Restoring and preserving vintage sewing patterns

About Us

So one day, while sadly contemplating a perfectly gorgeous pattern that was missing the most important pieces, we thought "Wouldn't it be great if there was someplace to get replacement pieces for vintage sewing patterns -- like those places that specialize in replacing missing china or silverware?"

Alas -- there wasn't any such place. So we started one.

Pattern Rescue opened in 2004 as a free service of the Sewing Palette (where we sell some of the vintage sewing patterns and other needlework items from a personal collection that got out of hand). We listed pattern pieces from some of our incomplete patterns -- available for just the cost of postage -- and we put up requests for pattern pieces that people needed but we didn't have. The service was restricted to sewing patterns published before 1960.

Of course, no one knew we existed at first -- and with lots of other things going on, we didn't spend any time promoting the site. But a few people did find us. Some of them found pattern pieces they were looking for; some of them sent us their incomplete patterns; some of them asked us to expand beyond pre-1960 patterns. Someone even opened a nearly identical site for a short period of time.

And then the strangest thing happened. Just as we were about to abandon the whole thing as a wonderful but impractical idea, we started getting emails from people who wanted to know if we would take complete patterns. They didn't need them, they didn't want them, but they hated to throw them away. Gasp! Throw them away? No, no, no!

So here we are, launching a redesigned and greatly expanded concept of Pattern Rescue. The new site incorporates the many things we learned over the first three years -- some of which matter, and some of which don't:

Our mascot -- the lady behind the gray curtains -- is the color graphic from a very vintage (even by our standards) McCall pattern. Back in the 1940s it must have seemed hopelessly outdated, but some unknown seamstress kept it anyway. You can see the whole pattern envelope at the Sewing Palette's Clothing page (although you can't buy it, because it's not for sale).

Which brings us to a final note -- the Sewing Palette is operated separately from Pattern Rescue and is bound by the exactly same rules as everyone else when it comes to using Pattern Rescue services.

We've donated nearly a hundred incomplete patterns to the Restore effort and several hundred of the patterns you'll find in the Recycle and Trade sections. The opening balance for the Pin Money fund came out of our pocket -- as do the web hosting fees, shipping supplies, and office supplies. This is a labor of love for vintage sewing patterns and we hope you'll join us in making it a success.