Read It - Knit Vintage

As we are creeping ever closer to Christmas I thought it might be a good idea to publish a few of the book reviews I have been working on, to perhaps give you a better idea of things to ask Santa for, or perhaps not to ask Santa for! So today I am going to to have a good old look at Knit Vintage, a book which I accidentally have two copies of, one I got one for my birthday last year from my parents, and the other was bought as a treat to myself a few weeks earlier, whoops!

~ Knit Vintage ~

Also printed as 'Sweater Girls' in the US

By Madeline Weston and Rita Taylor

Published by Jacqui Small Publishing 2012
RRP £20.00

'Knit Vintage offers a fantastic selection of more than 20 timeless designs based on original women’s knitwear patterns from the 1930s to the 1950s.  Drawing from their own extensive collections of vintage knitting patterns, authors Madeline Weston and Rita Taylor have chosen garments for their classic style and updated them to appeal to 21st century tastes. The patterns, which incorporate traditional stitch formations such as cables, lace, Fair Isle and other motifs, have been adapted to suit an array of gorgeous modern yarns in fashion-forward colours and sumptuous textures, including merino, angora, cotton, bamboo, cashmere, alpaca and silk. All feature classic touches that will appeal to anyone who loves the exquisite attention to detail found in vintage knitwear. Beautifully styled and photographed, this bespoke collection of 20 projects will delight every knitter and fashionista who appreciates the classic elegance of the original sweater girls and the retro silhouettes of the silver-screen starlets.' (Quote: Jacqui Small LLP)

Read it - TGBSB: Sew Your Own Wardrobe

I love books. If anyone asks me what I want as a gift, nine times out of ten I'll point them in the direction of a book I've been lusting after, usually on Amazon. My poor billy bookcase is straining under the weight of the multitude of sewing, knitting, gardening, cookery and history books I have collected over the years.

That shelf is definitely sagging under the weight of all those words.

Having such an extensive library and not a lot of space, new arrivals have to earn their place upon my shelves. When I buy a book I like to know exactly what I am getting, if it's going to contain patterns then I want to know exactly what patterns! Oddly this is not always so easy to find out, most reviews and online stores only show you snippets of what's included, a taster to whet your appetite but not necessarily inform you as to what is inside. I find this frustrating so I've decided to do a few quick reviews of some of the books I own in an effort to help those of you, who like me would rather have the full picture before making the decision to add this book to your collection!

Seeing as The Great British Sewing Bee has recently been back in the limelight it seemed only right to start with a book from the series. Unconventionally I am starting with the second book as it's the only one so far I have made something from so feel I can give you a more well-rounded account. Right, let's take a closer look!

~ The Great British Sewing Bee: Sew Your Own Wardrobe ~

By Tessa Evelegh with Forewords By Patrick Grant & May Martin
Published by Quadrille 2014
RRP £25.00

'An accompaniment to the hit BBC series presented by Claudia Winkleman and judged by Patrick Grant and May Martin, The Great British Sewing Bee: Sew Your Own Wardrobe is a practical sewing book brimming with fantastic projects, including a core of wardrobe essentials including a pencil skirt, easy T-shirt top and a wrap dress. Menswear and retro garments are also included, as well as a fun selection of designs for babies and small children. Dress sizes range from (UK) 8 to 18 and the book is full of inspiring photography so you know exactly what you're looking for - and the included pattern pack, containing five full-size pattern sheets, makes creating your wardrobe even easier.' (Quote from Quadrille)

TGBSB: Sew Your Own Wardrobe, is the second book in the series and was produced to complement the second series of TGBSB, which aired in 2014. The book has been broken up into four chapters Basics, Fabric, Fit and Finish.

~ Basics ~

The first Chapter is 'Basics' which deals with the skills and techniques you'll need to complete the projects in the later chapters plus two self-draft / no pattern garments.

~ A-Line Pinafore ~ Glorious Gown ~

 Also included are the sizes for all of the adult projects in the following chapters:

Men's:

Small: 34-36" chest / 28-30" waist / 35-37" hip

Medium: 38-40" chest / 32-34" waist / 39-41" hip

Large: 42-44" chest / 36-38" waist / 43-45" hip

XL: 46-48" chest / 40-42" waist / 47-49" hip

Women's:

UK 8: 31.5" bust / 24" waist / 33.5"hip

UK 10: 32.5 bust / 25" waist / 34.5" hip

UK 12: 34" bust / 26.5" waist / 36" hip

UK 14: 36" bust / 28" waist / 38" hip

UK 16: 38" bust / 30" waist / 40" hip

UK 18: 40" bust / 32" waist / 42" hip

The remaining three chapters contain all the pattern instructions.  Each pattern has a difficulty rating and falls in one of four levels Easiest, Easy, Moderate and Tricky.

