Barbara Burman's, ed. The Culture of Sewing: Gender,
Consumption and Home Dressmaking addressed the larger
issues of gender, consumption, and home dressmaking
in England. As the first study of its kind, it
inspired me to extend the field to examine the lives
of American home dressmakers. I developed a four-part
model: oral histories, observation, "An Archeological
Dig in the Closet," artifacts and garments. I
documented the anecdotes, stories, and folklore
embedded in the oral histories of my family
intertwined with the family of my high school home
economics teacher and her students. Betty Sacker's
sewing life began in the 1920s and spanned the period
when haute couture designs made their way into
middle-class homes via commercial patterns and
fabrics aimed at fashion-conscious American women,
creating what I have entitled "Haume Couture
Fashioned By Betty Sacker." Passionately written by a
woman who sewed since age nine, Betty embodied the
glamour and mystique of haume couture. The work
revealed the rich tapestry of the life of home
dressmaker Betty Sacker, her family and students. I
have found that everyone has a story about
sewing--this is the every home dressmaker's story!