Are you a new book person or an old book person? I know some people love old books. The smell of them. The feel of the paper. The hunt for them. Finding them serendipitously in all sorts of places. Some people love the typeface in old books. The printed plates, the cloth covers. Me? I'm a new book person. I like shiny new books. With graphically designed covers and beautiful photographs. I like the idea that the thoughts or the story or the techniquess are new too. You can tell this by looking at my recipe book shelf in my kitchen. So, it is unlike me to be pleased to find and purchase a book printed in the 1950's. I searched for it on the internet and ordered it. It arrived in the mail today and it is all that I hoped it would be. It has a great section on drafting patterns. That's the real reason I wanted it. It also has lots of information on clothing construction techniques that are not seen very often anymore - like the kind of tacking used to help collars roll nicely. I was surprised to find steps to insert an exposed zipper. I thought that was a thoroughly modern technique. There seem to be quite a few copies around - if you are interested. It was used as a textbook when young ladies of my mother's era were expected to learn to sew while at high school, so maybe that is why it can still be found without much trouble.
So how about you? Do you like the forgotten treasures of days gone by or new releases?
Successful Dressmaking. Written by Ellen and Marietta Resek. Published by Colourgravure Publications by The Griffin Press Adelaide (no date)
I too love old dressmaking, knitting and craft books. There's a lot to learn about technique and I refer to them a lot. I've found quite a few on online auction sites and library book sales.
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