The Vintage Pattern Lending Library is home to a growing collection of over 3,000 antique sewing and needlework patterns, vintage fashion publications, and other related historic print materials from the 1840s through the 1950s, from the United States and abroad.
We offer high quality, user-friendly, historically accurate one-to-one digital reproductions of many of the patterns in our collection for purchase or loan. Because all patterns are printed on durable 15-pound semi-transparent bond paper, cutting and pinning pieces is easy. Please click
here to view an example of a VPLL pattern.
WHO MAY BORROW FROM THE LIBRARY?
While
anyone may purchase those items for sale,
ONLY active
members may
borrow patterns. Because of copyright issues,
certain items from our library shelves are only available as loans. In both our print and online catalogs, we indicate whether or not an item is available as a purchase and/or loan or loan only.
WHAT IS A MEMBERSHIP?
Annual member fees pay for the costs of reproducing loan items when copies are lost or damaged. Memberships also subsidize the preservation of the fragile original materials in our archives and allow us to expand our collection.
A VPLL membership lasts
one year, and is not refundable. Your
membership level determines your specific benefits, which will include a variation of the following:
- Some free item loans
- Discounts on item purchases
- Multiple loans at one time
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUY OR BORROW AN ITEM?
Purchase prices of individual patterns and publications vary. The cost to borrow a pattern is $5.00 per pattern. Only those patrons with active
memberships may borrow items from the Library.
ARE LOAN ITEMS ORIGINALS OR REPRODUCTIONS?
REPRODUCTIONS. All items for sale or loan are high quality reproductions of originals. The source materials are extremely fragile, and frequent handling would cause them to disintegrate. If originals are lost or destroyed they cannot be reproduced.
When we digitize our sewing patterns from their source materials, we take care to include any markings, symbols, and labels. We add additional information to clarify antiquated terms or vague instructions when necessary. Our sewing patterns also come with clear, concise transcriptions of instructions and diagrams. Instructions have been translated into English when the original language was French, German, or Spanish.
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