Sewing Patterns

Reviews

• GBACG Pattern Reviews: mainly of historic, traditional, or fantasy costume patterns
• PatternReview: mainly non-costume patterns

Companies

Specialty/Independent

• Birch Street Clothing: patterns for women's, children's, and men's clothes, along with travel and pet items.
• Brown Paper Patterns: a few packages of basic patterns -- tops, skirts, formerly pants (but the latter pattern has gone out of production for some reason).
• Christine Jonson: patterns for cotton/lycra which the site also sells. These generally get good reviews.
• Click & Sew is a subset of PatternMaster (below), computer-generated patterns which (it is hoped) fit without alteration since they are drafted by the software using your measurements.
• CNT: quilting-related wearable art patterns.
• Conselle: image consultants with a tiny selection of patterns
• Cutting Line Designs: selection of patterns, many of them tops, with extremely detailed instructions. Some are very loose-fitting, but the designer now tries to help choose a size by putting finished garment measurements on the back of the envelope.
• Design & Sew: Lois Ericson's wearable art patterns. They have some neat ideas; I hear they are not always well-drafted, so have patience if you want to try them. Denver Fabrics has these at a 20% discount -- see Erikson [sic] Patterns in the patterns section.
• D'Leas: a Denver fabric store appears to sell a small number of patterns, at least some of which can be seen at Waechter's Silk Shop. Size ranges may be limited.
• Élan: lingerie patterns.
• Encore Designs: Many misses' patterns, slightly wearable-art-ish but more conservative; often they require high yardages.
• Green Pepper: mostly outdoor/athletic clothes/containers. I have heard that the sizing can be a little bit odd.
• Jalie: Patterns include children's to adult sizing. Lots of activewear.
• Kathryn Brenne
• Kayla Kennington
• La Fred: smallish collection of interesting patterns, which seem to be well-drafted and have good instructions.
• LJ Designs: mostly for knits or drapey fabrics; loose-fitting designs.
• Loes Hinse: simple, minimalist-style designer clothes.
• Lorraine Torrence Designs: mostly vests or jackets with quilting/piecing.
• MacPhee Patterns: variety of inexpensive outerwear and other patterns including both wearable art and more classic styles.
• Make It Easy: mainly craft and gift items.
• Material Things: Classic tailoring patterns.
• Paragon Patterns: somewhat incongruous grouping of knit clothing and occupational (e.g. welding-related) clothes
• Park Bench Patterns: loose-fitting wearable art; comes in one size.
• Pattern Studio: hats, gloves, and handbags
• PAW Prints: wearable art, focused more on fabric painting etc. instead of quilting (though there is that too).
• Ragstock
• ReVisions: like Design & Sew these are interesting but the drafting/sizing quality may not be great.
• Saf-T-Pockets: outerwear with many pockets, intended for travelling. Too bad we need a whole indie pattern line just to get pockets in women's clothing, but these are fairly well-done patterns, especially the newer ones.
• Sandy Scrivano: patterns for leather and suede. See them at The Sewing Place.
• Sew Pro: classic tailored patterns.
• Sewing Workshop: Unusual designs, often Issey Miyake-related. Denver Fabrics has these at a 20% discount.
• Shermane Fouché: a set of classic "core wardrobe" patterns. The site invariably recommends them for experienced sewists. Secure part of site now appears to work.
• Silhouette Patterns: have sizing for different bust cup sizes.
• Textile Studio: related to Loes Hinse Design; many are designed by her.
• Unique Techniques

