Customer Reviews

Complete Idiot's Guide to Sewing

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

 

 

After buying my first sewing machine I wanted a book to teach me the basics. Unfortunately I found this book to be haphazardly organized, putting some techniques in the front of the book that I, as a beginner, was not ready to use or learn. Sidebars and diagrams can be helpful when used properly, but there were so many in this book that they were distracting. I found the section on how to organize your sewing space to be useful, but otherwise, I'm still looking for a good book on sewing basics. This isn't it.

As an advanced dressmaker, I found this book very informative. I teach sewing classes, and would recommend The Idiot's Guide to Sewing to my students. It is well written, and gives very comprehensive descriptions of almost everything to do with sewing. Anyone in the market for a detailed sewing book should consider this upbeat, contemporary, humorous book. It is written in the usual Idiot's style which means, it has side comments that are note-worthy, but often missing in other written formats.

If you are looking to learn how to sew, begin with this book, and I can assure you, you may not need another.

I am an absolute beginner, and I am so glad I found this book. I mean it, I can't say enough good things about it. First of all, the author writes with a sense of humor; it's like having a buddy sitting next to you, giving you great advice and laughing with (not at) you for your mistakes, and sharing her own early sewing disasters. Each chapter starts with a list of what will be included, and ends with a follow-up that hits all the important points. Then there are little boxes throughout, that remind the reader of definitions, recommend items to buy for a particular project, or warn of common mistakes. Ms. Wills assumes you know absolutely NOTHING about sewing, which is so great, because she explains EVERYTHING! For the beginner, this book absolutely takes the fear out of sewing! I've been keeping it right next to my new sewing machine as I tackle my first project, checking it often, and I highly, highly recommend it.

Follow up: I made a shirt!! This is so cool!

This book is lousy! I am a brand new sewer, and I find the endless puns and jokes totally distracting and a huge interference with getting at the meat of the book. A few puns here and there would be fine, but the author spends WAY too much time being cute and clever, and it takes her forever to get to the point. Furthermore, the explanations (once you finally get to them) are not at all clear or helpful, at least not to this beginner. The diagrams are confusing, and the instructions on how to do various things are unclear.
I have had this book for several months and have gotten NOTHING out of it. In fact, I am planning to bring it back to the bookstore where I got it to see if they will let me trade it for something else.

This is what I've been looking for--a sewing reference book that is also fun to read! There are lots of illustrations, tons of tips, and puns to keep it fun. This is a very useful book, but not quite complete. The glossary in the back doesn't define things like welt pockets and princess seams, even though they are mentioned in the text.

I thought I'd get this book to help me (beginner sewer) - I found this book to be completely frustrating as it doesn't seem to go into enough detail and there are just not enough pictures. I plan to return it and buy something that goes more into depth.

Very thorough book for those of us who know absolutely nothing about sewing. The style is the traditional lighthearted Idiot's Guide format, making it a fun and easy, yet very informative, read.

I'd have to agree with most of the negative reviews here. I have just acquired a sewing machine and am trying to teach myself to sew. I knew absolutely nothing about sewing and thought the idiot's guide would be for me. Most of the instructions are unclear, even the diagrams need help! I think better illustrations or pictures would help immensely. If you are a beginner like me, I would not recommend this book.

Complete Idiot's Guide to Sewing / 0-02-863891-3

This is, in my opinion, a very poor introduction to sewing. I am still largely a beginner when it comes to sewing clothing, although I am very familiar with my machine after years of quilting, and I found this book to be mostly a waste of good time and money.

The organization of material here is very poor, and does not lend itself to easy learning. Concepts are scattered throughout the book, separately by chunks of unnecessary and annoying 'anecdotes' of how many loose threads the author can find around her house on a given day. Like the stereotypical tenured professor reaching retirement age, she rambles on and over the subject, trampling over useful subjects (how do I sew zippers properly?) in favor of unhelpful monologues on the importance of organizing your sewing room effectively (read: exactly like she does) to save time.

I can honestly say that, despite having a leg up by already being familiar with my machine, I do not feel that I've learned anything from this book at all and concepts that were already clear to me were actually rendered deeply confusing by several of the poorly illustrated techniques in this book. The only thing of value here is the final "Suggested Gifts" section, which has some nice ideas, but most of that could be found on the internet these days, with a minimum of searching. Pass on this book, is my advice.

~ Ana Mardoll

Don't be put off by the negative comments in other reviews. This book is totally in keeping with the Idiots book format, which is what total neophytes like myself need. Having read many idiots books in the computer field, I found it to be very consistent with the way they are written. I've never bought an Idiots book I was disappointed in. This book is perfect for giving you the overview of sewing that you need to be able to ask intelligent questions and decide for yourself what steps to take next and how to educate yourself further for those steps.

Thank you Lydia.