Couture album of sewing classwork, France 1953-1954
A large home-fashioned padded green leatherette binder with colored paper lining and cord tie. 13 x 10 x 2 inches. 12 folio leaves stacked and bound through two holes. Very Good with light general handling wear, mild age discoloration and rubbing to exterior, some stress to the pages due to the binding style. Covers personalized with faded gold paint, very charming indeed. 60 total samples including mending, hemming, fasteners, smocking, pockets, collars, etc. An evocative first page drawing of a young woman in an oversized coat holding a racquet over one shoulder, and another one-and-a-half arms/hands in her pocket on the other side. A very stylized evolution of the couture sewing notebook, several pages of examples are incorporated with collage elements. Several pages have bold color blocked examples in wool felt, and many traditional individual samples are also present.