Historic/Traditional and adaptations

• AlterYears: Renaissance clothing (of variable historic accuracy, so I'm told). Most of their catalog apparently is not online.
• Fantasy Fashions: Renaissance-inspired costumes and hats (there also appears to be a cross-dressing related organization by the same name)
• Folkwear: most older patterns are pretty good. Folkwear has been out of business/print/etc. off and on, and newer patterns may show signs of cost-cutting; many have fewer size increments (S-M-L instead of your standard numeric sizes) and a looser fit. On the other hand, they have been increasing the size ranges of some patterns; many were originally graded only to size 14. Denver Fabrics has these at a 20% discount.
• Kannik's Korner: patterns for 18th-early 19th century shifts, shirts, accessories.
• Laughing Moon Mercantile: A few Victorian patterns, generally well-done.
• Making Memories: patterns are intended for dolls but a few range up to (standard American) misses' size 10. Mostly Victorian and Edwardian. See Harper House or perhaps Amazon Drygoods (no online catalog).
• The Mantua-Maker: range of time periods; I hear these are very well made although the fashion drawings might not suggest it. Underwear from various periods as well as a few other patterns. See Harper House
• Margo Anderson Historic Patterns: for Elizabethan clothing.
• Miller's Millinery: Civil War and other Victorian bonnets, hats, accessories.
• La Mode Bagatelle: large, detailed, expensive pattern collections, for the Regency and for c. 1890s teagowns.
• Past Patterns makes historic (c. 1800-1935) costume patterns. Most are excellent. There are also reprinted vintage patterns from the 1890s-1940s; these are unedited and have the original (often terse) instructions and sizing. You can tell these by the fact that they are available in only one size, often not in modern standard proportions, and usually have 4-digit instead of 3-digit pattern numbers.
• Period Patterns (a.k.a. Medieval Miscellanea): medieval and renaissance patterns of varying quality. The instructions in particular may be vague or hard to follow, and of course fit isn't modern.
• Pegee of Williamsburg: Gone with the Wind and American Revolution. I've heard these are not especially well-made.
• Rocking Horse Farm: Large selection of unreliable quality, medieval to 20th century. Some are obvious redrafts from Past Patterns' vintage reprints or from Norah Waugh's Cut of Women's Clothes. You may wish to consider comparing sizes and prices, especially if you already have the latter book. They are under new ownership and patterns are gradually being checked and revised.
• Sense and Sensibility: collection includes Regency and c. 1900-1940s; supposedly very good. The drafter will be making an 1830s pattern before "retiring" to home-school her kids, at which point others will be taking over (so I understand from the site).
• Truly Victorian: Good selection of patterns c. 1850s-1890s. 1870s-1880s patterns are rare elsewhere. Illustrations look very historically accurate, as if the designer understood very well what the period silhouette was supposed to look like.

Foreign

• Burda U.S. patterns now include seam allowances. This site is in German. I have used a few patterns; sizing seemed correct and instructions were acceptable though not extremely detailed. This company is supposed to have well-drafted pants patterns, and unlike many they realize that if you are a larger size, then you probably have a larger bust -- sizes 18 and up add or increase bust darts. If you want to look at an (American) English site, try SewingPatterns. This will also have the USD prices. The cheapest American online seller seems to be Denver Fabrics which has the line at 30% off.
• Italy Fabrics sells patterns which appear to be of the Paola B. line. It uses PHP3 which some browsers may not understand.
• Marfy: avant-garde Italian company that produces mid-sized spring and fall collections. Only a subset is shown anywhere online; you are expected to buy the catalog (for a nontrivial price) to see the rest.
• New Look: Designed in the U.K. but is owned by Simplicity, below in the U.S. section. Patterns are roughly comparable to Simplicity's, but may use a different sloper, as I have found (so far) that they have a less odd fit in the shoulder/neck area. These patterns are also quite cheap, especially if hugely discounted Big 4 patterns are not available to you. As stated below, there's some sharing of designs between Simplicity and New Look, so if you find a duplicated pattern, then by all means get whichever's cheaper for you.
• Neue Mode/Stil: German patterns that do not include seam allowances. Many are of more interesting construction than U.S. patterns, except for some of those from small independent companies. The patterns I have tried seemed well-designed. Instructions are in many languages, and rather terse. Denver Fabrics has these at 30% off, and MyNotions has them at 20% off; they get the new collections in earlier. There are also discontinued patterns that can be seen at Sullivans under "Neue Mode Special Offer Patterns." The Sewing Place sells these.

