History of the Sewing Pattern - The Sewing Pattern: Beginnings
Ellen Curtis Demorest's African-American maid had an idea - cutting a
dress pattern from cheap brown paper. Her mistress was a milliner and
dressmaker who was trying to develop a method of cutting a dress that
would fit a woman's body smoothly and comfortably. Ellen and her sister
Kate wanted an alternative to the "pin-to-form" method that required
draping and pinning cheap fabric or paper to a client's body, basting it
together, then refitting the model to the client before cutting the
dress fabric.
It was a few years before the American Civil War that Ellen met and
married widower William Jennings Demorest. Initially she left her
business for the life of a wife and mother to her children and
step-children. She later decided to re-enter the fashion world by
opening a dressmaking and millinery shop called Madame Demorest's
Emporium of Fashion on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, near elite
stores to attract wealthy customers.
Meanwhile, her husband William began to manufacture and distribute dress
patterns made of thin tissue paper, which was found by Ellen to be a
better material. The maid's idea for paper patterns was the seed of a
lucrative business for the Demorests. In 1860, William formulated the
idea of a quarterly fashion magazine which he named "Mme. Demorest's
Mirror of Fashions" to promote the new patterns. One of Ellen's patterns
would be stapled into a magazine with illustrations of the latest
fashions with instructions for ordering more. Ellen also added her
sewing tips and fitting instructions to the magazine. This marketing
innovation was copied by various later pattern makers including Vogue.
Home sewing had just begun to proliferate with the introduction of the
sewing machine in the mid-1800's. The sewing pattern was invented at
just the right time to keep the Demorests' business prospering even
through the Civil War. William ran the pattern factory, magazine, and
finances, while Ellen concentrated on fashion and expanding their
market. She soon had men's and children's pattern lines, with scouts in
London and Paris to keep her informed of the latest fashions.
By 1865, their magazine, renamed and now a monthly, had a circulation of
100,000 subscribers, and they had a network of 300 shops which carried
Demorests' paper patterns. Ellen and Kate's Manhattan shop was very
successful, attracting wealthy society ladies who would order everything
from dresses to entire wedding trousseaus. Later the magazine began to
be published in London. The mid-1870's marked the peak of their business
efforts. 1500 women worked as Demorest sales agents throughout the
United States. Three million patterns were distributed in 1876 alone.
The Demorests won top awards at national and international expositions
and had distribution ofiices in Europe, Canada and Cuba.
The most interesting thing about the Demorests aside from their
innovations in the pattern business was their social consciousness. Both
Ellen and William were abolitionists and concerned with temperance and
other reforms. During the American crisis over slavery, they hired
African-American women for their factory, treating them as equals to
their white workers. All workers sat without segregation in the
workroom, received the same pay, and were invited to the same social
events. If rich customers objected, they were told to do their business
elsewhere.
In 1860, Jennie June Croly became the chief writer for the "Illustrated
Monthy", championing reforms for women in the areas of health, hygiene,
education and outside occupations. Jennie June and Ellen formed a New
York women's club, and Ellen was involved in training women in
homeopathic medicine and shelters for women and children. Ellen formed
the Women's Tea Company in 1872 to provide widows and single women with
a respectable means of making a living selling tea. Though not as
successful as the pattern business, it was able to pay for its own
clipper ship and attract wealthy businesses to buy its tea.
The tragedy of the Demorests is that William never patented the Demorest
paper pattern. In the 1880's, Ebenezer Butterick obtained the patents
for his patterns and soon became the leading competitor. With pressure
from Butterick, McCall and other emerging pattern companies, the
Demorests sold their pattern business in 1887, setting the stage for a
new generation of pattern makers.
Thanks to RustyZipper.Com contributors Don & Michele Myers for this article
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