Click Image To Visit SiteWhen announcement was first made in 1923 that Mary Brooks Picken of the Woman’s Institute had developed a new plan by which an attractive dress could be made in an hour, it aroused tremendous interest among women everywhere.

Some doubted that such an achievement was possible, until the dress was made in a public demonstration in the Grand Central Palace, New York, in 34 minutes, a fact recorded in the New York newspapers and attested to by officials of the National Merchandise Fair…

"A smart, up-to-the-minute dress cut out, completely made, all ready to put on within an hour! You may receive a "phone call at one o’clock inviting you to a little impromptu gathering of friends at three, and you can go, if you wish, wearing a dainty new frock make in the time you would ordinarily spend wondering what to wear. Such is the delight you can find in making your own clothes now that it is easily possible to make an attractive, becoming dress in an hour.

And you can have as many "One Hour Dresses" as your heart desires — in infinite variety, for the "One Hour Dress" is not a style of dress, it is a method of making. It is a new and simple plan by which the dress you select from the many designs in this book can actually be cut out, put together, finished all complete in sixty minutes. And you can create other "One Hour Dresses" for yourself, because different combinations of colors and materials, different finishes and touches of decoration will enable you to have just the dress that appeals to your taste and have it quickly and at little cost."

The simple dressmaking system developed by Mary Picken is just as relevant today as it was in… Read more…