I was lucky enough to catch the book release party for Erin Bried’s new book How to Sew A Button and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew this past week, which was much fun. Erin interviewed grandmothers to gather all this knowledge, and the result is a lovely little book, easy to thumb through and includes useful and interesting things for any reader.
Though it’s marketing seems to be pretty girly, there are plenty of tips for butches like me. (I did pick up a copy for myself.)
Here’s Erin’s first little blurb from her website’s blog, which I think sums it up well:
If you’ve thumbed through the first couple of pages of my book, How to Sew a Button, then you know that until recently, I was pretty hopeless on the home front. Case in point: I actually once baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie, using strawberries and Swiss chard. (I mean, chard does look a little bit like rhubarb, right? Let me tell you, it sure doesn’t taste like it.)
Anyway, after baking that lousy pie, I had an epiphany: Not knowing how to do stuff for myself is not only disempowering, but also, especially in this crap economy, downright irresponsible. So, in writing my book, I set out to learn everything I needed to know to feel confident, simplify my life and save money.
And who better to turn to for that advice than our grandmothers, especially those who’ve survived The Great Depression? They certainly know how to make due with what they have. From interviewing them, I’ve learned important lessons about cooking, entertaining, saving, and loving—and I’m going to keep learning more stuff everyday.
She also has some video demos! I thought some of you might particularly like these.
How to Wear Red Lipstick:
How to Tie A Tie (on somebody super cute):
Pick up How to Sew A Button on Amazon.com, or your local independent bookseller (if you’d like them to be around next holiday season too).
Erin is so cute! I loved the lipstick video! Just bought a new red, too!
That was giggly and adorable. Yay!
That's a full windsor knot. I prefer a half-windsor, it has a smaller and more centered knot. Most men that I know wear a four-in-hand, because it's easy, but it has a really skinny off-center knot, and doesn't take up as much tie. Being a short female, I need a bigger knot that will take an inch or two off the total tie length, lest my tie hang too long.
I also recommend Clinique's Angel Red lipstick, for those of us with extremely fair skin.