The Secrets of Time Travel Revealed – with Mrs. Depew Vintage!

Join us in welcoming Anna Depew, the visionary behind Mrs. Depew Vintage! Her website isn’t just a portal into sewing history—it’s a vibrant celebration of fashion’s glorious past. Through education, meticulous restoration, and reviving vintage sewing patterns, books, and magazines, she’s not just preserving heritage; she’s weaving a thread of history into the fabric of today’s design world. Delving into the step-by-step process of learning the intricate methods of garment construction from eras past, she inspires designers to infuse the essence of yesteryears into their modern collections!

Anna, many people may be new to sewing vintage patterns. What advice do you have for someone who is just starting their journey into vintage sewing and itching to dive into the world of sewing vintage garments?

Anna: Oh, that is easy! You need a really good sewing book or two. Vintage patterns often had such limited instructions included and the farther you go back in time, the fewer instructions you will find. Contrary to popular belief, not EVERY woman already knew how to sew or had someone to teach her.

Anna: But what they did have, was a wealth of sewing books available to them!  These books with great illustrated instructions made it easier for pattern companies to save time and money on developing patterns, making them more affordable to home seamstresses. Believe it or not, my mother never taught me how to sew (much to my regret!). I actually learned from blog tutorials and vintage books. My favorites are McCall’s Complete Book of Dressmaking by Marian Corey, The Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, and The Singer Sewing Book by Mary Brooks Picken.

Can you recommend the steps to get started? Which patterns from ‘Mrs. Depew Vintage’ are best for a novice vintage-lover to begin their sewing journey?

Anna: Happily! I very strongly suggest that beginners to sewing start with something simple that requires little to no fitting. Aprons are perfect for this, as they often have very few seams and help one learn basic skills like cutting out a pattern, binding with bias tape, and hemming.  This is one of my favorite apron patterns to sew: 

Anna: The more closely fitting a garment is, the more skill it may take to construct. A kimono-style robe is another great beginner to intermediate pattern. 

Anna: If you have a little bit of sewing experience, then sewing a vintage-style bra is a great way to get into vintage sewing patterns. They use so little fabric and can be such a fun learning experience. I have sewn this pattern several times for myself and it’s my favorite go-to from my lingerie drawer. 

The idea of preserving history through vintage sewing patterns is unique. What inspired you to start Mrs. Depew Vintage, and how has it evolved over the years?

Anna: My little company sprang from pure, unadulterated love. I grew up in my mother’s antique shop. One of my earliest memories as a girl is of my mother pulling a beautiful Victorian ladies’ magazine carefully out of a box. The fashion illustration cover was stunning, and I remember the look of awe on her face as she leaned towards me to give me a better look. As she carefully opened the first page, she explained to me how treasures like that should always be treated with care and reverence because you never knew when you were handling the last existing copy of anything.

Anna: As we opened the second page, the magazine started crumbling in her hands, almost as if to emphasize her point. I remember how sad we both were, watching such a treasure crumble to pieces. The same thing happened to me with a rare 1920s brassiere pattern when I was in college, and I didn’t yet have the skill set to preserve it. I cried tears for that poor little pattern, then collected myself and decided that I wasn’t ok with just playing with vintage items. I also needed to be an active participant in their preservation. When I did start my company, preservation informed every step I took along the way to where I am today.

Can you tell us about a particularly fascinating piece or story you’ve uncovered through your work?

Anna: Oh, I have so many good ones… I think the one that stands out the most is a 1938 sewing pattern catalog. Many vintage patterns are undated and there was a series of late 1930s lingerie patterns by Simplicity that I hoped to accurately date by hunting down a counter catalog from the era. When the catalog arrived, I learned that it had also served as one woman’s journal. In the page margins and often right over top of the beautiful fashion illustrations, she had pasted recipes, and written down addresses and notes to herself, along with journal entries, worries, and even prayers. Many of her thoughts were written during World War II and some of the entries about wanting her sons to come home just break your heart. I still treasure that catalog today. She bared her soul in those pages and made it so much more than a simple piece of history. It really brought the past alive for me in a way that made it feel so much more personal.

Anna, could you share how the Haslam System of pattern drafting allows home sewers to create personalized dress patterns based on their own measurements?

