Weekend Review: Vogue & Butterick's Designer Sewing Techniques

 

Vogue & Butterick's Designer Sewing Techniques
NY: Simon & Schuster, c1994.
126 p.

I'm back from my August break -- and one of the things I did during August was visit many thrift stores, discovering fun new sewing things, like this sewing book from the 90s. 

I love reading books from the 80s and 90s. The illustrations are so fun, and I enjoy the retro feel. This book was actually quite good in content as well, and had a focus I hadn't expected. It's written as part of the Sewing Today series, tied to the show on PBS at the time. It talks about various popular designers, and then features some of the designer details they are known for, showing techniques for how to incorporate these yourself. The instructions and photos are really clear and I found some cool ideas to explore further. 

The designers they feature fully with interviews/images are: 

• Donna Karan
• Calvin Klein 
• Linda Allard for Ellen Tracy
• Claude Montana
• Geoffrey Beene 
• Victor Costa 
• Todd Oldham 
• Bill Blass 

And there there is a little blurb at the end about Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, and Belleville Sassoon, just to show off some more techniques.

Following each, there is a bit about some of their notable techniques, like pockets, linings, closures/buttonholes, set in sleeves, bias binding, hems, waistlines, patchwork, zippers, tailored collars, lace, denim, and more. I found this an enjoyable read, with a variety of useful tips, interesting designer highlights, and great photos. There is a list at the end of all the Vogue and Butterick patterns used to illustrate the book, all out of print now but so intriguing to look up, including a Karl Lagerfeld Vogue jacket which I am sure is probably going for a fortune on Ebay these days ;) 

I especially enjoyed the section on Todd Oldham, who I wasn't as familiar with as some of the others, and his use of colourful patchwork and novelty buttons. I think a lot of his styles would be in fashion again now. And they certainly give sewists some ideas! A really fun book that you can also look through via the Internet Archive if you are interested. 

Weekend Review: Points of View

 

Points of View / Valerie Hearder
Woodinville, WA: Martingale, c2007.
96 p.

Another art quilting book for today's pick - this one is from my local library, and despite it being an older book I'd never really noticed it before. It is a great find! 

The title makes the focus of this book clear; it is all about creating varied landscapes with fabric. But there are a variety of views and ideas here. The first section is all about technique - from choosing fabric to construction and pattern-making tips, paints & other ways to colour your fabric, embellishing it in various ways, and a clear and useful section about finishing and mounting/framing your work.

The second section includes 9 step-by-step, illustrated projects. Each one shows you exactly how to use a certain technique, so that you can get some practice with these ideas before you set out on your own. And the intention that you do go your own way is clear; section three is called "Beyond Patterns", in which there are design and collage guidelines and a gallery of other work. 

I found this book full of neat ideas and useful tips. I'm not much of a pattern follower when it comes to textile art, but I liked how each of the small projects in this book were created as an intentional teaching piece, with many of her design tips and guidelines from the first bit incorporated in each one. Great for learning the technique! 

And the first section is so full of great info. She mentions unusual things, like colouring with regular crayons on to paper and then ironing that as a transfer on to a ground fabric (which has to be synthetic for it to really work). It's a different way of creating a base design, and could be fun for those without huge stockpiles of more expensive paints and dyes. Aside from this kind of surface design there are tips on applique and embellishment which also appeal to me, and the parts about finishing and displaying your pieces are thorough and useful to add to the arsenal, too. 

Although I don't often make landscapes I may try a few samples to experiment with some of these techniques. They are laid out and explained in an easy to follow style, and could be attempted by a beginner. I had fun going through this book, and hope that some of my experiments will work! 

Weekend Review: Just Pockets

 

Just Pockets / Pat Moyes
Newtown, CT: Taunton, c1997
103 p.

I borrowed this older book from a distant library recently, as I love pockets, and like books that really focus in on one thing. It's from 1997, but there is still quite a lot of good information. (tiny preview here).

I wouldn't say it's a must have; lots of the ideas here are explained in other basic sewing books that you might already have. It goes over Patch, In-Seam, Inset, and Hidden pockets, and in each section the basics are covered plus some additional variations. There is instruction for each, and some diagrams -- some of the steps have photos as well. But there are also some suggested styles that don't have any illustration at all, which both makes them harder to understand, and is a bit confusing when one is skipped. I wouldn't say there was anything super innovative here, though it does cover a number of ideas for adding to a basic. 

However, I did enjoy looking through this book, and found a few new-to-me tips, like creating a patch pocket in a sheer material so that the seam doesn't show through (double layer & turned). There are also a few neat styles like having a waistband opening enclosed in a slant pocket (although I think that Threads magazine had a fairly recent article with this info shared again). As to hidden pockets, there's lots about welts but also a "ticket pocket", an internal pouch in a bigger interior pocket. I also like the look of a gathered top patch pocket that's shown in a sketch. 

So there's enough here to interest me, and it did give me some ideas. You can probably find all these instructions and ideas online these days, but I did enjoy the flip through. If you happen to come across this book it's worth checking out, especially if you do love a good pocket.