Past Patterns

The answer depends on if the pattern is still in production or not.  If it is, please mail us the old pattern and we will ship you a copy of the latest pattern for a minimal fee along with normal shipping charges.  If the item is no longer in production, we would need to know exactly what you have to determine the best course of action to help you.

The Past Patterns originals were designed in house and based upon the research, disassembly and time of Saundra Ros Altman.  These designs come from finds all over the United States reaching from San Diego, California to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.  She created the initial patterns, the sizing charts and the instruction content.  Many of the these patterns are multi-sized or are available in various sizes.  For the most part, these designs are done taking into account the modern human body's shape, height and weight. The Vintage Revival patterns are traces or copies of an old, mass produced pattern; the first mass produced patterns came out in the 1850s.  For the most part, you get exactly what came in the original package; in some cases, Saundra has appended historical notes to the instructions.  The Vintage Revivals patterns, being copies of the originals, generally only come in one size and are based upon the size and shape of the human body from the era the pattern came from.

We utilize PW Studio for our designs.  Isabelle Lott, a contributor over the years to Past Patterns, is the owner of the company and will be happy to answer an software related questions you have.  Her software is available for licensing.

The bust and back length. The back length is measured from the prominent bone at the base of the neck to the natural waistline.

You can see 1740 through 1940 fabrics in a book titled "Textile Designs" by Susan Meller and Joost Elffers. The subtitle states, "Two Hundred Years of European and American Patterns for Printed Fabric by Motif, Style, Color, Layout and Period and 1,823 Illustration in Color." What they don't say is that 90% of the swatches pictured are life size. The ISBN is 0-8109-3853-7. A second book is Wearable Prints, 1740-1860, History, Materials, and Mechanics by Susan W. Greene. The ISBN is 978-1-60635-124-6. Great books! Order it from your local library that has interlibrary loan capability if you cannot afford the price. There are now many sources for appropriate fabric through the Internet.

On the Internet try: "Patterns from the Past."

we do offer expedited domestic shipping for extra fees.  We can also expeditie international shipments but delivery dates overseas cannot be promised.

We offer Wholesalers significant discounts that will allow both your and our businesses to flourish.

Why don't we sell PDFs of our patterns - First due to piracy.  We have spent over 40 years creating and tracing these patterns along with researching them.  We print and ship all of our patterns ourselves.  If we started sending out PDFs, in no time, copies of our Intellectual Property would be all over the internet and we would be out of business.  Second, some of our patterns are constantly being updated.  We want our clients to get the BEST POSSIBLE version of our products.