So long after accepting a copy but finally read and very much enjoyed. The people were very real and truly showed how they pulled themselves up keeping true to beliefs. The historical transitions were great and made me want more. Thank you Netgalley to introducing me to this book.

The Pattern Artist by Nancy Moser was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Pattern Artist follows an English house maid, Annie Wood, who accompanies her wealthy employers to visit relatives in New York City. She is included because she is an excellent seamstress and bead worker. The two ladies maids aren't and persuade Annie to utilize her skills for Lady Newley and Miss Henrietta. She believes she will be able to advance to ladies maid eventually.

When she learns that the other maids are claiming her work as their own, she quits and persuades two other American servants to come as well. Iris and Danny are siblings who want a better life and they leave with Annie.

They are taken in by a family who own a bakery. The Tuttles have several young children and Iris becomes their nurse maid. Danny is trained as delivery wagon driver, and Annie is assigned as dishwasher.

Annie wants to work at Macy's in the notions department and is hired as a saleswoman. She meets a Butterick salesman who is attracted to her. Annie is a talented dress designer and Mr. Sean Culver recommends her for a position as Pattern Artist at Butterick. Her experience altering couture clothing for the Newbury women aids her application and she is hired.

Her new position results in the opportunity for a trip to Paris. Sean Culver also goes on the trip, and their romance grows. Another career opportunity is presented to Annie and she needs to decide what to do about both.

The book was interesting and provided insight into the life of servants in the early 20th century. Annie, Iris, and Danny all seek the American Dream in their own manner. Annie's faith in God is tested and stretched through the story.

Nancy Moser's writing is clear, and her descriptions add detail to the settings. Her characters become stereotypes: the villain, the jealous coworkers, the enemy turned best friend, yet the plot is interesting enough to allow the reader to overlook it.

.Although this sounded like a good read, I was unable to get into it. The characters just didn't grab me, and honestly I felt it was too preachy. I love reading inspirational fiction, but I don't like being hit over the head with it. Thanks anyway!

I read it because of the title. I love to sew and design. Everything in the book moved along quickly. It was a decent read.

Mixed feelings. The historical setting is exciting. All the energy and possibilities of the times! The authoress has obviously well researched the details and I find the novel being quite informative.
There are some enriching spiritual moments, too. Especially Mrs. Holmquist and Maude have a lot wisdom to offer.

Yet...there is also certain naivete and the lack of logic within the several subplots in the novel (the Grasston arc for example is quite hard to believe). Also...Annie is unfortunately too full of herself to be a likable character. Maude, for example, is much fuller character with many possibilities - I hope for her to have her own novel!

Annie Wood is an English housemaid to a wealthy family. She hopes to use her sewing skills to eventually become a lady’s maid. While on a trip with the family to New York City, however, she realizes that will never happen, so she runs away with two new friends to make her own way. She starts off working at Macy’s department store. Then, when a previously unknown talent for clothing design is discovered, she goes to work for Butterick Patterns. Along the way, she makes new friends, finds love, deals with a murderous stalker, and develops a relationship with God.

I really, really enjoyed this book! Annie was a very likable main character with a winning personality and determination. The secondary characters she interacts with were also fun and interesting. There were a lot of historical details that fleshed out the story and were interesting to learn about, especially pattern making and home sewing in the early 1900s. It was also really gratifying to see Annie’s relationship with God develop. Her own father was negative and critical, so she couldn’t grasp the idea of a loving Heavenly Father at first. But as she trusted Him and learned to hear His voice, doors were opened and her life was guided to where she needed to be. I will definitely be checking out more books in this series and by this author!

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ebook.

As a quilter myself, this book was a delight to read! I enjoyed the content, the characters were strong, unique and well defined. I have always been fascinated by this time period and this story was so perfectly executed I couldn't put it down! Great story and a pleasure to read.

This was an incredible book! I actually finished it a while ago and forgot to review it! Even read the sequel and review that! This book was so good, I still vividly remember it though. I couldn't put it down and read it almost in one sitting! There were so many wonderful historical details, World series, Macy's, and others I won't ruin the suprise ;) one detail was so startling I gasped aloud and woke up my husband! And it wasnt my only gasp... Then, the romance was very realistic and still romantic. Many are romantic but you can't relate. I loved these two and the depth of each and all of the characters. Such an intresting world! Thank you for a delightful read! Would highly recommend to others!

