Retired teachers stitch together past and present for MoH Patti Page pop-up

Jul. 10—Most of the memorabilia at the Claremore Museum of History's upcoming Patti Page pop-up will be items Page really wore.

But three retired home economics teachers are sewing up a set of outfits for the exhibit made of modern materials. The looks all come from the Spadea Pattern Company's "Patti Page Quartet." This was a pattern for an assembly of four "quick change" outfits designed for Page to wear on TV in the '50s.

"She would be on her television show, and she might come out in a dress," said Phyllis Stearnes, one of the retired teachers. "And then they would have a commercial break, and she would come out with a jacket over it so it looked like she changed clothes ... we wanted it to all blend and coordinate."

The quartet is based around a sleeveless, hip-hugging sheath dress. To create the illusion of the sheath dress becoming a new outfit, the quartet also includes a jacket, a belted overskirt and a flowy trapeze dress worn in the evenings.

Stearnes was the first member of the group. Carol Little, who taught French at Claremore High School while Stearnes taught home economics there now a volunteer at the museum, reached out to Stearnes to help bring the pattern to the present. Little had obtained the pattern from Timothy Akers, a nephew of Patti Page's who has donated much of the museum's Page collection.

"To me, she was an icon," Stearnes said. "... When else would I ever get to sew a dress for Patti Page?"

Then Stearnes recruited Cindy Griffith and Sandy Seila. Griffith taught sewing as a 33-year career educator with the Oklahoma State University Extension office. Seila created seven different sewing classes while teaching at Tulsa Technology Center.

The group started working on the project in March. Seila said it has been "pretty much a group effort."

"Once we decided on a color palette, we went shopping together, and fabric just jumps out and says, 'This is what Patti would have worn back then,'" Seila said.

Stearnes said the women went shopping for fabric in Pryor, as well as Branson and Springfield, Missouri. They chose a palette inspired by colors popular in the 1950s, including lime green, pale yellow, aqua and brown.

Griffith said she reveled in picking out fabrics because her mother owned a fabric store when Griffith was a little girl. She said creating the outfits has been aspirational for her.

"When you dream about dress up as a little girl," Griffith said, "you would have liked to have worn something like that."

With the pop-up set to open in a little over two weeks, the women spent Wednesday fitting three of the four outfits onto mannequins and figuring out what alterations they'd need to make.

The four outfits will join a number of other pieces of clothing Page wore during her lifetime. Akers, Page's nephew who donated much of the collection, said the pop-up will include a little black dress, a green cape, mink stoles, jewelry and more. There will also be life-sized Patti Page paper dolls for attendees to dress up.

The pop-up will debut at 6 p.m. July 27 at the museum, 121 N. Weenonah Ave. in Claremore. From 6-8:30 p.m. that night, the museum will host an event, during which attendees can look at the new display, watch an archived episode of the Patti Page Show and take photos of an Oldsmobile parked out front (the company sponsored the Patti Page Show).

"This museum is a treasure for this area," Seila said. "I mean, Steve (Robinson, the museum's director) does an incredible job as a historian. As small as it is, it is packed with a magnitude of wonderful, wonderful history ... this is an honor to be a part of this, a big, big honor."