Sweat Shop Paris: Lessons in Couture from the Sewing Cafe - Softcover

Duss, Martena; Holleis, Sissi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1449408400 ISBN 13: 9781449408404

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

From the trendy Sweat Shop—the first sewing café in Paris—a collection of cool sewing, knitting, and crochet projects to inspire community and creativity!

The Sweat Shop Book brings the namesake Paris Sweat Shop founded by Martena Duss and Sissi Holleis to North America with more than 50 DIY fashion and home projects, including instructions and more than 200 helpful, inspiring full-color photographs. The first "cafe couture" sewing shop in Paris, the Sweat Shop was named to highlight the questionable nature in which store-bought clothing is sometimes made. Instead of rewarding dubious labor practices, the Sweat Shop and The Sweat Shop Book inspire crafters to make something unique with their own sweat equity and creativity.

Crafters meet at the cafe and share ideas while renting equipment by the hour. In addition, classes teach novices how to sew, knit, crochet, and much more. Translating the Sweat Shop experience into book form, The Sweat Shop Book features experts in the Parisian fashion industry as they offer "master classes" to share their secrets and techniques.

With help from experts such as Madame Vava Dudu, who creates looks for Lady Gaga, and fashion stylist Sonia Rykiel, crafters of every skill level will learn how to mend a seam, make a dress from a pattern, and design and create something from scratch inside The Sweat Shop Book. Additionally, the book includes recipes for cafe fare, Duss and Holleis's Paris picks, and a French and English glossary. Bring Paris's couturiers home, learn secrets from the pros, and rediscover the joy of handmade, homemade fashion with The Sweat Shop Book.

About this title

About the Author

In March 2010, Martena Duss opened the Sweat Shop, the first sewing cafe in Paris, near the trendy boutiques of Canal St. Martin. Duss is a Swiss makeup artist. In addition to carving a niche in Parisian society, the Sweat Shop has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Elle, the New York Times, Le Monde, the Guardian, and Marie Claire.

In March 2010, Sissi Holleis opened the Sweat Shop, the first sewing cafe in Paris, near the trendy boutiques of Canal St. Martin. Holleis is from Austria, where she had her own fashion store and label. In addition to carving a niche in Parisian society, the Sweat Shop has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Elle, the New York Times, Le Monde, the Guardian, and Marie Claire.

From Booklist

More than one year ago, two artist types—in fashion and cosmetics—joined forces in the tenth arrondissement of Paris to open what they call, tongue in cheek, a sweat shop, which is actually a site dedicated to the home- and handmade and to the sociability of a drop-in community. Retailers Duss and Holleis share their visitors’ ideas and crafts in some funky, irreverent pages. More than two-dozen sewing or knitting or customized projects are at the ready, each with great step-by-step illustrations or photographs, all indicating level of mastery—simple or medium or advanced. Try fast-and-easy house booties or a quick-knit fishnet sweater with big needles. More complicated are Delphine’s jeans masks and Todi’s jacket, detailed instructions notwithstanding. This is a potpourri of, well, the unusual and the spirited, the soulful and the sassy, any hip, outré, and fun crafter will gravitate to this crafts home-away-from-home. --Barbara Jacobs

Edition details

• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1449408400
• ISBN 13: 9781449408404
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 160