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

This book was slightly better than the average Christian romance novel. Some are really badly written, sorry to say. This was a fairly solid book that delved into sewing (a favorite hobby of mine) as well as the history of patterns and sewing of the time which was very enjoyable. I also like that the author at least attempted to give the character an English voice even if the attempt was only middle of the road. Better than over using slang, right? Toward the middle it got a bit muddled and 'preachy' but not too much. I am a Christian so maybe it's different for someone else. A nice vacation read.

English housemaid Annie Wood arrives in New York in 1911. On her own for the first time working as a Macy’s sewing department clerk, Annie catches the eye of a salesman at the Butterick Pattern Company. Through determination, hard work, and God’s leading, Annie discovers a hidden gift: she is a talented fashion designer—an artist of the highest degree. As she runs from ghosts of the past and focuses on the future, Annie enters a creative world that takes her to the fashion houses of Paris and into a life of adventure, purpose, and love.

One thing I have come to appreciate from Nancy Moser’s novels is the exquisite historical detail that she includes in her story. That is no less true for The Pattern Artist. It is full of details about life in New York of the early 1900’s and specifically what it would have been like to work at Macy’s as a shop girl, as well as Butterrick Pattern Compnay as a pattern artist and designer. It really highlighted a different world and a view that feels a bit unreal compared to now. Even the idea of a department story like Macy’s was considered a luxury and a novelty that it just doesn’t hold now. I enjoyed that aspect of the novel, as well as the details of sewing and clothing design of the times most desirable fashions.

Annie Wood has one of those indomitable spirits, making her a character that you hope will succeed. Her life changes drastically as the story progresses, and she is realistically shaken by all that happens, while simultaneously pleased and grateful for the good things that happen to her. I loved these things about her, and yet, there were some things I didn’t love about the story as a whole. The plot moves a bit slowly and seems to stall out on this one plot point, which for me, does nothing to propel what I considered to be the real story. I adjusted my expectations a bit once I realized this was going to take up a significant portion of the story, but it definitely wasn’t what I wished for the story’s focus. Once that aspect of the plot was more or less out of the way, I fell back into the story and was more engaged for the remainder of the story.

Overall, there was a sort of juvenile feeling to this, as though it was for a younger audience. That’s not a bad thing, just another expectation that I did not have and had to adjust. I was left with a desire of wanting more, as many of the situations just seemed to scratch the surface of the characters’ development. Despite the juvenile feeling of Annie’s character and some aspects of the story, I did appreciate that Annie possesses an overall positive outlook and willingness to rise above her current situation.

While The Pattern Artist is definitely not my favorite of the Nancy Moser novels that I’ve read thus far, it was an enjoyable read that touches on an intriguing time period and incorporates engaging historical details.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The setting and the synopsis was so intriguing for me. And early on, I actually cared what happened to the characters, but somewhere the story just fell flat.

The idea of following a woman, who has a certain set of talents as a seamstress eventually become part of a group of ladies designing the dresses for dress patterns was such an interesting idea. I loved it. But, in the telling of the story, I felt like the story felt as if the writer was following advice from writing prompts every time the story began to lag a bit. Annie who was just so good, would mess up. A man bent on revenge would reappear over and over again. The love story felt a bit convenient. While at moments the book was sweet, overall, it left me wishing for something a bit more developed. Something where I could really see the main character grow and be challenged. In this book, it just felt like everything just happened to Annie--both the good and the bad.

2.5 stars (Average). I had high hopes for this story based on its premise, and it did hold my interest enough to keep reading it, but it could have been so much more.

Are you creative?
If you are, you have a sort of craving in you to create. You search and go towards things and situations guided by that craving. It may not be something that you conscientiously do, but it does drive you. So you can understand what is behind the decisions that Annie Wood makes. It's neat that Annie doesn't have a very good opinion of herself, yet everything in the story happens because of her and she is gradually shown her strength and worth. If you enjoy fabric you know what a beautiful piece of silk is like. Beautiful and flowing, with many highlights and some shadows. This book is a bit like that. The stretching and self discovery of a young lady in 1911 who comes from a very negative English family, gets a position as a servant to get away and discovers her God given talent. And was discovered because of that talent.

I am blessed to receive several books to read, and they often get backed up as new ones come along. That happened with this book, it got pushed back and I didn't see it. Things in life happen for a reason, and I read this just when I was supposed to. It's fascinating with God's word how He sends the message that you need to receive, and your eyes are opened to your answer. From Annie's friend Edna: "The Almighty is working all around you if you just open your eyes. He's waiting for you to notice Him" . . . From Sean, Annie's beau: ". . . I need to pray for direction, be aware of the nudges the Almighty sends me, and act on those nudges to the best of my ability. If I'm on the right path, I feel a sense of peace."

