Weekend Review: Gertie's Charmed Sewing Studio

Gertie's Charmed Sewing Studio / Gretchen Hirsch
NY: Abrams, 2024.
208 p.

This is a different kind of book from Gertie - while she's sticking with her love of  vintage clothing, this isn't a book full of patterns and sewing instruction alone. Rather, it's a look over her career and an examination of the patterns she has created (and recreated) in the vintage style. 

There's a lot of history shared in each chapter - Gertie talks about the origins of many of these patterns, which vintage pieces inspired them and shares the social context of the original designers of many of the inspiration pieces. She also shares how and why she decided on that specific pattern as part of her design line. The background of the pattern development is also shared, which is particularly interesting to me - I liked seeing how the idea was turned into reality and some of the challenges or successes with each of the patterns. 

The first 2/3 of the book goes chapter by chapter in this way, featuring the following Charm Patterns:

• The Structured Tropical Dress
• The Rita Blouse
• The Night and Day Dress
• The Lilli Ann-Style Princess Coat
• The Rose Dressing Gown
• The Tropical Mermaid Gown
• The Marilyn Jeans
• The Rose Marie Reid Swimsuit
• The Cummerbund Bubble Dress

And then, to satisfy readers, there are three full-size patterns included, to download and print. The instructions for each are in this book, however, very similarly laid out to her previously published pattern books. These are all vintage influenced womenswear, of course -- you'll find the Madeleine Dress, the Camille Sheath Dress, and the Lillian Jacket. All quite simple in comparison to some of the patterns discussed earlier in the book, since they are just quick patterns for this book. 

I haven't downloaded the patterns yet, as probably only the Lillian Jacket is appealing to me currently. So I can't say whether that process is easy or not, at least not yet. However, as to the book itself, I found it really interesting. The discussion of the setting of each pattern and its nuances both culturally and socially was handled openly, with acknowledgement of "vintage style, not vintage values". Lots of interesting stuff here for both history buffs and sewists!