~ Fabric ~

~ Aztec Leggings ~ Men's (?) Waistcoat ~ Silk Tunic ~ Anorak ~ 

~ Teddy Pram Suit ~ Prom Dress ~ Easy-sew Short Skirt ~ Men's Shirt ~

~ Fit ~

~ Draped Top ~ Pencil Skirt ~ Shift Dress  ~ Full Skirted Dress ~ 

~ 1960's Coat ~ Wrap Dress ~ Men's Trousers ~ 1930s Blouse ~ Box Pleat Skirt ~

~ Finish ~

~ Simple T-shirt ~ Yoke Skirt ~ Baby Dungarees ~ Slip Dress ~ 

~Women's Bowling Shirt ~ Baby Dress and Knickers ~ Girls Dress ~

All the patterns for Fabric, Fit and Finish are contained in a separate folder, multi-sized and ready for you to trace off and get sewing. There is also a link HERE to Quadrille's page for the book where all the patterns are available as individual PDF downloads!

~ The Good Points ~

~There are a good range of patterns for all the family and there to my mind at least there are no pesky fillers! There are even 4 for patterns men, which is a lovely surprise and about time too! Though that waistcoat definitely has the buttons on the wrong side for boys!
~ The book is beautifully designed and photographed making it an inspiring book to have on your bookshelf and at your sewing station!
~ There is a section on taking your own measurements and checking your silhouette which is really very useful.
~ No annoying dust jacket! Is it just me who finds them frustrating on craft books, they always get creased and bent and end up looking tatty!
~ All the patterns are included full size in the book meaning you don't need to re-scale or download anything before you get started, just grab your tracing (or baking) paper and your good to go! Plus the fact that there is the option for PDF's, is a great addition!
~ Did I mention there are LOADS of patterns! For a hardback book with 24 sewing patterns, it's a bargain! The cheapest I could find in the UK was for £6.00 from Amazon, which is a whole lot of patterns for under a tenner!

~ The Not So Good Points ~

~ The pattern sheets are a little confusing as the pieces are not necessarily all on the same sheet or in the same colour, but having access to printable PDF's negates this somewhat.
~ You will need to jump about the book a bit to find all of the instructions for some patterns which can be a little confusing.
~ Some things just get a little glossed over and not properly explained (see my post about The Men's Shirt) and there are sections where the proofreading seems to have been overlooked, such a shame for a book all about precision. As long as you are not a complete beginner you will be able to muddle through the discrepancies in the instructions, keep youtube tutorials on standby people!
~ It would be really helpful if every pattern had good clear images of the garment, the artistic photos are gorgeous, but from a practical point of view, it's not always that easy to see the construction of the garment that clearly.

~  My Verdict ~ 

TGBSB: Sew Your Own Wardrobe is all about learning the art of precision sewing; sewing that May and Patrick would be proud of, which perhaps means that this book is not really aimed at those who are just starting out (despite its claims). Most of the patterns are a little more difficult than basic so will be great for taking your existing skills up to the next level, but perhaps not so suitable for those wanting to dip their toe in the water for the first time, rather something to work up to!



The patterns in the book are all great, to my mind there aren't any fillers. The real standout patterns for me are the Men's Shirt, the striking yellow 1960s Coat, the 1930s Blouse and the loose T-shirt, which looks lovely and simple to make plus very comfortable! Oh and the teddy suit for a baby is so adorable that makes me tempted to have one of my own, almost! I was lucky enough to get my copy as a Christmas gift, but I certainly think it's worth spending your pennies on, the good points about this book certainly outweigh the bad and I really think it would make a great addition to any sewers bookshelf!

I hope that you enjoyed this review and if you have been pondering buying this book I have helped you to make a more informed decision!

Have you got this book, what did you think?

Wendy x

The Last Enemy

...I closed in to 200 yards, and from slightly to one side gave him a two-second burst: fabric ripped off the wing and black smoke poured from the engine, but he did not go down. Like a fool, I did not break away, but put in another three-second burst. Red flames shot upwards and he spiralled out of sight. At that moment, I felt a terrific explosion which knocked the control stick from my hand, and the whole machine quivered like a stricken animal. In a second, the cockpit was a mass of flames: instinctively, I reached up to open the hood. It would not move. I tore off my straps and managed to force it back; but this took time, and when I dropped back into the seat and reached for the stick in an effort to turn the plane on its back, the heat was so intense that I could feel myself going. I remember a second of sharp agony, remember thinking 'So this is it!' and putting both hands to my eyes. Then I passed out...

It was whilst on the Isle of Wight that I was first captured by this paragraph. We had taken shelter from a seemingly never ending downpour in St. James church and after musing on the musty architecture and admiring the pungent fresh flower displays, it was time to move on to the secondhand book box nestled beside the pews, which, if I am honest had been on my mind from the moment we pushed open the heavy church door. I rifled through the books hoping yet again to find something interesting and I was not disappointed, this time it came in the form of a tattered, dusty, sweet smelling, little blue book with the biblical sounding title 'The Last Enemy', I opened to the Proem and read the words above. I was sold. I paid my 25p and we left the church, just as the sun began to shine for the first time that day.

I spent the rest of my all to brief time on the island immersed in this little books pages, amazed that I had never heard of this book or its author Richard Hillary before, and feeling so lucky to have found it. I was even more smitten when I spotted a inscription in the front few pages, from a Daddy to his son in 1943, I wonder if the unnamed son was also in the RAF, or perhaps it was in fact Daddy who was protecting the skies.

