A slew of new craft tapes offer ideas and projects for seamstresses (and seamsters) with and without sewing machines. Similar to House Beautiful: Decorating With Sheets (VL-6/91), House Beautiful: Decorating With Slipcovers features House Beautiful editor Peggy Kennedy and Meri Stevens, president of the fabric company Waverly, offering ideas for using slipcovers in the living room, bedroom, and dining room. But whereas the Sheets video contained a good amount of step-by-step instruction, and the program's sponsor Wamsutta wasn't mentioned, Slipcovers is mostly chat, and Waverly gets a few plugs. Still, viewers will get some good tips on color, fabric selection, and design and even learn how to make a slipcover for a chair at the end of the show (instructions are also in the enclosed booklet). Short on instruction, this is still fairly inspirational (for those who are too lazy to actually flip through back issues of House Beautiful).Introduction to Torchon Bobbin Lace Making and Introduction to Bucks Point Lace Making are both presented by professional seamstress and instructor Cathy Richardson. Both series use the same relatively low-budget format. Following a brief introduction, Richardson displays the needed tools (bobbins, needles, threads, etc.) and then launches into a step-by-step lesson (2-4 lessons are included on each volume). The Torchon Bobbin Lace Making series includes more introductory material with an entire lesson devoted to learning the basic stitches such as the linen, half, and whole stitch, as well as how to create grounds and borders. Viewers are advised to copy the patterns included in the booklet accompanying each tape. Vol. 1 also includes lessons on two decorative designs: the fan and the spider. Vol. 2 opens with a brief review followed by lessons on three new grounds, and two new designs (the open fan and the corner). a third volume is entitled Intermediate Torchon Bobbin Lace Making and includes a new stitch (the gimp) a new ground (the rose), and how to make a baby buggy and a doily. The second series on Bucks Point Bobbin Lace Making uses the same format, but assumes previous knowledge of the basic stitches taught in the earlier series. Viewers learn how to make a little fan design, a honeycomb ground, an intricate sheep's head design (we're talking 26 bobbins going here), and a bookmark. There are a couple minuses: when shots are shifted in the introductory segments (particularly) there's sometimes a moment of refocusing; in the close-up sections the camera sometimes roots around until finally settling on its subject; and Richardson doesn't work from a script and seems a bit uncomfortable sometimes in front of the camera. But consider the plus: these are complex projects, and viewers get the actual step-by-step, close-up, camera overhead instruction--not inspirational chat. Libraries might want to start with the 2-volume Introduction to Torchon Bobbin Lace Making, and then add on if popular.Vogue & Butterick's Home Decorating, culled from episode's of the PBS series Sewing Today, features host Nancy Fleming and sewing expert Kenneth King offering ideas and instruction on making window treatments, table covers, swags and jabots, and slipcovers. Fleming interviews various professionals in the decorating field, including Waverly's Meri Stevens, and designers Bebe Winkler, Mario Buatta, and Alexandra Stoddard. Like House Beautiful's Decorating With Slipcovers, the emphasis here is less on step-by-step instruction, and more on inspiration. Here, the reason is rather obvious: if patterns were shown for all the projects discussed on the video, viewers wouldn't need to visit their local fabric stores and buy the Butterick patterns (who, after all, produced the show). Still, like the House Beautiful tape, there is a lot of neat stuff to look at here, which will encourage viewers to take the initiative and add a little flair to their domiciles. Too, the video includes additional footage which was not shown on the broadcast programs. Two other titles which follow the same format and are likely to be popular are Vogue & Butterick's Craft Techniques and Vogue & Butterick's Designer Sewing.While none of the programs mentioned are optimal productions, all are good, and all are recommended. (R. Pitman)
House Beautiful: Decorating With Slipcovers; Introduction To Bucks Point Lace Making; Introduction To Torchon Bobbin Lace Making; Vogue & Butterick's Home Decorating
(1994) 45 min. $19.95 (booklet included). Questar Video. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 6
House Beautiful: Decorating With Slipcovers; Introduction To Bucks Point Lace Making; Introduction To Torchon Bobbin Lace Making; Vogue & Butterick's Home Decorating
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.