buzzville

Book Report - The Apron Book

Ok, let's see if I remember how to do this... I think it goes something like this: I write a (hopefully somewhat interesting) post, a few people read it, and maybe someone comments now and then. Does that sound about right? Here goes:

I received The Apron Book ages ago, and I was quite thrilled. I've been a collector of vintage aprons and apron patterns for some time (see some of them here), and I've stitched up a few. So, I was interested to see how this book would relate to a simple piece of long-lived domestic culture.

The book is cute - it includes lots of full-color photos of vintage aprons, patterns, and related ephemera. Chapters are sprinkled liberally with the "Every Apron Tells a Story" feature, where folks share their memories of aprons and the people who wore them. There is even a chapter on special occasion aprons - you know: poinsettias, hearts, and martinis! The book includes instructions for making 3 styles of aprons, plus instructions and a full-size pattern for one more (the "Basic Bib Apron"). Tips for embellishing, customizing, and modernizing apron patterns are numerous. Some fun and retro recipes (Coke and Cherry Jello salad anyone?) add to the fun. My criticisms are few: 1) although much of the photography is lovely, some of the shots leave something to be desired; and 2) the publicity insert begins: "Tie one on and join in the celebration of an American Icon". Although Amy probably doesn't own the phrase, this seems to borrow heavily from the fantastic Tie One On site without directly crediting or listing it as a resource. Just seems like a glaring omission to me - why no mention of the blog in a resources index?

Here are some pics of the aprons:

In other apron news, I was thrilled to find this while out thrifting on Monday:

I just love how the fashion drawings on patterns reflect the style of the time - I'm obsessed with these super mod graphics! Yet another one for the collection...

And, as if this weren't enough apron love, we just added a bunch of new books at superbuzzy, including two apron books here and here!   

Japanese Craft Book Library!

Thanks to the trailblazing posts of Maitreya and Hillary, I took some time today to create a gallery of my collection of Japanese craft books. The gallery is almost complete (I have a few yet to add, but this is most of them), and is located at the top right. I've included ISBN numbers for all of the books, in case you are interested in ordering any of them for yourself through Amazon Japan or YesAsia. There is a wide variety of topics, including amigurumi, felt softies, needle felting, sewing projects, and quilting - so hopefully there's something there for everyone (yes, my crafting interests are wide and varied, and yes, that can be a problem!).

As for searching for other books, I have a few ideas for the uninitiated. Many of the books include English words in the title that you can use; I've had success with patchwork, junk (for the junk style trend), bag, etc. I've also picked up a few Japanese words that I've used in searches: zakka, patsuchiwa (patchwork), and kawaii (of course!).

If you have more time on your hands, you'll notice that the same group of publishers are putting out these books, and you can use this to your advantage. Here's how: the ISBN number has some useful info contained within. The first digit indicates the language for the book (4=Japanese; 0 or 1=English). This is followed by a publisher's prefix, then a number for the individual title, then a "check digit". So, you can do an open-ended search on Google that might look something like this:

ISBN4-579-*

You'll get search results for books published by the company represented by the prefix 579. You may or may not get pictures with your results, so this method can be hit or miss. Also, not all of these publishers are exclusive to craft books, so you may very well get unrelated books in your search. But, it can be a fun way to see what else might be out there. In my collection, common publisher prefixes are: 579, 529, and 277.

I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you might have about a specific book regarding patterns, etc. All of them are in Japanese, but include relatively complete pictorial instructions and patterns (this varies somewhat from book to book), and I've been able to muddle through them with zero Japanese. The amigurumi books also include standard graphic crochet patterns, so those accustomed to reading those should be fine with these books. I hope to add my English language craft books as well, so keep an eye out for that.

I also have a growing collection of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin and Quilts Japan magazines, but I'm not sure how helpful a gallery of those would be, since back issues can't really be ordered from the US. But, I will point out that these are amazing magazines for anyone interested in quilting (chock full of tons of patterns - very hefty magazines), and you can get a subscription to both through Born to Quilt for a very reasonable price.