Well. I picked up this book because it concerned my favorite hobby other than reading. I used to sew all my clothes except for jeans (my machine balked at the crotch seam), even during all the years I worked in Corporate America. And yes, I did sew my wedding dress, and that was a trip. Day of the wedding, it’s still not totally finished, so there I stood in it that morning with my mother and sisters frantically hand sewing the lace around the hem. Troopers all. It turned out great. And many kudos to the ladies in this book because, like many a sewist, I hate doing alterations.
Set during World War II in Britain, and more or less a true story, rationing was real in Britain, with vouchers for what garments you were allowed to purchase per year. Many people still sewed, of course, but yardage was rationed as well. But there was also quite a few marriages going on as well, and there was the issue of the wedding gown.
Cressida Wescott, British fashion designer, has been bombed out of her home and business in London, so she reluctantly returns to the family manor hose that she so gladly fled years ago. It is now inhabited by her niece and nephew, since the brother from whom she was estranged has died. Obviously, this is a temporary fix, for she surely can’t pursue her career from this remote village. Looking for something to do for the time being, she sees a notice in town announcing the meeting of a Sewing Circle in the town hall. Violet Westcott, the niece, has been charged with marrying some member of the nobility (family could use the money), but ends up getting drafted and finally finds something she is rather good at. Being a mechanic. And then there’s Grace Carlisle, the vicar’s daughter, whose boyfriend was already a casualty of the war. But her father is friendly with another vicar, older perhaps but who could use a wife. So there’s her fate. Her father sends Grace up to the attic to give a look out for her late mother’s wedding gown, and to her surprise, it turns out to be a lovely couturier gown, in need of some repairs. Grace brings it in to the sewing circle, and we are off.
Cressida’s connections enable her to start a movement for women all over Britain to send in their wedding gowns for alteration for the use of the military brides, an actual historical event. The ladies’ story lines were fun, and often unpredictable, and there is plenty of sewing, so all in all, I was a happy camper.
