Spurn The Iron

That's right, I said "spurn the iron".  That's what the new wonder-blend fabrics of 1961 promised to do. Still, I seem to remember ironing a lot back in the sixties.

I also remember going around in sleevless tops with no concern for sun protection of any kind.  Okay, we were a reckless generation who thought we were all immortal.  After all, our lives were supposed to be wrinkle free.

Take a look at that waistline, I mean...... only Barbie has a waistline like that.  Barbie and your average size 10 woman of the sixties. Right, a size 10 was something quite a bit different back in good old 1961. Ten was the samllest size this pattern came in, if you were any smaller than that you were probably either a child or near death from starvation... like Twiggy.

These tops are actually still pretty cute and apparently quite easy to make.  Back in 1961 you just clipped the little ad out of your weekly copy of Parade Magazine, taped two quarters to a file card and mailed the whole thing to Radio City Station.

Then waited by the mail box for the Postman to drop your wonderful Patt-O-Rama pattern in the box. In 2011, if you want to "spurn your own iron", get a hold of some wonder fabric and head over to Mama's Etsy shop for some vintage sewing inspiration of your own.