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Oh, Leola.

ErinLeave a comment


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You can't see it in this image, but if you click through to the eBay auction (where this is listed for a couple more days), the pattern envelope has "Leola" written on it in red ink.

I am consumed with curiosity about Leola. First of all, if this was her pattern, I know I would have liked her — this is one excellent pattern. I wonder why she never made the dress? (The seller says it's "factory folded", but maybe Leola was just very, very tidy?) Maybe she had a bunch of sisters (or roommates) and that's why she felt she had to write her name on her pattern?

Maybe Leola got distracted by a life of hijinks and adventure, or maybe she was planning to wear this dress on a hot date and he broke her heart, leaving her too despondent to sew, or maybe she joined the WAC and started wearing uniforms, instead.

I think (basely solely on my onomastics-are-destiny reaction to the name Leola) that she was attracted to this pattern by the green print version. (Also, that's the one I like.) According to Nametrends.net, the name Leola's last popularity surge was in the 1910s, meaning that when this dress came out it's likely that she would have been about my age.

I would love to make this in bright primary colors (big surprise) with a black midriff band and black piping between the tiers. Too bad it's not my size.

Oh, Leola, why didn't you ever make this dress? I need to know!

[Oh, and thank you, everybody, for the kind birthday wishes of yesterday! You all rock!]

0 thoughts on “Oh, Leola.”

  6. Oh Cookie, I want to go to your wedding! Pick someone so we can all dress up! Heck, throwa fake wedding and we’ll all come!

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  8. Theresa: A fake wedding could be a real possibility at this point. The party could have a whole Abandoned at the Alter theme, with possible testimonials, etc. The green flower that might work as an accent would be hydrangeas…but not HUGE clumps of them.Lorrwill: I went back to Janet’s site, too, and, giving the Pirt a wide berth, bought the Spadea 255 I’ve been intrigued by. The picture’s gone now, but this is another one in that lot that I imagine a costume designer used for some Kennedy epic. Does that notation say “Lawford then wore plaid” or “Lawford thin wool plaid”? If so, what is Lawford plaid? The outfit itself is mildly icky. The yellow version reminds me of something you might wear to visit someone in the hospital in 1962.http://www.lanetzliving.net/inc/sdetail/68608

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  9. I’m the lucky soon-to-be owner of Leola’s dress! I will either have to regrade or redraft this considerably to fit but I think it’s worth the effort.

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  11. A fake wedding…..sounds like a lot more fun and less stressful than the real thing! No long term committment after the ceremony. WOOOOHOOO! Gotta make sure the caterers are lined up for clean up though so we DAD divas can relax!Have fun all.Teresa

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  12. I had blue white hydrangeas at my wedding. I wanted blue…but could not get them. We have to have some kind of ADAD Get Dressed Up Meet Up!

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  13. Leola definitely seems like it could become a hot baby name again. Witness the preschool surge of little Leos. Wouldn’t it be CUTE to have a Leo-and-Leola sibling set?No?Drat.

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  14. A fake-jilted wedding sounds really rather an excellent idea for a party. Everybody could be as dramatic and awful and wedding-stereotype as they’ve ever wanted, and be fresh and marvelous for any real weddings following. No matter how they really felt about them. Hah!And I’m going to write my name on all my patterns, from now.

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  15. I love this vintage pattern! I know Butterick currently has a pattern very similar to this in their dresses section, it’s vintage. I like it, and hopefully will make it!God Bless,Grace of Grace a la Mode.

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  16. I have not read through all the comments, so apologies if someone has said something similar:My mom taught me to write my last name on my patterns when I bought them. This way, when I brought the pattern to stores to search for fabric, it would be known that I had already bought the pattern. And I have a few unused patterns in my collection, waiting for the perfect material to be found

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  17. I have a little stash of patterns handed down to me from my grandmother in law. She is one of those who writes the name of the person she made it for and the date on her patterns.

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  18. You would never guess… Yesterday I was looking for a shoemaker, wandering in oldtown narrow streets. And there was an establishment named “Leola” :)they make keys, unlock your locks if you forget your keyes inside and other stuff 🙂

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