Would any of you be interested if I were to turn one, pattern sheet and all, into a pdf?
The pattern sheets included with these vintage magazines (if you're lucky enough to get one intact) are very similar to Burda Style pattern sheets, only the pattern is usually given in just one size.
There would be only very basic instructions in German but the pdf would provide all of the patterns for one edition on a pattern sheet.
It would be challenging, but worth it for the hard to find fashions. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts!
Delicious! It would a be fun challenge to try to work with a pattern from such a source...
ReplyDeleteI think that would be fun to try! Luckily, my hubs speaks some german. Maybe he can help me to figure it out! :)
ReplyDeleteHmm... I definitely need the short jacket in the 5th image! I might have problems interpreting the German to find the correct pattern outlines, but I've been sewing long enough I could probably figure out the construction instructions without a translation.
ReplyDeleteWow! These are beautiful, and the paper is in excellent condition. I have one German magazine from 1921 and the paper is so delicate that I can't even touch the pages without the whole thing disintegrating.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't attempt anything as complex as the designs in your Moden-Zeitung(even in English!) but it's nice to have the images available for inspiration.
We are on the same wave length! I just posted about my German pattern magazines wanting to share the PDFs if others are interested. I love the images from your magazine, they are much more glamorous than the patterns from my magazines.
ReplyDeleteHaha! I was just about to point you to Annabelle's post! AND YES! YES! YES!!! I want a German pattern sheet...pretty please :) So much fun!! Happy 2012!
ReplyDeleteI think it is worth it. I also have lutterloh patterns in pdf that are great. Well I think they are. the system is still going and you use a special ruler to copy the patterns out but the end up in your size. It is always worth it just for the wonderful style lines and extra sewing details that make the garments fit.
ReplyDeleteIts a great idea! Would be a really good way to get those rare patterns out there.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea! Yes, please?
ReplyDeleteI would love that!
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea. I could never afford an original and it would be a really good way of getting the lovely patterns to live on with people making them rather than them being forgotten.
ReplyDeleteThat would be so dreamy!!!! I would love it!
ReplyDeleteI also had the same idea but am worried about the copyright issue (I work for the UK Intellectual Property Office) and asked a colleague who said it was possible that whoever holds the rights could object. I have had emails from another blogger who contacted a German lawyer for advice and he said that Burda bought up most of the Beyer publishing house rights after the war, and that after emailing Burda to ask permission, they said as long as sales were under 100 per year they would not object... I have seen patterns from these mags on Decades of Style and also, Anna, you make reproductions of patterns, and I presume you never receive any correspondence from angry rights holders?! It's a tricky one but maybe selling a few through etsy is unlikely to incur the wrath of Burda...
ReplyDelete@Claire
ReplyDeleteClaire, Thanks so much for the information. I will definitely need to look into whether anyone has renewed any copyrights on the magazine's content. Of course, with all of my pattern pdfs, I do careful research to make sure that the patterns are no longer under copyright, and then regardless, I change the content, sizing and instructions, and many times the pattern as well to make it my own creation.
Yes, Anna, I think that is key, making small changes to make sure you sidestep any problems, though as I said, it seems unlikely Burda would come after an individual seller who is no threat to their large business.
ReplyDeleteMy colleague did tell me that copyright exists for 70 years AFTER the death of the creator, so many old patterns may still be copyrighted, yet as many people are reproducing them for sale without any trouble, then the copyright is not being enforced. For anonymous works, copyright is 70 years after publication, so perhaps for these magazines, anything pre 1942 is okay. I wonder why, if Burda indeed do own the copyrights to some of these, they don't produce repros??
Anyway, good luck with your venture, the vintage sewing community will be eager for your PDFs!
I am interested in how you proceed with these as well. I found a website not too long ago that has a good amount (10 or 12 maybe) of wonderful patterns that I am dying to try. The only problem is that the site and the patterns are in German. So, being all resourceful, I decided to use google translate to translate the whole webpage and was embarrassed at the result. The words were fine (but google can't translate from a pdf I don't think), but the pictures were replaced with an older German woman flipping me off. I typed the text in Google translate that was on the picture with the German lady and it said something to the tune of "no direct links". So I don't think that anyone was mad at me changing the language, but they thought google (or other website) was linking the images directly. It still threw me a bit. Kind of funny now though. LOL
ReplyDeleteThe link http://www.return2style.de/duesenberg/schnitte/schnitte.htm
I feel bad that I debated on whether to keep it to myself or not before posting it to pinterest (and then here), but someone posted it online for everyone (at least German everyones LOL) and I feel you ladies deserve the chance at these great dresses. That and I may never figure out the patterns
@Brandy
ReplyDeleteWow, Brandy, these are fantastic patterns! Thanks for sharing. What i had planned to do was hopefully type up the German text and leave it for others to use Google translate or other to try. I would definitely include a German sewing vocab sheet for help, but mostly this would be for the pattern, as the instructions are always sparse and difficult to understand even in German.
There is a good chance I'd be disturbingly excited about this if you did it.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's always fascinating to read about copyright issues.