The Art of Sewing

I received a lovely surprise last night... A book from a friend... So unexpected, yet so perfect... Savina found this book in an op shop and thought of me.

The Art of Sewing: The Classic Techniques was published by Time-Life Books in 1974. It has comprehensive chapters on equipment for your workroom, sewing techniques and matching fabric to pattern. It also has sections on stitches, knitting and crochet. 

I love that the person using this book before me was obviously trying her / his hand at embroidery as I  found an old ticket marking the page.

I love that this book has pictorial instructions on how to use a sewing machine and make garments. I have recently bought a new sewing machine and this know-how will definitely come in handy. I have not used the new machine yet as I am trying to finish off some of my other works in progress but I am hoping to use it soon.

And I love the tidbits of history and storytelling throughout. Did you know that the character 'Madame Defarge' in Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities gave knitters a bad name? Apparently she knitted incessantly during the French Revolution and encoded the names of those aristocrats who had been harsh to peasants into her work*. I read this book during high school and think that I will have to pull it out again to revisit this story.

Thanks for the book Sav xo

* Time-Life. 1974, The Art of Sewing: The Classic Techniques, London: Time-Life International, p.175.