Weekend Project: Making the 1912 Project My Own

Be yourself.  Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.  

~ John Jakes

As you know, Janyce of the Vintage Pattern Lending Library is hosting a major project to digitize and sew all of the patterns that were published in “La Mode Illustree” (a French pattern magazine) in 1912. 

This is in honor of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Approximately 350 people have volunteered to serve as test sewers on this project, and I am one of them.

A Facebook page has been set up and there has been a lot of chatter as the volunteers ask questions and get to know one another.

Some of the people are seriously experienced and incredibly skilled in historical sewing and plan to apply historically accurate techniques to historically accurate fabrics in order to make museum-quality reproductions.

“Not it!” ;)

Others plan to make wearable garments for themselves.

Have you SEEN the waists on the women in 1912? (Okay, I realize that there were corsets involved, but still…) I have one of those waists. Heck, I have THREE of those waists!

Let’s face it – the typical pattern from 1912 does not suit my silhouette or my style. (Remember – this is the brightly-colored-hearts-flowers-and-kittens-print sundress girl here.)

So, how do I make this project my own?

Well, allow me to introduce you to the new member of our household and my model for this project: Mattie.

(This is actually a publicity shot for Mattie and her sisters - my Mattie hasn't made her appearance yet.)  


Mattie is a “BJD” or ball-jointed doll. She has (roughly) the proportions of a young woman, scaled to 1/3 size. And I will be sewing my assigned 1912 patterns for her. :)

The world of BJDs is new to me – but here is what I discovered with a little exploring on the internet:

1. New ones are outrageously expensive.
2. They are primarily made in Asia.
3. New ones are outrageously expensive.
4. Typically they have to be pre-ordered and delivery can take 3 months or so.
5. New ones are outrageously expensive.

And by outrageously expensive, I mean in the $750 - $2,000 range! For a doll! Yikes!

Luckily, like everything else (with the possible exception of husbands), they can be purchased used on eBay. ;)

How did I come up with Mattie’s name? Oh, I just picked a random name that I liked…

I certainly did not estimate that, if she was in her early 20’s in 1912, then she must have been born in the 1890’s, and then Google popular girl names in the 1890’s to find one that I liked. I mean, come on, how OCD would that be!?!?

The name “Mattie” was ranked #50 in the 1890’s, by the way… ;)

Finally, one last detail, we have the option of downloading our patterns electronically and working with them in PatternMaker software. 

I downloaded the (free) basic version – but I think that even the basic version will allow me to re-scale and/or re-size the patterns relatively easily. (Fingers crossed!)

So, there it is in a nutshell – my plan. I will be making smaller versions of the 1912 patterns for Mattie and blogging about my adventure here, all year long. Wish me luck!

PS – While Mattie is definitely more chic, classy and sophisticated than I am, she does harbor a small guilty attraction to bright colors and happy prints, so those may creep into some of her garments in unexpected ways… ;)