Sewing Books - The Art of Dressmaking
We talk a lot about patterns here but let's not forget that no vintage pattern collection is complete without a few excellent vintage sewing books.
Many often ask why the instructions on some vintage patterns are so vague. It's not that every woman was just a better seamstress back then.
Instead, without the internet to look up how to do everything, we simply relied on a few trusty books and/ or asked Mom or Grandma how to do things that we didn't learn in Home-Ec.
One of my favorites is The Art of Dressmaking published by Butterick in 1927. It's also one of THE most popular sewing books published at that time.
It's also the vintage sewing book I turn to most often.
Don't you just love the Art Deco illustrations?
What are your favorite go-to vintage sewing books?
Here are some of the other books that I recommend from my personal collection.
The Dressmaker published by Butterick in 1911 and revised 1916,
The Singer Sewing Book by Mary Brooks Picken (1949, 1953),
Lippincott's Home Manuals: Clothing for Women by Laura I. Baldt from 1916-1919,
The Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing from the 1970s (it has amazing photographs!),
and last, Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing from 1952.
Happy hunting!
Comments (8)
My aunt kindly gifted me her old Vogue Sewing book from the 1980's when she bought a newer version. It's only 40-odd years old, so not the same vintage, but definitely a go-to book for me.
It’s definitely one of my go to books on techniques.
I have this one! One of my favorites.
When I was growing up my mom had the Singer sewing book that she was given in high school and I remember when she bought the Readers Digest book because it was when she was first teaching me how to sew!
Is it one that instead of patterns it has drafting instructions? They're so hard to come by, nowadays!
No patterns in this one, I’m afraid. It focuses on how to sew, rather than how to draft.
The Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences books from Mary Brooks Picken. I’ve collected a few and love the individual courses. In depth but very easy to use and lovely to look at.
Absolutely! I especially love the dark blue bound collections of the WI books, as they last a lot longer when regularly used.