Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Suggestions, please!
I need some suggestions, please..
I have a giftcard to Borders, from my last birthday, and I currently don't have a must have book burning in my brain to use it on.
So I need ideas. I want to add a book to my library, that is indispensable, that will forever be a treasure in my sewing career..
Something that should be in every serious sewing room..
Or else something that inspires and lights a fire to create...something that won't be outdated in 10 years..
All these pictured I already have, and consider a permanent part of my collection. What do YOU feel I am missing??
Credits:
All from Amazon.com
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Japanese swimming....
Well, that's what the poor little girl will be doing, when she wears these. Swimming. In my first Japanese pattern.
I busted into my vintage sheets (I bought some more since that post), and tried out a pattern from a book I saw around awhile ago, and HAD to buy ...Girly Style Wardrobe, Pattern G, ISBN 9784579111329. OMG....I have used Ottobre mags for years, and Topkids (similar, but Australian, out of print now) for longer, and even traced a Burda pattern or two...so I am not exactly a total noob at tracing patterns. But trying to trace those Japanese ones, I swear to God, I was going crosseyed, and my eyes actually HURT the next day, from the strain of it! Not to mention how freaking hard it was to even find the right pattern pieces, even WITH the identifying letters next to the pattern pieces!! Even after double, triple, and quadruple checking, I still managed to cut one of the pieces from another pattern, instead of the right one. I got it in the end, though. Finally. On to the next problem.
Since the patterns are in centimetre sizes, and I don't have the little girl around to measure, I tried to use the Burda conversion chart, over on SewingMamas, to pick a size three. Okay. So. I have no idea what happened. I traced super carefully, and cut just as carefully, since I didn't want any problems I might encounter be a result of my own sloppiness; so I know it wasn't that. But somehow, I ended up with two little tops that look like they will be short little swing tops for a 5 year old, rather than a little 3 year old. These things are SO wide. I don't know what happened! I double checked pattern pieces, sizes, measurements, etc, and everything matched up; but I still have these little oceans to swim in. :( Very annoying. I'm going to send them anyway, since I know they at least won't be too SMALL, but what a disappointment. (I have just finished googling, and apparently that is a common problem for these patterns..they run wide and short. Hmm...)
The yellow top, btw, is using yellow polka dot fabric. Which I never found yet. I gave up and bought more. So somewhere in my sewing room, there is some rogue yellow polka dot fabric.
The pink and blue was is also a little bit of a disappointment....when I planned it out, I envisioned it with a binding and ruffle in the green on the leaves..it looks fantastic in my head. But I couldn't find that green at all when I went looking, and had to settle for the gingham..it was the right color, at least. But just doesn't have the pop I was looking for.
So there you have it. Two cute little tops, that still managed to be disappointments. That isn't stopping me from itching to get into it and try another pattern, though...when I got past all the tracing problems, MAKING them was ridiculously simple, even WITH making all my own bias binding!!!
Credits:
1 and 2: Pomadour24
I busted into my vintage sheets (I bought some more since that post), and tried out a pattern from a book I saw around awhile ago, and HAD to buy ...Girly Style Wardrobe, Pattern G, ISBN 9784579111329. OMG....I have used Ottobre mags for years, and Topkids (similar, but Australian, out of print now) for longer, and even traced a Burda pattern or two...so I am not exactly a total noob at tracing patterns. But trying to trace those Japanese ones, I swear to God, I was going crosseyed, and my eyes actually HURT the next day, from the strain of it! Not to mention how freaking hard it was to even find the right pattern pieces, even WITH the identifying letters next to the pattern pieces!! Even after double, triple, and quadruple checking, I still managed to cut one of the pieces from another pattern, instead of the right one. I got it in the end, though. Finally. On to the next problem.
Since the patterns are in centimetre sizes, and I don't have the little girl around to measure, I tried to use the Burda conversion chart, over on SewingMamas, to pick a size three. Okay. So. I have no idea what happened. I traced super carefully, and cut just as carefully, since I didn't want any problems I might encounter be a result of my own sloppiness; so I know it wasn't that. But somehow, I ended up with two little tops that look like they will be short little swing tops for a 5 year old, rather than a little 3 year old. These things are SO wide. I don't know what happened! I double checked pattern pieces, sizes, measurements, etc, and everything matched up; but I still have these little oceans to swim in. :( Very annoying. I'm going to send them anyway, since I know they at least won't be too SMALL, but what a disappointment. (I have just finished googling, and apparently that is a common problem for these patterns..they run wide and short. Hmm...)
