Secrets of the Sewing Bee

Author: Kate Thompson
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1447280873
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Book Description
Secrets of the Sewing Bee tells the story of the defiant and courageous women on the home front, from Kate Thompson, author of Secrets of the Singer Girls. Orphan Flossy Brown arrives at Trout's garment factory in Bethnal Green amidst the uncertainty of the Second World War. In 1940s London, each cobbled street is strewn with ghosts of soldiers past, all struggling to make ends meet. For the women of the East End, their battles are on the home front. Flossy is quickly embraced by the colourful mix of characters working at Trout's, who have turned their sewing expertise to vital war work. They fast become the family that Flossy has always longed for. Things aren't so easy for Peggy Piper, another new recruit at the factory. She's used to the high life working as a nippie in the West End, and is not best pleased to find herself bent over a sewing machine. Dolly Doolaney, darling of the East End, sets up a sewing circle and the ladies at Trout's play their part in defending the frontline as they arm themselves with their needles and set about stitching their way to victory. But as the full force of the Blitz hits London, the sewing bee are forced to shelter in the underground tube stations on a nightly basis. In such close quarters, can Dolly manage to contain the secret that binds them all? And how will Peggy and Flossy cope as their lives are shaped and moved by forces outside of their control?

The Great British Sewing Bee: Sustainable Style

Author: Caroline Akselson
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN: 1787136736
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
The BBC primetime series, The Great British Sewing Bee, is back. The companion book to the sixth series of this flagship BBC show, The Great British Sewing Bee: Sustainable Style accompanies sewers at all levels on their creative journey to reduce, reuse and recycle – ultimately creating their own considered closet. Starting with the essentials, sewers will learn how to maintain and care for their sewing machine, find out the secrets to using an overlocker (and what to do if you don’t have one) and the key to pattern matching. With a guide that demystifies the fitting process, and with expert sewing tips on making alterations, you’ll be able to choose from 27 projects, for both women and men, that will ease you into the world of sustainable sewing. For burgeoning dressmakers, this book showcases a vast array of sustainable and natural fabrics, reveals how to breathe life into old garments and entices the would-be sewer to dress handmade. Interspersed with sustainable tips, from advice on keeping an eco-friendly sewing space and how to better care for your garments, to guidance on recycling old clothes, using up fabric scraps and making repairs, this book is an indispensable reference to a more considered approach to sewing, that will encourage you to create long-lasting projects to cherish. With womenswear sizes ranging from 8 to 22 and menswear sizes ranging from XS to XL, along with five downloadable pattern sheets, expert sewers Caroline Akselson and Alexandra Bruce cover everything you need to build your sewing repertoire and grow in confidence as you sew yourself sustainable.

The Great British Sewing Bee: The Techniques

Author: The Great British Sewing Bee
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN: 1787137724
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Book Description
The BBC primetime series The Great British Sewing Bee, is back. Starting with the basics, from how to use a sewing machine and understand paper patterns, to knowing your fabrics and how to achieve that perfect finish – this is a go-to guide that you will keep referring back to. With a section that demystifies the fitting process, and with expert sewing tips on making alterations, you'll be able to choose from a variety of projects that will ease you into the world of sewing. For burgeoning sewers, this technique-focused book reveals the joys of sewing and the tools and skills required to progress. Interspersed with essential tips, from advice on finishing – tacking, hand stitching, hemming and more – to guidance on adding decorative finishes including piping, exposed zips, appliqué and more, this book is an indispensable reference that will encourage you to take the leap and start creating long-lasting projects to cherish.

Sewing Machine Secrets

Author: Nicole Vasbinder
Publisher: Apple
ISBN: 9781845434816
Category : Machine sewing
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Book Description
"Knowing which machine is right for you is a great first step to learning how to sew, but knowing how to use that machine inside-out is crucial in order to get the best out of it. Sewing Machine Secrets is an indispensable resource for sewers at all levels, showing the reader how to choose, use, and maintain their sewing machine, mastering sewing techniques and learning handy tips along the way. Without being brand specific, this book discusses the functionality of each machine type (sewing, embroidery, overlock, etc) along with its attachments and accessories; explaining what you should look out for when choosing a machine, how to care for your machine, and also-most importantly-how each feature and foot can be used and manipulated to help you better your sewing skills, providing handy tricks and secrets along the way. Whether you're just starting out with your first sewing machine or have been sewing for a while and want to build on your skills, this book gives you practical advice and tips to help extend the life of your sewing machine and master techniques you didn't think you could do. The book is divided into two sections: machines and feet. Section one deals with all the aspects of sewing machines; providing an overview of each type and identifying what each machine is best suited to, what its advantages and limitations are, necessary accessories as well as optional accessories, how to maintain and replace parts, and instructions on how to use it. Section two uses a more technique based approach, identifying the most versatile and commonly used feet, then providing step-by-step techniques for all the results you can achieve with these, along with tried and tested tricks for getting the most out of the machine, including uses you may not have known about"--

