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Win a copy of Vintage Notions by Amy Barickman
Amy Brickman, owner if Indygo Junction & The Vintage Workshop
Our driving purpose here at Colette Patterns is to help educate a new generation of sewists, a group who may not have had the chance to learn arts and crafts from their mothers or grandmothers.
So we love that one of Amy Barickman’s main hopes for her book Vintage Notions is to rescue knowledge from a previous generation, and to pass it on to “the new generation of creative spirits.”
The book is dedicated to Mary Brooks Picken, a revolutionary businesswoman and educator who founded the The Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton Pennsylvania in in 1916.
Students came from around the world to attend the school. Peak attendance was nearly 300,000 making it the largest school in history dedicated solely to the education of women. The institute was affordable to attend, generated income for students and elevated the value of their work.
Amy’s book is primarily composed of articles that ran in the Institute’s Inspiration and Fashion Service newsletters, publications that ran from 1912 to 1934.
The book is grouped into 4 sections based on the season. At the back of each section is a little pocket where you can store notes, notions and any other inspiration you’ve found pertaining to that season.
Throughout the book are Magic Patterns, easy to make garment instructions published in the Institute’s original format and wording. (They have been tested for accuracy.)
If this looks like a book you would enjoy, leave us a comment below explaining why!
We will choose the winner this Monday 8/19 so be sure to post your comment by midnight PST on Sunday.
Update: This contest is now closed. Thank you for your comments and congratulations to our winner, Angela Harrison!
Comments
Jodi
August 17, 2013 #
I would love this book because: I really love vintage patterns; the drawings in the book look lovely, they remind me of my grandmother who wore the styles shown; I would try to make the lingerie and the nightgown if I had this book. Lovely! Thank you
ashley
August 17, 2013 #
i want to be a vintage housewife so bad! this would be very helpful.
Elizabeth
August 17, 2013 #
I would love this. I love these old books – i have started collecting the old cookbooks/household management books.
Ginger
August 17, 2013 #
As a lover of vintage sewing this looks like a fun book. The magic patterns look great. Who doesn’t need a few slips?
Nikki
August 17, 2013 #
Oh my goodness this book looks delicious. I would absolutely love to have this for inspiration.
IreneDAdler
August 17, 2013 #
OMG I would LOVE this book. The Magic Patterns section sounds like too much fun to pass up, I really want to try those! *fingers crossed*
Megan
August 17, 2013 #
I would love to win this book! I am a beginner seamstress and an avid student of history, especially fashion, D.I.Y. and homemaking. It seems that Amy Barickman and I are kindred spirits.
Suubi Njuki
August 17, 2013 #
AYes please! I would love to learn about a time before my own…always loved the style in Agatha Christie’s Poirot…and the drawings look just like the styles from that time! I hope its open to international readers! Such a fan especially of the vintage dress breakdown ♡
Hari
August 17, 2013 #
I would love to win this book! Vintage sewing is my passion and I love love love Mary Brooks Picken and have been trying to collect (and use) her books wherever I find them, and can afford them :) Thankyou Amy for honoring her in such a beautiful way and making her work accessible to us.
Maren
August 18, 2013 #
I would like the book because I love vintage illustrations and that slip pattern looks adorable!
Madeline Chard
August 18, 2013 #
ONe of the reasons I sew is because my mother and grand-mother taught me to. It is like all the hours we spent together are not so distant. When my grand-mother died we found her trousseau containing her hand-made lingerie. It was beautiful sea green. I would love to know more about vintage sewing and perhaps make something that beautiful and timeless one day.
Jenny
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage notions, particularly deco motifs. And the thought of a place dedicated to educating and inspiring women sounds amazing.
Jude Bates
August 18, 2013 #
What a beautiful book and though I was one of the lucky ones who had the pleasure of sewing passed on by my Mum, I always seem to be learning something new and I am sure this book would bring me some new ideas
missjoiedevivre
August 18, 2013 #
How very kind of you, thank you! I love old sewing books and have a small collection. I love them both as a valuable resource for solving sewing problems and as a window into the life and times of those who came before me. This book looks like a unique and brilliant way to do both of these things
David Battjes
August 18, 2013 #
My grandmother and my sister’s while in 4-H taught me how to sew when I was 12, they knew a lot about sewing, embroidery, knitting. 10 years ago, I decided to pick it back up, and have taught myself much through trial and error. I love to sew, and I work with several vintage designs and update them for today’s wearers. This book would be a wonderful addition to my library.
Nadja
August 18, 2013 #
I’d love to win this book. Several month ago I made a pledge to myself not to buy any clothes and to create a handmade wardrobe for myself. I’m not very good at refashioning and I think this book would help me with my plans.
sewsewcial
August 18, 2013 #
This looks like an amazing book! I think what most interests me is the addition of the vintage patterns.
L.A.
August 18, 2013 #
I’d love the book because I love vintage construction techniques that you don’t see any more in new garments (bra strap holders, anyone?). I also don’t know much about vintage refashioning techniques and as I’ve been getting more into refashioning lately, I’d love to learn.
Élise
August 18, 2013 #
Wow, this book look amazing. I really like old book and old knowledge. I really think that it’s not just a hobby but a way of living. We must stop to keep burring what was know before us to always think about the progress and the new. Cause I think that some times the true progress is to do it the old way.
Erica
August 18, 2013 #
This book looks fantastic. I love finding older sewing books at garage sales and such because there are always some really interesting techniques.
Sue SG
August 18, 2013 #
I adore anything vintage and related to sewing, or really, any of the “domestic arts.” I collect vintage sewing machines, kitchen ware, patterns, and notions. I am dying to read this book!!
