Best fashion design books according to redditors

My incredibly kind mom made this dress for me as a birthday gift :D! She used a combination of patterns from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book: three-quarter circle skirt, princess seam bodice with a modified boat neck, and modified basic sleeves. The fabric is raw silk and was bought at a craft store in my grandma's town, so I have no idea if it's sold anywhere else.

Are you a reader? I have a couple suggestions that you may enjoy, and your local library should be able to get them for you--maybe they have them, maybe they get them transferred from another library, maybe they acquire them.

I'm working my way through The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees and it's brilliant. It helps you identify and build your style step by step with a series of really smart exercises. I think what's difficult for a lot of people is that style is about 1) self-knowledge and 2) editing. I can buy something I think I look cute in for a party, but if it's in a color or a style that doesn't match the rest of my closet, I may hate it and only wear it once. She'll help with all that.

The other is Suze Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. The ONLY reason I'm recommending this one is because you identified a mindset of yours that it seems like you want to change. This book gets into the emotional crap behind money in a way I haven't encountered before.

Because there are a lot of emotions behind money. My husband and I both grew up very humbly. He had two working class parents and a sister, and they passed down a lot of feelings of scarcity, of not having enough. They thrift shopped and hoarded (not badly, but elsewhere in his family it's much worse). For my husband, it's very difficult to get rid of old things, and he buys the same items over and over.

Me, I grew up with my single mom and brother. My dad had money, but he was incredibly stingy with it. We were never poor in an institutional way--but we were broke all through my childhood. I did not get new clothes during the school year. I didn't have the cool shoes. My adidas were from Payless, and they had only two stripes. All of this was made much worse by the fact that my dad married a woman who dressed her kids in brand-name clothes. They were popular, well-dressed, well-to-do, and my dad was the one who wound up paying for my step-mom's overspending.

So while I don't have a problem getting rid of old things--we got rid of lots of stuff when my mom moved us to a cheaper place to live every year--I know that I have to be careful treating myself, because part of me feels like that very small, very uncool new girl in school with the wrong shoes and no money to make it right.

I like nice things now. It's intertwined with my personality in a way. I want the ability to dress like who I think I am. And that's okay! But if I don't examine those feelings, I can easily wind up overspending, trying to make myself feel good in all the wrong ways.

What I do: Set money aside just for clothes every paycheck. I made it a percentage of my total pay, but for you it might be something else. If I want something nice, I have to wait until the money is in there. If I need something simple, like to replace a pair of jeans or shoes, it makes me really think about what I already have, how much I want to spend, and how it will fit within my existing clothes.

There's nothing wrong with being frugal. But frugal doesn't have to mean cheap. Frugal could mean buying a $300 wool coat and keeping it for 10 years.

Thinking about your style, analyzing your wardrobe and planning for your purchases will help you know when it makes sense to spend more money on an item like boots you will wear every day, or a good bra, etc. And when it's fine to buy something cheaper, like a white tank top you'll sweat through all summer and be able to easily replace next year.

You've got this. I mean, I'm a total nerd, but I always start with books. Best of all, the library is free!

Esquire has an excellent handbook on this. I've kept it in my closet for years. Everything from how to fold a shirt for travel to what to have in your closet at different income levels.

Be a classic man.

https://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461

Edit: one more thing

Get your shirts custom made. There are many affordable tailors online. Make a list of the measurements they want. Go to a tailor and ask to be measured. Tip the guy $5. Go home and place your order. I buy from tailorstore.com but there are plenty others.

If you’ve never worn a custom cut shirt you don’t know what you’re missing. You look more fit and handsome in a shirt that fits you perfectly. My black custom fit shirts are lady killers. I’m the only man in my office whose white dress shirts actually fit right. Women notice. Believe me they notice.

No problem mate, glad you're enjoying it.

Books I could recommend: Esquire released a great book called The Handbook of Style that I think offers some really solid advice. Alan Flusser's "Dressing the Man" is a great resource if you're interested in suits/dressing with a more refined, classier style.

Otherwise, fashion forms and blogs are a great resource as well. Lookbook.nu is good for street and casual fashion, The Sartorialist is great for inspiration on suiting. I also really like Street Etiquette as well.

I just started down this path myself. Luckily my mom has a sewing machine and some basic knowledge of how to use it, so that's been really helpful. It's an old-school fully mechanical Bernina, not sold any more but it looks to be similar to the 1008 model. Really nice machine, fast, quiet, has a ton of built-in stitches, a button-hole-maker, and easily interchangeable presser feet, but it's also way more expensive than I would spend if I had to buy my own. Unfortunately I don't have any recommendations for entry-level machines. But certainly it's worth it to do some research on what it needs to be capable of doing. For example,

• if you want to sew denim, or canvas, or anything with leather, you're going to need a beefy heavy-duty machine that can punch threw at least a few layers of thick fabric at low rpms.
  
• the two basic stitches are a straight stitch and a zig-zag. You want adjustable stitch-length, and adjustable zig-zag-width. With those two, you can do just about everything. But there are also fancier stitches that make it easier/more-professional-looking to, for example, overlap the raw edges of fabric (helpful when sewing knits, see the inside of a t-shirt or sweatshirt), or to join two pieces together fully encasing the seam allowance (check out some of the seams on a fleece).
  