The yellow top, btw, is using yellow polka dot fabric. Which I never found yet. I gave up and bought more. So somewhere in my sewing room, there is some rogue yellow polka dot fabric.
The pink and blue was is also a little bit of a disappointment....when I planned it out, I envisioned it with a binding and ruffle in the green on the leaves..it looks fantastic in my head. But I couldn't find that green at all when I went looking, and had to settle for the gingham..it was the right color, at least. But just doesn't have the pop I was looking for.
So there you have it. Two cute little tops, that still managed to be disappointments. That isn't stopping me from itching to get into it and try another pattern, though...when I got past all the tracing problems, MAKING them was ridiculously simple, even WITH making all my own bias binding!!!
Credits:
1 and 2: Pomadour24
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Vintage sewing...
Do you ever want to learn millinery?
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What about patterndrafting??
How to sew authentic period clothes?
Glovemaking?
Did you know some brave, brave living saints have taken it upon themselves to scan, upload, transcribe and cross-reference dozens of out of print, vintage books, covering all topics, from dressmaking, millinery, glovemaking, etc etc?? You can learn ANYTHING from them. They are thorough, detailed, clear, and a complete treasure trove; and those amazing souls who are doing this should be revered and all hail'd.
The books are from the 1800's, through to mid last century...they cover SOO much, after scanning through them, you are left with the feeling that if you read through all of them, there wouldn't be much left to know about sewing..they are that good.
This site, the Human Ecology Collection, has all the books scanned in, and each chapter/page set up so you can reach it with a click.
But THIS site, VintageSewing.info, has the books cross referenced by category, or by decade, and then each book individually typed in, illustrations placed, organized for easy use, etc etc etc. Basically, it's almost like holding the book in your hand, it's so easy to use.
If you have ever picked up a vintage garment, and studied the careful, beautiful work that went into it and marveled, here is where it is...you, too, can sew beautiful, new, vintage garments. :p
Monday, May 12, 2008
Needlework...
"No one can rejoice more than I do over the change that has taken place in the treatment of girls as regards their education. Under the old-fashioned system of what can only be called "smattering" their individuality was ignored; their powers, if any, were disregarded; one monotonous "table of lessons" hung in every schoolroom-one code of rules sufficed for all. Ear or no ear, a girl must learn music; eye or no eye, drawing was to be taught her; two or three languages were to be a sine qua non, whether she has the aptitude for them or not. What was the consequence? The mind was left perfectly untrained and uncultured. The system gave a sort of shallow smartness to those quick at apprehending-a most useless quality when it is all a girl possesses. In fact, to all intents and purposes, woman was considered to have no mind worth thinking of; to be incapable of reasoning; her powers were surface powers, requiring only surface treatment."
That, ladies and gentleman, was the first paragraph to the introduction in a textbook for student teachers, for needlework, in 1914. I wonder how many men got a look at what was being taught in those needlework schools?? :p
That is the coolest book, full of lesson plans, and illustrations, and tests, for teaching needlework of all sorts...this was for the pros, not for dabblers. I got it at a book sale ages ago, and I just LOVE it. Anyway, long way around to it, I picked it up yesterday to have a look for embroidery stitches (of which there turned out to be few...this is more for proper dressmaking, etc, than embroidery), because I had been browsing in Borders, and picked up Caroline Zoob's Childhood Treasures:
Apparently it's been around for a bit, but I've never seen it before. Anyway, it is a GORGEOUS book, loaded with eye candy, and I love the fact that it manages to look old fashioned and very sweet, with nary a pastel in sight. :p So, I was looking through it, and saw these little fabric covered buttons made from linen, with little embroidery on them...SO cute. I had to try them. Except my embroidery skills are moderately rusty, lol. Hence trying to dig through the first book and refresh my memory, which turned out to be a bust, but was so much more interesting just to leaf through. But I perservered, and came out with a couple:
I had a lot of blue and pink threaded on my needles, so I ended up doing a bunch of them....which I regret, cause I love the blue and red ones SO much more..
