Customer Reviews

Easy Guide To Sewing Tops & T-Shirts (Sewing Companion Library)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You wouldn't think there would be enough to say about t-shirts to fill a whole book, would you? Well, there is! This is another terrific book from the people at Threads. If you want to make really beautiful, professional, classy tops and t-shirts this is the book for you. Marcy Tilton has taken her many years of sewing and teaching experience and distilled it into a guide that helps with fitting, tweaking the pattern, choosing fabrics, new ways with facings and neck bindings, etc. There's a good beginner section on painting and stencilling your tops too. I bought this book after hearing Marcy lecture at a sewing convention on the topic "The $200 T-Shirt" and have found it to be very useful in my sewing. There are some small tables on measurements and interfacings that are great for photocopying and putting on your bulletin board in your sewing room. I would highly recommend this book if you're looking for a way to spruce up that Casual Friday wardrobe.

This is a very helpful handbook for home sewers who want to learn appropriate techniques for creating quality women's tops. There are many good illustrations, and the text is clearly written. As a skilled seamstress who has sewed for many years, I can tell you that the methods in this book are really good, and as the title indicates they are also quite easy. If you are learning to sew and have trouble understanding the guide sheets that come with commercial patterns, this books will teach you sound sewing techniques that will get you off to a good start.

Although much of the content of this book may already be familiar to advanced sewers, you may still learn something new or find things that you knew but had forgotten. I browse through this book frequently when planning a new sewing project. It is nice to have so much pertinent information in one handy little paperback.

If you are looking for a sewing book that deals with very fitted or tailored garments, this is not the book you want. It does not cover making collars, or the methods used in making menswear type shirts. The author's introduction specifies that she is only dealing with t-shirts made from knit fabrics, or with unstructured pullover tops in woven fabrics. The emphasis of the book is on fashion sewing. The examples in the book are dressy tops, rather than casual t-shirts or unisex activewear. The author shows how to take very basic designs and add value and quality by using designer methods. She also gives good advice about appropriate fabric choices.

I am short, full busted, round and no longer have a perky body. I bought the book because I make a lot of tee shirts and have problems fitting. Marcy does a thorough job of teaching us how to construct and alter our garments. Often the front of my shirt rides up because of my bust size. Marcy shares the tip of cutting across the front of the pattern at the bust point and adding an inch to accomodate the full bust. This extra space gets eased into the side seam at the bust point and my tee shirts no longer ride up in the front. She also gives detailed explanations and pictures on how to alter all parts of the pattern. This is now a book I refer to often when starting to work with a new pattern. Thank you, Marcy for sharing your sewing knowledge with us.

The author has a clear writing style, provides clear and helpful illustrations and not only summarizes critical procedures, but gives some fine-tuned tips and tricks on established techniques that are necessary to produce quality, professional-looking results. Avoid the Heidi Klume "it looks home sewn" assessment, and apply the techniques learned from this book to any kind of top, blouse, or project. It's not just for t-shirts.

Shortly before this book was published, the author appeared on Sandra Betzina's "Sew Perfect" show (former show on HGTV) to discuss how to create bias-cut garments, pattern layout issues, and fabric recommendations (like a forgiving linen). Many of those tips are in this book.

There are lots of helpful hints in here. It's not necessarily a must have but it's a great book to have once you have covered the basics. If you make a lot of tops then you will really get a lot of use out of it.

I am enjoying this book very much. The author is a well known sewing teacher and fitter. She explains every step in choosing the fabric, fitting
the pattern, cutting & finishing the garment. Also, ways to change the
top with decorative stitching etc. Very well presented and full of color
photos. I would recommend this to anyone who makes & wears T-shirts and tops.

Yesterday I sent my husband to the library to borrow Marci Tilton's Easy Guide to Sewing Tops & T-Shirts. Ten minutes after I started reading it, I logged onto Amazon and ordered a used copy for my sewing library. I'm a solid, experienced, intermediate level sewer who loves to sew tee shirts, and I found a great deal of helpful information, some of which was new to me. So I completely disagree with the reviewer who thought experienced sewers wouldn't learn anything new from it.

The clearly written and well illustrated section on altering patterns to assure a perfect fit was especially valuable for me. I only wish I'd read this chapter earlier this year when I made half a dozen muslins to fine tune the fit of my basic tee shirt pattern. I eventually got it exactly right, but having this book would have saved me a good deal of time and effort.

I understand Threads is republishing this book in January as part of a combined set. It's a true classic.

If you want to improve your results, this is the book to buy.
Easy to understand and will be a good reference.
I'm glad I bought it.

A good book with clear step by step directions and illustrations that
can turn a so-so top to a good-fitting, well finished top.

Many creative style changes to expand ones top wardrobe.

An excellent book to add to a sewng library.

I haven't actually used it yet, but I like the idea that I have just ONE book to go to when I am working with knits.