Secrets of the Singer Girls

Author: Kate Thompson
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1743537360
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
1942. Sixteen-year-old Poppy Percival turns up at the gates of Trout's clothing factory in Bethnal Green with no idea what her new life might have in store. There to start work as a seamstress and struggling to get to grips with the noise, dirt and devastation of East London, Poppy can't help but miss the quiet countryside of home. But Poppy harbours a dark secret - one that wrenched her away from all she knew and from which she is still suffering . . . And Poppy's not the only one with a secret. Each of her new friends at the factory is hiding something painful. Vera Shadwell, the forelady, has had a hard life with scars both visible and concealed; her sister Daisy has romantic notions that could get her in trouble; and Sal Fowler, a hardworking mother who worries about her two evacuated boys for good reason. Bound by ties of friendship, loyalty and family, the devastating events of the war will throw each of their lives into turmoil but also bring these women closer to each other than they could ever have imagined.

Serger Secrets

Author: Pam Hastings
Publisher: Rodale
ISBN: 9781579544645
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
For those who have mastered the basics and want a challenge, Serger Secrets provides instructions for adding more than 50 techniques to the sewers arsenal. Complete with troubleshooting tips and dozens of inspiring photographs of completed garments, Serger Secrets is guaranteed to bring out the creativity in any designer.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

Author: Eva Rice
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780452288096
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Book Description
"Rice’s remarkable gift for creating singular characters in this memorable story underscores her presence as a fresh new voice in fiction."—Publishers Weekly Set in 1950s London, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets centers around Penelope, the wide-eyed daughter of a legendary beauty, Talitha, who lost her husband to the war. Penelope, with her mother and brother, struggles to maintain their vast and crumbling ancestral home—while postwar London spins toward the next decade’s cultural revolution. Penelope wants nothing more than to fall in love, and when her new best friend, Charlotte, a free spirit in the young society set, drags Penelope into London with all of its grand parties, she sets in motion great change for them all. Charlotte’s mysterious and attractive brother Harry uses Penelope to make his American ex-girlfriend jealous, with unforeseen consequences, and a dashing, wealthy American movie producer arrives with what might be the key to Penelope’s—and her family’s—future happiness. Vibrant, witty, and filled with vivid historical detail, this is an utterly unique debut novel about a time and place just slipping into history.

The Shapeless Unease

Author: Samantha Harvey
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 0802148840
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Book Description
“Sleeplessness gets the Susan Sontag illness-as-metaphor treatment in this pensive, compact, lyrical inquiry into the author’s nighttime demons.” —Kirkus Reviews In 2016, Samantha Harvey began to lose sleep. She tried everything to appease her wakefulness: from medication to therapy, changes in her diet to changes in her living arrangements. Nothing seemed to help. The Shapeless Unease is Harvey’s darkly funny and deeply intelligent anatomy of her insomnia, an immersive interior monologue of a year without one of the most basic human needs. Original and profound, and narrated with a lucid breathlessness, this is a startlingly insightful exploration of memory, writing and influence, death and the will to survive, from “this generation’s Virginia Woolf” (Telegraph). “Captures the essence of fractious emotions—anxiety, fear, grief, rage—in prose so elegant, so luminous, it practically shines from the page. Harvey is a hugely talented writer, and this is a book to relish.” —Sarah Waters, New York Times–bestselling author “Harvey writes with hypnotic power and poetic precision about—well, about everything: grief, pain, memory, family, the night sky, a lake at sunset, what it means to dream and what it means to suffer and survive . . . The big surprise is that this book about ‘shapeless unease’ is, in the end, a glittering, playful and, yes, joyful celebration of that glorious gift of glorious life.” —Daily Mail “What a spectacularly good book. It is so controlled and yet so wild . . . easily one of the truest and best books I’ve read about what it’s like to be alive now, in this country.” —Max Porter, award-winning author of Lanny

The Sewing Machine

Author: Natalie Fergie
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1911586246
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
Over 100,000 copies sold 'A tapestry of strong characters and accomplished writing' Herald Scotland It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again. Decades later, in Edinburgh, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her. More than a hundred years after his grandmother’s sewing machine was made, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents. His family history is laid out before him in a patchwork of unfamiliar handwriting and colourful seams. He starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

Sew it Up

Author: Ruth Singer
Publisher: Kyle Books
ISBN: 9781856268103
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"A comprehensive book on every aspect of hand and machine sewing--from the most basic to the most advanced--with a modern aesthetic and 20 projects to boot. From simple tutorials to in-depth masterclasses, Ruth Singer packs in lesson after lesson on both practical and decorative techniques."--Publisher's description.