In the 1950s, American women developed their home sewing skills as high fashion designers' styles became readily available in pattern catalogs. This book illustrates and interprets the many home-sewn fashions that everyday women required for a complete wardrobe. Accessories, needlework, gifts, toys, and pattern-related ephemera are included to create an invaluable guide for designers and fashion historians..

The most popular 1940s clothing styles were available in patterns for the home seamstress. Companies like Advance, Butterick, McCall and others marketed their patterns to housewives with beautifully illustrated envelopes featuring everything from couture to everyday workclothes, ensembles, sportswear, lingerie, and more. Collectible in themselves, these illustrations also document an era of fashion design.

A novel approach to bias-cut garment design and construction. You've probably heard a lot of hearsay about the bias-cut. It's tricky. It's hard to sew. It uses too much fabric. The seams sag or ripple. It needs tons of basting. What if you could stop trying to control the bias and instead start using its unique properties in your favor? What if that enabled you to make fabulous clothes that fit and flatter? Our method: * eliminates bias-cut sewing almost completely; * simplifies textbooks' worth of pattern drafting with a simple math formula, no scientific calculator required! * produces complicated-looking designs with a streamlined process; * is efficient in both time and fabric, with only tiny slivers of material left over. The projects in this book are modular and have many options to create various garments. There are five blouses, three neckline variations, three sleeves, and eight skirt variations. Over 200 unique combinations are possible! Embrace bias-cut garment design with ease and flair!

Projects include: Slatted garden bench -- Rectangular tree seat -- Home cooking -- Raised features -- Bridging space -- Pond cascade -- Simple spout -- Constructive composting -- Playhouse -- Sunken sandpile -- Romance overhead -- An arbor room -- Dramatic light -- Stage light -- Magic light.

Blueprints, the New York Times bestselling novel from Barbara Delinsky, is the story of two strong women, Caroline MacAfee, a skilled carpenter, and her daughter Jamie, a talented architect. The day after her 56th birthday, Caroline is told the network wants Jamie to replace her as the host on Gut It!, their family-based home construction TV show. The resulting rift couldn't come at a worse time. For Jamie, life changes overnight when, soon after learning of the host shift, her father and his new wife die in a car accident that orphans their two-year-old son. Accustomed to organization and planning, she is now grappling with a toddler who misses his parents, a fiancé who doesn't want the child, a staggering new attraction, and a work challenge that, if botched, could undermine the future of both MacAfee Homes and Gut It! For Caroline, hosting Gut It! is part of her identity. Facing its loss, she feels betrayed by her daughter and old in the eyes of the world. When her ex-husband dies, she is thrust into the role of caregiver to his aging father. And then there's Dean, a long-time friend, whose efforts to seduce her awaken desires that have been dormant for so long that she feels foreign to herself. Who am I? Both women ask, as the blueprints they've built their lives around suddenly need revising. While loyalties shift, decisions hover, and new relationships tempt, their challenge comes not only in remaking themselves, but in rebuilding their relationship with each other.

The Snail Soup Can Decoy to keep the candy stash safe. The Customizable “Keep Out” Sign to deter meddlesome siblings and parents. A Bunk Bed Communicator made from cardboard tubes (“Psst! Can you keep the snoring down?”). Clever, whimsical, and kind of genius, here are 67 unique projects that will turn any dad with DIY leanings into a mad scientist hero that his kid(s) will adore. No screens, no hi-tech gadgetry. Made by Dad combines the rough-edged, handmade ethos of a Boy Scout manual or The Dangerous Book for Boys with a sly sense of humor that kids love. Scott Bedford, a creative director by day and Webby Award–winning blogger by nights and weekends, wields an X-ACTO knife, magic marker, and prodigious imagination to create endlessly delightful projects for his two sons. He knows that kids like contraptions and gadgets, things that are surprising—a chair that appears to be balanced on eggshells. Things that are complex—a multilevel city, with buildings, tunnels, and roads, built from old boxes around the legs of a table. And especially things with humor—the Snappy Toast Rack, made to resemble a crocodile’s gaping mouth. The projects are shown in full-color photographs, and the instructions are illustrated in detailed line drawings that exude personality. Some are quick and simple enough to be done in a coffee shop; others are more of an afternoon project— yielding hours and hours of rich, imaginative playtime.

This explores the history of blueprinting, explains the how-to's in clear detail, and offers step-by-step instructions to make the process foolproof.