The earlierst patterns date back to 1860.  William Jennings Demorest and Ellen Curtis Demorest began the home sewing pattern industry in 1860 by holding fashion shows in their homes and selling the patterns.  This was the beginning of the Mme. Demorests' Emporium of Fashion. They published a magazine called Mirror of Fashion which sold  hundreds of patterns.

The Butterick Company was started by Ebenezer Butterick in 1863 by creating heavy cardboard templates for children's frocks. Members of his family cut and folded the first patterns that were sold from their home. Manufacturing began in 1866 for women's fashions.  They began The Delineator in  1873. Their patterns started as unprinted tissue paper folded and pinned to instructions sheets. At this time there was no sleeve to hold the pattern. In the early 1920s they began the "Deltor" which used the first three and last three letter of Delineator.  In 1948, they purchased two new presses specially designed to print markings directly onto the pattern tissue.

McCall Pattern Company begain in 1870 in New York City by James McCall. Patterns were unprinted until 1919, when they started printing  information directly onto the pattern pieces.  In 1932 they started printing full color illustrations on their pattern envelopes. This is the only company to print the dates on their envelopes, which makes it easy to date their patterns.

Vogue Pattern Service began in 1899, as a result of Vogue Magazine publishing a once weekly pattern feature.  In 1909 Conde Nast bought Vogue. As a result, Vogue Patten Company was formed in 1914, and in 1916 they were sold in department stores.  In 1961 Conde Nast entered in a licensing agreement with the Butterick  Company.

Simplicity started producing patterns in 1927. Their goal was to produce an easy-to-ready, lower priced pattern. They were one of the fastest growing  pattern companies, opening offices in  Canada, London,  Australia, and several in the United States. Their patterns are sold in over 60 countries.  Their unprinted patterns ended in 1946, and were all printed thereafter.

DuBarry patterns were manufactured by Simplicity from 1931-1940 exclusively for Woolworth Company. 

Hollywood Pattern Company was started by Conde Nast in 1932. They were known for printing photos of Hollywood stars on some of their patterns, quickly making them very popular.  They continued production through the end of World War II.

The New York Pattern Company started in 1932 and continued until the early 1950s. They were unique in that the pattern sleeves had drawn characters rather than photos and the paper used was non-glossy.

Advance began manufacturing patterns in 1933, which was sold exclusively at J.C. Penney Company.  The company continued through 1966 until it was sold to Puritan Fashions.

There were numerous miscellaneous  pattern companies including Alice Brooks, American Weekly, Anne Adams, Excella, Ladies Home Companion, Ladies Home Journal, Laura Wheeler, Marian Martin, Parade, Pictorial Review, Woman's Day Patterns, and Woman's Home Companion.

There were full color pattern envelopes featuring the fashions of the time, and beautiful drawings of dolls that many of us now love to collect. The reverse of the pattern envelopes indicated which dolls the pattern would fit, and gave fabric suggestions, along with yardage and notions needed. Many fabrics of that time were suggested, including lawn, organdy, dimity, taffeta, rayon, pique and cotton. Many used leftover bits of fabric and trim from their mother's sewing basket, which allowed the seamstresses ample opportunity to use their imaginations in creating their dainty creations.

Patterns were designed to fit various popular dolls, including Wendy, Alexanderkins, Ginnette, Gigi, Miss Ginger, Betsy Wetsy, Tiny Tears, Littlest Angel, Lil' Susan, Saucy Walker, Toni, Binnie, Betsy McCall, Bonnie Braids, Miss Curity, Harriet Hubbard Ayer, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Cissy, Little Miss Revlon, and many others.  Barbie patterns evolved in the mid 1960s and were also just as popular.

Doll sizes ranged from 7 inches to 36 inches tall. Many of the dolls pictured on the envelopes were recognizable, but the patterns also stated that they would fit other dolls of the same size. Most of the early patterns had many pieces, and some with fewer pieces were marked as "instant" or "easy" - which was a trend emerging at the time.

The look for the time was "sweet," and the clothes made every little girl's doll the prettiest at school and the best-dressed at parties. Little girls would dream of themselves in the frocks with silk ribbon sashes, nurse's uniforms, princess gowns, chic school clothes, and full swing skirts, as they dressed their dolls. Undoubtedly, the women sewing clothes for the more mature, sophisticated dolls did some dreaming themselves as they labored over tiny details, including those found on miniature, intricately made lingerie.

Early doll patterns were made of plain precut tissue with no markings. They used tiny holes for any necessary markings. The envelopes were made of a light brown paper, with no color, just black line drawings.

The 1920's where when the first brightly colored graphics appeared on the front of the envelopes.  This is also when patterns advertised as being "printed" first appeared. But for the most part, most of the patterns were unprinted until the late 1940s.

Collecting vintage doll patterns has been on the rise in recent years. Yard sales, second hand stores and estates sales are a good place to find that "stash" of patterns that have been put away for years and forgotten. It is fun to come across a "find" and note the original price of these old patterns, of which 10 to 35 cents is not uncommon. The next best thing to outfitting your vintage doll with an original outfit, is to sew her clothes from an appropriate vintage pattern, which can also add to the value of the doll.