On "Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World": A Book Review

 

Title: Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World
Author: Victoria Finlay
Genre: Non-Fiction

About the Book...
In Fabric, Victoria Finlay delves into the world of material, offering a survey history of fabrics including barkcloth, cotton, wool, linen, and silk, and highlighting their significance through time and around the globe.

What I Think...
This was a great book that, despite being a little over 400 pages, I managed to breeze through in about a week! 

A lot of information was packed into this and it is really so much more than just the history of a small selection of fabrics. In this book Finlay explores not just the making of the fabric, but the human element behind them and their sociological impact on the world and individual cultures, not just the economical side of things. She really explores the people involved in making them, both those who have been involved in the process for years and those working to learn the skill, the emotional elements that are tied into the process, and the shifting views on the particular fabric over time in the places it is/was made.  

I loved that much of Finlay's research, in addition to the more standard historical writing, involved going to places significant to the development or production of the fabrics and getting a deeper understanding through a hands-on approach. The first chapter, for example, which focuses on barkcloth, involved her traveling Papa New Guineaand living with a tribe that makes barkcloth. Additionally, I liked how she looks at individual pieces made from the fabric and what they reveal about its history. 

Woven throughout the histories is Finlay's own connection to the fabrics and her reflections on what they mean to her personally. Much of this was tied into her grieving and trying to process the loss of both her parents in a short time. This added a bittersweet element, but one that I feel added a level of richness to the book as a whole.  

To Sum it All Up...
A thoughtful and fascinating exploration of various fabric types and their history, infused with warmth and feeling. ♥

On a 1961 Woman's Day Magazine Bedtime Story Toys Pattern Set

More about the November 1961 issue of Woman's Day...

While I had the magazine out of its plastic envelop to take a picture of the page with the lion pattern (last post), I figured I might as well flip through the rest of it and came across this page with a nice array of story time dolls. It primarily got my attention for the Alice doll, which was an earlier version of the 1965 one I made (seen both here and here), but I was thinking it might be nice to make Hansel and Gretel or Mary and her cute little blue embroidered lamb. 

However, it turned out, unlike the other toys I've made from this issue, the patterns weren't included in the magazine. As the note at the end of all the description states:

Because we know our readers like to work from full-size patterns (last year almost 50,000 of you ordered our patterns for stuffed cats), we have prepared special patterns and directions for both the Bedtime Story Toys themselves and their colorful costumes. To order patterns for this bonus toy feature, offered in addition to the 100 ideas included in our gift portfolio, use the coupon that appears on page 122.

Clearly that coupon was not going to do me any good a little over 60 years later. Based on past experience, while these patterns are out there (I, in fact, have the above mentioned printed cat pattern sheets which were given to me by a family friend who purchased them and also still had the page with the pattern grid and the cover from the magazine-my Cheshire cat was made from it), to find an actual original set that's all there, in good condition, and at a reasonable price is kind of rare. 

With low expectations I sat down at the computer. I started with Etsy where nothing came up at all, which was disappointing since I was at least hoping for the possibility of a digital pattern. Then I went to ebay and I found a set for a little under 16 dollars!! And it was complete, uncut, and according to the description not musty!!! Needless to say I was very excited and promptly bought it!

The set arrived last week and I am now happily contemplating tracing the patterns on to tissue paper for use and making that cute little sheep! ♥

On a Little Lion: A Photo Post

This is Raspberry! 

 

Raspberry was made using the lion pattern from the November 1961, Woman's Day magazine that also contains the patterns I used for my herd of reindeer and the elves I made last year. As usual, I altered it, making the decision to skip giving him a mouth and, after a little over an hour of sewing yarn on, deciding the the mane didn't need to go under the chin.

I bought the fabric I used (which hard to see in the photo, has gold, shiny streaks in it) specifically for this pattern and had a brief moment of hesitation when I started, but it ended up giving this little lion the perfect 60's look!

♥ ♥ ♥

On Making Autumn Decorations!

I was in the mood for some autumn crafting a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to sharing! 

First, we have Grenadine the ladybug's new and tipsy friend, Schnapps the spider! He was a rather quick project involving felt, chenille yarn, and green floral stem wire painted with black nail polish. The nail polish has reached the more gunky point and it ended up giving the legs a little texture in addition to leaving some of the green showing through, which I was not going for, but ended up liking. 

Next was a much bigger undertaking. I've had a roll of gold mesh (the type used to wrap plastic flower pots at Christmas or in the Spring to make them more decorative) sitting around that I've never been entirely sure how to use outside of having the nightmare idea of gluing it to construction paper for a shiny gold texture to make lion valentines a few years ago. 

So I started with some simple bows tied with brown yarn to decorate at work. Then I figured I had so much on the roll why not make bigger bows and went on an artificial flower and plant buying spree. Three hours of hot glue, poking myself on flower wires, and some not exactly "pumpkin" scented pinecones and I ended up with some very pretty hanging decorations to give to a few friends and acquaintances.   

Given that we're only a little into autumn and at the rate I'm coming up with ideas, I imagine there will be at least a part two to this post. Anyone else starting in on autumn crafting?