The Art of ACCESSIBILITY:
Our Commitment to Inclusive Vintage Sizing
Our Mission: Preservation without Exclusion
At Mrs. Depew Vintage, our mission is to provide a size-inclusive sewing experience for all of our customers. Our patterns are sorted into categories by bust size so that you can easily find vintage original AND reproduction sewing patterns in your size.
Click here to find all of our sewing patterns sorted by bust size.
Just scroll down and look at the options in the menu to the left of your screen!
Our Sizing
We do our best to grade our vintage sewing pattern reproductions into accessible sizes. Many of our patterns are graded from a 30 to 50 inch bust when possible! We believe that EVERYONE should be able to sew a vintage wardrobe that fits like a dream, and we are moving heaven and earth to make our patterns as inclusive as possible.
Dedicated to Vintage Sewing Patterns for Every Body
Vintage Plus Sized Patterns are Hard to Find
Many often assume that the sewing pattern industry didn't used to make sewing patterns in plus sizes. This isn't actually true. In 1928, McCall was manufacturing sewing patterns for women in bust sizes 30 to 50 inches!
"Misses & Junior" patterns stayed in the 30 to 38 inch bust size range, but Women's patterns were manufactured often as large as a 50 inch bust.
So why are plus sized vintage sewing patterns so hard to find?
The more often a pattern was used, the less chance it had of surviving for future generations to find! These plus-sized vintage patterns were so popular that they were often used several times by each owner. But they weren't made to last. They usually fell apart and were often thrown away.
This is why it's so common to find vintage patterns in a 32 inch bust. These were used the least, so they survived the most. This survivor bias has led to the misapprehension that plus size patterns didn't exist in the first place.
Where to Find vintage plus-size patterns:
At Mrs. Depew Vintage, of course! We are dedicated to making sure that vintage sewing patterns survive for the next generation to enjoy. This means making these vintage patterns as accessible as humanly possible to modern bodies of every size.
Pattern Grading for Multisize at Mrs. Depew Vintage
Accuracy Meets Accessible
All of our multisize vintage sewing pattern reproductions are graded using tried and true vintage pattern grading methods. We use historically accurate techniques from rare vintage technical manuals to grade our patterns up or down in two inch increments per size.
However, all of our grading is done mathematically in a digital environment to create precise, high quality patterns that will fit in a dependable fashion.
It is important to note that while we aim for inclusivity, some vintage patterns cannot be taken past a certain threshold.
If we are starting with an original pattern in a 30 inch bust size, we can only grade it up so far before the pattern is too distorted in shape to fit correctly. This is why some of our pattern reproductions will only go as large as a 44 or 46 inch bust. We stop grading when we can no longer give you a quality finished pattern.
Different Sizes in Different PDF Layers
Most of our multisize sewing patterns are specially formatted with each separate size as a separate PDF layer.
This means that if you have Adobe Acrobat, you can select which layer/ size you want to print and hide the others you don’t!
We preserve the original design lines of the 1920s-1950s while adjusting for modern proportions and using modern technology.
Vintage Sewing Patterns By Size
Vintage Sewing Patterns By Size
How to grade vintage sewing patterns into your own size
Mrs. Depew Vintage Helps you Grade Your Patterns
How can I grade my own sewing patterns?
We don't just offer vintage sewing patterns graded into larger and plus sizes.
We also publish a pattern grading manual that teaches you how to grade your own sewing patterns to fit your unique measurements.
Our Pattern Alteration and Grading book combines 32 pages of priceless pattern grading knowledge by M. Rohr with 16 pages of very helpful pattern alteration lessons by Margaret Groseclose.
The pattern grading portion is packed tightly with the information you’ll need to grade your pattern up or down to your desired measurements. It focuses primarily on adult women's patterns, but the information can be employed with any type of pattern for menswear and children's clothing as well.
The booklet uses vintage pattern grading techniques and sizing information and is especially helpful for grading vintage patterns.
Our sizing
We include clear size charts
At Mrs. Depew Vintage, we believe that elegance should be accessible to every garment maker, which is why we’ve prioritized expansive sizing in our pattern reproductions.
Our size chart is thoughtfully graded to ensure a precise fit across a diverse range of shapes, currently supporting up to a 50-inch bust.
By moving beyond "standard" vintage constraints and offering comprehensive material requirements for multiple views, we ensure that everyone, regardless of their measurements, can confidently recreate the glamour of the past with a fit that feels modern and comfortable.
Make Your OWn Patterns in your own size
Mrs. Depew Vintage Draft-at-Home Patterns
For those of you who want to create your own sewing patterns in your own unique size, we offer our line of Draft-at-Home sewing patterns. These are a template and scale ruler system that allow you to quickly make your own sewing pattern in doll size all the way up to a 60 inch bust!
Draft-at-home patterns use a special scale ruler to quickly enlarge a mini pattern template up to a full-sized pattern in your size.
All of our Draft-at-home patterns have D-A-H at the beginning of the page title so that you can tell them apart while navigating MrsDepew.com.
Find all of our Draft-at-Home Sewing Patterns here.
Read more about how Draft-at-Home Sewing Patterns work here.
It really is as easy as connect the dots!
Please forgive our delays!
--Mrs. Depew is currently recovering from major surgery.--
Any patterns or books that require shipping are slowly being added back into stock and made available for order.
All digital items are still instantly delivered.
Please expect slower shipping times and message responses as Mr. Depew learns to ship orders and I slowly ease back into work.
Thanks for your patience while I heal!