I hope to inspire and entertain you with a lot of sewing and a little of everything else!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Can You Spot the Difference??

When I was little, I loved the "spot the difference" puzzles in Highlights for Children magazine. I still enjoy them in the back of People when I'm at the dentist's office (they have an adult version- it's very hard!)
I bought several old layette patterns, which arrived in the mail yesterday. I was looking through them and noticed that I had 2 of the same pattern: Simplicity 4704 from the 1940s.
Can you spot the difference??

They both have the same picture. They both sold for 15 cents. It's not that one envelope is more tattered than the other!

The difference is that one is unprinted (on the right) and one is a printed pattern (on the left). I have made both types of patterns. It is certainly easier to know what you are doing with the printed patterns, though the unprinted are not impossible to navigate.
  This picture really illustrates the difference! These are both piece T, for the bootie. Grainline, buttonholes, notches, etc. are all marked with perforations on the unprinted piece. 
Another interesting thing about this pattern is that the unprinted one has 3 pieces cut from newspaper. It doesn't have a year on it, but it mentions the war, so it must have been the early 40s.
Here's the clip about the War Production Board.
Are you ready for 4th of July? I'm not! I have a ready to smock navy gingham jon jon that I'm hoping to finish for Andy today!

2 comments:

Laura said...

I actually have this pattern--sort of. :) I have the modern repro of it, and it's gorgeous made up. I've made this one several times because I love the look of it. It's pretty! The difference, I think is that it comes in multiple, modern sizes in the updated version. The cover art is nicer on the original, though!

;) The printed version also says it's "one size".

Jeannie B. said...

Love this post!! And I like how the newer version has PRINTED in big red letters. Certainly a big improvement in sewing patterns.

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