#sewinginstruction

Threads, Fall 2023

Threads is a magazine that specializes in teaching fine sewing techniques, everything from fabrics choices to fitting garments. It also has made an effort lately to offer one basics article per issue for newer dressmakers and tailors, which I find usually has something to teach me despite my years of sewing. This issue has the color forecasts for the coming cooler seasons along with suggestions for some patterns to match. 

The cover offers an example one of the hand details articles which are featured. the jacket is made of wool double-cloth when two separate fabrics are woven and then attached to one another. It allows for a warmer, thicker more luxurious feeling fabric and a variety of edge finishes. Debby Spence explains the care needed to work with such fabric, and I would second the need to experiment with edge seams before you even think about cutting. The one time I worked with such a cloth, I intended to separate the layers at the front edges and fold them in and hand finished. But then the edges the stretched out alarmingly after separated; I changed course and covered the edges instead with a contrasting, knitted wool binding. 

Technical articles explain the methods for more hand-made details. You  see here also from Youngmin Lee’s article on bojagi a textile for wrapping gifts from Korea that can be quilted or embroidered. Then, simple hand embroidery on a black knit shirt is part of an article on the basics of developing, transferring and embroidering designs on knits by Alex Woodbury. 

Fitting in nicely with this attention to detail is Maggie Raywood’s interesting account of copying gowns created by the Callot Sisters of Paris which are held in the Acton collection which belongs to NYU Florence. You see here the portrait of Hortense Mitchell Acton, a devoted buyer of the sisters’ work, and the gown she wears in it, both of which are on display at Villa La Pietra, Florence.  

There are more articles, on types of interfacings (the basics article), how people who are left handed can find ways to make sewing easier for them, and on making a vintage pocket feature. 

This advice comes from a 1924 volume, yet it is just as sound today as it was then. I know members of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals who make the wardrobes of corporate women. Once the customer has worked out a certain cut of pants or jacket as their favorite, they will have more than one made for different seasons, etc. And many women do the same with ready-to-wear: they find one garment that fits perfectly and buy it in multiples or more than one color. As a dressmaker, I have made the same favorite patterns, tweaked to my satisfaction, over and over again.

The Dressmaker and Tailor Shop is one of the Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences correspondence course booklets on a complete course on sewing, all of which were first written by Mary Brooks Picken. She was the first woman to write a dictionary, The Language of Fashion, which is still in print and very useful for vintage terms, and co-founder of the Costume Institute which is now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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/

BurdaStyle Magazine, January 2023

This issue’s cover features a dramatic Evening Gown 123 with draped features and what they call angel sleeves and a short train. The V neckline is repeated at the back which necessitates a tie to keep the dress on the shoulders. I am thinking raising the back neckline would be a better idea. Ties as well as draped shoulders seems one detail too many. While they chose a bright color, you could imagine an ethereal pastel as well as darker, sophisticated hue. They used a silk crepe from what I can tell.

Dress 106 offers an asymmetrical design that must be made in a knit as it pulls on over your head. Although asymmetry in dress design is often dramatic, this one is subtle enough that you could make it for office wear. Notice that Top 107 take the same pattern pieces, but skips “the cape” piece, that is the pattern piece which wraps the one shoulder of the dress.

The full sewing lessons cover the easy-to-make, pull-on knit pants, Trousers 119 and Jumper 118 which you see here in a pale taupe. Otherwise, you get written instructions but few if any sketches for each pattern. A Glossary explains some techniques in detail that apply to more than one pattern, such as putting in an invisible zipper, understitching a facing, shortening or lengthening a pattern, etc.

As you see from the sketches, this issue contains other pants patterns, and a number of knit tops as well as some jackets. Plus sizes offer the the long, open Cardigan 126 (you can add closures), as well as a pajama set and several knit patterns.