Reddit reviews The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress
We found 15 Reddit comments about The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
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For a bit of an oddball approach, learning a bit about sewing and how clothes are made can aid you in your quest for quality, especially if you're doing a lot of your shopping in person. Knowing what a taped zipper, pad stitching, French seams, Hong Kong bindings, or a properly pressed welt pocket looks like can give you hints about a garment's durability and quality, even when the brand is unfamiliar to you.
For example, an unnecessarily deep hem on a skirt might mean that the manufacturer acknowledged that the skirt needs the extra weight to hang prettily or that the buyer might want to lengthen it. Or if there's a grosgrain ribbon sewn on the inside of a skirt's waistband, that's to prevent the waist from stretching out and so the wooly fabric doesn't rub up against your skin or tights. It's these unnecessary little touches that (hopefully!) mean that the rest of the garment was made with such care and forethought. :)
Any sewing book from your library with a chapter on hems and seam finishes can teach you stuff like this-- you don't actually have to learn to sew! For some suggestions, The Colette Sewing Handbook is a very pretty, approachable book that you could browse and digest in an evening. On the other end of the spectrum, Claire Schaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques contains everything you could possibly want to know about what makes a high-end garment, and I think it's fascinating clothing-porn.
And from even further out of left field, if your style at all inclines towards retro, you'd be the perfect size for vintage skirts and dresses. Your unusually slender waist means there are a ton of lightly-worn or deadstock garments just waiting for you to snatch 'em up! Spending a day browsing a vintage shop or Etsy could be fun. Look for deep hems, metal zippers, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union tag for some quality pieces.
Actually I'm going to tell you NOT to start by altering your own clothes. It is actually easier to make something new than to alter clothing. I suggest you learn to sew from the following books: The Colette Sewing Handbook by Sarai Mitnik, the SEW Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp and Stitch by Stitch. All three of these books come with patterns for all sorts of projects. Once you graduate to some harder things, and especially if you are interested in sewing 1950s-inspired retro clothing, try Gerties New Book for Better Sewing By Gretchen Hirsch. This book has beautiful patterns and also helps with more couture techniques. Happy sewing!
Colette patterns has a neat entry-level book, which comes with 5 clothing patterns! Their patterns are sized a little differently than regular patterns, but they are known for their clear instructions (usually a big frustration for new seamstresses).
My favorite sewing book ever is a little older, from Reader's Digest, if you believe that. Not the sexiest present, maybe, but super-useful. It shows you how to do everything, and the illustrations are plentiful and very clear.
So should we post recommendations for resources here and now? Because I personally loved The Colette Sewing Handbook and the tutorials at Colette Patterns.
I'd recommend picking up a sewing book that comes with patterns, like the Colette sewing Handbook or BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook
I have both. The Colette book is laid out kind of like a lesson plan where you sew all the projects in order, and they gradually introduce new techniques. They cover a lot on fitting, but not a ton on modifying the pattern to look different.
The BurdaStyle book is laid out in a more "traditional" way, so all the reference stuff is at the front, then they move onto the patterns. The book has great details and ideas on changing up the patterns to suit your preference.
I also picked up Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing recently, which if you're into vintage style clothing, I'd recommend you pickup later on. (it's a more intermediate-level book, so I would recommend working on other patterns first.)
Hey, check out the Colette Patterns book, and website, respectively here and [here] (http://www.colettepatterns.com/). There are similar garments to the ones you posted in a sequential, made-for-learning book (so you make the first project, and then build on those skills for the second and then the same for the third, etc.) and it comes with the patterns.
I've heard really good things about The Sewtionary. It's a dictionary-styled book, so it's just techniques and how to do them, all in alphabetical order.
If you want something that you can work through and learn a lot at the same time, there is the Colette Sewing Handbook and Tilly and the Buttons' Love at First Stitch. They both have a handful of patterns and the book walks you through them, getting slowly more difficult, and teaching techniques as you go.
Note: I don't own any of these books, but they're all highly-reviewed.