And yeah...my embroidery skills definitely need some practice, lol...I am capable of WAY better than these sad little examples.
While I am on the subject, this is a birthday card I made for a little girl ages ago....it's hard to see, but it's embroidered on butter yellow linen, and then applied it to the card with spray adhesive. Good stuff, that spray adhesive. :p
My kids have gotten in on the act, and have started their own projects....which, since I only have the one hoop, is kind of frustrating, lol.
That, ladies and gentleman, was the first paragraph to the introduction in a textbook for student teachers, for needlework, in 1914. I wonder how many men got a look at what was being taught in those needlework schools?? :p
That is the coolest book, full of lesson plans, and illustrations, and tests, for teaching needlework of all sorts...this was for the pros, not for dabblers. I got it at a book sale ages ago, and I just LOVE it. Anyway, long way around to it, I picked it up yesterday to have a look for embroidery stitches (of which there turned out to be few...this is more for proper dressmaking, etc, than embroidery), because I had been browsing in Borders, and picked up Caroline Zoob's Childhood Treasures:
Apparently it's been around for a bit, but I've never seen it before. Anyway, it is a GORGEOUS book, loaded with eye candy, and I love the fact that it manages to look old fashioned and very sweet, with nary a pastel in sight. :p So, I was looking through it, and saw these little fabric covered buttons made from linen, with little embroidery on them...SO cute. I had to try them. Except my embroidery skills are moderately rusty, lol. Hence trying to dig through the first book and refresh my memory, which turned out to be a bust, but was so much more interesting just to leaf through. But I perservered, and came out with a couple:
I had a lot of blue and pink threaded on my needles, so I ended up doing a bunch of them....which I regret, cause I love the blue and red ones SO much more..
And yeah...my embroidery skills definitely need some practice, lol...I am capable of WAY better than these sad little examples.
While I am on the subject, this is a birthday card I made for a little girl ages ago....it's hard to see, but it's embroidered on butter yellow linen, and then applied it to the card with spray adhesive. Good stuff, that spray adhesive. :p
My kids have gotten in on the act, and have started their own projects....which, since I only have the one hoop, is kind of frustrating, lol.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Oh! Oh! Speaking of small world!
So instead of getting me the Patchwork book I was asking for, my lovely, lovely SIL got me gift certificates to Kinokuniya..woohoo! And then dh gave me a day to myself to go out and do whatever I want...so I spent almost 3 hours hunkered on the floor of Kinokuniya, browsing the Japanese craft section!! :dancingdancing: I came away with four books:
ISBN 978-4-408-62831-8, aka Who the heck knows cause it's all in Japanese, a language I know absolutely nothing about (the names of various noodles do not count, imo!!) It's not even adapted for Westerners, and must be read from back to front. Cool. :p It works pretty much along the lines of Burda, et al, except for SO much more guesswork, since I can't even TRY to translate with the seriously dubious Babelfish or whatever, lol. The patterns are all simple, though, and completely within my abilities to assemble, once I get past the hurdle of avoiding cutting out pattern pieces from 5 different unrelated garments, all in different sizes. :p
(Edit: According to Donna of Purple Kappa, this one is called Simple Fall/Winter Sewing)
ISBN 978-4-408-62817-2 This one has trendier patterns, pretty of the moment, which is thrilling dd...also simple enough to figure out (eventually!), and same line as above...I think it might actually be mag, like Burda, too: (Simple Spring Sewing, says Donna)
Something or other Book, aka ISBN 978-4-8347-2443-1 It's a hat book..someone French blogged about it here ...I mention French, cause I can't read that, either, and therefore STILL have no useful info to share. :p But maybe you do, and then you are set. :D So, anyway, very cute hats. Really like them. Except after I was halfway home, I discovered that one of the above mags already have BOTH patterns I really liked in them...I could have put the hat book back, and bought ANOTHER book!!! I was leaning towards Basics for Girls, but then put it back...dumb dumb dumb!! Oh, well....just means I need to make another trip, huh? *crowing*
(Donna: Handmade Hats)
And then Simple Chic, ISBN 978-4-579-10961-6 by Machiko Kayaki. I've been wanting this one for AGES, and I finally have it! :D :D Also French-ly blogged.
