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Tag Archives: books
The Improvisational & the Vernacular.
Russell Maret is a self-described alphabetical fetishist. Last week he spoke at the Book History Colloquium at Columbia University, and he made it abundantly, winningly clear why he can claim this title. As a type designer and letterpress printer with twenty years’ experience, Maret explained that he’s always been motivated by his love of the [...]
My Wordy Valentine.
My handmade valentines in past years have often been of the “a picture’s worth a thousand words” variety, with paper cuts or found images. But this year I decided to let the dictionary speak for me. This valentine includes definitions of words (like together, pair, gaga, etc.) that evoke the holiday, clipped out of an [...]
Mulled Claret for Heroes.
I am keenly devoted to warm drinks all through the winter, but on unusually blustery days like today—especially when friends come visiting—my ambitions go beyond pots of strongly steeped tea. On such days, I might make up a batch of steamy, citrusy mulled wine. And my favorite recipe for mulled wine comes from The Week-End [...]
Flannery O’Connor, Seamstress.
In Flannery O’Connor’s high school home ec class, “all the other girls busily sewed aprons, or underwear, for weeks on end, while O’Connor sat idly off to the side, not particpating.” On the day the big sewing assignment (to make a complete outfit of clothing) was due, O’Connor astonished her teachers and fellow students by [...]
Savoring the Language of Lost Crafts.
Over Christmas I received a copy of Una McGovern’s Lost Crafts: Rediscovering Traditional Skills. From its cover (with evocative art by Rob Ryan) and all the way to the last page of its lush interior, illustrated with scenes of handicrafts both past and present, this book is a treat. McGovern’s approach is part [...]
Seams Inspired.
Sometimes when making something (sewing, knitting, whatever) I’m content just following along with the pattern and doing as told. But more often, I want to fiddle with things, make stuff from scratch, or tackle a new skill along the way. A new book has just come out—Cal Patch’s Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified—and Liesl’s excellent review [...]
English Holidays.