US

• Butterick is a large line of patterns now owned by McCall's along with Vogue. In comparison to the other two, Butterick patterns are often less trendy and more classic, and tend to fit less oddly than McCall's sometimes do. As in other mass-market patterns, instructions tend to be fair to mediocre. Check that any Vogue patterns are not also available as cheaper Butterick or even See & Sew before you pay too much for them! The Butterick site sells patterns for 50% off, but you may want to send a check rather than using a credit card because the shopping cart does not seem especially stable (see Vogue; it's the same software).
  • See & Sew is Butterick's line of cheap patterns. They're pretty much the same as the rest, but with fewer different views. Sometimes even Vogue patterns make it here.
  • [OOP] Retro Butterick was a selection of reprinted vintage Butterick patterns; same idea as Vintage Vogue (below). Unfortunately, they've got rid of it.
  • [OOP] Today's Fit was similar to Vogue's current Today's Fit line. It's been axed and McCall's has specified that all new Today's Fit patterns will be Vogue, and there will be a cap on the number of these patterns in print at any one time.
• Kwik Sew is a fairly large line of patterns, many for knits. Since the company was started to make patterns for knits back when other lines did not have many (or any), it tends to have a *much* better idea of what to do with such fabrics. Instructions are almost uniformly excellent. Patterns are multi-sized with all sizes in one envelope, printed on sturdy white paper with lines for different sizes in different colors. They are generally true-to-size; pay attention to measurements as their definition of sizes is not standard. Seam allowances are often 1/4". Denver Fabrics has these at 20% off.
• McCall's now owns Vogue and Butterick, and may be a bad influence. Their patterns tend to be trendy but often don't fit very well and can be boxy-looking. One particular problem with whatever sloper they use seems to be that shoulders are placed too far apart in larger sizes, causing necklines to gap or shoulder straps to slide off. If backviews and yardage are lacking on this site, try looking for the pattern in question on SewingPatterns. Denver Fabrics has these at 30% off.
  • Easy Stitch 'N Save is McCall's line of cheaper patterns. I haven't used any, but assume they're similar to other McCall's patterns but with fewer different views.
  • McCall's also has "Sew News" collections (apparently a deal with the magazine). These are usually more conservative designs than the rest.
• Simplicity: A large collection of patterns of varying quality; some are quite good and others have drafting mistakes. This pattern line seems to have the same shoulder/neck area fitting issues as McCall's. This company has a selection of historic costume patterns that seem to be more historically accurate than the other large companies'. Simplicity also ate up Style; a few of their patterns remain, subsumed into the Simplicity catalog. Denver Fabrics has these at 30% off. Also, there's some sharing of designs between Simplicity and New Look, so if you find a duplicated pattern, then by all means get whichever's cheaper.
  • It's So Easy is Simplicity's line of cheaper patterns. Sometimes New Look patterns are duplicated here.
• Stretch & Sew is a medium-sized line. They have several good patterns for knits. Quality control isn't quite as good as Kwik Sew's, but their knit know-how generally is. Designs tend to be (at best) classics rather than fashion-forward, but if current styles don't suit you this can be very useful. Patterns are multi-sized and printed on relatively durable paper.
• Vogue Patterns: Like Butterick and McCall's, now all the same company, this large line's quality control varies. These patterns are often the most difficult of the Big 4 patterns, especially the large selection of big-name designer patterns. Prices are generally the highest of any Big 4. The site itself sells them at 50% off, but may not be terribly secure as the shopping cart seems to have password issues. They will take checks.
  • Very Easy Vogue is a collection designed by Koko Beall. These patterns tend to be less closely-fitted, with fewer seams and darts than some of the other Vogue patterns. This may make them harder to fit unless you have a boyish figure. A few have made it to Butterick or See & Sew, so check before you pay more than necessary.
  • Vintage Vogue is a set of older Vogue patterns that have been reprinted (and re-edited) with modern sizing. Instructions can be better than Vogue in general; this is good, because the patterns themselves are often more complex and time-consuming to sew. They have special details you won't find in ready-to-wear at a reasonable price (maybe at any price) these days.
  • The Vogue Woman Collection is the large-sized range; by Vogue's standards a size as small as (American) 14 can be called large, so you may want to take a look even if you don't normally consider yourself plus-sized. As far as I can tell, the only difference is that the size range goes up higher and the waist measure is 1" bigger, but maybe there are other differences not specified in Vogue's size chart, such as a lower bust, narrower shoulders, etc.
  • Today's Fit is a selection of patterns designed by Sandra Betzina with a non-standard set of slopers. These are larger in the waist, very slightly larger in the hip, narrower in the shoulders, and designed for a height of 5'5" instead of 5'6". Of course, you're somewhat limited to SB's taste in clothes; also, McCall's has limited the size of this collection.
  • [OOP] Vogue Elements seems to have been Vogue's answer to the other Big 4 pattern companies' cheaper lines, aimed somewhat to younger people. In my opinion these were not very well made; sizing was inconsistent and directions sometimes had gaping flaws (such as topological impossibilities). Some people like them, though. This line no longer exists.

