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Nov 9, 2011

Peter visits The McCall Pattern Co. + Vogue Patterns Dec/Jan issue GIVEAWAY!



Friends, I grew up in the kind of family where you never shared good news with anyone until it was a 100% sure thing.  Otherwise you were inviting the evil eye or something. Very "old country."

But, having now seen it in print, I can formally announce my article in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Vogue Patterns.  I'm so excited -- and honored!

I forget exactly when I wrote this article about my vintage sewing machine collection, entitled "How Many Is Too Many?" (a rhetorical question, readers), but lo and behold, there it is -- me and my proud family of straight stitchers and zigzaggers for the whole world to see.  Maybe now my mother will stop asking me, What are you going to do with all those sewing machines?  Actually, probably not.

Anyway, yesterday I had the privilege of getting my own private tour of the McCall Pattern Company -- where McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue patterns are created, and where Vogue Patterns magazine is written.  I spent nearly four hours with Editor-in-Chief Kathy Marrone, aka The Nicest Person in the World (TNPINW) and staff, and I would have happily slept over -- or just moved in.  I may show up tomorrow and see what they do with me.

Here's Kathy, on the left, with Phyllis Nortey, Magazine Coordinator and Web Site Editor.



I cannot tell you how fantastic it was to meet so many of the people who design patterns, sew up samples (in both muslin and fashion fabric), direct photo shoots, etc., and to watch the process unfold, but I will try.  I am hoping to convince Kathy (TNPINW) and staff to redesign the office to accommodate an interior boat cruise (think, It's a Small World at Disneyland) and open it up to the public.  It's that neat. 

I was so overwhelmed by it all and, frankly, felt a bit awkward asking people I'd never met before who were busy at work if I could take their picture, but I did capture some of it.



In the room below, samples of fabrics and notions currently available throughout the country are stored.  This immense library is used to help decide fabric recommendations for whatever pattern is being designed.



Here's the photo studio, with photographer Brian Kraus at the ready.  Look at all those shoes!





Below, James Bosco, Vogue Patterns Fashion Editor, shows me his collection of vintage fur collars.  I think one of these may end up in a future Cathy photo shoot!  James, a master quilter, found his vintage Singer Featherweight for $5.  Don't you hate that?



The day was filled with highlights -- and don't ever let anyone tell you there's no such thing as a free lunch, because I had one.  (I was so tempted to ask for Kathy's uneaten onion rings, readers, but I resisted.)  But if I had to choose just one highlight to share in depth, it would be the company archives.

Here, bound copies of every Butterick, Vogue, and Mccall's pattern book are stored.  I could have spent a week in this room, friends, and I think I made a bad impression when I tried to smuggle a few tomes out under my blazer, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?









Here's Butterick's Spring & Summer catalog from 1876.  It's all about bustles, kids!





You can see more photos from my dream day at McCall's Vogue Butterick (or is it Vogue Butterick McCall's?)  here.

But now onto the GIVEAWAY!

I have one copy of the December/January issue of Vogue Patterns magazine with my article in it (as well as one penned by infamous seamstress Elaine May) to give away to one lucky MPB reader!

Readers all over the world are eligible -- in fact, for a nominal fee (airfare) I will deliver it to you myself! 

All you have to do is leave a comment below.  If you like, you can also add an article suggestion for my next Vogue Patterns contribution (They haven't heard the last of me!).  What would you like me to write about next?  Featherweights?  Vintage men's shirt patterns?  Accessorizing photo shoots entirely from the Salvation Army?  I want to pick your brain!

Anyway, you have till midnight, EST, Thursday, November 10, to enter, and I'll announce the winner on Friday morning (the 11th).

Of course, you can also order your own issue directly here.

Good luck and -- as always -- thanks for reading MPB!

125 comments:

  1. Congrats, Peter! Loved the 1876 pattern catalog ... imagine the yardage you'd have needed for a dress in those days!

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  2. Ahhh... I am jealous - I could spend hours sneaking around a fascinating place such as that!

    Hmmm... for your next article you could maybe write about your experiences using vintage verses modern patterns (ease of use - size differences, style differences, printed vs not!, and whether to trace the original before altering a pattern or not) :)

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  3. Oh how fun!! As an academic, my first thought was: how can I design a research project that would get me into that archive!!

