About 1917-1918. The Red Cross supplied refugees as well as prisoners of war.
Different pattern companies produced patterns for the American Red Cross. Butterick produced their usual separate instruction sheet. I love the notation "SEAMS!!!"
I need somebody to tell me what the narrow straps are used for; surely one doesn't attach one's braces to these?
8 comments:
If this were a skirt pattern, I'd assume those straps were for hangers...but...!
If you are referencing the tabs at the waist? They were for adjusting the waist largewr or smaller. I have this same pattern in the shorter version from a few years later. It is actually quite comfortable and men seem to love them once they have worn them.
Hello Greenhoneyhive - I think I understand the tabs at the center front and back of the yoke, and the Deltor instructions do a pretty good job of illustrating how the adjustable waist works.
What baffles me are the 1/2" wide horizontal bars on either side of the fronts that are tacked on the ends to the yoke. They don't seem to be adjustable in any way.
The narrow horizontal strips sewn in the waist on the inside were for hanging from hooks. Before the advent of hangers folks had narrow closets with a row of hooks to hang clothing from tapes sewn into the waist or neck or such.
If the strips were sewn on the inside I might think they were hanging loops (but for underclothes?) but they're on the outside. Still very baffling.
Andrea:
Those 1/2" wide horizontal bars are a typical feature for underdrawers--the suspenders were passed through those loops before being buttoned to the trousers, so that both were supported. It was a common feature in the mid-19th century and was seen as late as the 1950's in military trouser liners. BTW, the shirt in the 4078 pattern is a "private purchase" variation of the M1916 US Army shirt. With conscription during WWI there was a tremendous demand for extar clothing from home--either more comfortable or better tailored. This would explain the creation of such a pattern--once the war was over there were huge stocks of these shirts surplused out at under $2.00 each.
Regards,
John Ruf
I hereby award johnruf the Nice Guy award of the month for providing so much helpful detail on this pattern. I had suspected the bars had something to do with suspenders/braces, but I just couldn't work out the details!
Andrea:
My pleasure--your site was very helpful with working out some of the details on a current project, so I felt obliged.
Regards,
John
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