Make Your Own Dress Patterns
by Adele P. Margolis
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Book Summary Information
Author: Adele P. MargolisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-06
ISBN: 0486452549
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Dover Publications
Book Reviews of Make Your Own Dress Patterns
Book Review: G R E A T....T E A C H E R....G R E A T....B O O K !
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, "MAKE YOUR OWN DRESS PATTERNS", by Adele Margolis, is an essential for anyone who sews, or who even illustrates garments, (for fashion illustrators, too, benefit greatly from knowing how the clothing they draw is put together!) And this book shows HOW garments are put together, (via patterns), and how to make your own. Clearly. So clearly that even I could understand it! (This is no small feat, believe me, as most "how to" books go right over my head, (sigh!) I have what I call a "hard head" -- things are difficult to get into my understanding. But once I DO understand them, these pieces of knowledge are there, FOR KEEPS! And Ms. Margolis does a WONDERFUL job of teaching in this classic book! Illustrations and text work wonderfully together, and EXPLAIN all aspects of how clothing is put together, by planning, cutting and sewing it. Before the 14th century, people mainly draped their clothes....but ever afterwards, the techniques in this book -- and various variations of them, have been used! This book teaches HOW to turn 2-dimensional paper patterns into 3-dimensional clothing. And how to make those patterns, one's self!
I've had an interest in costumes and clothing all my life. Beautiful clothes, (NOT torn jeans, by the way), betoken, in my mind, (and, I am sure, in those of many other creative, ambitious, and romantic people), the "good" life, free from care, and full of interesting people to see, interesting places to go, and interesting things to do, (and easy, non-time consuming, ways to get where one wants to go!) To me, torn jeans, (and "fashionable" overalls, T-shirts with angry messages on them, etc., ad nauseum!) whatever they may cost, and however "stylish" they may be, at the moment, betoken a kind of pre-packaged poverty look! But...show me even the simplest sundress, with a full-skirt, (or better, a fine suit or ballgown!)....and my imagination, and ambition, (and hopes for the futuree!) begin to soar! (The same can be said by looking at evening clothes for men, or a men's suit with a cravat instead of a tie... This sends a message to me, "my hero is out there somewhere....")
Perhaps, (just perhaps), I come by this interest in clothes and how they are constructed, due to my own family history. My maternal grand-mother was a WHIZ with a needle! Though "imprisoned" in the Russian Pale, (where Jews had to live), she still got to leave it a lot -- as she was a seamstress to a Russian countess! (Just before my grandparents left for North America, the countess BEGGED her to stay in Russia. Luckily, she and my grandfather left!)
My maternal grandmother sadly died when I was five -- but she still was able to make adorable little velvet-vest and plaid-skirt ensembles for my sister and me. My mom has often told me that my grandmother was able to take someone's measurements, and make a garment WITHOUT a pattern! (My grandmother was an intensely practical, down-to-earth person, with practicality and survival her main aims....but the truth is, the only other time I ever heard of anyone being able to do this was on "BEWITCHED"!) I wondered for years how this could be done.... Then, one lucky day, I found "MAKE YOUR OWN DRESS PATTERNS" in the public library!
Ms. Margolis is a genuis! She is a teacher of the best and most genuine kind. Starting out by showing how a dart is made, (by cutting out a circle from a piece of paper, cutting it half-way through, to make a radius, and then folding it around so that a 3-dimensional dart is created from a two dimensional piece of paper!), Ms. Margolis shows absolutely how clothing is created. One no longer sees just a sleeve pattern....one can now picture how that pattern part, (and the cloth it is initially pinned to), can be "rolled" into a genuine sleeve! Advanced techniques...like "spreading" the pattern for more elaborate effects, (and for altering a store-bought pattern piece), are also touched upon here.
Ms. Margolis wrote several books on sewing and tailoring -- but this, to me, is her best. Read and understand it, and you will have all the basics of understanding how garments are made. Even if you never sew, design, or illustrate, any clothing at all, it's nice to know these secrets -- much as a "balletomine", (a HUGE ballet fan), may never dance or choreograph -- but it sure is nice to know what the five positions are, (and how dancers don't get dizzy making all those turns! Hint: this is a technique called, "spotting"). For those who sew clothes at home or professionally, for those who want to professionally design clothes -- or just enjoy creating their own individualized designs at home, for themselves, friends, and/or family, for those who professionally illustrate other's designs, for those who just want to know how clothes are put together...this is THE perfect book. Perhaps I have so very great an intense interest in this due to interest in my own family history...but I think anyone who believes in the "good life", and the "American Dream", and who derives reinforcement of these ideas, looking at good clothing, and understanding how it can be made, will benefit. The American Dream lives...and this book, which can teach how to make beautiful clothing for all, certainly is one way to help keep this Dream alive! Dream...and then do! This book sure helps in doing both!
"MAKE YOUR OWN DRESS PATTERNS", is a classic, and a ten-star book!
Summary of Make Your Own Dress Patterns
This profusely illustrated primer in pattern making is great for creating fashionable clothing as well as pretty necklines, pockets, and sleeves. Nationally acclaimed sewing expert Adele Margolis provides simple, step-by-step directions and more than 1,000 illustrations for making clothes for work, home, and play ? everything from stylish skirts, dresses, and jackets to children's clothing.
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