    I would love to see an article on patterns for men's clothes, past and present. Of course, you would need to spend some time at the McCall office, digging around in their old pattern books (you don't mind, do you??)...but shouldn't we expect to find just as many patterns for men's clothing as women's in the pre-RTW era? Do we? Inquiring MPB readers want to know!

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  4. Oh, I'd love to have that magazine! I have never read a Vogue Pattern magazine - is this my time now? :-)

    How about an article about why there is such limited amount of patterns for men? Why doesn't anyone sew for men?

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  5. What a cool opportunity...and an article in Vogue patterns, OMG!

    I also would love to see an article on patterns for men's clothes. My husband's wardrobe could use a bump (is preppy really still a fashion option?), and there is so little information on sewing for men.

    I'll keep reading, you keep writing. Once again, congrats on the article.

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  6. Oh please count me as entered for the giveaway! [If I win, will you autograph the copy?]
    As far as your next article, I am all about thrifting, and upcycling [is that a word?]. Either would be an article I would love to see!

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  7. OOOOOOOOHHHHMYGOD! That's so exciting. I'm totally jealous of your in-depth tour. How cool. I agree with earlier commenters that an article on sewing for men. You're such a skilled writer though, you could make an article on top-stitching a great read!

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  8. Oh my, what an adventure!!! I am insanely jealous. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and photos with us. I'd love to be entered into the magasine draw too.

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  9. Wow, what a great opportunity. I always enjoy seeing blogger dipping their toes into the "professional" sector, I like to see the community being taken seriously. As for topic ideas my mind goes blank. But as you somehow manage to come up with a writing-about-worthy-topic almost every day, I'm confident your next article will be a hit, too.

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  10. Hi Peter, Congrats with your article. Won't be able to read it I guess. I've never seen the US version in shops here. But, hey, I might win it! ;-)

    You could write about patterns, or the lack thereof, of male clothing patterns.

    I'm dying to see the article!

    Oh - and - uh, how does one put this without being presumptuous - Friday is 11th.... But hey, guess you were too elated to look at a calendar... ;-)

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  11. Congratulations on being published; your mother must be so proud!

    Your day sounds like it was fabulous. I could spend days lost in both the vintage archives and the fabric and notions library. Can you say sewists heaven on earth?

    For your next article, Featherweights is a great topic, and could easily be a series, I would think. I know that I would read it!

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  12. Congratulations on the article! I'm so jealous that you spent the day hob-nobbing at the McCall pattern company!

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  13. I think you should write a book proposal that allows you have access to the Archive. Hmm. History of undies? Slips and shadow panels? Presenting your arms? Foot hiding fashions? I'm sure you could come up with something. Oh, and PICK ME.

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  14. OMG. I might be actually hyperventilating about the complete collection of back vogue catalogues. I think you may have just experienced my DREAM day. How fabulous! And definitely count me in the for the giveaway!!! I think you should definitely doing an article on upcycling (hello bedsheets to fashionable men's shirts!!!)

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  15. Lucky you and congrats!
    I LOVE your dotty blouse, by the way!
    Vogue would be neet!

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  16. How exciting for you, Peter - and all of us - to see you in the mag. I'd love a piece about today's blog topic, a more in-depth behind-the-scenes look to provide readers their own virtual tour. We are all living vicariously through you as we imagine the delights of the photo studio, shoe and fur extravaganzas,
    and archives to die for!
    Thanks for the news...and the chance to have our own issue.

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  17. Oh my goodness, what a great visit! I would LOVE to spend the day in that pattern archive room. How cool!

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  18. Big congratulations, I hope your mother is very proud (she should be - a published author for a son!) I'm extremely envious of your dream day at McCall's Vogue Butterick, I'll be scouring your photos with a fine tooth comb.
    Please enter me into your giveaway, I'd LOVE to win a copy of Vogue patterns mag. I think for your next article you should write about the influence of sewing blogs on pattern buying. x

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  19. OH, you lucky man! That would have been so fun to see.

    A huge congratulations for the article, that is so fantastic!!

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  20. yay! that must have been a dream come true! I may just buy my first copy of Vogue patterns... that is, if I don't win!

    I echo everyone's suggestions for a second article on sewing for men. That company needs to be pressured into making more men's patterns! Esp in the Vogue line! (though perhaps the vogue patterns reading public needs to be persuaded to want to sew for men first.)

