I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Adams, author of The Party Dress Book, How to Sew the Best Dress in the Room, when she appeared at Ristretto Roasters, a very cozy little coffee shop in Portland, a week or so ago. Mary is a clothing designer living and working in New York City, but grew up and began her career here in Portland. I had pre-ordered her book at Amazon, wrapped it up and given it to myself at Christmas, and spent all of Christmas day reading through it! With a forward by Amy Sedaris, an enthusiastic customer, her story is interesting and will be familiar to artists in any medium.
The book is filled with sumptuous fabrics, ruffles, pleats, pintucks and layers and layers of color.
The inner spiral binding is a practical touch, much appreciated.
And if just being able to visually feast on the images in the book isn't enough, the final chapters are devoted to a tutorial in which you can create your own dress using the full size pattern supplied in an attached sleeve. You can take ideas and techniques from the book to create something quite unique, or use the pattern to go in a totally different direction.
This book is beautifully done and if it doesn't make you want to sew, it can provide you with raw inspiration you can take anywhere!
OOUU LA LA! The dresses are gorgeous and the book looks inspirational. Like you. Thank you for your time today, Betsy! Merci beaucoup, cherie,
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Loved going with you. Thank you for the book. She made us want to sew up a dress and go party.
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ReplyDeletei just saw this in the book store and it stopped me in my tracks! i must go back now and scoop it up. delicious.
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