The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress [Hardcover-spiral]

Sarai Mitnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2011

Five simple fundamentals can help you perfect any sewing project: a thoughtful plan, a precise pattern, a fantastic fit, a beautiful fabric, and a fine finish. With these five core ideas, The Colette Sewing Handbook shows you how to start sewing the wardrobe of your dreams.

Includes five beautiful patterns for modern classic pieces, including a scalloped-hem skirt, flutter-sleeve blouse, sweetheart neck sheath dress, asymmetrical flounce dress, and a lined dress with gathered sleeves. Each project will help you put the fundamentals into practice as you sew.

• Approachable and easy to follow. Instead of a big, confusing catalog of sewing techniques, you'll build your knowledge gradually around the five simple fundamentals. A section of basic sewing lessons means you'll never feel lost.

• Hands-on learning. Start improving your skills immediately by applying each of the five principles of the book to a beautiful project, included in the book.

• Feed your creativity. Have more fun designing sewing projects for your personal style, and create the things you'll actually love to wear!

• Feel more confident. Gain the know-how to work with any sewing pattern out there.

• Look great in what you make. Become your own custom seamstress and hand-tailor clothes that fit you the way you want.

• Get inspired by fabric. Expand your creative palette and get the look you want by choosing the best fabrics for your projects.

• Perfect the details. Make clothes you can be proud of with beautiful finishing techniques.

Colette Patterns is known for timeless design and exceptionally clear instruction. This book from designer Sarai Mitnick guides you gradually and painlessly to becoming a better seamstress. Get inspired, feel confident, and make beautiful clothing you'll be proud to wear!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Featured Tips from The Collect Sewing Handbook: Seam Finishes

Finishing raw edges will extend the life of your garment, keeping the cut edges of your fabric from raveling and possibly destroying the integrity of your seams.

Bound Edge [pictured]

This is a method of finishing an edge, such as a neckline or sleeve hem, by enclosing it with bias tape. The seam allowance will vary, depending on the size of the bias tape you use. Use a bound edge when your pattern calls for one, such as the Taffy Blouse pattern in this chapter. You can purchase bias tape, or make your own.

French Seam

A French seam is sewn twice, encasing the raw edges within the seam. It creates a very neat, narrow seam, making it perfect for sheer or very light fabrics. It's not suited for heavy fabrics, since it will create too much bulk.

Flat Felled Seam

Flat felled seams are quite strong and are found often in tailored shirts or trousers. Take a look at your favorite jeans and you'll find flat felled seams. Use this technique when extra strength or durability is needed.

Bound Seam

A bound seam uses binding around the raw edges of a stitched seam. Because of its bulk, it can show through on lighter fabrics, so it's most often used with very sturdy fabrics such as denim, or on jackets and outerwear. It's a wonderful opportunity to use a fun color or printed binding, to add some flash to the inside of your garment.

Serged Seam

Serging is what you will see most often in ready-to-wear clothing. Raw edges are stitched with a special machine called a serger, which holds multiple spools of thread and trims the seams as it sews. If you don't have a serger, you can try zigzag stitching over the raw edges of your seam allowance, or use your sewing machine's overlock stitch if it has one. Be aware that this uses a considerable amount of thread.

Pinked Seam

Pinked seams are simple to create, requiring just a pair of pinking shears. The zigzag pattern of the cut edge keeps the fabric from raveling. Pinked seams are commonly found within vintage garments, which goes to show that they can last. Use pinked seams on cottons and other somewhat sturdy fabrics that are not very prone to fraying.

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Review

"Mitnick, founder of the fashion-forward Colette Patterns line, introduces novice sewers to the principles of fine garment construction in this simple guide to couture sewing." -Library Journal

"This book is packed full of information to help you learn everything you need to know to sew garments. It really has everything the newbie or intermediate sewer would need to either get started or take their garment sewing skills to the next level." - Brett Bara, author of Sewing In a Straight Line

"This book delivers what it promises, excellent sewing information presented in a lovely format. I highly recommend this book to sewers of all skill levels."-patternreview.com

"Mitnick not only teaches you the techniques to become a competent seamstress, but a confident one." - UK Handmade Magazine

"Update your wardrobe with the classic, feminine designs featured in The Colette Sewing Handbook." - Sew News Magazine

This may be the first book of its kind that I actually read from cover to cover." --Darling Adventures

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See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover-spiral: 192 pages
• Publisher: Krause Publications; Spi edition (November 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440215456
• ISBN-13: 978-1440215452
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.9 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Sewing

More About the Author

Sarai Mitnick is the founder and designer behind Colette Patterns, an independent pattern company known for beautiful design and excellent instruction. A lover of vintage styles and classic details, Sarai founded Colette Patterns when she discovered a lack of modern sewing patterns for design-oriented sewers, and it has been growing by leaps and bounds every since. She shares tips, tricks, how-tos, and free patterns on her popular sewing blog at colettepatterns.com. Sarai Mitnick lives in Portland, OR.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 122 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best for Beginners December 6, 2011

By L. Marie

Format:Hardcover-spiral|Amazon Verified Purchase

Let me preface this review with the fact that I have been sewing for most of my life.

I am a big fan of Sarai's patterns, so when I saw that she was writing a book, I am sure that I pre-ordered it within an hour of the announcement.

Upon receiving the book, I noticed it was packaged without the accompanying patterns, which, as a more advanced sewist, I was most excited about. Back to Amazon it went. However, I had a replacement in two days (big thanks to Ida in Customer Service. She was so helpful!)