After the captivating Proem, the book becomes an autobiographical novel which is broken into two parts. Book one begins with the authors charmed days rowing and occasionally studying at Oxford, his joining the Oxford University Air Squadron, his subsequent RAF training and deployment to 603 City of Edinburgh squadron to fly spitfires, up until him being shot down. Book two focuses on life after, his rehabilitation and the pioneering work of his surgeon Archibald McIndoe to repair his fire ravaged body, his coming to terms with life as it will now be and his realisation that some of his firm held beliefs are no longer sustainable and that some of his actions and the treatment of his friends in the past begin to haunt him.

The Last Enemy is not your archetypal war hero story there is a lot of honesty amongst the moments of bravado. Hillary's is a young man, obsessed with the rather un-English desire for self analysis, which at times does make him seem arrogant, he likes to goad his friends in to debates and is frustrated by those who don't react to his intellectual taunting. But there is something about his unsentimental approach to life, the war and even the deaths of those close to him, which makes the descriptions all the more memorable. 

Immediately that I finished reading, I wanted to know what had happened to Hillary after publishing his book. If I had been able to, I am sure I would have looked online whilst I was reading such was my curiosity, thankfully my parents lack of modernity saved me from myself, so it was not until I returned home that I was able to discover the true sadness of his story. 

Richard Hope Hillary

Born 20th April 1919 Australia

(Image Source)

After his months of painful reconstructive surgery, Hillary tried and failed to regain his A1 flying status, instead he was sent to the USA to give talks to the people about his experiences in the RAF, with the aim of trying to build up public support for America to join the fight. Officials soon realised that Hillary's 'damaged' appearance made him unsuitable for public speaking, it was thought that American mothers would object to America joining the war effort due to the fear of a similar fate or worse being inflicted upon their own family, though  his 'new' looks didn't stop him from attracting all the ladies, whilst in New York he had a relationship with actress Merle Oberon. It was the public rejection that spurred Hillary in to finishing his novel that he had started back in London, once finished it was published in the USA under the title 'Falling Through Space' a title which was though inappropriate for a British audience and so once across the pond it was renamed The Last Enemy, it was a resounding success.

Hillary post-burn treatment, third from right at an awards ceremony (Image source)

On returning to England, Hillary again pursued his A1 Flying category and this time succeeded, even though it had been noted in the officers mess that he could 'barely handle a knife and fork'. In 1942 he was posted to No.54 operational Training Unit at RAF Charterhall in the Scottish borders, to train as a night fighter pilot. It was during bad weather in early hours of the 8th of January 1943, whilst carrying out an exercise in a Blenheim V, that Hillary and his Navigator F/Sgt. Wilfred Fison were killed when their aircraft crashed into Crunklaw Farm.

Initially, I found it hard to understand why, when Hillary had been through so much in such a short space of time and had such a resounding success with his novel, why would he be so very desperate to return to the skies, had he not wanted in his Oxford days to be a writer? I think though, the answer to this can be found within the pages of his own novel.

Much that is untrue and misleading has been written on the pilot in this war. Within one short year he has become the nation's hero, and the attempt to live up to this false conception bores him. For, as he would be the first to admit, on the ground the pilot is a very ordinary fellow...these men may seem to fit into the picture of everyday life, though they seem content enough in the company of other men and in the restfulness of their homes, yet they are really only happy when they are back with their Squadrons, with their associations and memories. The long to be back in their planes, so that isolated with the wind and the stars they may play their part in man's struggle against the elements.

Some have suggested that he may well have intended to kill himself, to atone for the loss of his friends, perhaps, but to me this seems unlikely, I just can't believe he would have wanted to have taken someone else's life along with his own. Perhaps you could see him as a headstrong young fool that put others at risk for his dreams, or you could see it as him dying for his passion for flying, either way his account of his battles with life even if at times woven with a touch of fiction (last chapter) make for a fascinating insight in to the war, which for me at least mean that both Hilliary and his novel should not be forgotten.

Sources & Further Reading:

• A recording from 1941 of the account of his crash which went on to become the Proem of his memoirs, read by Hillary himself, sounding much more mature than the 22 years he was at the time. 
• A Free digital version of The Last Enemy can be found at the Gutenberg Press Here.
• I am currently reading Sebastian Faulks - The Fatal Englishman which offers a much more in-depth look into Hillary's life.

1940s Hairstyles - A Vintage Classic 2nd Edition

1940s Hairstyles by Daniela Turudich Second Edition

As anyone who has ever coveted this wonderful book will know, it has been out of print for quite a few years. Meaning that a copy of the original release retails around the web for, some seriously scary amounts of money ($175 to $311.27...Seriously!!) which is a long way out of the average vintage lasses price range.

So I was really delighted when I learnt, finally, the fabulous 1940s Hairstyles by Daniela Turudich is going to be released as a second edition, from May 2012 you buy a copy of this super little book, at a much more reasonable price of about £15.99.

I have just pre-ordered my copy on Amazon UK (currently £11.84) and am looking forward to finally getting my hands on my very own copy of this vintage gem!

Wendy x