1001 practical money-saving ideas for sewing now, or making-over your family wardrobe and home-furnishings:

Dresses ~ Suits ~ Coats ~ Children's Clothes ~ Toys ~ Neckwear
Hats ~ Bags ~ Accessories ~ Gifts ~ Linens ~ Towels ~ Bedspreads
Curtains ~ Draperies ~ Closet ~ Kitchen ~ Home Brighteners ~ Etc...

320 pages packed with STEP-BY-STEP visual instruction showing both beginners and experts How much FUN it is to SEW and SAVE!

   
Over 500 photographs, drawings, diagrams.
Instant Index for Ready Reference ~ Detailed Supply Section ~ Complete Fabric Guide

Here is the book on sewing that has proven to be a gold mine for those who want to look their best without squandering the family fortune.  Timely, helpful, answering a long-felt need, it contains everything one needs to know to keep family, home and self attractively in stitches.

Everything is here - from concise instructions for making pretty new clothes and bright accessories for the home to precise hints on how to make over and make last what one already has.  The beginner is thoroughly coached in all the rudiments from threading a needle and basting, to all the fine points of sewing.  The more experienced are taught the use of a commercial pattern, how to make a dress and a tailored suit; all the professional tricks of remodeling and keeping a wardrobe in condition. 

There are chapters devoted to Curtains, Ship Covers, Restyling and Remodeling, Sewing for the Young, For the Baby, Embroidery and Accessories, with a separate chapter on Mending, one with a description of all fabrics and their care, as well as a complete list of sewing-room supplies.

This felt bag is simple and smart...one of the many accessories included in the Encyclopedia...
every one of them a natural compliment to the collector!
See instructions on page 166.

For its simple easy-to-follow directions, for its hundreds of helpful suggestions, its provocative and patriotic hints for conservation - for its First-Aid to the Budget, its comprehensive A to Z scope, this book deserves a place off honor on everyone's shelf of useful books.

 If you love vintage sewing publications, this book is a must have! 

Striped taffeta evening skirt with a pephum...the familiar dirndl done in a new version...
easy to make and fun to wear!
See instructions on page 178

Many people, quite mistakenly, are under the impression that the design is the only original ingredient in sewing.  Actually, even following a pattern demands a  considerable amount of creative collaboration.   Choosing a pattern that is most appropriate and becoming, marrying it to a suitable fabric, adjusting the pattern to one's measurements, selecting the trimming, blending the colors - all are a challenge to ones ingenuity. 

A dozen women may choose the same dress pattern, but when they have finished, there will be twelve completely different dresses.  Each will have added her own individual touch - created, in a sense, her own original design.

THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN SEWING

By Frances Blondin. Through special Arrangement made with The National Needlecraft Bureau, Inc., 1946. Wm. H. Wise Co., NY, 1946.

Gifts for the new mother and baby
Bath towel apron
See instructions on page 259

One of the featured highlights of this sewing publication is the numerous project instructions it gives for vintage era clothing and decor accents. Included are pattern templates and instructions for mother-daughter pinafores, double oven mitts, gathered waist and back-tie aprons, edged finished table linens.

For the bedroom there are directions for bedspreads, dust ruffles, ruffled pillow shams, dressing table covers and skirts.  So many topics including making a hanging closet shoe organizer or garment bag

Including:
Kitchen accessories: potholder, double oven mitt
Damask linen cloth and napkins
Tablecloths
How to mend stockings, girdles, and more
How to make glass curtains, straight curtains, sash curtains, ruffled curtains and more
Closet accessories: hanger cover, shoe bag
Easy-to-follow instructions for making slip covers
Accessories to make: collars, bags, hats, and more
Explanation of commercial patterns
Pattern alteration and cutting
Making a garment
Steps in making a skirt, blouse, dress
Sewing details: darts, basting, pleats, gathers, seams, pockets, and more
Pressing, fitting
Tailor's tricks in cutting, making and lining tailored clothes
Restyling women's clothes
Cutting down adult's clothing to make children's and women's clothing
Making a man's suit into a woman's suit
Baby clothes and toys
Embroidery stitches
Appliqué
Monogramming
Mending made easy: stockings, girdles, tears, etc.
Alteration tips
Selection of fabrics
Shrinking fabrics before cutting
Plus a lot more!