I highly recommend this book. It has a good Christian message throughout, with a plot that has everything - engaging characters, rich and poor, triumph, struggle and pain. Plus a satisfying romance and interesting historical facts about the pattern making and fashion industry. Please author Nancy Moser continue the story and tell us what becomes of Annie, Sean and her friends later in life. There are stories there that need to be told (and read)! I am a new fan. This is so well written it's like a movie. Now I will have to search out the other books that this is in tangent with!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Barbour Publishing - Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.

A rags-to-riches story about a young woman from a humble background’s rise in the fashion industry in early 20th century New York- what could be better? Well, it depends on taste. I think this book would appeal to those who enjoyed TV series such as Mr Selfridge and The Paradise, which are both set in London department stores at about the same period.

Personally, I just did not much care for this book (as I was not much interested in those series). The synopsis attracted me, but I think a lot of the time it failed to really grab my attention. Annie Wood never came across as authentically British, and I found the comparisons between American and British culture annoying, even condescending at times.
Annie was meant to have been an extremely talented young woman whose meteoric rise resulted from this talent, but for all that, she often seemed to just drift along, rather passively, with her big breaks sort of falling into her lap courtesy of the Big American Dream.
The historical details were interesting, especially with the incorporation of things which the author did not plan for, the use of description to recreate the setting was also well done. However, I found that in the execution, this book dragged. Perhaps, as other reviewers said, there was not enough character development. Most of them seemed a bit flat and bland, responding to situations it a rather insipid way. One of the most interesting was Danny, who would have done more, and made a very silly choice early on which resulted in an unsavoury turn of events. There seemed to be a lot of ‘telling’ instead of showing, and it became rather repetitive in places.
In a way, I think the novel would, and did appeal more to those who could directly relate to main plotline- clothing and fashion design. I’m interested in fashion, but the history of it just doesn’t interest me that much, and I have not designed clothing from scratch. I would consider reading more by this author, and perhaps buying this book if I saw on offer.

I requested a PDF of this book from Netgalley for review. I was not required to write a positive one and all opinions expressed are my own.

I am not usually that keen on Christian literature as it can be 'sickly sweet' or far fetched. However this book was well balanced, not over doing the 'faith' aspect. It is unlikely that so many characters in the story would have held to Christian lifestyle, however as a work of escapism to enjoy reading, it hits the mark. Much enjoyed.

I'm torn on this book. There were many aspects that I enjoyed reading. I enjoyed several of the historical aspects. I liked the time period and the setting. I liked the characters. But there were moments while reading that I felt as if I was on information overload or a character that felt as if their development happened too quickly. I will say that reading the synopsis for the book had me thinking it would be just about a young woman finding her place in life and becoming a pattern artist, as the title says. Which, the book is about that, and yet there are several more aspects included.

This is a Christian fiction novel and does have a lot of talk about God, which is a major factor in this book. For the most part I enjoyed it, but there were a couple spots that I struggled with. Annie is our MC and at the beginning of the novel she didn't really know who God was but starts getting impressions to do something. She comes to learn that God is directing her and through people she meets, teaches her more the nature of God. For a Christian novel there was a good arc of her coming to rely on God and trusting in His hand to guide her. I enjoyed that and truly believe that God does guide us to where we need to be. But I also believe, as is pointed out in the book, that we have the power to choose. Sometimes we are guided as a protection and sometimes as a blessing to increase, or better our lives, or the lives of others. We are all intertwined in many ways that we may only catch a glimpse of. This novel explores that idea and shows Annie's life being bettered as she chooses certain paths, not always the best choice but she has redemptive moments to correct a mistake and learn from it.

Sometimes Annie felt like she would flit from one situation/group of friends to the next. I would just start settling in with one moment and she would jump quickly to something else. She had a hard time being satisfied at first and then would seem to be content only to feel like she needed more. That was somewhat frustrating to read. Yes it did help the story along and progress the character to where the author's end goal was for her but I felt that the flow of the story was disrupted by it at some points. I found myself skimming and flipping pages at some of these moments because I didn't connect as well with the characters then. The conversations between the characters felt rushed and disjointed in some parts. In one scene, a character was describing his back story, as requested by another character. It seemed after every sentence he would be interrupted by the different characters listening to him speak. Those interruptions felt like they were just fillers to remind us that the other characters were still there. But it was distracting. That's one example, but that happened a few times throughout that for me I couldn't connect with a moving story/moment because I'd be pulled out by an unnecessary comment.

