#threadsmagazine

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. 

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/

Threads Magazine, Spring 2023

This issues brings a mix of topics. As the spring issue, it offers the spring color forecast from Pantone which is full of pastels with names like vanilla cream and skylight with some brights throw in like tangelo and beetroot purple. You get a set of spring patterns which have been tried by dressmaking reviewers as well. 

On the cover, you can see a quilt by Heidi Parkes and read an interview inside about her process, while a technical article explains some of the basic decorative embroidery stitches for beginners. I have loved Roz Chast’s cartoons in The New Yorker magazine for years. But they almost always appear in black and white, and it turns out Chast hankers for color and enjoying using color in the embroidered panels, see her undersea diver.

The back cover features a snappy suit from the TWA collection worn by an air hostess in the 1960s. Kenneth D. King demonstrates step-by-step how to make the buttonhole welts which close the jacket and work well with the large buttons. Sara McFarland explains in another technical article how to shift seams into darts and embellish with lines of lace as you see in the coral and white straight skirt. This is a nice idea if you are thinking of something to wear to a spring wedding or party.

Rae Cumbie and Carrie Emerson take their Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic pattern and alter it in various ways: with a scalloped edges, with raw-edge appliques, with a notched neckline, and in white here with appliqued circles. This a step beyond making your favorite patterns in new colors and fabrics, and will get you thinking about your favorite patterns and how you might tweak them.

There are also articles on sewing a knit blazer, on thinking about fit if your body fits one standard pattern size at the bust and a different one at the waist, and on using voile fabric, plus more. There is a reason why Threads is my favorite plane trip reading.

You can find Threads at your local fabric store, newsstand or here online: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/