Here's a nead find I made just before I was off on my trip, while looking for vintage patterns: a Lutterloh pattern book in French. World Groove Trf Rar File. I'm not sure how familiar the name is here - I certainly haven't come across this before, so I thought I'd show it here.

I didn't quite know what to expect, but it didn't cost much. What arrived was a neat little book with 361 illustrations and photos for sewing patterns, ca. 1960 I guess. There's everything there - evening wear, bridal, daywear, underwear, loungewear. The patterns are printed in miniaturised form in the back and need to be copied into actual size: As I've since found out, this system has been around since the 1930s when it was invented in Germany as 'Das Weltmass' (the universal measure) and then renamed 'Der Goldene Schnitt' (The Golden Rule or La Coupe d'Or in French). The key to the whole thing is the special measuring tape and ruler.

You measure your bust and your hips, and then translate that to the pattern when you copy it with the ruler - here's the page from the book showing this: This will supposedly create the best possible fit in a pattern - well, depending on bodyshape I guess it will still take some adjusting! But it's a neat concept for anyone who's proportions translate into different sizes in tops and bottoms. Autodata Cd3 2009. The system actually still exists.

Nowadays you buy a basic kit with a pattern book, the tape measure/ruler without which you can't work it, and a DVD, and then you can buy extra pattern magazines, or subscribe to them (and of course you only get the special tape measure/ruler with this fairly costly kit! This seems to be more or less how this worked decades ago as well - this book contains 361 patterns, mostly for women, but some kids and men's patterns too, and it advertises the appearance of quarterly magazines with seasonal patterns. It was made for experienced sewers though - the actual patterns have no instructions, there are just general instructions on techniques etc. At the beginning of the book. I'm not going to buy the modern base kit just for the ruler, but I've found a vintage one on ebay for not too much money and hope to get it soon - I want to test how this works some time! Looks like I've made a good buy then. Found it on a Swiss auction site that is a lot more interesting than ebay Switzerland when it comes to all sorts of things people find in their attics.

LUTTERLOH 'GOLDEN RULE' PATTERN SYSTEM 1998 REVISED EDITION. Lutterloh System International Book. Pattern books. This system is similar to Lutterlohs 'Der.

It is a bit of an online flea-market. I paid $ 30, and it's in pretty good shape. I occasionally find old patterns, fashion magazines or mailorder catalogs there, and prices are usually ok. There's a German seller on ebay who has quite a bit of Lutterloh stuff, I found the tape measure there, but it's a vintage one, not a repro.

I've seen a few more vintage base kits too, that still cost less than buying the modern base kit. So the tape measure and special ruler have arrived - plus a paper copy of the thingy that's supposed to help you draw curves (it's not mentioned in my book, but it's part of the system nowadays - according to a photo copy enclosed by the seller, they used to provide a drawing of this that you had to enlarge and cut yourself - so at least I don't have to do that!). The most vital accessory to the whole thing really is that plastic ruler that you could tack to any tape mesaure at 8 centimeters - the only condition is that you need a centimeter-tape measure. So if you're interested in their vintage patterns, they are out there on ebay mostly from what I've seen now, the extension magazines or single patterns more than the books.