Simplicity S-Series - I have dated them at last!

Hello my dear readers! It is a bright, sunny Saturday here in California and I am a happy girl today. Many of you are quite familiar with my obsession with the Simplicity S-Series Patterns. I have been collecting and researching them for a few years now and while I was relatively confident that they were from the late(ish) 1930's, I had no proof. None of them have ever had any copyright dating on them.  I have scoured the internet and antique shops for old Simplicity pattern flyers - buying every one I could find, and finding no trace inside them of S-Series patterns! (You can see a fraction of my collection of Simplicity pattern flyers here.)
I was at a dead end.
Until recently, that is...

I found this Simplicity counter catalog from March, 1938 on Ebay last week, and while I was browsing the auction pictures, I saw it - a small glimpse of what I knew to be Simplicity S-602! I didn't care that the booklet was in sad condition, and that it had been used as both a recipe book and diary (strange, and fascinating) for 40 some years... I had to have it! Boy, was it worth it! I found EVERY SINGLE S-Series pattern they ever released, both in the index, and in illustrations.

Without further ado, for your viewing pleasure...

Simplicity S601 and S602, both in my collection.

Simplicity S607 and S603, both of which I NEED!

I was delighted to find illustrations of Simplicity S603 and S608, both of which I knew existed, but had never seen before!

Simplicity S604 (in my collection) and S602, which I need!

Simplicity S612 and S605, both in my collection. Reproductions of S612 and S605 are now available! Just click on the links.

Simplicity S606 and S609, both in my collection.

Simplicity S611 and S610, both in my collection.

Simplicity S614 in my collection.

As you can see, the lady who owned the catalog pasted recipes from newspaper all over the 300+ page book!

Simplicity S615, in my collection.

Simplicity S616, in my collection.

Simplicity S618, and S617, both in my collection. A reproductions of S617 is now available! Just click on the link.

Simplicity S619, in my collection.

Simplicity S620, in my collection.

Simplicity S621, and S613, both in my collection.

Simplicity S622, in my collection. (Also, check out the hooker eye shadow on the lower right corner. Lovin' it, girl!)

Simplicity S623 and S624, both in my collection.

I now have gratuitous amounts of boxer patterns for no reason.
So what's next? I need to find only three: S603, S607 and S608, and then I will have them all... Then I will sew them all. I'll be swimming in silk nightgowns and my poor husband will have more vintage boxers (which he wouldn't wear) than he'll know what to do with.

How about you? Do you have something vintage and charming that you obsessively collect?

More Simplicity S-Series Patterns!

Hello lovely readers. Before I get started on some serious homework this weekend, I wanted to show you what I have in my sewing room right now!

As most of you know, I collect a particular line of vintage sewing patterns created by Simplicity in the 1930's, which I call the S-Series. There were maybe 23 different patterns made in this line (I'm still trying to place the exact year and number) and as of today, I now have 20 of them, including the two loveliest that I've been looking for the longest!
Below are Simplicity S605 and S612, two of the most beautiful sewing patterns I have ever seen.

Sadly both are missing a couple of pieces so I'm still hunting for complete copies...

I want to extend a very warm thank you to those of you who have emailed me to let me know about patterns up for sale that I might not have seen yet. I owe most of my success in finding these patterns to you, my dear readers!

I owe my particular success in finding the above to two different Etsy pattern sellers who were kind enough to contact me and offer me incredibly fair prices for their patterns. It's pretty common knowledge how badly I wanted these patterns and neither of them took advantage of my weekness so thank you!
These pattern sellers are Amy of Vienna's Grace and Mary Beth of Retro Monkeys. Both of these ladies have incredibly beautiful vintage patterns in very reasonable prices so I recommend checking them out if you're in a pattern buying mood.

I also added two others to my collection, Simplicity S619: a darling baby romper pattern, and S609; a beautiful nightgown pattern with pretty gathering details at the bodice.

So what's the plan? What am I going to do with these lovely patterns once I have them all? Why, sew them, of course! Granted I'll have to find some small children to dress in the few children's patterns included with this line... but I'll worry about that later...

For now, I have homework which involves me drafting half a dozen bodice patterns in various princess seam variations and since it's going to take for bloody ever, I must get to it.

Happy weekend!

Update: Repoductions of the following S-series patterns are now available in print and download at MrsDepew.com!
Just click on the links...
S605 Camiknickers
S612 Lingerie Set
S617 Pajamas

Found! A New Simplicity S-Series Pattern.

Hello lovely readers. Many of you are already aware of my on-going hunt for patterns from the 1930's S-Series of patterns by Simplicity. You can read more about the saga here. These patterns rarely surface so imagine my surprise when I discovered one on Ebay, and my delight when it was one I had never seen before!

I immediately made a sickeningly-high max bid and got it for a reasonable price.

This is my new pattern, Simplicity S620. It's a Misses' and Women's Bra and Bloomer and it's lovely! I've never really been a big fan of the bloomer from this era. For some reason, the bloomer kept cropping up in some form or another until the 1960's and it's always seemed a bit frumpy and matronly. But the fabrics used in the illustrations, the optional yoke, gives the whole look charm and some potential.
Maybe...

How about you? Could you see yourself in bloomers?