Enlarging a Mrs. Depew pattern

 

So, in order to not have to sew like crazy the night before going to wear it (this time...) I started to enlarge the pattern for the 1933 evening gown yesterday. Especially since I'm going to make it in chiffon. I have a strong feeling that I'm going to end up sewing it by hand... I bought my patterns from Mrs. Depew who sells e-patterns that are really ingenious. They are from a 1930's book and all came in a very small scale. With the purchase you note your bust measurement and also get a ruler that is marked up to 72. This may look very complicated, but is actually very easy. Let's go through it step by step:
1. You will need a large piece of water, a sharp pencil, a pin and/or some wights, a ruler ( a real one) and french curve. I don't have one and made do anyway, but it would be helpful. Also, make sure you have a helping paw, if you need one.

Spiff being the helping paw.

2. Place the miniature pattern securely on a large piece of paper.

3. The pattern has a number of lines radiating from the X. If you do it on a surface that you can jam a pin into, then you have it easy; you put it through the circle on the ruler and then into the X on the pattern and then you can just rotate the band as needed. Me, I do it on our dinner table, so I had to carefully place the ruler and then place a weight on it to keep it from sliding.

4. Every line have one or two numbers. After placing the ruler on a line, check the number and make a dot, or X at the corresponding number of the band. Go though all the lines and mark down all the number.

When you are done it will look something like this:

5. Now you are to connect the dots. Use your real ruler and french curve to do so. Tadaaaa!

6. Continue with the next pattern piece. You can do this on a new piece of paper, but I did it on top of each other. Seam allowance is not included, so I'm going to copy each piece and add that.

This may seem difficult, but belive me, it is much easier than it seems. I did 5 pattern pieces in 1 1/2 hour, and that included cutting out the measuring band and taping it together. One of the beauties with these patterns are that they go up in larger sizes, if your bust measurement is between 18 and 56 inches, then you are set. And there are some really yummy patterns, let me tell you. Or what do you think of these: