Then I found the photo of the author inside, a nice white-haired grandmotherly type, and thought... actually, nothing. My brain could not connect the face in the photo with the illustration on the front cover and the photos on the back cover. Who was Ann Person and how did she produce such a incongruous book?
Ann Person is actually a big name in the home sewing field and the author of many books. She started in the late 1960s when she opened a sewing store and started teaching her new knit-sewing technique, Stretch & Sew, to other women. By the mid 1970s there were 350 Stretch & Sew stores across the globe. In 2004 she was inducted into the American Sewing Guild's Hall of Fame.
Now back to this book. After reading the Sewing Guild's Hall of Fame article, I learned that Ann Person's daughter and granddaughter were running the business around this time and that the granddaughter is the model on the back cover of the book. Incongruity explained.
 |
| Sew Splashy, Ann Person (1990) |
 |
3 comments:
Is this sewing with an overlocker (what you call a 'serger' I believe)?
A great gadget, when (if) one masters the threading... and brilliant for stretch fabrics like lycra and stretch towelling.
Yep, sergers are great, maybe some day. Person gives you stitch lengths for both sewing machines and sergers. This book came with 3 patterns (no longer in the book) and it taught you how to sew a basic tank suit and two types of bikinis.
Chapters
1. Pattern, fabric and notions (Pages 4-11)
2. Pattern adjustments (Pages 14-21)
3. Getting ready to sew (Pages 22-26)
4. The basic tank (Pages 30-40)
5. Bandeaus and bra cups (Pages 44-52)
6. Designing your swimsuit (Pages 58-74)
7. Bikinis (Pages 80-89)
8. Yardage Requirements (Pages 98-111)
She helpfully gives measurements in inches/cm and yardage in yards/meters.
Ahead of its time, that book.
Post a Comment