Book Review: Amy Barickman's Vintage Notions

Vintage Notions was written by Amy Barickman as a tribute to the pioneering work of Mary Brooks Picken and her Women's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences.  During her career Ms. Picken wrote almost 100 books and texts on sewing and fashion.  She also brought the growing movement for correspondence education into the purview of women with the Women's Institute, enabling many women to learn skills as dressmakers and milliners, which would allow them to work from home in these trades.

The book's subtitle is "An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing Fashion and Fun".  True to these words, there's lots of inspiration here, particularly for those interested in the thirties as an era.  Many parts of the book are taken directly from the curriculum of the Women's Institute in the words of the teachers themselves.  Ms. Barickman has annotated these to provide insights on when a modern update might work better for today's reader.

While I wish the book were heavier on sewing, because that is my particular interest, there really are some great recipes, and some very timely perspectives on beauty and grooming which still apply today.  The book is arranged by seasons and has cute little pockets inside to hold other bits of inspiration like pictures or fabric swatches.  All in all, a fun book with lots to do and try. 

Hi!

Welcome to the Seams Sustainable blog. This is an off-shoot of my home-based business, which is clothing design and munufacture, using as many recycled and upcycled materials and embellishments as possible. I also do custom sewing (costumes for dance and historical re-enactment, formal wear, wedding attire, etc.) and I give sewing lessons, including lessons in clothing repair - an essential sustainability skill. The blog will give me a forum to share some of these things with you, and will probably frequently digress into other topics that interest me (and I hope some of them will interest you, too!). Just a few of these interests are sustainable living, frugality, gardening, cooking, Pagan spirituality, jewelry making, paper crafts, quilting and creativity. I sound like a granola crunching Grandma Moses (well, ok, I do like granola!), but I'm actually just learning about a lot of these things, so if I "say" something that doesn't sound quite right, please join in the conversation and help me out here!