Regarding the previous post – I really did turn the pile of junk that was my “craft area” into a useable, tidy space. Unfortunately our home internet is broken so I can’t present you with any evidence for a few days.
I can however use the scanner at work and type up a post in my lunch break. So here we go with another Retro Monday.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying my very small collection of Stitchcraft magazines from the 1950s and 1960s.
This is the front cover of the May 1954 issue.
Stitchcraft was a monthly magazine launched in October 1932 by the yarn manufacturer Patons and Baldwins. They were published up until the early 80s (1982 I think).
The magazines contained mostly knitting patterns but also a few sewing and embroidery items as well. I’m told that iron-on transfers were included for all of the embroidery projects but any that my copies may have contained are long gone.
The brevity of the pattern instructions reminds me of how much knowledge the average home knitter was assumed to already have. There are no schematics, no lengthy instructions written out to help you keep your lace pattern correct while you work shaping and very little information about sewing up.
The styling is (to me) gorgeous. The models are made-up and strapped into some unforgiving foundation garments, but still look fresh and pretty. Their hair is always immaculate which is a refreshing change to the “messy bun” that passes for a hairdo these days. 
Although I’m not sure if I’ll knit much from these patterns, I do get a lot of pleasure from looking through the magazines and will probably incorporate some of the ideas into my own pieces.
One thing I will not be doing with Stitchcraft though is using it for the recipes. There is far too much emphasis on cornflour puddings and artificial banana flavouring for my liking.
(Please note that I do not own the copyright to any patterns featured in Retro Monday. Unfortunately this means I make or send out copies).
That green top is beautiful, the tiny little buttons really make it.
I think part of the fun with vintage booklets/magazines is the ads and non-knitting articles (even if they can be cringeworthy at times).
I agree that the adds are rather compelling – I’ve never seen so many products promise to help a girl maintain her “feminine daintiness”, not to mention all those adds for Lux soap!
There sure was a lot of cleaning as well as knitting going on in the 1950s.