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  21. I bought this magazine when I saw you in it!!!! Congratulations and I loved the article...mostly because I am a vintage machine fanatic also.

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  22. How fun, what a great opportunity. Thanks for sharing it with us! I agree that sewing for men would be a great idea. Also, an article on starting and organizing a sew-a-long would be interesting.

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  23. Altering a vintage pattern to modernise it a tad? Yet of course keeping the vintage style elements. Or I have personally been thinking of how to make a men's pattern more feminien so I could make it into a woman's outfit.

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  24. omg, all those old catalogs!

    I'd love to see an article about vintage menswear. i'd like to start making some shirts for the hubb's but it's all so positively boring. i'd like to make him something that when he wears it people will stop and say "hey, that's a totally retro shirt and i love it!".

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  25. Wow! So amazing! Love that you could share all the archive pictures with us. And congrats on the article - can't wait to read it.

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  26. Congratulations!!! I would have died and gone to heaven to see those vintage volumnes.

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  27. I think it should be about reconstructing an outfit from 1876. Cathy would rock a bustle, don't you think?

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  28. Write about your tour there for a future article. You are the luckiest duck in the world to have seen all that. I am so green with jealousy!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  29. OOh, I would love to win this magazine as I have never seen Vogue Patterns magazines in any of our stores in the UK. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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  30. Congratulations on your article!

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  31. Oh, what a happy thing to happen! I'm so proud of you. And slightly envious, at the whole-day-in-Paradise you spent at the McCall's Pattern Company offices. "How to style a photo-shoot from a thrift store" is my choice for your next article. What amazing treasures those old pattern books have contained within them -- thanks for including pictures.

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  32. Oh my those Vintage Vogue Patterns books *swoon thump*

    COngrats on the article!

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  33. Brilliant Peter! I'll keep an eye out for that issue in the shops!
    Wow those archives are amazing - I can see why you wanted to stay the night!

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  34. Congratulations on the article! For the next one, how about a piece on interesting men's patterns? All the recent men's patterns seem very boring and... the same.

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  35. How fantabulous!!!!!! I just ordered my very own copy and I will get your 'John Hancock' added to it when we meet.:)

    I don't think I ever would have wanted to leave that room. I could look at those books for days on end. Woweeee!

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  36. I'm drooling, Peter. Pardon me while I clean off my screen. How about the differences between vintage and modern patterns?

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  37. Hi Peter,
    I think it is wonderfull that you are in this magazine, chapeau!!!
    I would like to have a chance in winning "your" magazine, only when it is an autographed issue, hahaha.

    Greeting Marja from the Netherlands

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  38. Hello Peter,

    Can I win it, please??? You are amazing!

    Kind regards Borduurmuppet

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  39. Holy cow, Peter, what an amazing honor! (Don't enter me in the giveaway - just had to chime in with my congrats!)

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  40. Congratualtions!!! That is great. I can't wait to read the article (hopefully in my winning copy of the mag). I think for your next article you could go into detail about sewing techniques on mens shirts.... the various types and how they are appropriate in each circumstance.

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  41. They would never have been able to drag me out of their archives! What a blast!

    If I win it, you'll autograph it, won't you? I'd send you the airfare too, if only my curmudgeonly budget would agree. . .

    -- stashdragon

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  42. If I don't win, I may go out and buy the issue even though I RARELY sew Vogue. I just want the issue with your article - it's my brush with greatness.

    I think you should write something about vintage patterns, too.

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  43. What fun to peek around those kinds of resources! Maybe you could become a tour guide, and it would even be fun to write about that!
    I would love to win the magazine...
    Jane

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  44. Congrats on the article!!!

    and oh Holy God, the vintage pattern books....I would be all over those, to see some of the patterns I sewed back in the day.

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  45. I'm a guy who just got his first sewing machine for last years Christmas. Still just making pillows and a few totes but so glad to have found this site!!!!

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  46. How exciting! Thanks for sharing! I love your friendly writing voice. I would read whatever you had to say. I hope you have many more articles published.

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  47. I would give my right arm to have a week with those books! So jealous you got to have a look at them.
    And as I love your writing and you are one of the few bloggers I follow and actually read their text (not just look at the pretty pictures) I would love to have the magazine and to read your article.
    Next time you could write about sewing a men's shirt or how you met Cathy and how you sew clothes for her.

