it. Ah well, I'll get a pair of 1940's pants close-ish to my size some day. I clicked onto this video thinking 'oh no, we've been bidding on the same dang patterns all this time. Nooooo...'. And then breathed a huge sigh of relief when you started talking about lots. You do this so we don't have to. Madam, I bow to your civic-minded service. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi

[@ces1932]

I'm focusing on that dress behind you, that fabric is fantastic! I found a homemade vintage shirt that I wear often in very similar fabric.

[@StephanieCanada]

It is a vintage dress from the 1970s, and it is also available on my website right now.

[@mdeysenroth]

I would have picked the 2 you did as well. You have great willpower to limit yourself to just 2!

[@annebeck2208]

Ha...they are totally right people were not plus size way back when they were "stout!" My grandmother born 1903, was "stout" by the time she was 25 in 1928 (and stayed the same size most of her life until 99). She would have been a 2x or 3x from 28-99. She sewed all her own clothes, but had 1 pattern that she used in different fabrics. I had the scalloped 3900 in yellow from an aunt's fancy dress...It was my favorite dress up dress!

[@barbaramiller349]

You are so fun to watch.

[@MysteryMommy1]

I love the two you picked!

[@susanoleary547]

I have lots of old patterns from my gram and my mom, plus my own. I started sewing at the age of 12. Then I worked at a fabric dept. Loved it when we discarded patterns!. I got to keep the patterns, but we had to send the covers back for credit. Have always wondered what to do with them. My girls don't want any of my sewing stash. I am 71 yrs old. Lots of stuff!!!

[@StephanieCanada]

If you want Susan email me at [e-mail]. I do buy patterns (as you can tell).

[@nancylorenz5082]

Keep all three. You deserve it!

[@StephanieCanada]

I appreciate it. However, I have to be really good about one per box. Or my house will be a bigger mess than it already is.

[@nancylorenz5082]

@@StephanieCanada You can always trade out with yourself. 😁

[@teresacoffman5529]

My hubby has worked in the corrugated box industry for over 30 years. I recognize that box and it was made in China.

[@ulexite-tv]

Right on! Around here, in my shop, we call it "Chinese Cardboard"!

[@angelkeith4767]

Got two words for your 🧌 . AUNT BEA!!!!

[@CharlotteFairchild]

My favorite pattern to sew is a v neck no waist and sleeveless jumper I have two I wore out! The Nautical sailor dress is beautiful. I have passed the time in my life when I wear anything with structure. I do love pockets because of the Pocket Project.

[@hymmj147]

Girdles were a big thing back in the last century. Perhaps some bought patterns with their girdled measurements in mind. My paternal grandma wore hers well into her eighties. She passed just a few months before age 100 in 2010. My maternal grandma had a 44D bust and the body to match, but was only 5 ft tall, so, plump.

[@colettemeyer3827]

Love the sailor dress! I wish they would come back in style!

[@LRWdesign]

🤭 LOL my grandmothers and my aunts were all plus size women. My mom was the odd child who was tiny. 😂 I learned to sew from my mother and grandmothers. I wish I had those patterns now.

[@bethylou8293]

Just a friendly little reminder about people's historical sizes 1) people were also a LOT shorter in the past (I'm 5'7" as a woman and vintage patterns don't often take that into account. lol! Camel toe is still not fashionable) and 2) people didn't have enough food in general (especially during the depression) causing malnutrition in children which leads to much smaller adults, that was a reality in the masses. and don't @ me, I am considered "plus size" in most vintage patterns and I'm tall and slender. I have my own theories of other things, but these 2 things are facts.

[@maracat96]

I love your videos. I was wondering if you could make a video about how you restore some of those "crispy" patterns before you sell them.

[@Motorsportqueen]

stephanie what a great find. My grandmother was 5' big busted and large figure. She always managed to dress herself well. Cant wait to see the new patterns coming to life.

[@rhondasailors1697]

I love watching your videos. You always make me smile. Keep up the good work 😊

[@lesliemccann628]

That was fun!! Thanks!

[@therealbunnymix]

That sailor dress you kept is gorgeous. 😍

[@agness6766]

I LOOOOOOVEEE THAT SAILOR DRESS A THOSE SLEEVEES!!! AAAA Is there even a small chance you could make them on video?

[@StephanieCanada]

Absolutely! I have actually been brainstorming which fabric to use for it already!

[@sargranny]

My grandmother sewed almost ALL of my aunt and father’s clothing, minus the denim jeans, and she was definitely a PLUS size….so baffled at why anyone would try to tell someone they were fake.

[@Rangechick]

Did the Big pattern companies kept a record of their vintage patterns?

[@hollyingraham3980]

That was a fun visit with you!

[@rivitraven]

For patterns you size up, please show us your type of grading process, I'm 80% sure we are the same size and I learned my intermediate and advanced sewing techniques through making corsets that actually do cinch the waist, as a result I draft and grade patterns with a different method. Normally it's easier to draft a shirt than a corset from thin air for most sewers and I'm the complete opposite. Vintage patterns pose even more complexity because they are most definitely drafted and developed differently than modern clothes due to shifts in bust prominence and the waistline ratios in addition to standard height changing through history. I once was doing a beautiful late 30's evening dress and I just could not get it to sit right because of the large bust, and subsequent narrow and elongated hips and waist of the 30's (im naturally built like the 50's) it was so bad I just gave up on even making it after the 3rd mock up.

[@katherinek8448]

Love your unboxing videos! This is the first one I’ve watched that I saw a pattern I just had to have that is in my size! Went on your site and snatched it up! ❤ Thank you!!!

[@leighnisbett9691]

You can always add the inches to the pattern if you are a plus size person ,making the pattern bigger to fit yourself .

