Thursday, July 10, 2014

Message Received!


Ladies and gentleman, I have some news regarding the vintage reproduction patterns produced by The McCall Pattern Company!



Leslie, director of Merchandising and Design, sent me an email after I posted my most recent vintage reproduction dress which included some of my thoughts and disappointments with the repetition and simplistic nature of some of the recently reissued patterns.  In response, I sent a rather involved email back to Leslie with more of my feelings on the subject.  And today, Meg responded to my post with the following:

To Laura Mae's readers: We read this post and your comments. We hear you and we would love to have your suggestions on which vintage patterns you think we should reissue. Please take a look at our Pinterest board (http://bit.ly/vintagecatalogs) or your own vintage pattern images and send us an email with your top 1-2 suggestions for pattern reissues to Facebook@mccallpattern.com. Please, no more than 1 to 2 low-res images per person and please do not send any designer patterns, as licensing agreements unfortunately prohibit us from reissuing those. 
. . . 
We look forward to hearing from you and your fans. —Meg Carter for the McCall Pattern Company

So . . . it seems like the comments of Prior Patterns and Overflowing Stash were taken to heart!  Thank you, ladies, for speaking up!


My main suggestion is that we not take advantage of this offer and flood them with a massive number of requests.  If you send an email, make sure it includes a pattern design that you would actually be interested in purchasing – I am really hoping that this customer involvement will not only be great for those of us who love vintage patterns, but also financially successful for McCall so they continue to want our input!


My understanding is that McCall needs the actual intact pattern tissue to reproduce a Vintage Vogue pattern.  If you come across something amazing, maybe the community would be able to come together and find a complete copy of the design - not sure about the logistics on that.  The Butterick Retro line (I am assuming the new Archive Collection from the McCall’s line works the same way) uses the line drawings in their catalog collection to draft the reproduction, so no existing pattern is necessary.  And to reiterate Meg’s point, designer patterns are out, so no matter how much you wish that Lanvin or Schiaparelli gorgeousness could be reproduced, it ain’t gonna happen at this point, so don't waste your vote on one of those!



I am very excited to see how this pans out.  From Leslie, it sounds as though Spring 2015 is already in the works, so these changes may not happen immediately, but there does seem to be some positive movement in the right direction!  



As I was writing this post, it occurred to me that I should set up a group board on Pinterest to collect our favorite vintage designs in one place.  If you would like to add images to the group board, I will need your Pinterest name and/or the email address associated with the account.  My contact info is lauramae.p.s [at] gmail [dot] com.  If anyone knows a way to open up the board to bypass this step, please let me know.

[EDITED TO ADD:  If you would like to be added to the group board, all I need is the direct link to your individual Pinterest page!]


If you are not on Pinterest, please feel free to email me links or design images to be added to the group board.  Perhaps at some point, a vote could be arranged for the community to help persuade a VIP at McCall to get a specific design reproduced.  What do you think?  Any suggestions?


Now I just need to choose two of my absolute favorites . . . which may take some time!!  


[Click on image for source]


26 comments:

  1. wonderful! so great to know that the big 4 are also listening to us :)

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  2. Hi Laura Mae! That sounds great!
    Did you know that Wearing history sells a reproduction of the Butterick blouse 1118?
    Suse

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  3. I am not able to use your email address I would love to join the group. I've already chosen two vintage Yves Saint Laurent patterns. Thanks.

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    1. Marie, I have invited you to join the Pinterest Board – let me know if you do not receive that invite.

      As for the YSL designs, I am sure they are stunning! Unfortunately, they fall under the designer category and cannot be reproduced because of licensing issues. Perhaps there are another two designs you would like to see show up in the McCall/Butterick/Vogue catalogs?

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  4. Hi everyone! We're looking forward to seeing your emails to us (already I see several in the inbox) and your pins on Laura's board. Next week we plan on posting some surveys about vintage pattern reissues on our Facebook pages for Butterick, McCall's and Vogue Patterns, so please participate in those as well. And we recommend you read this post on how we reissue vintage patterns, so you have a better idea of what's involved on our end: http://bit.ly/1izaRrs

    Here's a question to consider as you recommend vintage patterns to us: Will the pattern that you adore so much have WIDE appeal? Can you see it selling well? The better the vintage reissues perform, the more encouraged we'll be to add more vintage patterns to our collections each season.

    Thanks, vintage fans! —Meg

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    1. Hi Meg, thanks for listening! I'll go hunting for my two suggestions. My concern is about the fit of the reissues, which is something that's frequently discussed in the vintage sewing community. I hope that the McCall company will try to be true to at least the feel of the vintage fit, which often had smaller armholes, narrower sleeves, and a more cinched waist. We're willing to invest in some industrial-strength Spanx to give a more authentic look! You could indicate on the patterns "vintage fit" to let people know that it's a little different. With the Vintage Vogues in your catalog, for example, the models don't look like they're wearing a bra, much less the bullet bra of the era. I'd also recommend some fun accessories, like a 40s beach bag and wrap, that aren't too out there. As a boomer I left my "head to toe" vintage days behind years ago, but I do like to make accessories and separates I can weave into a modern wardrobe.

