I was looking at vintage patterns on Etsy the other day when I stumbled upon something that always amuses me: two identical patterns, from the same company, with the same serial number, but which envelope illustrations are in different colors. You can see that quite regularly, at least in vintage patterns. I thought it would be fun to share here, so I decided to start an ongoing mini-series on this theme.

So for today I offer you Butterick 6747, which dates from 1953 according to the Vintage Pattern Wiki. The variation is quite simple here, since only the motifs on one of the dresses are a different color:

(sources: CynicalGirl and VogueVixens. Click on the images to see bigger versions)

When I see things like that I always take a moment to compare the variations, to see if I like one better. Here I think I prefer the red one, as I feel it has more character. Do you have a favourite between those two covers?

I’m wondering what could have been the cause for those variations. Is one of those a later release? Could they be regional variations? Did they release them both at the same time but in different colors? If any of you know the answer, or want to make a guess, please leave a comment!

I don’t know yet what the frequency of those “twin patterns” post will be, or how long it will last. I will improvise as I go along, depending on my discoveries. If you have some to share please send me an email to lholy_chan [[at]] yahoo [[dot]] fr and I’ll post them here (giving you credit of course). ^_^ It can also be identical patterns released at different times which therefore have different serial numbers.