Customer Reviews

Complete Guide to Sewing : Step-By-Step Techniques for Making Clothes and Home Furnishings

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just started a sewing class in January and quickly became hooked on sewing. The class was once per week and I missed two classes. I thus had to complete my skirt's darts,insert the zipper and facing, and complete the hem without my teacher's constant guidance. I got this book at the library, and it is excellent at taking you step by step to do anything from threading the bobbin on different sewing machines(which I used to have trouble doing), to inserting zippers, and sewing for children and the home. I'm now buying the book so I can have one for myself. I'm usualy a visual learner that prefers glossy pictures to the technical drawings the book has, but the drawings are very clear and easy to follow. Most books I've run across with the glossy pictures are not as detailed as this book is for instruction. This book helped me complete my skirt mostly by myself and my teacher thought it looked great. It's good for beginning and intermediate sewers and I'm sure the advanced sewer could use it as a refresher.

I love sewing books. My collection is about 20+ books, and this one reference contains most of the information in all of them - plus extras I've never seen anywhere else, like the 12 pages on pleating. The illustrations are clear and the text is readable and helpful. Many other sewing books are full of the author's personality and weigh heavily in favour of certain techniques. That makes them interesting reading, but it can make life difficult when all your books disagree. Instead, this book will help you choose the technique and solution that will best suit your projects, without undue prejudice. In summary, this book is not only a good reference it's a great read and is full of information from beginner to advanced. If you can only afford one sewing book, make this the one. If you already have a shelf-full of sewing books, you will still be glad you added this one.

If ever there was a need for this book! It has answers and is illistrated for any and every sewing problem you may have. I am only beginning to enter the sewing field, and this book has explained things to me that only my Grandmother would have had the answeres to! A must for every seemstress or Fashion Designer. James D. Lamberth Jr. San Diego, Calif. U.S.A. JLamberthj@aol.com

I recently decided to follow a lifelong ambition and take up dressmaking. I took needlework classes at school (admittedly about 15 years ago) and so I know how a sewing machine works, how to cut patterns etc, but there are a lot of gaps in my basic knowledge and this book is NOT managing to fill them. It uses a vocabulary that obviously makes sense to people who know about sewing, but many words aren't explained properly in layman's terms.

It's a good book, I'm glad I bought it, and I'm sure it will be a useful reference guide when I have more experience, but at the moment I need something a bit more basic that really spells things out in words of one syllable - which is what I thought this book would do.

I have been searching for a book that gives clear instructions and graphics on how to insert a variety of zipper types. A friend loaned this book to me and I immediately bought one for myself. I have been a seamstress for many years but away from it since I began quilting. Thus, I forgot a lot of neat tricks. This book covers the gamut. I highly recommend it for beginners and beyond.

I bought this book based on the reviews from other readers. I am somewhat a beginner to sewing. I do know how to setup the machine and sew a straight line, so I was looking to go beyond that. My problems with this book is that it had mostly a lot of text and not too many pictures. I would recommend "The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing" by Singer. The Reader's digest book DOES have a lot of detail and is more thorough. For a person who is serious about sewing, this is a good book. I was really looking for some basic tips and lots of how-to with pictures.

If the last time you sat down at a sewing machine was in your seventh grade Home Economics class, this is the book for you.

Clear step-by-step instructions, diagrams and photos provide the most novice of sewers with the ability to handle easy, as well as progressively more difficult, projects.

The book covers necessary supplies to get started, as well as thoroughly illustrated examples of how to properly use a sewing machine -- providing a much clearer understanding than the manuals sold with most machines.

This is a "must have" reference for any sewing room.

I will admit it, I was BAD at sewing and hated it. Nevertheless I made all my clothes in high school. HOW I WISH I had this book then. This is my favorite sewing book, and although I still don't sew clothing all that well, I reach for this book anytime I need to sew something.

The home furnishing section turns out to be very useful. I like sewing home items (maybe because they need not fit me and it's a lot of straight seams.) The section on pockets and zippers (a real problem for me) is very well done.

This book was a requirement for me my sophomore year in college, (I was studying Fashion Design) and I haven't stopped using it! This book begins with how to organize your workspace and continuously walks you through choosing fabric, laying out a pattern, how to properly cut fabric and even how to do your own pattern alterations!
It's hard to believe that four years after I first bought the book, I'm still using it but it's come in handy and virtually paid for itself in the many mistakes I've avoided. Take it from me, a person who sews frequently, this is a book that will constantly keep teaching new things.

This first rate reference book hits all the basics and many traditional techniques exceedingly well. Everything from fabric weaves, cloth and fabric types, to fly front zippers, sew in as well as iron on interfacing are presented in great detail. Some of the difficult things, like fly front zippers, are a bit hard to understand but there is no getting around this -- some techniques simply are not obvious and one has to work a bit to draw out the information. It is the ultimate reference book when you want to try something that nobody knows how to show you or that you haven't done before. It is indispensible given the terseness of the instructions, and lack of illustrations, on many pattern instruction packets. This book will help put you in control of your sewing projects.