[@evelynsaungikar3553]

It would be cool to get some “half size” patterns, e.g. 14 1/2 is a size 14 bust and hip, with a size 16 waist, for those of us who have lost our waist somewhere along the way.

[@allangradus1917]

Love to see you make up both of your pattern choices on this channel.

[@CaptainStitchyPants]

I really enjoy these videos, with an experienced eye picking out the fun detailing that I might miss. Thank you!

[@StephanieCanada]

Thank you! I try to share as best I can.

[@elizabethsloan3192]

There are some really cute patterns there! I’d have picked the sailor dress too!

[@StephanieCanada]

There really were!!

[@thetimelesscostumemaker1266]

What a fun video! I love seeing all the wonderful vintage patterns.

[@Gabriellee93]

I recently found your amazing channel and have been binging a lot of your videos and I just couldn’t help myself and ended up buying 4 patterns from your amazing website and can’t wait for it to ship over the ocean to me 😊 🇦🇺 haha your videos are a treasure to watch 😊❤

[@StephanieCanada]

Thank you so much! I am glad you found me and that I had some treasures to send you.

[@alexandrawellington8028]

Absolutely beautiful patterns!!!! xxxxxxx

[@dressdeveloper]

I love your unboxing videos! Exiting and relaxing at the same time. 🥰 I make my own patterns but I find myself drawn more and more to 1940 for inspiration.

[@StephanieCanada]

Thank you for hanging out!

[@ericampda]

The sailor dress looks just like one Gertie has a pattern for. Could be interesting to compare them if you kept the original vintage pattern

[@lillianoldham5789]

I just shake my head at the Plus Size Issue of the past. My mother was a Plus Size woman. She graduated from HS in 1939. I think I may still have the 2-3 patterns I found of hers. They were not in good shape at all. But any way I inherited my mothers body type but in a short version. Mom was a good 5'7". I am 5'3". But I have a few pictures of Mom and she is always dressed to the 9's! Which she taught me. So !@#@#$%%^^&&%&% to those who say we did not exist.

[@bittersweet3-]

Hi! So bblad 2 see U so soon. Loved the haul. Trade the sailor pattern out 4 another one that Ur not as partial 2 today. It's the container concept.

[@nikkireynolds9514]

Mouse tracks: just call them mouse tracks. We can translate the euphemism. You have a great playful attitude.

[@charlottejones7341]

I am starting to make my own clothes and I am between sizes at the bottom and a different size up top

[@jahbern]

That’s the absolute best part of sewing! You can tailor your clothes to your body’s quirks - and you learn to really appreciate the variations in bodies. It makes us all unique. Plus you start to understand WHY some styles don’t work on you - or how to adapt a pattern to work with your body type. Enjoy! ❤❤❤ Sewing is one of the most satisfying crafts I’ve ever done.

[@StephanieCanada]

Try out different patterns. I find the bust the most annoying adjustment so I try to find that measurement (if possible)

[@sewvintagebysunraedoll]

Damn it! Thought for sure 🙏 you had found some bust 42 or 47’s 😅 stop teasing us buddy. 🙈

[@farangarris2598]

I love this topic. People were Were many different sizes, why do folks not get? Ha, ha, ha. ❤

[@lauramailhot9364]

And some people who get patterns who don’t so and then they resell them don’t realize that there is a four size difference between patterns today and closing up today. Data 14 in those patterns is actually a 10 in today sizes they just look at the number and size 14 and go look plus size.

[@avemaria4063]

Love your channel! Just subbed!

[@JJtvee]

Literally just bought a pattern at 1am on ebay last night😂.

[@darussianping61]

Nice patterns

[@meespatti693]

Eisenhower Jacket. That's the garment name you are seeking. Yeah, there were larger women. They just enlarged the pattern, pinched the garment to fit, and kept moving. lol.

[@mygreenfroggy]

I shop ebay late at night (when I should be in bed asleep *ahem*). And Etsy is a weakness at times. I'm prone to bead and fabric shopping though, and yes, my "emotional support stash" ie: pile o' fabric is beginning to take over things. Again. We Shall Not Talk about the beads I buy which now inhabit about three or four boxes while I try to get things organized.

[@suen5006]

Never seen an armscye like that. Is that the right word for that pattern you chose? So different, love to see how it comes together.

[@liddybird3608]

You know, the two pattern limit seems a bit arbitrary to me. I'd definitely keep the extra one or two I really liked. (Shhhh...Go ahead. Keeeeep themmmm.) 😉😁😋😏

[@annewhitney8809]

Sailor dress and the one with the waist detail. I like the red dress behind you. Maybe we could see it sometime.

[@StephanieCanada]

The dress that is behind me in the video is a vintage dress from the 70s, and it is also for sale on my website.

[@danahashcroft9482]

I loved that kids pattern. Can it be salvaged? it was so cute

[@VanessaT5678]

The bean bin been word is: bien. The french word for good.

[@bornontherimofchaos]

Troll on darling troll on. Get em!!

[@rise2824]

I would like to know what pattern you used for the red and purple dress on the mannequin behind you 😊❤

[@bravehearticus]

Love your videos. You are so funny

[@StephanieCanada]

Aw, thank you so much!

[@deejustdee1234]

I'm so sad. Someone bought that 50's puff sleeve Simplicity pattern already. I hope they enjoy it and make really pretty things!

[@h06anbjo]

Well, you have my permission to keep three!!!

[@StephanieCanada]

I appreciate it. However, I have to stay to my one per box rule, or my house would be even more ridiculous than it already is.

[@h06anbjo]

@@StephanieCanada Well, you could choose to not keep any in the next one!! Or skip the next one entirely!!

[@starababa1985]

Oh honey, believe you me there were some seriously plus-sized ladies back in the day.

[@rosalindabarrett7508]

Great