Written by an associate professor of home economics, Allyne Bane, for Ohio University in 1966 (the 1973 edition is available as well), Creative Clothing Construction is a textbook. Containing 28 chapters, it’s a tiny instructional (although the front cover is boring) measuring approximately 9 1/2 x 6 1/2.
How cute is that?
Part of Bane’s forward does a good job summarizing what’s found inside the book’s pages and to whom the book appeals to most:
“The fact that pattern and fabric sales have not diminished in these years when home sewing has lost its economic appeal and the fact that sales of expensive fabrics and patterns designer designed by European haute couture designers have increased are proof that many women who sew today are quite different from their counterparts of the early part of the century. This book is written for such a woman-the woman who loves good fabric and exclusive design, the woman who does not care how long it takes because she loves every minute of it, the woman who used home sewing as a means of creative expression. This woman will want to make her suits and coats and cocktail dress and will want to achieve a result comparable to very expensive garments on the ready-to-wear market. She will want to set her goals on the couturier standard she could not possibly afford to buy.”
Creative Clothing Construction doesn’t fail to deliver. It’s a “couture” gem. There are no photographs, but it’s full of detailed-descriptive illustrations, graphics and text.
This book is useful, a word I enjoy using when reviewing a sewing book worth purchasing. A perfect little tool.
Chapter Examples:
- “Preparation of Pattern for Cutting and Pattern Alteration”
- “The Fundamentals of Fitting”
- Methods and Techniques of Interfacing
- The Traditional Method of Lining Dresses and Skirts…
- and much more on the finer points of sewing with a home couturier in mind.
The basics aren’t overlooked and there’s a delicious discussion covering commercial sewing patterns (vintage today) and related recommendations.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 324 (not including the index)
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