Books for the Library

Last week, the UPS man dropped off a book order. I had read about Claire Shaeffer's book on couture sewing. I thought that there would be some information in this book while working on Whitney's bridal gown. Once I opened up this book, I was having a hard time putting it down. Claire Shaeffer brings you into the ateliers of London, Paris and Rome. There are pictures of the innards of couture items so you can actually see what is inside a garment. There are many pictures of couture garments from great design houses like Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy. There is even a picture of an incredible House of Worth ball gown that is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I don't know how many people out there in sewing land recognize the name of Charles Worth. He is one of the great designers of the Victorian age. He is known as the "father" of haute couture.

I wasn't so sure about purchasing this book because I had read a couple of reviews about the book being dated. That is so not true. How could a picture of a 1950's Dior dress be dated? Or a Chanel jacket? The couture techniques presented certainly aren't dated.

I think this is a terrific reference book to keep on hand for anyone interested in sewing high fashion.

The other book that arrived from Amazon that day is brand spanking new. The book is called Sewing Clothes Kids Love. This is written by Nancy Langdon of Studio Tantrum/Fledge fame. I have been dying to sew the Feliz dress from Studio Tantrum. The delay is that I have to go the mail order route. Plus, there are no 99 cent pattern specials when ordering from the independent pattern companies. I believe that the Feliz runs about $15-16 for the pattern. Feliz means "happy" in Spanish. I can't imagine any little girl not feeling dizzily happy wearing a colorful Feliz dress.

I was surfing the sewing boards about a month ago and there was scuttlebutt that there was a new book coming out that included the Feliz. There are actually 10 patterns in this book. So the book cost under $17 I think and I have 10 patterns. The book is hard cover and spiral bound. On the front cover is a very thick envelope that stores the patterns.

Nancy Langdon's business, Studio Tantrum/Fledge eventually became associated with the German company Farbenmix.

Nancy's book will take you thru how to measure children, adjusting for plus-size children, embellishing, sewing for boys and even how to make a duct tape dummy for children. This book falls under the category of Fun!