Weekend Review: Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones

 

Dolly Parton Behind the Seams / Dolly Parton
New York : Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2023
336 p.

If you love costume and how people use clothing as self-expression, you'll want to read this fantastic, lushly illustrated, and lengthy book on Dolly Parton's clothing over her career. It starts when she's just a young woman starting out locally, and moves toward the present, with stories told by Dolly, as well as a large number of the people who were involved in her wardrobes at different stages. 

The cowriters/compilers of the book are Holly George-Warren and Rebecca Seaver (the second is Dolly's niece, who is now in charge of the costume archive). They have drawn together excellent documentation on varied pieces from different stages of Dolly's career, as well as stunning and clear detail photos of many garments. 

Sewists and fashion fans alike will be absorbed by this book. Dolly talks about the two local women who sewed for her early on, and started her off on her own style. She's worked with Tony Chase, Bob Mackie, and many more, and each designer gets some airtime in this book alongside examples of their work.

I enjoyed the context given for many of the pieces, and how Dolly states early on that her style was integral to her performance and her personal integrity over the years. When she started to hit it big, executives wanted her to tone it down and move into a more mainstream look, but she refused and stuck to her own sparkly style. It's such a personal brand by now, we can't imagine her another way, but this was long before going your own way was an everyday thing. 

Along with all the clothing descriptions and images, there are discussions of her hair - she owns over 200 wigs, and there's an entry from her hairdresser/wig master. And discussions of her work beyond music as well -- so much to learn and such amazing images to peruse. This one gave me hours of entertainment as I looked through the pictures to focus in on some of the details, as well as read all of the truly fascinating documentation from so many voices. 

What a fabulous read! It's a bit expensive (I read it via the library) but well worth it if you can afford it. It would make a great gift for any fashion obsessed sewist, I think. If you want to be inspired by a woman who forged her own path, stayed true to herself, and worked with many other women along the way, this is a great pick. So fun! 

Weekend Review: Making Clothes for Your Dog

 

Making Clothes for Your Dog / Jisu Lee
trans. from the Korean by New Design Originals Corp.
East Petersburg, PA: Fox Chapel, 2013, c2010.
142 p.

This is a funny little book for anyone who loves their small dogs. I'll admit, I don't have a dog and have no plans for one, but couldn't resist taking a look at this cheery craft book by a Korean author. 

It includes both sewn and knitted outfits for dogs (all small dogs). There are a variety of styles, from knitted capes to bridal wear. There are t-shirts, button down shirts, and a sweet apron and bandana combo. My favourite outfit is the traditional Hanbok for a one year birthday -- they are absolutely adorable, and the idea of having a birthday party for your dog made me laugh too. 

If you are into this kind of thing there are tons of ideas here. The book starts with an outline of supplies needed, and also gives a page of 'bios' of all the dog models in costume. Each project is outlined as a concept and with pattern sketches, and then has a series of step by step instructions with lots of photos to accompany it. Any actual patterns needed are included in an envelope in the back of the book. 

There are also many cute dog pictures so if you just want to look at it for entertainment, it works well that way too! I'm never going to sew for a dog but still enjoyed this book. It's interesting to see the perspective of a young Korean craft blogger; you get a sense of that part of the world through the projects she chooses and how she shares them, and via her intro of course. A delightful little book!

Links for the Fashionable Sewist

I've been busy with some holiday sewing so no projects to share this week -- that would spoil the surprise for any of my gift recipients reading this! 

So I thought I'd share some fun links to interesting things I've been watching lately. 

My local Garment Guild is meeting virtually this year, and this month we were really honoured to have the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, join us on our Zoom meeting. She's not only an amazingly accomplished woman and a government official, she loves to sew. It was great talking to her and hearing some of her stories, and seeing some of her favourite fabrics! 

There was a news spot on her a couple of years ago, and I think it shows her passion for sewing clearly. Hope you enjoy it too. 

And just this morning I saw that The Queen's Gambit is now the most watched Netflix scripted show ever. I can see why; it was so good. The storyline, characters, acting, and the set design and costuming were all excellent! Readers here will likely be as interested in the wonderful costuming as much as I was, so be sure to check out this interview with the costume designer Gabriele Binder about her inspiration and intent with the costuming.

Here are two of my favourites among the many spectacular period outfits.

Then check out this amazing virtual exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum featuring closeups of the costuming from both The Queen's Gambit and The Crown. Warning: you'll be there a while!

Hopefully I'll be back with some projects soon. If you're also busy with your holiday sewing...good luck :)

Costumes & Quilts to beat the heat

What do you do when you're not sewing? Well, I end up visiting places that always include sewing!

A few weeks ago there was an event at my local history museum, a Sunday picnic/craft beer tasting on their expansive grounds, which included entrance into the museum exhibits. Since it was a super hot day and I had been intending to go to the Art Quilts exhibit, we took the afternoon and headed over. So fun. Lots of tasty beer, hot weather, and the blessed air conditioning when we went inside ;)

The main exhibits were the Art Quilts, a Narnia themed one in conjunction with the Stratford Festival's showing of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe this year, and an exhibit of some of the Festival Archives' costumes and accessories. All were a lot of fun to see.

**Edited to Add: a new 360 Tour of the museum has just been added to their content. You can see one hall of the quilts plus the costumes & Narnia! 

I forgot to take photos of the attributions for many of the quilts, so don't feel that I can post them without. But I did get a couple! One of my favourites has the clearest writeup, the rest you should be able to kind of see if you embiggen the photos.

 We also enjoyed seeing the masterful work on the stage costumes - even though they are seen from afar, the Festival wardrobe is amazing at the detailing and finishes.

 

We also liked the Narnia show - including the hilarious family photos in Mr. Tumnus' parlour:

Plus we had to play Peter & Susan in the throne room...

What do you do when you're not sewing?