Saturday, April 20, 2013

Mysterious McCall 4043


I'm still catching up in documenting all my 1940 McCall makes--this one, McCall 4043, was my very first one!  Now this pattern is absolutely mysterious:


You see, this pattern should be from 1941 not 1940.  I can't for the life of me figure it out.  The cover envelope clearly says the copyright date is 1940.  But every other nearby pattern number is from 1941.  I've tracked down the following:
Isn't that bizarre?  I'm wondering if 1) this is a printing error, or 2) if this was a special release pattern that came out earlier than the other patterns (resort collection?).  It's not in any of the 1940 McCall magazines or style booklets.  I think it's probably in the February 1941 magazine.  Which just makes me wonder how many other copyright 1940 patterns are not in the number sequence??  This is the only one I've found so far...

This was a great and easy pattern to sew up.  This was my first time sewing a McCall pattern from 1940--and I ended up grading this up a little too much.  So the armholes are a bit too big.  Otherwise the fit is pretty good.  Luckily, it's never quite warm enough in Scotland to wear a sleeveless dress! It's a wrap dress that closes with two buttons at the back.  I made it with some heavier-weight fabric that I got from Ikea.


Here's a close-up of the fabric and my first lapped seam:


The dress has two patch pockets sewn on the front with a button closure and a kick pleat in the skirt front:


This is one of the few sleeveless sundresses that was released by McCall in 1940.  I just saw the pattern envelope image of McCall 3603 on the Vintage Pattern Wiki. This is the other wrap dress from the year 1940 (which I can't wait to find and sew up).


We took these photos in the Falkland Palace Gardens, isn't it a beautiful place?


I'm curious to learn more about this pattern.  Does anyone have one of the early 1940s McCall patterns in the 4000 number range?  I'm curious about the number and the copyright date!

I don't know about you but I can't wait to get started with some summer sewing (C'mon summer weather)!
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17 comments

  1. Hi Debi - I love the way this dress fastens at the back - lovely! - great backdrop too!

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  2. Very cute dress. I also love the back button closure and front kick pleat.

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  3. Love this wrap dress- lovely Debi!

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  4. Even though here in Australia we are going into winter, I recently bought not one but TWO dresses in that style— repro vintage I guess you'd call it. It's such an incredibly comfortable style. Of course, yours has the soulful benefit of being handmade. Perfect!

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  5. This is a great dress! Love the striped fabric!

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  6. The stripes are fabulous and you look ready to prettily conquer!

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  7. Hey Debi, the dress is gorgeous, well done!
    Occasionally, with patterns I have found that the copyright date isn't necessarily when the pattern was released. For example, I have what is very clearly a 1930's tap pants pattern by Butterick, but the copyright is from the early 1920's. The copyright itself, I believe, is for the instructions and illustrations, and sometimes is in reference to a patent on the manner in which the instructions are put together. Who knows though! It's a mystery! :)

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    1. Hi Anna! That is very interesting! I'll have to look at the instructions as well! It could be that they did the instructions in 1940 but that the pattern itself wasn't released until 1941! Thanks so much!

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  8. I really adore this dress, it looks so good.

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  9. I was thinking something similar to Anna. A pattern can be copyrighted in one year and for who knows what reasons, release is delayed. In this case it might have been copyrighted in the end of the 1940. But if they wanted it for the summer collection, they would hold onto it for a few months.

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    1. Yes--that makes sense! I think that's probably what happened here because I'm fairly certain it came out in February!!

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  10. Can't solve that mystery but I love the dress -- very charming!

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  11. What a gorgeous dress! I love the gathers at the shoulder and the pleat in the front.

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  12. Beautiful pictures! The front kick pleat is perfect! And I love a good mystery . . . :)

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  13. Lovely dress! I really like buttons in the back.

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I read each and every comment--thank you so much!

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