Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing [Hardcover]

David Page Coffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1993

Why make a shirt? Because, with the skills you'll learn in Shirtmaking, you can create elegant, custom-fit garments for a woman or man that look like the best money can buy. Includes full-scale patterns for collars, cuffs, plackets, and pockets, and complete instructions for developing custom-fit shirt patterns.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The author, associate editor of Threads magazine, states in the introduction that he makes shirts "for the pleasure of the process, rather than as a time-saving or money-saving necessity." Designed for the experienced sewer who desires to re-create the custom-fitted look of the expensive shirtmakers, this guide examines the anatomy of shirts, the steps in patternmaking, and the techniques in shirt construction for both men's and women's garments, whether Oxford cloth, silk, or wool. Line drawings detail fabric types; shirtmaker's tools; pattern detail; precision sewing procedures for collars, pockets, packets, and cuffs; as well as the many other aspects of the shirtmaking process. One section offers ideas for variations on the classic shirt theme. Details on monogramming and sources of supplies complete the work. A companion video (unseen), Shirtmaking with David Page Coffin (45 minutes,
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561580155
• ISBN-13: 978-1561580156
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #644,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Page Coffin, a former editor at Threads magazine, is the author of Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing (Taunton Press, 1998). He has conducted sewing and tailoring workshops throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
David has also been a frequent guest host on several online sewing forums and has hosted live chats on PatternReview.com. He has appeared on Sandra Betzina's HGTV sewing program, and his instructional videos have been broadcast on YouTube.com and have received great reviews on ThreadBanger.com, PatternReview.com, and other sewing sites. David hosts http://makingtrouserswithdpc.blogspot.com/ and http://myvirtualworkshop.blogspot.com.
He lives with his wife, Ellen, in Brookings, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite sewing references ever!, June 18, 2000

By 

Susan Bischoff - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing (Hardcover)

And I own quite a few. This book takes you step by step through shirtmaking, for men or women. But it's not just making shirts, it's about fine sewing. There are all sorts of details in the book, seam finishes, high-end details, discussions about shirting fabrics. It's the sort of book that makes you want to be a quality seamstress. Every page gives you the sense of how much the authors knows and loves this craft. Excellent how-to illustrations, and wonderful photos of finished garments. I recommend it for any level sewer.

76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable learning tool, July 18, 1999

By 

Zara Hawthorne (Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing (Hardcover)

I have owned this book and the companion video for over two years now and it is a book I often have open alongside my sewing machine as I sew. David's techniques are very innovative and produce professional results. It is great to get the tricky bits of a shirt - collar and cuffs looking perfect. David also offers advice on getting a perfect fit, taking a pattern from an existing shirt, and gives patterns for a range of collars, cuffs and plackets. I have saved hundreds of dollars making beautiful customed tailored shirts for my husband and myself using David's techniques.

106 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book on sewing for men, August 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing (Paperback)

As someone who is mostly interested in sewing clothes for myself (a man) I feel gypped by most sewing books that are 75% concerned with specific construction techniques for women's clothing. Finally a book where the variations for women are in effect relegated to sidebars. The author of this book, David Page Coffin, is the Senior Editor of Threads magazine, probably the best of the sewing magazines (not perfect, but at least not packed with quilting and baby clothes). Coffin is a former painter who taught himself how to sew and has made his own shirts for a couple of decades. The fact that he comes from a self-taught amateur background but is a sewing journalist who has interviewed custom shirtmakers and watched them at work gives this book a good balance. Coffin is something of a shirt fetishist, and he includes information on the historical development of the "classic dress shirt" as well as photographs of various vintage ready-to-wear and designer shirts and shirt collars (yes, he goes into how you can make shirts with detachable collars). At points he sounds like some sort of shirt archaeologist, for example, teling us that a particular vintage custom shirt he has in his "collection" used a pieced sleeve to save on fabric costs. Coffin describes his own methods in detail, but makes the point that there is more than one way to do things. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated (drawings by the author), and full-sized patterns for various pieces like collars, cuffs, and plackets are included. I can't emphasized how excited I was to find a book like this, and I have the video on order.