Mary Frances Sewing Book [Paperback]

Jane Eayre Fryer (Author)

Book Description

A charming instruction book in sewing techniques with patterns for clothes for a 16-inch doll, this book was originally for children. Adult doll collectors are now using this as a wonderful reference for sewing for dolls such as Schoenhuts, bisques, compositions, and others from the early years of this century. 100+ Illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Hobby House Press; New edition edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875885373
• ISBN-13: 978-0875885377
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mary Frances Sewing Book, January 13, 2000

By 

kevin g branciforte (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Frances Sewing Book (Paperback)

I recently saw this book, newly published, as a hardcover with beautifully done color illustrations. While I undestood this book was to be a paperback, I was deeply disappointed to find it to be an undersized, black and white edition.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, September 21, 2003

By 

violet (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Frances Sewing Book (Paperback)

This book is essential for all little girls (and not so little girls!) learning to sew. There has yet to be a childs sewing book as well done as Mary Frances and the Timble People.

If you think this book, written in the Edwardian era, would probably be too hard or full of too many confusing terms for a child, think again! The projects are direct, simple, fast, and most of all, fun. With parental assistance, children as young as seven could easily work through this book, and very young children could enjoy the story by itself without even doing the projects. The doll patterns are charming and work up quickly, the style simple and straightforward, and the little story about the 'Timble People' is utterly adorable.

16 inch dolls are hard to come by, and I know this is one drawback of the book. However, you can easily re trace the patterns to fit an 18 inch ('American Girl' or 'Gotz' doll.) Take your pattern peice(s) and retrace on another peice of paper, adding one inch to every side. Follow instructions as usual. For loose fitting patterns like the apron, the pinafore, etc, this wasn't even nessisary.

An all around wonderful book!

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book there is for teaching handsewing to the young, July 23, 2000

By 

Joi Cardinal - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Frances Sewing Book (Paperback)

While all the Mary Frances series is excellent, I found the sewing book the best of the bunch. The basic premise is that various sewing implements come to life for Mary Frances, a girl of about 9 or so, and they teach her how to sew, beginning with outfitting a sewing basket, then learning 10 or so basic stitches using the kind of cloth that people do counted cross stitch on, then progressing to a sampler, and then on to doll clothes. The Art Deco style of the illustrations is very reminiscent of the L. Frank Baum Oz series. One can enjoy the book just as a delightful fairy story, or one can use it as the basis of a hand-sewing curriculum. I used this to teach my 9 y.o. daughter, and she enjoyed it thoroughly, often waking in the morning and working on her sewing while sitting on her bed; I look forward to teaching other groups of girls in 4-H or at the Waldorf school that my daughter attends.