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  48. I wholeheartedly agree with Prof. S.! Let's see something on the rich prehistory of men's patterns (before that pesky meteor strike killed most of them off).

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  49. Peter - what an amazing day you had. Thank you for sharing and for the wonderful photos. I've been sewing since the mid-60's and I would have been so tempted to try and find my favorite patterns in the catalogues. I can just imagine how hard it was for you to have to leave that amazing place. How lucky are the folks who get to work there? and how do they get anything done? I will have to buy the magazine just to read your article. Maybe it's time I open my Featherweight machine's case and start playing with it. I remember being so jealous of the 4-H sisters from Barnstable County MA who each had a Featherweight!

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  50. Yes please for the magazine...and for the Vogue Patterns boat ride!

    So fun!
    amandarafidiari AT gmail DOT com

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  51. Congratulations on your article! I would love to win a copy of the magazine. In the archives, did they save only the catalogs, or all of the actual patterns as well?

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  52. The heart-breaking truth is that they do not have the original patterns themselves.

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  53. Congratulations Peter, on the article. I would love to win a copy.

    As for future articles, you should write about being a gentleman in the sewing blogsphere dominated by women.

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  54. Petter, Vogue Patterns magazine does not deliver to France so put my name in the hat.
    This must have been so much fun!

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  55. I am mind dizzingly jealous.
    An article about vintage patterns would be great.

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  56. What a great day. I only wish it was me and not You! I guess paying $5 for a Featherweight is more impressive than inheriting mine from my mother.
    I would love to win the magazine.

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  57. A long-time lurker here; congratulations!

    Mo

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  58. oooh, congratulations! looking at those pictures makes me jealous - jealous of you, who got to visit, and jealous of those who work in such a place! i would have camped out in that pattern book room until someone physically pulled me out, given the chance.

    writing about men's patterns would be fantastic -whether new or vintage patterns. the selection is so lacking these days.

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  59. Count me in; I'd also like to see an article on using vintage patterns -- markings, lack of printing, etc...I've only done a little bit of it and it was a challenge.

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  60. How exciting to have an article in Vogue Patterns, I can't wait to read it!

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  61. Oh my god, I would love the opportunity to delve in the archives!!! But only if I could have full use of a photocopier to copy the things that inspire me :)

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  62. Getting to visit that shrine of sewing and be a published author is just fabulous. I think you should do multiple articles for them very soon. I vote for upcycling of things for sewing since I think lots of people would be interested in that and definitely some menswear tutorial articles in pictures like the boxers,etc Please enter me in the drawing. mssewcrazy

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  63. That's great, Peter! Camp out in their pattern room and refuse to leave until they give you a monthly column!

    I like Claire's suggestion of how to use vintage patterns vs. modern patterns.

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  64. Congrats Peter! very cool :)

    quipardue@yahoo.com

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  65. So so so proud Peter!!! Congrats!! I'm almost up to 30 machines myself- I am sick, I know.......but if I could show husband this article.......maybe I could justify it somehow???

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  66. I would love to win this - and I am totally jealous of your tour!

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  67. Congratulations on the article! And on getting that dream day too! I am a costume designer, so I'd love to have access to such a huge archive. A dream indeed!

    I agree with the suggestion of an article about sewing with vintage patterns.

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  68. Congrats on your article! And omgimsojealous of your trip! Thanks for sharing all of the fun photos here. Idk what your next article for them should be but you should definitely submit more!

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  69. Congratulations on your article, Peter! Love the fact it is about vintage sewing machines - a subject dear to my heart!

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  70. I'm definitely one of those "don't count your chickens until the eggs are hatched" folks too!

    K Diane

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  71. Peter: You're awesome! Congrats. Can't wait to read your article.

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  72. Congrats! It must have been overwhelming. You're a true, real, wonderful inspiration. Because of you I just bought a 15-91 on EBay. I love it!

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  73. Oy. Are you serious? You opted for Vogue rather than me and my pooch???? What did you say? "I had a lunch appointment"? Really? The nerve of some people. Keep your dang copy. I certainly don't want it. (So? You believe me? Don't forget to sign it.) Congrats. I guess. (You deserve it.)

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  74. I would love to win the Vogue Patterns issue.

