Just before Christmas, I got a surprise extra present – a whole huge box of dress patterns! I guess they came from a car boot sale, picked up by my dad and his wife, having heard my plea of “patterns! any patterns! (not 1980s ones though)”.

These are mostly 60s, with a few 50s gems and a smattering of 70s. The majority of them are free patterns from magazines, mostly for boring dresses and skirts but there are a few treasures in there.

I love this one, although I don’t actually suit 50s dresses. Its just so nice! I could use the bodice on something else though….

This one is pretty special too. I want to make it in the exactly same green. I can just about get away with this shape. It would look amazing in the pea-green cotton velvet I bought last year, except that’s destined to be a jacket. And I have already got a green velvet dress not dissimilar to this one (a vintage one of my grandma’s). But there’s nothing wrong with having 2 green velvet 60s evening dresses, is there?

I don’t think this one would suit me, but its so fabulous!

And another one I couldn’t wear. I could of course, use the bodice and graft it onto a straight skirt, and let out the waist and generally re-make it from scratch to make it suit me. But realistically I probably wont get round to it. I love the illustrations – its like they’ve made up for the black and white by making the dresses as patterned as possible! Its like some kind of sofa-fabric-dress convention!
Though wouldn’t it look fabulous in the Liberty Kinnear fabric I’ve used as a background? Stunning!

I was about to put this one in the ‘get rid’ pile when I realised the jacket is virtually identical to my favourite vintage one (which is so much nicer than that photo). So that’s a keeper now. Maybe in needlecord? I still have plenty of aubergine cord…

I like this dress a lot, but would look like a sack of spuds wearing it. The colours are fantastic.

This 1971 number is so amazingly-not-me but I like the illustration a lot. They look like they are dancing to some groovy number.

And last, but not least, this one just made me laugh. Click through for a larger version, it is funny. A skirt just for watching TV. Oh yes, my life in a nutshell!

I’ll probably stick the remainder of the patterns up on ebay in a job lot – although if you like the sound of them (?) then drop me a line and I’ll send some photos and we can do a deal. They need good homes….