(Lastly but not leastly, courtesy of Donna, Dress-Up Dress-Down. Thank you, Donna! :p )
All in all, a pretty satisfying haul. I like satisfying hauls. :D
Oh, yeah...small world and all that. So, I am standing there in Kinokuniya, after hitting Spotlight, the local Ye Olde Discount Fabric Chain around here, and another lady there notices our mutual fabric addiction..uh...sickness...no, wait...prudent stockpiling tendencies....and strikes up a conversation, in which I quickly discover she is none other than Sue of McArt, who I had seen a few weeks ago featured on Sew Mama Sew!! So very cool!! I also discovered that her output (seen via her Flickr link) completely puts mine to shame, and quite embarrasses me, lol.
Very awesome to meet such a cool lady, and such a small world to stumble on someone you sort of "know" out of the vast WWW community!! :D
ISBN 978-4-408-62831-8, aka Who the heck knows cause it's all in Japanese, a language I know absolutely nothing about (the names of various noodles do not count, imo!!) It's not even adapted for Westerners, and must be read from back to front. Cool. :p It works pretty much along the lines of Burda, et al, except for SO much more guesswork, since I can't even TRY to translate with the seriously dubious Babelfish or whatever, lol. The patterns are all simple, though, and completely within my abilities to assemble, once I get past the hurdle of avoiding cutting out pattern pieces from 5 different unrelated garments, all in different sizes. :p
(Edit: According to Donna of Purple Kappa, this one is called Simple Fall/Winter Sewing)
ISBN 978-4-408-62817-2 This one has trendier patterns, pretty of the moment, which is thrilling dd...also simple enough to figure out (eventually!), and same line as above...I think it might actually be mag, like Burda, too: (Simple Spring Sewing, says Donna)
Something or other Book, aka ISBN 978-4-8347-2443-1 It's a hat book..someone French blogged about it here ...I mention French, cause I can't read that, either, and therefore STILL have no useful info to share. :p But maybe you do, and then you are set. :D So, anyway, very cute hats. Really like them. Except after I was halfway home, I discovered that one of the above mags already have BOTH patterns I really liked in them...I could have put the hat book back, and bought ANOTHER book!!! I was leaning towards Basics for Girls, but then put it back...dumb dumb dumb!! Oh, well....just means I need to make another trip, huh? *crowing*
(Donna: Handmade Hats)
And then Simple Chic, ISBN 978-4-579-10961-6 by Machiko Kayaki. I've been wanting this one for AGES, and I finally have it! :D :D Also French-ly blogged.
(Lastly but not leastly, courtesy of Donna, Dress-Up Dress-Down. Thank you, Donna! :p )
All in all, a pretty satisfying haul. I like satisfying hauls. :D
Oh, yeah...small world and all that. So, I am standing there in Kinokuniya, after hitting Spotlight, the local Ye Olde Discount Fabric Chain around here, and another lady there notices our mutual fabric addiction..uh...sickness...no, wait...prudent stockpiling tendencies....and strikes up a conversation, in which I quickly discover she is none other than Sue of McArt, who I had seen a few weeks ago featured on Sew Mama Sew!! So very cool!! I also discovered that her output (seen via her Flickr link) completely puts mine to shame, and quite embarrasses me, lol.
Very awesome to meet such a cool lady, and such a small world to stumble on someone you sort of "know" out of the vast WWW community!! :D
So Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! fame (one of my fave blogs in my bloglines!) commented on my pencil roll about my pockets being all the same color, which confused me, cause I had made it from memory, and I thought it was SUPPOSED to be that way, lol.
Now, I have no idea where I saw it first, either from the famous Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts people have been blogging about, or from Pink Chalk Studio (also one of my fave blogs!), but apparently the idea originally came from Pink anyway, which I found out when I actually saw the book for the first time today at Borders. Such a small world is the 'Net.
