- Hardcover
- Publisher: Readers Digest (July 1981)
- ISBN-10: 0895770261
- ISBN-13: 978-0895770264
- Product Dimensions: 27.9 x 21.6 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 290,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you want to know all the basics this book is for you, My mother bought me the original by Readers Digest 40 years ago, I updated to this and wouldnt be without it, great reference book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book has been around since 1978 in one form or another, and it dates from the days when making a garment from scratch was quite usual. Even so, it doesn't assume you already know the basics, and explains even the simpler things really well, so it is a superb buy for someone looking to go into proper dressmaking or designing their own clothes.
Use this book and you can produce properly made, couture-quality clothes at home. Or run up something for the kids using a remnant. It's your choice. The main part of the text takes you, step by step, through every aspect of making a garment, including cutting and fitting your own patterns, from underlying principles to finishing touches. There is guidance, with excellent diagrams, to all the processes involved. There are garments to make, too, with the patterns shown as diagrams for you to scale up to full size on paper.
The last section of the book is "sewing for the home" with patchwork projects, curtains, soft toys - the whole lot, including a four-foot-long cuddly Stegosaurus! But the main emphasis is on clothes.
Because the clothes are designed from first principles, the book hasn't dated; in fact, many of the 1970s clothes featured are exactly what is in the shops at the moment, which is amusing! I would recommend this book very highly indeed to anyone interested in learning to design, in taking their sewing skills beyond the basics in most recent books, or especially in following the "new thriftiness" by adapting and altering clothes or making something new from something old.
Use this book and you can produce properly made, couture-quality clothes at home. Or run up something for the kids using a remnant. It's your choice. The main part of the text takes you, step by step, through every aspect of making a garment, including cutting and fitting your own patterns, from underlying principles to finishing touches. There is guidance, with excellent diagrams, to all the processes involved. There are garments to make, too, with the patterns shown as diagrams for you to scale up to full size on paper.
The last section of the book is "sewing for the home" with patchwork projects, curtains, soft toys - the whole lot, including a four-foot-long cuddly Stegosaurus! But the main emphasis is on clothes.
Because the clothes are designed from first principles, the book hasn't dated; in fact, many of the 1970s clothes featured are exactly what is in the shops at the moment, which is amusing! I would recommend this book very highly indeed to anyone interested in learning to design, in taking their sewing skills beyond the basics in most recent books, or especially in following the "new thriftiness" by adapting and altering clothes or making something new from something old.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
29 reviews
70 of 71 people found the following review helpful
A "Must Have" for your sewing reference books!
10 Mar 2002
Format:Hardcover
This edition of the Complete Guide to Sewing has recently been updated. However, the newest version does not include any information on tailoring. I use the older version for teaching sewing and constume construction classes, tailoring and special topics classes. Pictures and sketches are clear and written directions are easy to follow. This version does not have much serger/overlock information but does cover many other seam finishes. Information on fit and pattern alterations is very clear. Beginners or advanced seamstresses will find this book a "must" for their reference collection!
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Very good for your home reference!
15 Jun 2009
Format:Hardcover
I have an older edition. I have used this book countless times to guide me in various sewing projects. I learned how to sew, just to tailor my clothes, and this book showed me how. It's not slick and hip with photos like the other sewing books have--but then, they don't help you get ahead in your skills. It's full of matter-of-fact information and detailed drawings (not cartoonis).
Don't knock a boring facade--it's the guts that count on this book. I wouldn't leave a burning house without it. But seriously, if you want to learn how to adjust a pattern so that it fits like some high-falutin' designer made it for you, get this book. For example, you'll be able to identify what's wrong with your mass-produced pants, and why they bag or bind in places, for example, and how to fix those issues on your homemade versions. This book will walk you through how to read a pattern envelope, why certain fabrics would be better for various projects, how to choose the right size (and then alter it for your best fit), and then there are tons of pages of how specifically to create any collar, a gathered seam, any kind pocket of pocket you can imagine and hem finishes, and lots of helpful information you never even thought to look for.
This will make those slick new books that are more eye-catching feel like wasted money. If you want to know what you're doing, this is THE book. You'll look at those flashy books that are the hot recommendations and say to yourself "I already know how to do all that!" You'll be able to write your own silly/fluff kind of sewing book after you absorb what is in this comprehensive tome.
Don't knock a boring facade--it's the guts that count on this book. I wouldn't leave a burning house without it. But seriously, if you want to learn how to adjust a pattern so that it fits like some high-falutin' designer made it for you, get this book. For example, you'll be able to identify what's wrong with your mass-produced pants, and why they bag or bind in places, for example, and how to fix those issues on your homemade versions. This book will walk you through how to read a pattern envelope, why certain fabrics would be better for various projects, how to choose the right size (and then alter it for your best fit), and then there are tons of pages of how specifically to create any collar, a gathered seam, any kind pocket of pocket you can imagine and hem finishes, and lots of helpful information you never even thought to look for.
This will make those slick new books that are more eye-catching feel like wasted money. If you want to know what you're doing, this is THE book. You'll look at those flashy books that are the hot recommendations and say to yourself "I already know how to do all that!" You'll be able to write your own silly/fluff kind of sewing book after you absorb what is in this comprehensive tome.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A great standby reference even today!
18 Oct 2003
Format:Hardcover
I have had this book for a long time. I constantly look into other books. For the sewing classes I teach, I keep coming back to this one because it has really good laid out information and photos. Especially basic stuff that does not change!
I rate it as 4 stars simply because there is a newer version out and there has been a small amount of information I could not find or thought could have been laid out better.
I am looking forward to getting the newest version but will always keep the 1976 version. It is like an old friend!
I rate it as 4 stars simply because there is a newer version out and there has been a small amount of information I could not find or thought could have been laid out better.
I am looking forward to getting the newest version but will always keep the 1976 version. It is like an old friend!
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