1. Graded (sized) paper sewing patterns used to make clothing.
According to a 1903 obituary: “Ebenezer Butterick cut the first paper pattern in Sterling, Mass., the town of his birth, on June 16, 1863. Prior to that time there had been no ready-made patterns. Mr. Butterick conceived the idea of averaging the measurements of people of different ages, and making patterns by which the mother could, with a little variation, make clothes to fit her children.” [“Pattern Man Butterick Dead at Seventy-Seven,” Times Union (Brooklyn, New York), April 1, 1903. Accessed through Newspapers.com, a subscription service.]
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