Oh, and re the book....I thought I wanted it, seeing other peoples' projects in Blogland, but looking at it in person reminded me that I really don't actually like the patchwork and quilted look anyway. Good thing my SIL didn't listen to me, and didn't get it for me. :p
Monday, October 29, 2007
Test run..
So I broke out the cookbook tonight. I made the umm...can't remember what they were called. But they were asparagus, mushrooms, and feta in puff pasty shells. Verdict: yummy, but could have used something..we are thinking something onion-y, but mild, like leeks or something. Overall, though, it's a good start!
Topped off with cheating bought cheesecake. :p
Mucho apologies for the lousy pics. Picture taker I am NOT.
Topped off with cheating bought cheesecake. :p
Mucho apologies for the lousy pics. Picture taker I am NOT.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Reading material..
Been buying a few books lately....
I was seeing The Dangerous Book for Boys around in the bookstores, but since my boy isn't really a reader, and dd wasn't spectacularly interested in getting a boy's book, I passed. But then I heard of The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls....Suki is over the moon. It's getting a bit of backlash as a giant step backwards for women's rights, scorn heaped on it for teaching girls how to make daisy chains and have a tea party. Whatever. My daughter is being raised to be whoever she wants to be, and by golly, she really wants to be a girl. I will teach her how to be a strong girl. But I draw the line at how to set a nice table for a teaparty. So not my thing. The book fills in nicely.
This cookbook looks amazing. The pictures are droolworthy, and the recipes look soo nice. And there are a lot of recipes that have no eggs, which, for a pastry and baking book, is almost unheard of, and therefore to be sought after! :p After this upcoming hectic weekend, I will be roadtesting it, and will give my verdict. :D
I have been seeing this book around, so I put an order in at my local poorly stocked bookstore, waited a month, and finally got it in. I am NOT disappointed. My fingers have been ITCHING to get into my own sewing room, and start organizing in beautiful ways. Trouble is, I have too much OTHER crafting I NEED to do, which I have to fit in to my limited free time.
I was seeing The Dangerous Book for Boys around in the bookstores, but since my boy isn't really a reader, and dd wasn't spectacularly interested in getting a boy's book, I passed. But then I heard of The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls....Suki is over the moon. It's getting a bit of backlash as a giant step backwards for women's rights, scorn heaped on it for teaching girls how to make daisy chains and have a tea party. Whatever. My daughter is being raised to be whoever she wants to be, and by golly, she really wants to be a girl. I will teach her how to be a strong girl. But I draw the line at how to set a nice table for a teaparty. So not my thing. The book fills in nicely.
This cookbook looks amazing. The pictures are droolworthy, and the recipes look soo nice. And there are a lot of recipes that have no eggs, which, for a pastry and baking book, is almost unheard of, and therefore to be sought after! :p After this upcoming hectic weekend, I will be roadtesting it, and will give my verdict. :D
I have been seeing this book around, so I put an order in at my local poorly stocked bookstore, waited a month, and finally got it in. I am NOT disappointed. My fingers have been ITCHING to get into my own sewing room, and start organizing in beautiful ways. Trouble is, I have too much OTHER crafting I NEED to do, which I have to fit in to my limited free time.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Score!
Okay, this is as cool as I think it is, right? I went to the Salvation Army, and found four sewing and craft mags, with FULL pattern sheets! How cool is that??!!??
Clever Sewing and Craft 1997
Handmade Australia Sept/Oct 1987
Handmade Jan/Feb 1997
I actually bought this one when the kiddos were little....I think I still have it stuck in storage somewhere in Hawaii...
Neue Mode October 1981
In the original German, but with "Working English Instructions", lol. Man, the 80's could be really ugly!!! lol
Awesome haul, right? Right, right? :p
Clever Sewing and Craft 1997
Handmade Australia Sept/Oct 1987
Handmade Jan/Feb 1997
I actually bought this one when the kiddos were little....I think I still have it stuck in storage somewhere in Hawaii...
Neue Mode October 1981
In the original German, but with "Working English Instructions", lol. Man, the 80's could be really ugly!!! lol
Awesome haul, right? Right, right? :p
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