On "Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll": A Book Review

With Alice day coming up, I thought it was a good time to review a book relating to Lewis Carroll.

Title: Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll
Author: Douglas R. Nickel
Genre: Non-fiction

About the book...
Half text and half images, Nickel delves into the world of Victorian photography and Lewis Carroll's practice of it and interest in it. 

What I think...
The text portion of this book is relatively short, falling under 80 pages. I appreciate the manner in which Nickel approaches the way the photographs have been viewed over time and how he deftly moves from one perspective to the next tying in historical viewpoints and the role the Carroll Myth has played. He also goes on to compare Carroll to others practicing photography at the time, such as Julia Margaret Cameron, to provide readers with a better sense of what photography was being used to convey to viewers. Additionally, I liked how he goes over the collodion wet plate process to give readers a better sense of what the hobby of photography entailed. 

The last portion of the book presents images of photographs, frequently mentioned in the textual portion, that Carroll took. These are well presented in large size with one per page and look beautiful on the glossy paper used for the book.

To sum it all up...
Great book for fans of Lewis Carroll or those who have an interest of Victorian era photography!

On a Postal Outfit

Finally getting this up!!!

When I came across this airmail fabric, I knew I wanted to make a skirt with it (for those who have been following awhile, get ready to see good old Simplicity 3773 again).
 

This very quickly became a "if you give a mouse a cookie..." sort of outfit after I started working on the skirt. First, I decided I needed some sort of mail themed brooch and so I went looking for a postage stamp one, but managed to find this darling envelop instead! 

Having found a brooch, I clearly needed a bag to go with it, which ended up being my favorite part of my outfit. For me the obvious choice was to make a large envelop, since the Tim Holtz fabric set that included the print I used for the skirt also had a striped print that could be made into bias tape and used for an airmail envelop.

That established, I still needed an address to put on the bag and after a bit of thinking I turned to one of my favorite non-fiction books, 84, Charing Cross Road, which is a collection of letters exchanged between a woman named Helene Hanff and the people who run Marks Co. Bookstore in London starting in the 1940's. To take it a step further, I did a quick search to see if I could find what Hanff's writing looked like, found a few letters online, and then freehand embroidered the addresses on my bag to look like her handwriting. 

Here I'll admit to getting overly ambitious and it took forever (the return address alone took a little longer the length of the movie 84, Charing Cross Road), but it was more than well worth it! 

 

I think I bought all but one or two of the fabric designs in this set to make this outfit....

And when it all came together, I had the perfect outfit (and the perfect excuse to sing "Mail Myself to You")!

 ♥️ ✉ ♥️

On Bookbinding (Round 1): A Photo Post

This was supposed to be a sewing/outfit post (in a sense it kind of still is about sewing), which is unfortunately still in draft state, but due to being really busy lately you're getting another Photo Post! 

Last weekend I started learning the basics of bookbinding, which involved making a simple pamphlet, a dos-a-dos pamphlet, a two section pamphlet, and an accordion book. For it being my first attempt at making these particular types of books, I feel I did pretty well and am hoping this weekend's carousel and tunnel books look just as good.

This one involved a struggle in getting the two sections to line up with each other and stay lined up as I poked holes through both sections of pages and the two layers of the center cover piece. 

 

Beautiful turquoise on the outside cover and pretty red on the inside!

♥️ ♥️ ♥️

On Old Photos: A Photo Post

I'm taking a photography preservation class this summer, which involves having a lovely materials kit that includes some very nice old photos among its contents.

I very much want the dress and the brooch belonging to the lady on the right. 

 The back of the card on the same photo is equally delightful.

♥️ ♥️ ♥️