Boxtops for McCall's Sewing Patterns c. 1970s

What kind of cereal would have a mail in form for a sewing pattern?  Would it be aimed at an adult, like Raisin Bran or maybe Alpha-Bits?

How many boxtops did you have to save to get these patterns?  Some are "Pounds Thinner Patterns" which are designed to make you look taller or thinner.

McCall' Post Patterns

They also included standard dress and pants patterns.

McCall's Post Pattern H

If you didn't want to eat cereal to get free sewing patterns you could use Baggies plastic bags and Punch laundry detergent to get some different sewing patterns.

McCall's B-4

Did you order any of these patterns?  What cereal eat to get them?  Have you made these patterns? Are they groovy enough to wear today?  I think they are a better prize then what you get in the cereal now!

70s easy to wear clothing

I was checking out Kara Janx's (from Project Runway Season 2) designs. I think her clothing is great, but it looked very familiar. Check out her convertible skirt. She able to convert a 70's fashion into something new. I'm thinking if you took this skirt pattern and widened the belt - you would have something pretty close to what she designed.

Butterick 4843

Here is another fashion from 1976 that is making a comeback- Lydia Silvesty's Infinite dress. I think it is a great concept - but my body is just not built to wear something like this, at least not in a stretch knit, and I can't see it working in anything other then a knit.

McCall's 5360

I recently went to Montreal and poked around at the American Apparel store. I never saw one of these stores before! Much to my surprise, they have them in my own state. They have a Bandeau dress that is the same concept as the Infinite dress. They shortened the hem - but you can you the directions for both of them. The one thing you can do with this dress that you can't do with the Infinite dress is wear it as a halter. The Bandeau dress is a little more flared at the hem.

Here is another 70s fashion that might work like the infinite dress.

Simplicity 8086

If you don't want infinite choices - you could choose only 7 ways with the Seven Way Wonder Dress! This dress completely wraps around - where the other three are tube dresses - or flared tube dresses.

Butterick 5230

In 2000 another version of the 7 Way Wonder - or Infinite dress shows up as a pattern. Debra Moises wrap dress for McCall's.

McCall's 2781

You can probably combine all the instructions from all of them and end up with lots of ways to wrap the patterns. This pattern has more gathers then the original 70s one and the American Apparel Bandeau dress.

I'm going to have to play around with my Bandeau dress to see if I can make it work for me. I may not be built for such garments.