In Honor of the 1940 Census

The 1940 census is going to be released to the public in April and it's going to be big, very big. So in honor of this amazing event in genealogical circles, here's a gorgeous  pattern from 1943. If your mom or grandmother was a young woman in the 1940s, she probably wore a dress like this during World War 2.  A lot of women's clothes were quite tailored in style, mostly because fabric was in demand for the troops and the skirts had to be come slimmer and shorter to use less material. But ruffles could not be stamped out entirely. This adorable dress is called a pinafore dress on the pattern envelope because it looks like you are wearing two garments instead of just one. I love the buttons all the way down the back.

My mom has told me many things about that era. It was an exciting time to be a young single woman. There were opportunities for work and for service that were unknown before that time. And Momma worked at Camp Claiborne as a secretary which meant that when she went to a dance there were hundreds of young men lined up to dance with the beautiful young woman she was. (She's still beautiful.) She told me she danced a million miles during her time there. And dancing was fun back then. I am sure she can still show you her jitterbug moves at age 90. I'll never forget the day when I was a teenager when  she and her brother showed us how it was done.

This pattern was great because it was an early printed one. Here's what the back looks like: 

You can find this pattern in my shop here.
There are tons more vintage patterns online. If you just want to drool over those 1940s styles, visit the 1940s section of the wiki Vintage Sewing Patterns.