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Threads, Summer 2023

This issue has some tips for party wear, which fits with the idea of summer weddings and other celebrations, along with some more sober technical articles. The cover features a red dress by Lalon Alexander, part of the competition organized by Threads and the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals. This year their theme was vintage inspiration, and this dress was chosen for most dramatic details along with its lime green coat. The other winners’ creations are also featured.

The back cover has a ready-to-wear dress from around 1960 with small pleats on the bodice and the skirt. Kenneth D. King shows you how to master this technique with careful marking, pressing and hidden stitch lines. The green dress’ skirt sections were hemmed and then attached to one another, creating greater volume while hiding the actual seam lines. Susan Khalje explains how to do it. And the last fancy look is the corset by Gilbert Muniz who explains the elements of fitting and sewing for something that is vital to a strapless look.

The funny little stuffed pressing form was created by Barbie McCormick. If you have ever found yourself thinking that your pressing ham or sleeve are not doing it for you, she explains how to create your own special forms using stuffing and padding and offers several patterns of her own devising.

There are also technical articles on fitting pants, on sergers, on lace, and on using an inspirational image to design a wardrobe, plus the usual new products, new pattern, and advice columns. Lots and lots of information and inspiration for a thin volume.

You can find it at your local fabricstore, bookstore, or line here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

Japanese Dress in Detail

Josephine Rout, Anna Jackson

Thames & Hudson/ V&A, London 2020, 208 pages, ISBN 978-0500480571

euro 35,00

email if you want to buy [email protected] 

Bringing together more than 100 items of clothing, this book reveals the intricacies of Japanese dress from the 18th century to the present. Including garments for women, men and children, the details have been selected both for their exquisite beauty and craftsmanship, and for how much they impart about the wearer’s identity, be it age, status or taste.  A comprehensive introduction, illuminating the main periods and key themes of Japanese fashion history, is followed by thematic chapters that cover all aspects of clothing, from hair accessories and necklines to hemlines and shoes. Each garment or object is accompanied by a short text exploring its structure and the fascinating range of decorative techniques employed, including embroidery, weaving, lacquering, stencilling, dyeing and digital technology. Specially commissioned detail photography and line drawings provide an invaluable resource for Japanophiles, students, collectors, designers and lovers of fashion and world dress.

07/09/20

orders to:     [email protected]

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