A giveaway - and an adventure

It's my birthday, and there's all that general holiday goodwill about, so i decided it's high time for another giveaway.  My grandmother is also a December baby, and because it makes me think of her, this time i've picked out a great 1940s suit (wartime, i suspect, from the admonitions to conserve that are printed on the instruction sheet), number 6300 from Superior, which was the house pattern line for Sears.

The jacket has the most wonderful pockets, which join into the front dart.  The skirt is a no-nonsense eight gore number.  A tied belt softens the lines of the whole thing just a bit.

 

Now, here's where the adventure part comes in: i'm not positive of the size of this pattern.  It's stamped on the top right corner, but it's not a complete impression.  I think it's a Size 14, which would in this case mean a 32" bust, but it's also possible that it's a Size 16, which would be a 34" bust.  But isn't a jacket this slick worth a muslin to get the fit right?  I thought so.

What do you have to do to have a chance to win this lovely stocking stuffer?  To enter, all you need to do is to stop by the shop, pick out your favorite item, and leave a link to it in a comment here.  I'll draw for a winner on Thursday, December 16, at 3:00 p.m. EST, so be sure to make your choice and leave your comment by then!

(For those who want more details on the pattern, it's pre-cut and complete, instructions are in good shape and the envelope is quite nice; the skirt pieces appear to be unused, but the jacket front and back show wear at notches and perforations, and on the jacket front there's a small tear at the inside of the curve of the pocket, size uncertain but probably a 32" or 34" bust measurement.)

The ones i'm keeping

I was going to list his one.  Really.  Had it pulled out, put in order, counted and checked, and it's in fine shape.  I love the ruffles, but i've got a dress with a similar bodice, and if i really had a mind to, i could take a pattern from that.  There are already a couple of 1940s dresses in the project queue.

But when i went to write the listing, i found i couldn't get past the item title.

This is why:

I adore the drawings, and the over-the-top enthusiasm of the description!  Superior seems to have done this with a line of patterns aimed at teens in the '40s - i've seen at least one other set of pattern instructions in the same format.  I haven't been able to pin down an exact date, but suspect it's a wartime issue.  I've tried contacting the Sears archives to get dates for Superior pattern numbers, but haven't ever managed to get a response of any kind.  But there are probably catalogs out there - another research project!