Reddit reviews Classic Tailoring Techniques (F.I.T. Collection)

Oh, I understood.

As for resources, here's what I suggest:

A good sewing class at a community college. I took classes at a fashion-oriented one and in under four months I had learned how to sew on an industrial machine and done several seams and seam finishes, basic hand stitches, two types of zippers, facings, a skirt with zipper, darts, waistband, and closures and a fairly complex woman's blouse (it had 14 pieces). At the end, I didn't do any of these things as well I would have liked, but I knew the fundamentals and what I had to improve on. All projects were in some kind of cotton because it is easy to work with.

In the second sewing class, I learned welt pockets, made corduroy pants with a waistband and fly, and sewed a wool jacket with patch pockets and a bagged lining. Again, I learned a lot, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. Then I took tailoring and couture classes and menswear classes.

A community college setting is good because there's a curriculum into which they have put some thought and by law, they have to make sure you do the work. It's also usually cheaper than private classes if you qualify for the in-state rate.

If you can afford it and want to do things on your own schedule, private classes are great. I would have a teacher show me how to fit and modify a pattern and teach me to sew it. One source for teachers is the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals.

Online, I recommend the University of Fashion because the teaching, in general, is very good. For pattern making and draping, they tell you the sequence of videos to watch. I think that the sewing videos aren't organized that way, but if you need to look up a technique, it's very easy.

If you want a complex project, I recommend Susan Khalje's The Couture Dress on Craftsy. Even if you don't use the pattern that comes with the course, she teaches very good methods. Couture-style sewing is actually good for beginners because there are many more steps that give the sewer more control. It was only after a basic couture class that I really began to improve because I needed to break down the process more. Khalje also teaches a lace skirt class, but the lace used is pretty expensive. As you may know, Craftsy offers frequent sales.

There are many good sewing books, but any edition of The Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing is decent. It's a really encyclopedic home sewing book. If you ever look into tailoring, Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket and these books for men and women are very helpful.

Elizabeth Liechty's Fitting and Pattern Alteration is usually considered the most comprehensive book on that subject.

All these books are available in the library if too expensive to buy.

I personally don't think you are too old.

I used to sew for fun when I was 16, stopped after leaving school and began again at the age of 23/24. I have been steadily re-learning all of the techniques I was taught at school, and have been attending college courses on sewing and dressmaking too. I am now at the stage where I am working on my own project portfolio, but will happily admit that I am still learning lots of new things.

I will agree with /u/heliotropedit though. you do have to be completely 100% dedicated to learning everything you can.

You will end up spending hours and hours practicing the same techniques over and over again. You will want to quit at times and need to motivate yourself to carry on and push through to the end. You'll want to cry on occasions at how tired you are and how you feel that your work simply isn't good enough and how it never will be. You will see other people wearing beautifully crafted garments and feel angry at your own lack of skills. but when you finally break through and create a perfectly drafted and constructed garment, you will realise all of that time, pain, upset and sheer panic will have been 100% worth it.

But before you ever reach this point, you need to be completely certain that it is what you want to do, the tailoring profession is very difficult to break into and it takes true dedication and sacrifice and time (years) to make it.

NB a few good books to help:- (the first three books are good for beginners, the last 4 books are aimed at the more intermediate level sewers)

Easy Does It Dressmaking

The Sewing Book

The Dressmakers Handbook

Couture Sewing Techniques as recommended to me by /u/heliotropedit.

Couture Sewing: Tailoring Techniques

Classic Tailoring Techniques: Menswear

Classic Tailoring Techniques: Womenswear

>the crotch. If you turn a pair of pants inside out and look at the crotch, you'll notice it sort of curves. You'll have to follow that curve, whereas the outside seam would just be straight.

OP if you do attempt to alter in this fashion I highly suggest that you seek out a book or two on tailoring techniques.

Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear (F.I.T. Collection) By Roberto Cabrera Buyitonamazon

Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Women's Wear (F.I.T. Collection) By Roberto Cabrera Buyitonamazon

Also the Cutter & Tailor forums is another excellent resource for menswear

New Complete Guide to Sewing for general sewing techniques.

For tailoring men's clothes, Classic Tailoring Techniques (and women's.)

For pattern drafting, Winnifred Aldrich has a great line of books.
There's also Fundamentals of Men's Fashion Design, casual and tailored. As well as Patternmaking for Fashion Design.

For corsets, Waisted Efforts and The Basics of Corset Building are good.

For making shirts, Shirtmaking.

For learning to sew stretch/knit fabrics, Sew U: Home Stretch is pretty good.

And for just having a bunch of fun with patterns, the Pattern Magic series is plain awesome. I think there's three of them out now.

Edit: thought of more!

The Art of Manipulating Fabric is great. And www.threadsmagazine.com as well as the corresponding print publication.