Beautiful books
>> Tuesday, January 16, 2007
I keep meaning to show you some of the great books I've been looking through lately. The first one is a titled The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort, and it's just what it sounds like. This book is full of colour photographs of vintage aprons through the history of handmade aprons. I was particularly captivated by some of the old feedsack aprons. During the Depression women would use every scrap of material they could find and for some reason feedsacks were often made with really pretty prints. My favourite is a pale green apron with lovely clusters of white cottonballs and flowers. This book is full of stories and nostalgia, and even has some patterns so you can sew your own aprons.
The only trouble with books about vintage aprons is that now more people know about them and it's driving the prices up! I found a lovely one this past weekend at a store among the cluster of antique stores on Queen West at Roncesvalles. It was at a new discovery for me, a store called The Painted Table at 1716 Queen St. W. They had several aprons and I couldn't resist the one above. Here's a detail of the print, I don't know why but I just love it so much!
One book you've probably already seen by now is One skein: 30 quick projects to knit and crochet. I have already learned a new crochet stitch and made the bobble bag. I have a list of things I want to try, such as the felted striped tote, felted bowls, fingerless garter mitts and pretty cable footies - I need a replacement for my scruffy slippers.
Another one I'm sure everyone has already is Amy Butler's In Stitches: More than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects. This books is full of her wonderful patterns and I can't wait to make most of the things inside it. And of course the gorgeous fabrics and photos are so inspiring.
And a new one I just found is called Simple Sewing with a French Twist. It was one of those books that I had to pick up and after just a quick flip I had it firmly tucked on my arm as a definite purchase. I love the pictures inside, which not only have inspiring crafts images but beautiful backgrounds too which are giving me home decor ideas. Also, the patterns really appeal to me because they're simple, not too detailed, but explain clearly how the things are made.
And finally who else can't wait for Amy Karol's new book??
11 comments:
I just got In Stitches for Christmas and I can't wait to start on the projects. I also saw Sewing with a French Twist the other day at the bookstore, it is indeed a beautiful book. (Maybe I should go back and get it!) Great book picks!
They all look great! I put holds on the ones that my library has--which, unfortunately isn't all of them!
I've read about the fabric used in the depression, and there were lots of grainfeed, flour and sugar packages that were packaged in fabric. The way I understand it is that the companies realized that women were using the fabric to make clothes, so they started competitively making prints, knowing that the more appealing the print, the more likely people were to buy it. Some of the companies tried printing the brand name really big across the fabric, but women figured out pretty quickly how to bleach it out. I think that ipt's a pretty cool piece of fabric history.
Thanks for the great comment Natalie!
Wow, so many great books you'd shared with us.
Thanks for your great info!
I gotta check Amazon.com!!
Love these books. I've just bought myself a couple from a book club and they're great. Will post some details.
Would love you to check out my site...
http://www.vintagefilm.typepad.com
Oh, I had been eyeing that french book - I can read english a lot better than french so it´s excellent it got translated into english :) I am very tempted. For some reason French and Japanese craft magazines and books are my favorites.
I'm going to have to look into getting that french! Thanks for sharing all your great finds.
I always take a peek into those antique stores at Queen and Roncesvalles while I'm waiting for my streetcar. There's some good stuff there!
They all look like lovely books - thanks for sharing them!
Also, can I ask what the ISBN is for "Sewing with a French Twist"? I'd like to try and track it down ;)
Me, me! I can. not. wait. for. that. book! I check every week or so on Amazon because I keep forgetting when it will be out.
Also, went to Borders last week and walked by an endcap with Simple Sewing with a French Twist. Oooooo. I have never so briefly flipped through a book and so quickly decided to purchase before. I could have ordered from Amazon and gotten it cheaper, but had to have it right then. I never do that either! Don't tell my husband! It was totally worth it.
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