    And I vote for the Thrift Store accessorizing. I keep meaning to visit the Salvation Army when I travel to the US but somehow, I always end up overbooked for my trips.

    Thank you, also, for making the giveaway international!

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  75. Oh no, they don't have the patterns?! That seems like a crime against history.

    I've never seen Vogue Patterns magazine around here; I'm sure it's available somewhere in the city, but I'd rather get a genuine signed copy from the artist himself ;)

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  76. please please please....loving it, I need Vogue patterns magazine.

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  77. What an amazing day. Every sewer's dream field trip. I am foaming at the mouth with jealousy.

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  78. Rachel, I hate to think you might be confusing jealousy with rabies. If you're still foaming in the morning, see a doctor, please!

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  79. I vote your next article should be about Featherweights...I no longer just have to drool about owning one; i won a 221 at a local antique auction last week....of course i didn't pay $5 (shakes head incredulously). Really i can't complain, I paid $120 which is still under half the going rate for a Featherweight here in Australia.

    I hope the automated competition picker, picks me; i so so want to read your article.

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  80. There are a couple of fans of yours in the Sewing Instructions department (illustrators & writers for the guide sheet) and we were so happy to meet you! Isn't Kathy terrific? Looking forward to reading your next article in the magazine! (also a collector, having a 1955 Featherweight, that I got just for helping a friend clear out her aunt's apartment!)
    ps: posting under my pup's acct., she has more followers than I do anyway!

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  81. OK, I'll bite. Here's my comment....
    "I love reading MPB everyday!!! I sew with PMB. I try not to get my MPB and PMB mixed up!"

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  82. Wow, 85 comments and counting. Maybe you should offer a prize everyday to encourage comments. I would like for you to do an article (or a sew-along)on coats. I have sewn for almost 50 years and have never attempted one. I even have the cherry red wool ready to go and can't bear to cut into it for fear of screwing it up!

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  83. You must be a lucky guy to have such an exciting day! Oh yes, I am little bit jealous, shame on me!
    Looking to your next article, whatever you will write I will read it but if I can choose I would love to read about Featherweights.

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  84. "Chic Sheets - Sew an entire outfit from your old bed linen!"
    I would love to read that!

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  85. Wow-- if only they'd take your suggestion to open to the public. I'd love that tour. It would be fun to see an article on altering vintage patterns to fit.

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  86. Congratulations! I cast my vote with the "Where have all the patterns for men gone?" crowd. I am a 61 year old man, but at 5'3" and 105 lbs., I have trouble finding a windbreaker that doesn't have a picture of Scooby Doo silk-screened on the back. My main machine, by the way, is a treadle Singer 32-15, made in April of 1908.

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  87. Peter,

    How about a retrospective of your sewing projects, and how you have addressed once daunting techniques?

    Perhaps a cavalcade of Cathy - or at least the garments you've made for her (couldn't you see them hanging on those dress forms?).

    Maybe cover your rapid ascent into sewing (and the sewing world); truly noteworthy.

    Consistently making something out of next to nothing is what readers look up to (like your blog viewers do - yes Peter, we all look up to you).

    What better way to share "the how and the wow" of what you've accomplished in a short time, than in an article which divulges why you've thrown yourself into sewing, and all the places it has taken you (and vicariously, us)?

    Testy

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  88. Congratulations! There are so many great ideas listed in the comments already. I'll cast my vote for an article about sewing interesting menswear (i.e. not his and hers fleece), or sewing for your cousin Cathy; the joy, the drama, the challenges of dressing a girl without the classic model build (don't get me wrong, Cathy's gorgeous). Something that Vogue Patterns probably hasn't published too much on. Something uniquely you.

    P.S., I've been following your blog since this summer, but full sewing inspiration only two weeks ago. I pulled out my Mom's old Kenmore, bought a pattern, and started sewing my first garment (a set of green polka dot pajamas). I've finished the pants and am about to move on to the shirt. If you hadn't been so entertaining (and had sewn a cabana set), I wouldn't have come across your blog and kept reading it for MONTHS, soaking up all the sewing talk, until I was ready to try it myself!

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  89. I agree, Cathy would rock a bustle!
    Thanks for the giveaway, Vogue Patterns doesn't deliver here, usually!

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  90. Peter: If you really want to visit them again you might experience a warm welcome from them if you suggest to sign all copies of this issue.

