I’ve been listing quite a few embroidery transfer patterns lately and think it’s time that I address them in a post. But I found so much information online that I’ll probably be doing several posts to give you a big picture. Back in the day (the early 1900s, that is) needlework was highly popular and embroidery transfers have been available for over a hundred years.
This post will give you a quick overview of the manufacturers and historic sources of transfers.
- Specialists in embroidery transfers include Vogart, Aunt Martha’s and Workbasket. These three companies are still in business and responsible for most of the modern transfers available in retail stores today. All three produced patterns in the 1930s and some patterns from that era are still produced today.
- Sewing Pattern Manufacturers include McCall’s, Butterick, Simplicity, Vogue and others. Butterick began producing transfers in the 1860s, McCalls in the 1870s, and Simplicity in the 1930s. Vogue and Standard Fashion also produced transfers fairly early on (Vogue from around 1910 and Standard Fashion from 1888 to 1926). Advance and Hollywood pattern companies likely did not produce transfers, but DuBarry did, though not a great quantity.
- Mail Order Patterns include Laura Wheeler, Alice Brooks, Ann Adams and Marian Martin. These were likely produced by only one or two parent companies, like Needlecraft Service, Inc. These patterns began to be produced in the 1930s and were advertised in newspapers. The patterns arrived in a mailing envelope and no date. Therefore, it is desirable to have the original mailing envelope to help determine an approximate date of manufacture.
- Women’s and Needlework Magazines often included offers for embroidery transfers. These include general interest magazines like Ladies Home Journal, Womens Weekly, Good Housekeeping, and Woman’s Home Companion and needlework or fashion magazines like Modern Priscilla, Pictorial Review, and Home Needlework.
- Thread Companies often produced patterns to help sell their lines of thread. These include Royal Society, American Thread Co., J&P Coats, and others.
J&P Coats produced designs by Ann Orr beginning in 1910. American Thread (Star Brand) produced booklets of designs during the same era. Royal Society produced designs from 1915 through the 1920s. - Out of Business transfer companies include Burton, Superior, Walker’s, Monarch, et al. Betty Burton and Superior were produced by Sears Roebuck. Betty Burton dates from the 1920s and 1930s and Superior began in the 1940s. Walkers is a smaller independent manufacturer that began producing transfers in 1879 and was still producing transfers in the 1940s. Monarch produced patterns in the 1930s and 1940s. There are more small manufacturers, but rarely found.
Source: http://www.sewingpalette.com/transfers/reference.html