Julie
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage patterns and finding out how garments were constructed “back in the day”. I love all things Swing Era and this would be perfect to add to my collection!
Desirée
August 18, 2013 #
Oh it just looks pretty to begin with, it would me a real treasure to own! Technieks from the past would improve my garments by so mutch!
Krystal
August 18, 2013 #
I feel like the majority of people live in a fast fashion, throw away time. I would love to win this book, to help develop my new sewing skills and share my experience. My goal is to start making my own clothes that fit properly, and have more of a creative style to show personality.
Fantastic give away.
Jennifer G
August 18, 2013 #
I would love to win a copy of this book. Currently I generally sew quilts, but I am looking to learn more about sewing clothes and I love to read about history and learn the old ways people did things
TLK
August 18, 2013 #
So much of history can be read through the lens of domesticity! I would love to read, and use, this book.
Sandra
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage inspired fashion and sewing! This book sounds perfect! Thanks for the opportunity. :)
Cheyenne Coffy
August 18, 2013 #
It seems like such an interesting book! I have a fashion book from the 1920’s and the fashion from that time period is so interesting. I would like to learn more about it while developing a new skill that can be of use through out my life.
*em
August 18, 2013 #
Every time I hear someone say “they just don’t make clothes the way they used to” it makes me smile inside! It makes me smile because I still do! This book would be a huge asset to my collection!
Lyuba
August 18, 2013 #
I’ve recently started making clothes from vintage pattern, and this books looks like something I would really enjoy and love to add to my collection!
Lholy-chan
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage clothes and reading old sewing books and sewing/fashion magazines, so I’m sure I would really enjoy reading this book. And I’m really curious about those Magic Patterns. Thank you for this giveaway!
Ana Martínez
August 18, 2013 #
This book looks really interesting and inspiring. I love reading sewing books, as I’m always looking for new projects to do. Thanks a lot for the giveaway! Regards from Spain :-)
Gavi
August 18, 2013 #
My mother did not sew, I’m just learning how to sew now at the age of 33. I’d love to have this book to have a chance to learn from the past.
Tracy Lucas
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage sewing patterns, I am really into vintage lingerie patterns at the moment and am delighted to see lingerie set in this book so I would love to win a copy.
Lauren
August 18, 2013 #
The ethos of this book is so great! I am so enthusiastic to learn about traditional skills in sewing and ones that perhaps may die out without the help of crafty Grandmothers and Aunts. Good luck to Amy Barickman!
Taryn
August 18, 2013 #
The vintage “way” of things seems to be a little-known (and sometimes forgotten) art, and often the only remnants of this are we are left with are notions and scraps of a long-gone relative’s sewing basket. Garments are often given away, thrown out, or disregarded by unknowing relatives. It is in this very situation that I find myself in – I had not picked up the sewing “bug” until after my mother and grandmothers passing and am left with only their sewing notions and fabric remnants. They are beautiful. Some of the items come from all over the world, while one, a “Happy Home Needle Book” reminds me of the simpler times my grandmother must have grown up in. These tems give me a bit of a “window” to their past and are frankly the only glimpse I have into their sewing world. Reading Amy Barickman’s book would no doubt give fascinating insight into the sewing world through the decades and as well as insight on how sewing has changed since the times of my mother and grandmother.
Keya
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage, well, everything, so would love to have this. While I learned to sew as a teenager from my mom, she had a lot of bad habits, so I’m now trying to re-learn how to do things properly. (And seeing the vintage techniques, even if I may prefer some modern techniques, is always fun!)
Kelli
August 18, 2013 #
I am a self taught sewer and I know I’ve missed out on so many things that I might have learned had my mom or granny been into sewing. This would be a fun book to read and learn from!
Gwyn
August 18, 2013 #
I have been wanting a copy of this book for a long time. I love reading about sewing and I love reading about this time era.
Annie
August 18, 2013 #
Simply put, I would enjoy reading this book because I am obsessed with vintage sewing! I blog online and teach sewing classes in real life and am always looking for new (or old) things to share with other sewers! It looks like a really neat mix of history of a bygone era but with projects that are relevant and vintage-inspired. :)
usairdoll
August 18, 2013 #
This looks like an awesome book! I was lucky enough to have home-ec in school but that was many, many moons ago. hehe. I would love to learn about sewing garments as most of my recent sewing experience is making quilts. I know there is always more to learn and would love to have this book.
Thank you for a super giveaway and a chance to win.
usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com
Krystina
August 18, 2013 #
This book sounds like such a gem! Thanks for the chance to win it.
Jessica Hayward
August 18, 2013 #
I love vintage style clothing and patterns (and vintage books, shoes, records, furniture and my 1950s sewing machine) and as a young sewer (I’m 16) I would love to have a book like this to help, inspire, and encourage me. I would love to have this book as reference so that I can get better at sewing vintage style clothing that I love.
missmoozie
August 18, 2013 #
I’m newish to sewing. I’ve been learning to quilt from my Mom. I would really love to learn more.
Thank you for this giveaway.
missmoozie(at)gmail(dot)com
Lindsay
August 19, 2013 #
Wow – looks like a fabulous book. It would be great to learn some of the tips and techniques that have been lost over the years to keep them going.
Adri H.
August 19, 2013 #
I sew regularly, and a weak spot in my sewing practice is notions and hand-embellishments. I think I’d enjoy reading and using this book to better my skillz. Oh yeah, and I have a Gatsby inspired wedding to attend in October. I think it might prove inspirational… since I’m going to have to make my own garb.
Diane
August 19, 2013 #
It covers almost all my favorite things: needlework, cooking, sewing, fashion, and fun! And oh, I would love to make some lovely magic lingerie!