There is some angst and we have a bad guy character throughout. At first he felt pretty intense and then it would be anticlimactic and then he'd show up as a teaser only to finish off in a way I wasn't expecting. Not bad, but not good either. But I will say he played his part well in creating a looming angst over the storyline.

As far as development of Annie, she was either too perfect and amazing at what she did with little struggle or she made some really poor choices, was embarrassed for a moment and then back to being perfect. I would have liked to see more struggle or humility for her talents. I will say though that she was a good friend to those she came in contact with. Her relationship with the love interest was frustrating. They had a great beginning but then it would fizzle out as she was becoming more notable and then she didn't want to lose what they had so she would try to hold onto him but then he was in the way of her career and so it wouldn't work. Ok I might be a little over dramatizing that but the nice balance and development that I prefer wasn't quite there. So again it was hard to connect with these characters completely that I would be reading every word and cheering for them.

I think if you are looking for a historical Christian fiction you might enjoy this one. After all my thoughts above I will say it wasn't a bad read. I was intrigued with many aspects and kept reading because I wanted to know how it would turn out. Now there are several historical aspects but some are just little bits and pieces and others are more reputable. I've read a couple other books by this author. One I really liked and the other I skimmed due to time so I can't give a good opinion on it but between all three I would probably read more or go back and reread the one I really liked. But my opinion is of course my own and what I like may not be what other readers like and some readers may find they absolutely loved this book. So if you are on the fence, even more so after reading my thoughts of the book being ok, take a chance and see for yourself. You might love it or you might feel it is ok.

Content: a few mild kisses, an attempted rape(does not get graphic), a character tells of being raped(again not graphic-just more mentioning it happened), a character being stabbed(broken record here...not graphic but does mention blood). Overall it wasn't squeaky clean but pretty close even with the above mentioned items. There are Christian discussions since it is a Christian fiction, which I already talked about the those aspects within the book.

I received a copy from the publisher, Shiloh Run Press, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

A compelling story of tragedy and triumph, “The Pattern Artist” captured my attention and imagination from the very beginning. I loved reading Annie’s story that stretched from her hopeless job as a housemaid to a sought after dress designer. Although many difficulties paved her journey to success, only God could have placed just the right people in her life just when she needed them.

Annie’s story is filled with strong supporting characters who encourage and advise her as she makes decisions that affect herself and others. The also offer comfort to her during especially difficult situations in her life. Sean’s love for Annie was so protective and unconditional even when he was unsure of her feelings for him. The plot moved along at a steady pace and was fairly well balanced with drama, danger, and romance with a touch of levity. The spiritual content was strong and I appreciated how Annie learned to hear from God.

As a lifetime seamstress myself with a mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law who also sewed, I loved reading about the early days of the Butterick Pattern Company and how the patterns were developed. It was also fun to read about the original Macys department store. My how things have changed!

“The Pattern Artist” was an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical novels. Those interested in fashion or sewing would probably find it particularly interesting.

Love, love, love this book! While not a fan of historical fiction, I am a fan of Nancy Moser. I am so glad I read this book. It was hard to put down. Annie is an eighteen year old housemaid who dreams of a higher position with the wealthy family who employees her. Annie travels from England to New York with her employers. This dream is dashed when Annie discovers that others are taking credit for all the work in sewing and design that she does for the Lady and her daughter. Annie left and finds herself employed at Macys department store. There, her talent for sewing and design is realized which lead to a job for Butterick pattern company. Annie realizes God is working in her life and is sensitive to His urgings. She then gets to travel to Paris for Butterick. Annie is very a humble and likeable character. So sweet!
Heart stopping was when the Titanic was introduced. You must read this to find out more.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I love this book! What a treat to follow the young woman, Annie Wood, as she contemplates new adventures in America. Set in the early 1900s, I enjoyed Annie's journey through the events and turmoil of the times. Nancy Moser recreates the history of the time with a fascinating story and an excellent detailed setting. Annie meets an interesting array of friends. I just have to say, Sean is delightful! As a seamstress or "home sewer" I've made many dresses and outfits for my children and grandchildren. I've even made a wedding dress. All from patterns. So I found myself engrossed in the process and designers in the early 20th century. Whether you sew or not, this is a lovely story about interesting characters trying to make their way on the world. Along with the beautiful story, there's a bit of suspense that kept me reading. My favorite part of the book is the thread of faith and purpose the author stitches throughout. And I have to say, Sean is delightful!If you enjoy historical fiction or just a great story, I recommend The Pattern Artist.