Customer Reviews

Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing: A Modern Guide to Couture-style Sewing Using Basic Vintage Techniques

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

 

 

As a follower of Gertie's blog & professional costumer, I was looking forward to seeing this book. Beautifully presented & with introductory chapters explaining techniques in detail plus exquisite illustrations. My only (slight) disappointment was the garments themselves. The Chantilly Lace Blouse is shapeless & uninspiring, & while several of the other patterns promise much Gertie's own samples look worryingly lumpy - the hemline of the suit skirt, for instance, & the side seams of the strapless Party Dress. Maybe that's just me being picky, though ...... Overall, definitely a book worth buying.

I had to wait 3 months for my local bookshop to have the copy of the book I'd ordered shipped over from America, which may have coloured my feelings about it... but I'm not sure it's really what I wanted. Part of the big selling point was supposed to be the special line of patterns included in the binding, and I knew before I ordered that I was never going to be terribly interested in those: I've got a backlog of real vintage patterns in styles that I actually like, while I don't favour Gertie's close-fitting sheath dresses/skirts. And I've already got instructions for sewing techniques of the era: I don't need encouraging into 'vintage sewing' because having originally learned from second-hand books I never had any serger/fleece/knits/overlocker shortcuts in my repertoire to unlearn in the first place!

So I was really buying the book in the hopes of having the various directions in my assortment of elderly sewing texts assembled in one place in an easy-to-access and illustrated format, expecting the level of description that Gertie gives on her blog: any other useful elements would be a bonus. Unfortunately, as a previous reviewer points out, this is the weakest part of the book. The written directions for specific techniques are, in the absence of detailed illustration (there is generally only one general photo given), no more helpful than the very similar paragraphs in the period sewing books I already have... useful as an aide-memoire for someone who has previously learnt the technique, but hard to visualise in the abstract. See the minimal instructions for inserting a lapped zip, for example - a subject Gertie earlier covered in far more detail on her blog

Individual projects at the end of the book use a line-drawing step-by-step style which is potentially much more useful, and I may find myself referring back to these. But this is really no more useful than all the scattered hints in specific vintage pattern directions that I have already - I was hoping for a central reference source.

Overall, I'm not sure I'd recommend this for the novice, while the expert will probably own other books covering this material already. I think the target market is the home sewer who already knows how to make her own clothes using modern techniques but wants to 'convert to vintage', while the pattern line is aimed at those who are happy to flaunt their curves (and their tattoos!) I can probably learn from this book with study of the details of the projects and I'm hoping the section on fitting will be useful, as currently I can't even see most fitting problems until they're pointed out to me. But for the stuff I actually need to look up, I suspect I'm going to end up using help from a wide range of other sources as previously... including the author's own (free) website....

I follow Gertie's blog and have done a couple of her online courses at Craftsy so was eagerly anticipating the arrival of her book. If you love vintage sewing you will love this book. The accompanying patterns are scrumptious and I can't decide what to make first. The first part of the book has some good techniques and tips for sewing vintage including fitting and fabric choices but the piece de resistance are the wonderful patterns. Considering a commercial pattern now costs around £8 a time the 15 patterns included mean this book is great value. Well done Gertie's you did not disappoint!

I pre-ordered and couldn't wait for this to arrive.
I would consider myself an experienced sewer and also cut my own patterns.
The styles in the book are good and you have good base patterns for adding your own necklines /collars etc.
This great for me as I'm inspired by the designs and don't have to start a pattern from scratch.

It would have been good to see technical drawings of each of her patterns and in some cases more photos of the finished garments.

I personally haven't learn't anything new regards to construction as there is more detail in books such as Claire Shaffers or Susan Khaljie.

The artwork and layout of the book is great.

I don't think it's for a complete novice but for somebody with some experience.

For a while, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this book - however it came to my attention that our American counterparts - received their book at least a week before the release date, over here in the UK the book was received exactly a week after the release date even though it had been pre-ordered some weeks before! Amazon and UK publishers for this book - please sort out your inventory system!!

Moving on - the book has many beautiful patterns and useful vintage techniques - some of which are still used in couture sewing and a very useful section on pattern fitting, which gave a quick overview (books like either Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern (Sewing for Real People) or Fitting and Pattern Alteration 2nd Edition will provide pattern fitting in more detail.

However, my concern was there was not enough detailed photographs for some of the sewing techniques (in my opinion the photos gave just a quick overview - in other words there were instances where just one photo was used to represent a type of handsewing, which was a bit disappointing. What would have been helpful would be to see several photos showing the stitch from start to finish, rather than just seeing the finished product. Moreover, the other methods that were used to construct the more complicated garments, i.e. tailoring and other vintage techniques were replaced by drawings instead and if you are a complete novice or an intermediate beginner to sewing, (unless you are brillant at instantly assessing the information in drawings), then you may need to seek other sources such as Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket, Couture Sewing Techniques, Youtube and Susan Khalije on craftsy dot com to supplement this. As for the intermediate to advanced sewers they may probably find it more easy.

Apart from that, I think the publishers should have allowed Gertie to include more photos showing indepth details of sewing techniques for her beautiful patterns.

(N.B. One of the patterns by Gertie - the suit jacket can be accessed via an online video tutorial on craftsy dot com, so more indepth information on its contruction can be found there)

What can I say, great book, beautifully illustrated, informative, has all the patterns and instructions, step by step, fabric suggestions the list goes on........

I bought this book after becoming addicted to Gertie's blog (blogforbettersewing). She is amazing - sassy, approachable, listenable, clever and an amazing stitcher and designer. Quite rightly, based on the success of her blog and her growing abilities, she has produced this book which, oh my good, comes with patterns!!!!

I am not an expert stitcher but can hold my own so I was absolutely delighted with this book. It is good on the basics and fabulous on the further intricacies of stitching couture like items. Don't be afraid - buy the book and dive in. You won't be left high and dry and will be sewing amazing clothes in no time.

Extra fabulous news - she is currently working on a new book of more casual designs. I think I might need a lie down ... I'm so excited.

Fantastic book - fun and easy to read. Patterns are easy to fit to size once you sort out the American. Mix and match well together for new styles too. Well worth a look.

reading about how others tackle sewing is always fun,and the patterns are a plus too.a brave attempt to show that sewing is now considered a fun thing to do

gr8 loved this but have not got round to making anything just yet but will do in near future xx