Vintage/Used Patterns

• The Blue Gardenia: very good service; on the expensive side, but has more pre-1960s and designer patterns than most.
• Jan's Jewels
• Lily Abello's Vintage Pattern Shop
• Patterns from the Past: big selection, mostly 1940s-1970s, but with a fair number of patterns from the 1930s and 1980s-now, and a few from the late 1910s and the 1920s. Patterns from the 1960s or later are generally no more expensive than undiscounted modern patterns, and sometimes less so (e.g. if they're used). You might be lucky and find patterns in Goodwill for much less, but there's a lot here. Excellent service.
• rustyzipper
• Vintage Pattern Lending Library: a large selection of copies of vintage patterns and some reproduced Victorian and Edwardian magazines (which included pattern diagrams). Most patterns can be either borrowed (if you buy a membership) or bought, some only borrowed. Bought copies are nicely presented with a color copy of the original envelope and black-and-white copies of the instructions; the pattern is printed on durable paper. In my opinion, worth buying a copy if you can, rather than borrowing and tracing.
• Vintage Wedding
• Vintagecat
• Woodland Farms Antiques & Vintage

Suppliers

• Clotilde: a few patterns; mainly notions.
• Denver Fabrics has several pattern brands at 20-35% off, as well as notions, fabric, etc.
• Farmhouse Fabrics: fabric, trims, and buttons.
Tends toward heirloom sewing goods: pastel colored fabric, things for kids, etc., although they also have a fair amount of bright-colored (and expensive) silks. Most lace is cotton, somewhat expensive, and either white or off-white. Excellent source of buttons, especially mother-of-pearl. Some vintage items.
• Harper House: historic patterns, books, and a few other things.
• Lacis: historic patterns, etc.
• Monsterpatterns: Kwik Sew, Patterncentral, some other brands. They have some of the Big 4 patterns but are being pestered as to whether they can put up photos of them.
• MyNotions has Neue Mode patterns at 20% off; more expensive than Denver Fabrics although MyNotions has new collections earlier.
• Nancy's Notions: much like Clotilde; mostly notions with a few patterns.
• Phoenix Textiles: lots of inexpensive fabric, some notions including knitting stuff, and several pattern lines.
• SewingPatterns: all of the major pattern companies and a few independents and some craft patterns. They charge quite a bit for shipping, though.
• The Sewing Place: very large independent pattern selection, some tailoring supplies, interfacing, and notions. Good service.