Have you heard about Pattern Rescue?

For today's post I would love to share with all of you a great resource for home sewers, vintage pattern collectors, aficionados, and sellers.
It's an organization called Pattern Rescue run by a small network of volunteers who have dedicated their time to restoring and preserving vintage sewing patterns. They do it for no profit and really just want great sewing patterns to be preserved for the enjoyment and education of future generations.
Their web site features many options for the collector, and for the volunteer.

Photo from patternrescue.com

Restore: Once you've registered with the site, you can take advantage of their help in restoring your vintage pattern. Is your favorite pattern incomplete? Are you missing pieces or instructions? You can fill out a request form and the word goes out to all of the members. Hopefully, a volunteer has that pattern and can send you a copy of what you're missing, or there are random extra pieces just like the one you need filed away in the Pattern Rescue archives that will be sent to you.

Photo from patternrescue.com

Preserve: On this page there are pictures of patterns that need to be restored, that are missing pieces or instructions etc. This is where volunteers can send a copy or an original of what's missing to complete the restoration process. By doing this you can earn points that can be used towards free patterns! For example, I just saw that the pattern below needs some missing pieces, and I just happen to have this one in my collection. So I'll be sending an email in to let them know that I'm willing to copy whatever the pattern needs and send it in. They'll get back to me with what the pattern needs and voila! There's one less incomplete, sad little pattern out there in the world. It gives me warm fuzzies thinking about it.

Photo from patternrescue.com

You can also trade points for patterns on the Trade page, post information about a pattern that you're desperately trying to get your hands on, or donate just about anything pattern related to Pattern Rescue for restoration and completion. I'm going to be sending a package to them with patterns that I have no need for, don't wish to sell, some need to be completed, some are just extra pattern pieces with no envelope and no home.

I hope that you'll join and volunteer or take advantage of some of the wonderful help that they offer to us pattern people.