    A win-winner: you get to visit them again and they get an instant collectors item status!

    PS: you might consider using a stamp for the signature, although I think Cathy will be more pleased if you use a good old fountain pen.

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  91. I was already jealous that you live in NYC, so close to all those wonderful-sounding fabric and habby shops and flea markets; now I'm doubly jealous that you got to visit Vogue/McCalls/Butterick offices. WISH I could go there too, with Fossicking Rights.

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  92. Ooh those archives (but indeed what a crime not to keep the actual patterns)!

    Please please do a piece on vintage vs. contemporary patterns. If you have views on changing standards of drafting (like the accuracy of seam lengths and match points, facings vs bindings etc.) I'd be really interested and I'm sure I'm not alone think that sometimes seams and marks in new patterns are not as carefully matched as they once were.

    Congratulations on another publication- maybe a career as a regular columnist lies in your future, in which case I may well take out a subscription to VP. But oh dear, I think poor Cathy's nose might be put a little out of joint over this surge in your fame index. Could you wangle a modelling gig in the next VP for her?

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  93. How exciting! Congratulations. I think you should write about the challenges of sewing for your cousin.

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  94. Marilyn, Editor SEW TODAY - VPM's UK 'little sister' magazineNovember 10, 2011 at 6:19 AM

    Loved your blog (great pics) and and Vogue Patterns article.

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  95. I add to the vote on menswear. Did you ask them about the dearth of patterns for men?

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  96. ME, ME, ME I wanna win! I think you should show us how to accessorize from the Salvation Army or various thrift stores.

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  97. A what a lovely day! Thank you for sharing it with us. And what about sewing for Cathy as a future article? I am sure you aren't the only bloke sewing for a Cathy...
    If I don't win the lovely copy, I shall just wait till it arrives on the shelves (sigh, in about three months, double sigh!). Hugs, Jasmine in Oz

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  98. Oh, my gods.... What a fabulous way to spend a day! I have a head full of designs, for men and for women, and I'd love to get into this place and tap into their creativity! I also want to echo a question posed above - why aren't there more patterns for men's clothing? I make a lot of garments for men, and the selection is pretty limited. One thing I've noticed as patterns change over the eras is the changing measurements corresponding to different sizes. I'm all for consistent sizing, all across the ready-made and pattern industries, and world wide, as well. I think it's absurd to create a garment that is Size 0! But I envy you your experience and applaud your abilities and drive. You go, dude!

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  99. What a great time! The book from 1876 was what grabbed my attention the most. How exciting. Thank you for sharing it with us!!

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  100. Just found your blog...love it!!! What a fabulous day you had. I would adore a copy of the magazine!

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  101. Peter I'll be looking for that issue and it's fabulous that you got that inside tour! I only wish that they feature men's patterns again, it seems that they're disappearing not only from their catalog but everywhere else too!

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  102. Peter I was so happy to find your blog! I've recently been laid off from my job and have been thinking of all the things I love to do and haven't done in so long! I love the whole vintage look and recently came across some old patterns I gave to my step daughter-she's the perfect model for them! She just moved to D.C. and I'm thinking I need to be her seamstress! I am enjoying getting to know you through your blog,congrats on finding your bliss..its mine, too!

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  103. Best. Post. EVER!!!! You should have asked to see the bizarre Vogue mannequin on which they design their patterns so that they all fit two sizes bigger than they oughta ;-) Seriously tho congratulations!!!
    As for your next article, it would be very cool to mine those archives - how about their ten most popular styles over the years? Also, I seriously would love to read a feature entirely accessorised from thrift stores! or how about following a pattern through from inception, to production thro to being featured in the mag? That would be cool! XXX

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  104. I want that magazine but more importantly I second the request for an article on men's clothing. Why aren't there more patterns for men?

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  105. I would love a copy of your journalistic debut in Vogue Patterns! Vintage pattern sewing advice in general would be a great article and another excuse to plunder those archives. Particularly the use of non-printed patterns?

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  106. Congrats Peter! I am of course insanely jealous of your trip, and will sign your petition to have a Disney style boat ride installed in their office. Or at least a guided tour planned on weekly basis. Imagine you could be the guide!
    I vote to write more about vintage machines, the featherweight. I know one day one will find itself in my lap! Until then, I will read what you have to say about it!
    Kudos! shkoober@hotmail.com

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  107. Peter, Congratulations and lucky YOU! And Cathy would look fabulous in one of those vintage fur collars! Don't count me in the giveaway. I picked up a copy last night. I can't wait to read it when I have some time later today. I just wanted to say congratulations.

