One-Piece Wearables: 25 Chic Garments and Accessories to Sew from Single Pattern Pieces (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) [Hardcover-spiral]

Sheila Brennan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008 | Series: Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls

15 Patterns Included!

Simple but elegant fashions requiring minimal sewing and cutting! Each modern and stylish piece is made using a single pattern piece, which is then snipped, trimmed, twisted, folded, and stitched. Each garment is accessible to even those with little sewing experience but also novel and appealing enough to attract experienced sewers. Projects provide readers with the inspiration and instruction to make customized, versatile wardrobe pieces that can be made in any range of fabrics and worn in combination or alone for a variety of style and fashion effects.

Each project featured in this book is made from a single pattern piece. Requiring minimal investment, simple sewing techniques, cutting, and creative yet simple folding, fashions can be made out of a range of fabrics providing limitless styles for each pattern. Many pieces can be worn multiple ways and in many different combinations with other pieces, ensuring endless style variations and to create an all-purpose wardrobe for all occasions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sheila Brennan (New York, NY) is a designer who has worked in top companies in the fashion industry in New York, London and Paris for over ten years. She is both a talented designer and a skilled patternmaker who has always questioned traditional ways of looking at clothing construction. She is inspired by designers who are known for their innovative approach to fashion, such as Issey Miyake, Madeleine Vionnet, and Comme des Garcons.

Product Details

• Hardcover-spiral: 144 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books; Spi edition (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592533442
• ISBN-13: 978-1592533442
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Elizabeth Zimmerman of Sewing, August 18, 2008

By 

Vanessa Johnson "beingv" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One-Piece Wearables: 25 Chic Garments and Accessories to Sew from Single Pattern Pieces (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) (Hardcover-spiral)

Great book of chic and easy projects that actually look great! The idea of a one piece pattern reminds me of Elizabeth Zimmerman's style of one piece knitting - all you need to do is sew the seams together to finish the garment. These projects are quick and easy and work well alone or with embellishments. Bottomline, this book is a base for creating an entire wardrobe, down to a purse! The book is spiral bound with an inside front cover pocket containing the patterns. Its made very sturdy and should take a beating on your sewing room/space table ( I have a preference for books built to withstand a fall from the height of an average sewing table). One wish for the author, in your next book, it would be great to see real life finished garment images instead of illustrated ones. Other than that, I love this book!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but needs more details, January 31, 2009

By 

Angelwolfe (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One-Piece Wearables: 25 Chic Garments and Accessories to Sew from Single Pattern Pieces (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) (Hardcover-spiral)

I bought this book for all the variety in it. Most items are simple, not terribly fitted pieces, but one bugs me: The Fitted Jacket. Even the 'large' is too small for me. It seems to me that this book, like so many patterns and such out there, is designed for the stick figures with no cleavage. I'm not a stick figure, and I very definitely have cleavage (I'm not vastly overweight, either). This book claims it's for seamstresses of all levels... but beginners would have it easy only if they already fit the 'stick figure' type, and don't have to drastically modify the pattern. The T-Tunic is awesome. I had to enlarge it as well, but that was easy enough. Some dresses I won't even bother making, as I won't be able to wear them. Strappy dresses and halters are great if you don't have to wear a bra, but the average woman does have to wear one, so we're out of luck.

More size options/modifications. A section on how to expand/shrink the patterns, when needed, would be awesome too. Still a good book, just needs a few more bits of information.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Small range of sizing, unclear directions, November 5, 2008

By 

ReadNReVu - See all my reviews

This review is from: One-Piece Wearables: 25 Chic Garments and Accessories to Sew from Single Pattern Pieces (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) (Hardcover-spiral)

Some of the clothing patterns in the book are cute, like the halter top, but many of them are spring/summer patterns, and a lot of them seem to be for the slender model types, not curvier and/or larger types. Some of the patterns are of the "T-Tunic" type that you could do just as well making your own pattern for after taking your measurements, and why they weren't presented that way in the first place is a mystery.

And, not only is there no size info on the single size patterns provided, there are no instructions for adjusting the sizes if you want to, which makes one very reluctant to even go buy fabric to make any of these items.

The sewing instructions are unclear, and don't have enough pictures.

I would love to see this book re-published with more size options and better instructions. As it is, buy used or get your library to buy it.

Edited to add: Finally found the size ranges--they are printed in rather small print on the bottom of the pattern envelope. They run slightly larger than the sizes in Chic & Simple Sewing, but are still on the small side.