More Finnish 19th-century Käsitöitä magazines added

This is a quick update for all of you who are interested in reading old Finnish sewing magazines for inspiration. I have just added 3 whole years worth of Käsitöitä magazines from the years 1897 to 1899 to my archive here. Those are interesting years as they contain a lot of detailed information on dress construction during the period.

In real life, I have been digging through the actual magazines and the sewing patterns that came with them at the National Library. After some lengthy discussion with the National Library staff, I have now permission to handle, copy and sort sewing patterns as long as I follow very strict rules that the library has for all its most valuable possessions. Furthermore, I can happily tell you that the library has taken my suggestion of conserving and digitizing all this material seriously and things are in progress!

Even though there were, on average, one pattern per magazine, there are so many patterns as the magazines span 3 decades. Furthermore, there are several suggestions on how to alter one basic pattern to create different looks. There are also pictures that are just fashion images for inspiration. Myself, I’d like to make a jacket similar to the one in the picture above! These dresses also look adorable:

I have managed to copy patterns for two gowns, from the years 1898 and 1905. You can see the 1998 gown in the header picture and the1905 one in the picture below. I also plan to copy at least a pattern for a spring coat. However, mostly I will use the little time I have sorting the pattern pieces that have been mixed up pretty badly.

This is all for today. Have fun browsing the magazines! Happy reading (and sewing)!

Katja