In my first run-through of the book, I was most impressed by the presentation of the book. The book is Colette through and through, from the writing style to the color palette, and the layout of the mini-tutorials was clear, the text concise. The book doesn't assume any background in sewing, and demonstrates hand stitching as well as the basic functions of a few machine stitches. For someone with a great deal of sewing experience, the techniques weren't a great deal of use to me.

What I was most impressed with was Sarai's approach to "thoughtful sewing". Her chapter "A Precise Plan" highlights what a lot of beginning sewists struggle with: imbuing your sewing with your identity. Her notes on defining your style were beautifully thought out, and help beginning sewists actually think about what they want to sew, and why they should (because it fits in your wardrobe!). Sarai instructs you in creating a personal croquis to experiment with how a garment will look on you, which could save a new sewist a ton of stress in creating a garment that turns out the be unflattering.

"A Fine Fabric" is, of course, the prettiest chapter, but not very ground breaking. Anyone with More Fabric Savvy: A Quick Resource Guide to Selecting and Sewing Fabric will already know all of the information presented here, and more (again, advanced sewist talking). I've noticed Sarai has a strong bias towards silk, which is all well and good, but I doubt most beginners will start with something so expensive.

The patterns were the reason I bought this book, and I was not disappointed. Colette Patterns drafts for a C-Cup, which is a size above what most pattern companies draft for, and it's a huge step forward in accommodating the changing American figure. And pattern sizing is more similar to ready-to-wear, which I'm sure is a huge help for the beginning sewist. For me, many of the patterns fit pretty well straight off the block, with only minor adjustments to fit, which Sarai covers in the chapter "A Fantastic Fit". For those with more complicated fitting issues, this book may be a little lacking, but picking up The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide to Altering Patterns or Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern (Sewing for Real People series) will help with any fitting problem you could fathom.

All in all, it was a lovely and well put together book, even if the material wasn't anything groundbreaking for me. If you're struggling with creating garments that you'll love, or a beginner who wants a unique and thoughtfully created first project, I cannot recommend this book enough. If you're more of an advanced sewist, I'd pick it up for the patterns and just because it is a lovely book to have around. I fully intend to leave it on my coffee table to hopefully inspire some of my non-sewing friends to learn!

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than I expected! November 15, 2011

By Cikk VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover-spiral

What a great book. Wish I had it when I started sewing way back. Or when I started sewing again a few months ago. But I was lucky then to discover the Colette patterns, which are not only lovely, wearable, flattering vintage inspired patterns, but come in great little booklets with detailed instruction and illustrations of steps - I was lucky to start off sewing again with her wrap dress, Crepe, and not with one of the Big Four patterns which would have thrown me for a loop in my beginning throes! After that I ordered and made more of her patterns, and was really excited to see that she was going to publish a book - and pleased for her - she deserves a wide audience.

I pre-ordered this book, even before I saw previews of the patterns enclosed,, partly because from following the writer's blog and the great detailed, clever and thorough tutorials thereon I expected it to be a great resource, and partly because I knew it would be gorgeous - I love her aesthetic. Then after seeing the pattern previews I was dying for the book to come! I was more than satisfied in all respects - the book is thoughtfully written and beautifully photographed and laid out, and the sewing instructions and tips therein are excellent. Plus, I want to make all the patterns.....

The book made me think about planning my wardrobe in a way I hadn't before - I tend to crush on fabric, buy, make and then realise I have a skirt which goes with nothing.... She advocates a more thoughtful approach with beautifully made items forming the base of your wardrobe - plus getting fit right, and then using the same patterns again and again in different fabrics with different detailing or embellishment - makes sense to me, instead of jumping from pattern to pattern always hoping one will look nicer and fit better than the other. The photos and descriptions of different kinds of fabric made me realise where I've gone wrong in my fabric choices at times - the knitters reading this will understand if they've ever made a ribbed fitted sweater in suri alpaca - all that work for something that becomes an A-line, loose and matter under the arms after two wears!

On a practical note, the book is hardback but ring bound, so it lies flat - yay! The sewing tips detailed are photographed clearly. There are loads of photos of different ways to adjust patterns - and now I see that the way I was adjusting waistlines was wrong all along - no wonder my side seams were off.....

I've bought a lot of sewing books, including the three that came out recently with patterns included - see my other reviews, if you wish. This is the only one that's going to sit on the little table near my sewing table along with my Threads sewing guide, Claire Shaeffer's Couture Techniques, and the Reader's Digest compendium. LOVE.....Highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh...how you confound me Colette February 11, 2012

By A. Morton

Format:Hardcover-spiral

Truth is, I think I hate Colette patterns. Tis true - I don't think they are that flattering, even the one I covet a bit I don't think will look good on me, since I don't think it looks good on the model or on most of the reviews I've seen. Lots of people seem to love them, and to me my main intrigue is that the patterns fit a C cup, unlike most patterns being only suitable for a B cup. Nevertheless, I don't like any of the patterns in the book.

All that aside - this is the most helpful and succinct book about sewing I have purchased to date. I can say it's good for a beginner to moderately skilled person. I have no idea what an advanced sewer would get out of this, since I don't happen to be one yet. It's not overly wordy but every word counts. I've read and re-read a lot of it. You know, I haven't even finished it, I am too busy trying to absorb all the great facts and tips in it. It's full of great information all the way from choosing and cutting the fabric, constructing the garments, fixing fitting issues, and finishing your projects.

I am going to make at least a couple of the patterns just to do their walk-throughs of the patterns, even if I hate the clothes on me, I know I'll learn a lot, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and find I like something I create from it. I do need a little black dress, so maybe somehow I can make the Truffle dress suit me. If you enjoy the patterns, even one of them, as they run $15+ each, at this price the book is a steal. Hell, I don't like them and I'm still pretty darn pleased. So my advice is buy this to add to your library.