Reviews of vintage sewing books and patterns.
by Olive M. Elrich, Hazel L. Hunt ( 7th ed, Greist, New Haven Connecticut 1925; Bebarfalds, George St, Sydney)
From the back cover: ‘written so that a girl of 10 can understand it’, ’fully illustrated’
Price in 1925: 5 shillings (Australia)
Soft cover, stapled spine, 64 pages.
‘The French Fold’ created with the binder and a pair of disembodied stunt hands.
An Australian classic from the 1940s and 50s.
I absolutely love this book but it is a little hard to come by. I found it in Bayside Books, in Wynnum. Given there were so many editions, it must be around somewhere. If you’re in Australia, I recommend keeping an eye out for it in second-hand book shops. If that’s not an option, Abe Books and Ebay are obvious places to watch. Books & Collectibles is also a good place to look. Good luck! It is a great shame that this volume is not available as a modern reprint or an ebook. You will see at the bottom of this post that a small excerpt is available on scribd.
Successful Dressmaking by Ellen and Marietta Resek would make an ideal companion volume. It pops up regularly on the above websites. And I have tripped over it a couple of times in the back room at Bayside Books.
I have tried three types of bobbin in my Bluebird vibrating shuttle treadle machine: the original Bebarfald bobbin, a Singer bobbin, and a Frister & Rossmann bobbin.
Revisited! And a stash-busting update.
And what it is to be “wrong" in one’s fashion sense.
Today I signed up to the stash-busting challenge hosted by EmSewCrazy and Cindy of Cation Designs. They seem like very nice young women and it’s an excellent idea.
Warning: this post contains no gorgeous embellishments, almost no lace and no pretty colours. It does contain a review of a vintage bra pattern McCall 8092. I did not make the bloomers because my fiancé begged me not to.