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  108. I'm drooling over the archives. Someone should make that available online. Also loving your writing (and the shared passion). You've got a new fan.

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  109. It's not fair, living in Europe, the opportunities of finding understandable vintage patterns seems much harder. How about an article about that? Vintage patterns around the globe.
    Anyways, would love to win!
    Keep up the good work.

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  110. Peter, I saw your name in the magazine's online preview - congrats! (No need to enter me in the draw.)
    I too am envious of your tour of the archives.. I actually wrote to McCall's asking about access, and was told it was impossible to open the archives to "outside visitors." So, mazel tov on your insider status and thanks for posting those photos! Looking forward to more of your published work ;)

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  111. Peter how exciting for you!! I too am a self taught sewer who is constantly buying fabric even when I don't have a specific pattern in mind. What can I say I love fabric and can't imagine being able to be in a room of fabric samples and not taking any home with me.
    I have never purchased the magazine because I felt as if it catered more to the professional seamtress (actually I only saw your blog when it appeared on my facebook page). With that being said I think they should hire you to write on a regular basis as someone that can appeal to all of us self taught sewers. Wouldn't that be GREAT for you and for all of the sewers who won't buy the magazine because they feel just like me? Oh and it would be even better for them because they would sell more magazines. Sounds like a win, win,win situation for everyone.
    And speaking of win I would love to win the magazine just to read your article.

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  112. First off Congratulations! How wonderful to see you in print! Secondly I am green with envy! You got to see all those lovely old fashion patterns! So Cathy's next dress is sure to be fabulous after all that inspiration!

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  113. You AND Selfish in the same magazine! Something to pass down through the generations! Please include me in the giveaway drawing. I can't buy it on the newsstand here in Italy.

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  114. I am SO JEALOUS of your trip to the pattern companies that I could spit tacks! Something I've always wanted to do.
    I already subscribe to Vogue, but not to the pattern magazine. I'd love to read your article.
    What should you write about next? Probably an article about how you learned to sew so well in such a short time!!! Inspire some new seamsters.

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  115. Aww congrats on getting your article published! Looks like a really interesting day going round their office.

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  116. I know just how you feel--just seeing your picture of the stacks of bound pattern catalogs, I know I could have spent days in that room! Congrats on the article too.

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  117. Woo-hoo! Congrats on your article!

    Regarding your McCall’s tour, I am jealous, jealous, jealous. Those pattern books. I am drooling over them.

    I like the idea of accessorizing photo shoots entirely from the Salvation Army. Or perhaps discuss the fall and rise of home sewing.

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  118. Yay for you! Nice ploy by them to get us to read their next issue (which I will happily buy!).

    I would like to see an article which discusses why there is no equivalent of ravelry.com for sewers.

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  119. Ooooooo! I could get lost in those archives! Wish I had tagged along! Thanks for giving us access. Nice seeing James in the photos, too.

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  120. I just missed the EST deadline, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see if my name could still be thrown into the hat. I've never owned a sewing magazine of my own before, so what better first magazine than one with your article in it. Congrats, by the way.

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  121. Oh, my! Looking through those archived pattern books would be such a treat!

    I'm always bamboozled by the price difference between fabrics and notions and interfacing etc purchased in the US (from your blog and others) versus the price we pay here (in Australia).

    I know the extra $15 a metre we're paying isn't going to the people who made the fabric so it's not like I'm delusional.

    Perhaps a suggestion of a blog entry would be the true cost of fabrics...

    Some people sew to avoid purchasing garments made in factories with dubious employee conditions. I know I'm one of those people. However, the fabric shop is surely stocked with stuff made in similar conditions? It's a dilemma I struggle with every time I purchase fabric new. If I can, I prefer to buy from the op-shop, knowing that the fabric has perhaps already had a life as a curtain or a tablecloth or a bedspread. Sometimes, though, a person needs a certain type of fabric in a certain length and the op-shop just can't deliver.

    Well done on the article in Vogue Patterns. I'd love to read it. Do you write for magazines in the same conversational style you write your blog posts?

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