Vintage Craft Book Feature: Around The World in 80 Sweaters (1988)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

Around The World in 80 Sweaters - 1988

As the name suggests, this book is filled with designs inspired by cultural art and fashion from many different parts of the globe.  The designs are grouped by region, and each section begins with a two page spread describing the following designs and their inspiration.  Bordering the write up is a wonderful collage of vintage photos, swatches, fashion drawings and other objects that give a clear idea of the designer's creative process.  

More fashion drawings accompany each set of patterns, showing off possible variations of every sweater.  The artist clearly had a type she was designing for, as every drawing in the book features the same square faced, block shouldered blonde.  At the back of the book is a really helpful collection of diagrams showing all the measurements and pieces of each sweater.  These are wonderful to have when making sweaters like these to help ensure a good fit.

Overall, even though some of the designs are quite dated, I found a lot to like in this book.  Some of the colorwork and construction techniques were very neat and could easily be adapted to more modern designs.  My only real complaint was that in many of the photos the models were posed in ways that hid most of the sweater they should have been showing off.