Anna: Oh, I could just talk about the Haslam system all day! I’ve always been quite tall and most of my store-bought clothing has needed alterations to fit me.  It’s one of the many reasons I started making my own clothing and lingerie. The Haslam system is really just one of many vintage methods for drafting custom sewing patterns. However, it is unique in that it also happens to be one of the most precise, mistake-proof drafting methods for achieving an excellent fit. It allows garment makers to create a wide range of styles that are customized around our unique body shapes without spending a lot of money on patterns.

How does the Haslam System simplify the pattern-making process for those who may not have formal fashion design training? 

Anna: This is really what sets it apart. The included chart that comes with the Haslam System basically transforms half a dozen professional drafting and measuring tools such as a waist curve and tailor’s square, and combines them in one compact shape, saving the user money on drafting tools AND storage space.

Anna, you’re a big fan of vintage lingerie! Are there lingerie pattern-drafting instructions in the Haslam System for sewers to create lingerie to their own size? 

Anna: Yes! There are 11 separate Haslam Lingerie drafting books spanning from the 1930s to the early 1960s, and I just so happen to have all of them on Mrs. Depew Vintage here.

Your commitment to educating the next generation about sewing history is evident. Can you share some of the educational initiatives or programs you’re most proud of? 

Anna: One of the major cornerstones of my work is education about vintage pattern history, and teaching those who are interested in preservation methods for their own collections.  I am one of the original co-founders of the Vintage Sewing Pattern Nerd Facebook Group devoted to that education.

The group was started to raise awareness of the valuable role that sewing patterns play in history, especially in the history of women. Through education units, fun blog posts, and just simple sharing of pattern pictures and the stories behind the garments made with them, we hope to help others learn that these wonderful vintage pieces are worth saving and protecting. Far too many boxes of vintage patterns just get tossed in the trash when someone inherits them, and we work hard to help others learn what else they can do with them instead.

For those who aren’t active on Facebook, I have also devoted an ever-growing section of my website to those same education initiatives. It’s called Pattern School.

Given your extensive collection, can you tell us about a particularly rare or hard-to-find sewing pattern that you’ve come across and added to your Mrs. Depew Vintage library?

Anna: Rare patterns are rather my specialty, so it is hard to choose just one. I think one acquisition that stands out the most was actually an entire collection of rather special patterns. A large box with over 200 fragile early 1900s French sewing patterns made its way across the ocean to me about 5 years ago. Each pattern would have originally been tucked inside of a matching weekly ladies’ magazine with illustrations and instructions on how to make up the pattern. These had all sadly been separated from their magazines and stored in a closet for decades, somehow managing to survive both World Wars. I’m still in the process of this undertaking, but for the last 5 years, I have been hunting every corner of the internet for copies of the missing magazines, and I have now reunited nearly 100 of the patterns with an original copy of their matching antique publications. Since many of these magazines predate WWI, not many survive, and they are really hard to find. But oh, how I love the hunt!

Mrs. Depew Vintage is not just a shop but also a studio. What kind of restoration work goes on in your studio, and what’s a favorite project you’ve worked on? 

Anna: In addition to my work on sewing patterns, I also work with just about everything related to sewing patterns. Sewing books, pattern drafting and tailoring systems, fashion magazines, catalogs, quarterlies…every printed way that a pattern could be advertised, really. I bring them into my studio to study them in great detail. I research the history of each item and usually type it up into an educational blog post full of photos for other collectors to learn from. These items are rarely in perfect condition, especially when the majority of what I work with is 80 to 150 years old.

Some are very certainly the last of their kind and must be preserved for future generations. Before they can either be sold to new homes, sent on to museum collections, or permanently added to my studio research archive, they usually undergo repairs using special archival-save tools and methods to give them the best chance at surviving another 100 years. My favorite repair project was restoring and reproducing a sewing pattern from 1865 that came from my late mother’s own collection.

We’d love to hear about the process of reproducing vintage sewing and embroidery patterns. What’s involved in bringing these patterns back to life for modern sewers? 