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    2. Yes! This! I agree 100% with jetsetsewing!

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    3. I am also very concerned about the sizing. I gave up on modern patterns because they all were enormous on me- too much ease, too large in the bust. I find that vintage McCall's 32s and 34s fit with almost no alterations. If a reproduction uses the same sizing as the original, I would be interested in buying it. If it uses "modern" sizing, I'll skip it because I'll have to redraft the whole thing to make it fit. -A of TX

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  5. This is so awesome! I cannot wait to see some exciting reissues. It's going to be hard to choose just two.

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    1. It is! And I completely agree that choosing two is going to be a real challenge!

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  6. Wow, this is amazing! I'm glad they're listening, and I'm going to take the advice from the McCall comment above and pick two widely appealing, yet uniquely awesome old patterns to send in an email!

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  7. I really feel there is a need for a beautiful bias cut draped 30s dress. I've seen so many wonderful great "McCall" (as they called it back then) 30s patterns on this. Or one of those wonderful 30s wrapped blouses. Gosh, you could go wild with the beauty of some of these patterns.

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  8. Question Laura, are all these patterns on your Pinterest already available for McCall's? Or are they ideas?

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    1. I wish!! But no, they are not available.

      I gave myself 15 minutes to get sucked into the pinterest vortex that is vintage pattern images and chose a few of my favorites to get the ball rolling! I am hoping that McCall will bring back more of the complex designs, so I focused on those.

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  9. I'm so excited about this! Thank you, Laura for spearheading this amazing opportunity!
    Having a Pinterest board is a great idea (especially since I'm not on Facebook) to focus the choices. Do you think we can each "like" the pins on your board as a way to vote for certain designs? Also, are we to look at McCall(s) patterns only? Or, can they be Butterick and Vogue as well? It would be simply wonderful to have a reissue of a beautiful vintage pattern with multiple sizes on the tissue; grading between sizes, as I need to, is difficult with original patterns, which were printed in only one size. Now, I need to look in my wish list to see which vintage patterns to post. Yay!

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    1. Viviana,

      I think the "like" option is a great way to vote for designs!

      McCall, Butterick, & Vogue all have vintage reissues now, so any of those may be added to the wish list board - just avoid any designer patterns since those will definitely not be reproduced due to licensing issues. It gets a little confusing because "The McCall Pattern Company" is an umbrella under which the three named "brands" fall. But be sure to be on the lookout for awesome Butterick and Vogues as well!

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  10. Please add me to the group board. http://no.pinterest.com/renatehagen/
    I'll have to go through my pattern collection and see if any have mass appeal. Really loving this pattern http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/McCall's_3164, but not sure if a bathing suit will sell.

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    1. Fabulous!

      I am currently unable to add you to the group - we both have to "like" at least one board of the other person in order to set this up. Once you like the group board, I should be able to set you up! http://www.pinterest.com/lauramaeps/vintage-patterns-i-would-love-to-add-to-my-collect/

      Thanks

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    2. Done. Since Vogue needs an actual non-designer pattern I won't post any of those, since I don't have any of note.

      -Renate

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  11. I am always baffled by how this interweb stuff works but I will sort it out and post some love to the fine collection you have going so far. I am beside myself with happiness over this turn of events (waves hands in the air) (!!!!!!!!) See, there IS power in navy blue with white polka dots! (I am Ernie, or Ernie Kocats on P)

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  12. How great that someone out there is listening!! I'm really excited to see how this plays out, and am off to check out your pinterest board immediately!

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  13. This is some of the most amazing and exciting reproduction pattern news I've heard in a long time! Thank you for sharing your thoughts so that McCall's could hear the community's voice for better patterns. There are so many more interesting patterns out there and I hope to see them in the brands in the next few years. I think you do have a great eye for interesting construction, and your garments always seem to come out flawless.

    Thank you again to Meg, as well! You're a wonderful person for seeking out the opinions of this community and I appreciate all the time and work you're putting in with us!

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  14. The Butterick 6672 you have pictured here, I OWN. If there is a desire to reprint this (and it REALLY is a glorious pattern to work with -- I made a linen suit-dress for my mother out of it), I would happily send it in. Please feel free to email me if this is something useful.

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    1. That is so very generous of you, Tegan. But, in fact, The McCall Company does not require the actual pattern tissue for their Retro Butterick line (they just work off of the line drawings). They just need the tissue for their Vintage Vogue line.

      I am still trying to decide on my absolute favorites before I email the company, and Butterick 6672 may end up making the final cut! Glad to hear that this pattern is as dreamy as I imagined!

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