These are very basic suggestions:
Colette's Beginner Book
Very nice, focuses on sewing clothing, comes with patterns.
[Fabric Reference] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089689536X/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00)
Tons of information on fabrics.
Reader's Digest Guide
Lots of sewing techniques and information. You can get the new edition but the old ones are cheap!
Gertie's suggestions
Most, if not all, of these books came from Gertie. Just Google "building a sewing library" or something along those lines and you will get great information. Don't neglect blogs! The internet is a vast sewing resource. Good luck. :)
I would definitely recommend getting some beginner sewing books to start too. It will set you up so much better, so you're making beautiful things from the beginning, and will help you build skills. A lot of times I think beginners get over ambitious, try to make a fancy dress with a difficult (or inappropriate - quilting cottons are for quilting not dressmaking) fabric, get frustrated with fit issues and complicated techniques, and then give up. I think the Colette Sewing Handbook is great, although I think a lot of people on this sub don't like it for whatever reason. Tilly & the Button is more popular and is also fine. Both have blogs and sell patterns which you can use in addition to what's in the books. There are also tons of how-to's online, fitting books, other blogs, and more advanced books once you get into it.
Edit to add: I'm sure you can find these books or similar at the library too, and estate and garage sales are an excellent place to find cheap sewing machines, patterns, fabric, and things like thread and zippers.
I can't believe no one mentioned sewing books yet. There are so many kick-ass introduction to sewing books out there now!
Most of these talk you through setting up your machine all the way to making some pretty nice garments. They are a must have. I'd go for love at first stitch if she's into quirky younger fashion and the collette book if she's a little more conservative. Both include a few patterns to start her off.
http://www.amazon.com/Love-First-Stitch-Demystifying-Dressmaking/dp/1611802342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418696695&sr=8-1&keywords=love+at+first+stitch
http://www.amazon.com/Colette-Sewing-Handbook-Techniques-Seamstress/dp/1440215456/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418696786&sr=8-2&keywords=colette&pebp=1418696800367
I am a big fan of these books:
This is a fun challenge! And I can't stay away from this thread, apparently. I went back and looked for some more matches. I hope you make some of these and post pics! :)
Simplicity (also McCall's and Butterick) have great sales but I love the aesthetic and design of Colette patterns--you should check out her book if you haven't already; includes a bunch of dress patterns along with sewing guidance. A great deal. Colette Macaron might be a good starting point for Fury and Coulson (maybe better not to do strapless dresses for a work wardrobe but the contrast/sheer top could be acceptable?) Hazel would be perfect for Captain America--the seaming may not be obvious from the main pic, but click on the one with stripes and you'll see what I mean.
I think for Loki you could probably make a dress with a green top (maybe start from Colette Pastille from the Sewing Handbook, which has the little cap sleeves) and then sort of a belt/corset overlay out of strips of black fabric--sew three strips with finished edges (fold in half, sew along long end, turn inside out, press) then fold them into a V-shape, overlap them, and topstitch everything with matching thread to hold them in place in the desired shape. Trim the edges straight and finish with bias tape. After fitting the regular bodice, attach the corset dealy to the regular dress top with hand stitching or stitching in the ditch of the existing overlay seams.
I'm working on a dress using McCall's 5800 that would be perfect for Hulk--just sew some decorative buttons up the front. You could start with the same basic pattern for Hawkeye and draw in a square neckline instead of a V-neck, and just sew ribbon or something over the seams to make the contrast stripes.
Both Vogue and Readers Digest have pretty good books that cover a majority of techniques. That will cover the basics, but if you think she would like something a little more fun and less textbook-y, you could try this and this. The authors both have blogs that I follow, and I really like them!
I love the Readers Digest Guide and Vogue Sewing. Both books are packed with very useful information, but maybe she would like a more stylish-looking book to start out with. The Burdastyle Sewing Handbook or The Colette Sewing Handbook might be more inspirational.
The best way to learn is to try :) I can highly recommend the Colette Sewing Handbook for lots of information and some great beginner patterns! And if there's anything you need a hand with, I'm happy to help out :)