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Alternative printing cover 

Contents:

OFF TO A FLYING START 

You begin at the beginning, learn step by step. It will provide a fundamental basis for the instruction of costume and clothing design.

 Essential Sewing Equipment...How to use a Sewing Machine...How to make Pinafore, a Practice Piece for fundamental Steps in Sewing, including Finishes and Techniques suitable for Cotton Fabrics

SEW A STRAIGHT SEAM

Directions for making simple and attractive Things for the Home, largely from straight Pieces

Pot Holders, Aprons, Tablecloths, Luncheon Sets, Table Scarves, Cocktail Napkins, Bridge Cloths, Bedspreads, Dressing Table Covers, Dresser Covers, Closet Accessories

WINDOW DRESSING

How to make Glass Curtains

Straight Curtains, Sash Curtains, Cottage or Dutch Curtains, Casement Curtains, ruffled Curtains...Directions for making Draperies and Valances: French Headings, Valance Boards.

 BRIGHT INSIDE STORY

Diagrams, charts, and over-flowing with details - making the directions easy to follow!

Easy-to-follow Instructions for making Slip Covers: Measuring, Estimating Yardage, Fitting, Finishing, Trimming.

BAG OF TRICKS 

Instructions, directions, and pattern templates for making a variety of fashion accessories.

Collars, Dickeys, Bags, Hat, Evening Skirt, Scarf, Mittens, Espadrilles

PATTERNS FOR SUCCESS

Selection of Pattern and Fabric...Explanation of a Commercial Pattern...Alteration of Patterns...Cutting out a Pattern.

ON THE MAKE 

General procedure in making a Garment

Steps in making a Skirt, Blouse, Dress...Sewing Details: Basting, Darts, Pleats, Gathers, Seams, Necklines, Closings, Pockets, Plackets, Sleeves, Belts, Hems...Pressing...Fitting

THE TAILOR'S APPRENTICE

Learn the techniques for recreating fashions of that era.

Tailor's Tricks in Cutting, Making and Lining Tailored Clothes

REPEAT PERFORMANCE

"The material's in wonderful condition but..." or "the sleeves are kind of thin"  - No longer excuses with clothing restyling and remodeling.

General Recommendations for Make-Overs...Suggestions for Restyling Women's Clothing...cutting down Adult's Clothing to make Children's and Women's Clothing...Making a Man's Suit into a Woman's Suit

STORK SET

It's the inalienable right of every baby to look adorable.  And it's the privilege of every mother, aunt, grandmother and friend-of-the-family to make sure of this.

Baby Clothes to make...Gifts for the new Mother and Baby

FLOSSY TOUCHES

You can add needle-and-thread versatility with a repertoire of the basic embroidery stitches.

Basic Embroidery Stitches...Simple Border Designs made from basic Stitches...Appliqué...Embroidery and Appliqué Designs...Monogramming...Smocking

LIFE SAVERS

Mending - if you take care of your clothes today, they'll be here to give you service tomorrow.

Mending made easy: Stockings, Girdles, Fasteners, Grooming Aids, Turning Collar and Cuffs, Tears, Patches...Tips on Alterations: Shortening, Lengthening and taking in Garments, Relining a Coat

MATERIAL EVIDENCE

Includes a 12 page fabric chart...with photos, name of fabric and uses. Invaluable chart on what are now hard to find and vintage fabrics...albatross, armure, cretonne, dimity, ratine, rep, scrim, shantung, surah... and the list goes on and on...!

Selection of Fabrics: Textile Fibers, Terms, Weaves...Textile Chart of Fabrics...Explanation of Terms found on Labels...Shrinking of Fabrics before Cutting...Laundering and Cleaning...Spot and Stain Removal

SUPPLY DEPOT

It is not necessary for the beginner to assemble all sewing equipment at one time. It is more satisfactory to choose the necessary implements first.

Sewing Room Accessories: Implements used in cutting, measuring, marking, fitting, sewing, pressing

INDEX

Comprehensive 4 page index

This is a Fabulous 1940s Sewing BOOK~Dressmaking~Alterations~Fashion. Thank you for reading!