Anna: Every new pattern project first starts with restoration and repair. Patterns are gently cleaned, and any tears are repaired before I trace an exact copy. Any work done with the pattern from then on is always with a copy so that the original doesn’t sustain any further wear or damage. The rest involves a lot of research and many boring hours staring at a computer, and a few trade secrets but the final product is ultimately that the unique design survives the passage of the next several decades and lives on for future generations to happily sew.

The Mrs. Depew Vintage Studio seems like an exciting place. Could you paint a picture of what a typical day in the studio looks like?

Anna: My studio is part sewing room, part museum archive, part business, and ALL chaos. But a really lovely chaos made up of pretty, interesting things.

After answering emails over coffee and breakfast, I go upstairs to the studio with my German Shepherd ‘Butters’ trailing behind me. He settles in for his morning nap like the distinguished elderly gentleman that he is, and I dive into the day’s tasks. Aside from shipping orders, every day is different. One day I might be creating a digital archive of scanned 1920s magazine pages for a fashion research project. The next I could be sewing up a pattern sample, mending a vintage apron I plan to make a pattern from, or reading through a pile of 1940s pattern drafting textbooks to achieve just the right fit on a bodice dart. I love that no two days are the same.

Many vintage enthusiasts encounter the challenge of an ‘old clothes’ odor when acquiring vintage pieces. Could you share your secrets for safely removing or reducing this distinct odor from vintage garments?  

Anna: Ahh, that vintage smell. My fix is to put the garment into a large, clean plastic storage bin with charcoal odor-absorbing bags. They are very safe and don’t treat fragile vintage fabric with liquids or chemicals that may not be good for the fibers or dyes used in the original garment. The same method works for just about anything smelly that you don’t want to get wet, such as grandma’s slightly musty box of sewing patterns.

What is Anna’s life philosophy?

Anna: In a nutshell? Do no harm. Just about everything I do these days revolves around that simple concept. Before I say that witty thing on the tip of my tongue I try and ask myself, “Will it hurt someone?” If a spider wanders inside the house (a common event in muggy, buggy Georgia) I gently capture it and re-locate it in my veggie garden. I sleep better at night. My philosophy of do no harm has applied to every vintage item that has crossed my path since.

Describe your style in 3 words.

Anna: Whimsical, Nerdy, and Comfortable.

What’s your favorite way to spend the weekend in muggy, buggy Georgia?

Anna: If the weather is tolerable, I’m elbow-deep in my garden, happily getting filthy and spending quality time with my plants. If it’s too hot or cold out, I’m curled up near my husband with a good stack of books and a cup of Cherry Blossom tea.

Who are your style icons?

Anna: I’m really inspired by the women I see every day. I love it when I see someone who clearly put a lot of work into an ensemble, but who also happens to look incredibly at ease and comfortable. I’m shy and I always want to make bolder choices about my clothing, and I’m easing myself more into bolder wardrobe choices. But I really look up to these women who just boldly wear bright colors and large prints without a care in the world. I want to dress more like them.

What’s your wardrobe MVP?

Anna: Ah yes, that marvelous piece of clothing that we find ourselves going back to again and again… It would have to be the robe I made using a pattern from the late 1920s. Since I work from home, beautiful, luxurious lingerie and loungewear are my work-clothes. I want to be ridiculously comfortable while still feeling like could pop outside to water my garden and look shockingly glamorous while doing it. The robe is a beautiful black tropical Indian Sanganeri print and looks amazing over pajamas or paired with jeans and a tank top.

Finally, can you share a heartwarming or memorable experience you’ve had with a customer or student that truly encapsulates the essence of Mrs. Depew Vintage and the passion you have for your work?

Anna: One of my most memorable interactions with a customer happened several years ago. She was a very charming elderly lady who was having trouble printing one of my PDF sewing patterns to sew for a special occasion. The pattern in question was for a 1940s military flight cap, based on those worn by G.I.s during World War II.

Once we got her printer issue sorted out, we had a marvelous conversation about her experience of the 1940s and our shared experiences being married to men in the military.

She later sent me several photos of the performance she and her friends gave for her senior living community. It was wonderful seeing three beautiful white-haired vixens perfectly costumed as The Andrew’s Sisters, performing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and wearing jaunty little flight caps made with my pattern. Being able to contribute in the tiniest way to someone else keeping history alive always gives me goosebumps. It is precisely why I love my work so much.