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A Blog to Read

I am an avid collector and reader of vintage sewing books.  One of the reasons for my minor obsession  is that some of these older sewing books also contain the great secrets of garment drafting without a pattern.

The other day I found  this blog, The Midvale Cottage post which focuses on vintage clothing.  I was delighted to find a large collection of posts focusing on the work of Ruth Wyeth Spears.

It's easy enough to find copies of her 1943 book on Ebay and on Amazon.


I was not aware of her brilliant work from the 1920's.

Ruth Wyeth Spears breaks down what looks at first glance to be a complicated dress into dead simple steps. With a little thought you can use these methods in a dress that works for today's silhouettes.

I just love this dress.

Ruth Wyeth Spears seems to have been brilliant at breaking down visual problems to their simplest components. She had a Home Dec column that appeared in newspapers in the 1930's and 1940's. You can see one example here. If you search Google news for Ruth Wyeth Spears many similar articles from news papers around the country will show up.

I now have a new hero in my constellation of sewing stars from the past. Ruth Wyeth spears, now joins Mary Brooks Picken, Frances Blondin and Ann Sayre Wiseman in my catalog of sewing heroes.


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