My mom is an eBay-er extraordinaire. Packages mysteriously appear on my doorstep with the most awesome goodies inside. This week I received Lippincott's Clothing for Women. This edition was published in 1929 and is part of a whole series of Lippincott's Home Manuals. Other volumes include Housewifery, Successful Canning and Preserving, Social Problems of the Family, and Household Arithmetic, among others. I am so excited about this book. It has instructions for drafting and altering patterns, construction techniques, basics of seam finishes, and decorative stitches. The details about hand sewing techniques are great (obviously, having been published in 1929, I would not recommend this as a beginning sewing primer. Unless you happen to have a treadle machine). My favorite part of the book is the "Suggested Detailed Clothing Spending Plan." In 1929, if your income was $1500/year, they suggest spending $270/year on grooming and clothing. And you should buy your winter coat during the January sales, spending $60 every third year.
Chemise and drawers combined. A couple more pictures on flickr if you want to see more. I'm dying to do some hand smocking. Sounds like just my cup of tea.
A couple other resources I'm loving:
1. Mom's Patterns. Vintage patterns. She also has an eBay store. Really great inventory of patterns and you can search by size or pattern brand. The owner is also really nice and is very meticulous about her goods. I've been really happy with the patterns I've gotten from her. Also check out her great page of links.
2. Google Notebook. Do you have a Google Notebook? It's like a digital notepad. Right-click an image or block of text that you find on the internet and save it to your notebook. The items you clip are saved along with the URL where you found them, so you can go back to the item's original location on the web. You can also set up multiple notebooks--I have a "clothes sewing inspiration," a "cards/patterns inspiration," and of course a "gimme gimme wishlist" notebook. It's great, I love it, you should get one.
And after a week of bitterly cold weather, there is a hint of spring in the air here. h o o r a y.
wishing you mild skies and a happy saturday!
19 comments:
Lovely book - I'd like to get my hands on a few others from that series (the household arithmetic subject sound like my cup of tea). The Google Notebook sounds cool, too... must check it out. Enjoy the "warm" weather we're having!
That book is a great find, and I really enjoyed your 'twin' post. Having only a brother, I've always wondered what it would be like to have a sister, and thinking about having a twin makes me wonder even more!
I love coming across old sewing books. My SIL works at a used bookstore and I've been able to find a few nice one's. Also, Google Notebooks sounds right up mu alley. I don't know how many pictures I have saved on my desktop to use as inspiration. It's taking up space on my computer, but Google Notebook would prevent all that. Thanks for the tip.
what a great book!
i am heading over to check out that google notebook right now! sounds like just the thing i need!
thanks!!
So, uh, is the gimme gimme notebook going to be a public notebook? Or shared with some who might be interested?
The smocking directions are exactly like the smocking G'ma used to do.
What an excellent addition to your bookshelf.
I have recently made a purchase from that Ebay seller, and I found her lovely to deal with.
Good luck with the hand smocking, I know it takes ages! I've done it with square patterns - where you sew in squares rather than lines. It is not so tight and you get through your fabric a lot quicker.
I have a similar book from the same year. The swimming costumes in it are wondeful indeed. I'm contemplating making myself one for next summer. I would be the epitome of elegance amidst women wearing Speedos.
This Google Notebook thing is awesome. Thanks for alerting me to it!
i am definitely checking out the google notebook - thanks for sharing that tid bit.
i have done hand smocking - it's very cool. i have some good resources if you get into it.
Do you use a Mac or a PC, because I have a Mac and it doesn't look like the Google Notebook is able to be used on a Mac... you might want to note that.
hmmm. I use Firefox on my Mac. Looks like Google Notebooks is only compatible with Internet Explorer and Firefox. So if you're using Safari a Mac, you'll need to switch to Firefox to use the notebooks. Google Notebooks is one of their Lab applications, so it's still in development. Here's hoping they get compatible with Safari soon.
thanks!
Thank you so much for the heads up on the Google notebook! I was demolishing my laptop's memory.
yes. google notebooks are brilliant. google is very innovative, you know.
and you don't bore me. i was just kidding.
oh - and i have no idea what "smocking" is, but it's a great word, i think. fun to say. "smocking." yes. fun to say.
(how's that for short sentences?)
what a fun book! very excited to see your hand smocking. and now i'm really curious about 'social problems of the family.' :)
Those books sound wonderful in theory. However, I'm afraid I'd need the "Sewing for Dummies, 1928 edition."
:)
Thanks for the google notebook link! I hadn't seen that.
What a great book - I just added a new japanese smocking book to my investory and am feeling very inspired. Can't wait to see what you do!!
Ooh...must check out Google notebook. My bookmarks are getting out of hand...
I've been enjoying your blog silently (sorry) but am out in the open now. Thanks for mentioning Google notebook - I have opened one up and will save myself lots of hassle and space from now on.
Check out www.bordertart.blogspot.com if you are passing through!
Lindsay
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