• fancy presser feet: make sure you can get a zipper foot if you want to sew anything with zippers, an edge-stitching foot makes it really easy to sew a straight line really close to the edge, a button-hole foot is needed for sewing button holes (forget doing that shit by hand), and they also make feet that can automatically do a rolled-hem (see the bottom edge of your dress shirts). there are probably others too.
  
  

  basic equipment:
  

  
  

• get a rotary cutter and a rotary cutting mat. 24" x 36" minimum. Ideally it has a grid on it. And you also probably want to get a clear ruler, 24" x 6", which should also have a measuring grid on it. technically you can do with just scissors, but, it's a PITA
  
• pins. lots of pins. the good kind have a glass ball on one end, ideally colored so you can find them easily in your fabric. pins come in different sizes, silk-size (really skinny) is good for most fabrics, but you want something beefier for the thicker fabrics otherwise you'll bend the skinny ones. also, don't sew over pins. take them out just before they get to the presser foot. on that note, get (or make) a pin cushion.
  
• depending on what you're sewing, you'll need an ironing board and an iron. ideally one that doesn't auto-shut-off. also ideally the ironing board is a rectangle, but you can get away with the standard shaped ones too
  
• sewing machine needles. make sure they fit your machine; there are different styles, altho most home sewing machines take the same kind. size 12 or 14 is pretty fine, good for knits and dress-shirt-weight wovens, but you want size 16 or 18 for heavier fabrics. get a bunch (5-10 of each size); you will break them. they also dull out with use. usually you want ball-point, so it won't pierce the threads of the fabric, but sometimes you need the sharp kind meant to cut into the threads. your pattern should suggest which kind and size to use.
  
• a thread-ripper, a good pair of scissors (super sharp, only used for cutting fabric, and shaped so the bottom edge doesn't move when you snip), a little ruler with an adjustable edge guide for measuring folds, tons of thread (way more than you think you need. I would guess it took about 200 yards to do a single size-medium fleece, altho granted, there are a lot more zig zag stitches when you're sewing stretchy fabric)
  
• if you want to get into tailoring, there's a bunch more specialized stuff, but that should be enough to get started
  
  

  patterns:
  

  I was lucky and happened to want to get started at the same time as McCall's was having a huge sale, so I was able to get a bunch for $3 each. But usually they're more expensive. Do some research; there are good patterns, and shit patterns. Also, the instructions that come with patterns are universally crap. And by that I mean they're optimized for a combination of the lowest-common-denominator of sewing skills, and a minimal amount of print-space. Definitely read them front-to-back before you begin, but also supplement the included instructions with an ample dose of youtube videos.
  
  I tried starting with a dress shirt; that was a mistake. Very difficult. (It didn't help that the pattern I got for it fell into the shit category, and I ended up needing to make a ton of modifications. McCall's M6044. Do not recommend.). I'm currently in the middle of my third muslin and it's starting to come out okay, but I still don't feel comfortable giving it a go with the good fabric. Fleece is very easy to work with; I just finished one that come out actually pretty decent, using the Kwik Sew K4032 pattern. It's got some challenging parts, especially the directions for the zipper pockets weren't very good, but on the whole way more simple than a dress shirt.
  
  

  supplies:
  

  I had a really tough time finding good sources of by-the-yard fabric online. I ended up ordering from califabrics.com. I'm happy with everything I got, but it's kind of a crap-shoot if you don't order samples first. Would recommend sourcing fabric locally, if you can, or at least order samples before you commit to a bunch of yards.
  I got my zippers from sailrite.com. As you can guess from the name, they're very focused on nautical stuff, but they have a good assortment of YKK zippers that are way less expensive than anywhere else I could find. Good youtube instructional videos too.
  Otherwise, I got some stuff from Joann's (check online first, sometimes they have online-only sales but let you pick up in-store), and random sellers on amazon (muslin was cheapest there, but the stuff at Joann's was much nicer, almost good enough to actually wear if you wanted to).
  
  

  resources i've found helpful:
  

• Patternmaking for Menswear - can be found on libgen
  
• https://malepatternboldness.blogspot.com/ - especially the sew-along links in the sidebar
  
• https://off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com/ - some good stuff on dress shirts
  
• Shirtmaking - the "bible" of sewing dress shirts
  

Today:

• I ordered some makeup stuff from Ulta rather than going into the drugstore and going "oh, this is on sale? I should get it. this looks interesting, maybe I'll get this too" and then 2 weeks later wonder why I have literally 14 different lip balms
  
• I opted out of a free gift with purchase (a branded water bottle) with that Ulta order because lol I do NOT need another water bottle
  
• I talked myself out of the F21's STORE CLOSING sale I passed by because I knew it was going to be clothes that would last a year at most and even for 50% off it still wasn't worth it
  
• on a similar note, I requested two books from the library about having a smaller/sustainable wardrobe

Most of these are more Image than Text.

Hedi Slimane: Anthology of a Decade

Rick Owens

Ann Demeulemeester

Dries Van Noten

Pharrell: Places and Spaces I've Been

Supreme

Raf Simons

KAWS

Hedi Slimane: Rock Diary

Undercover

Alexander McQueen: Savage Diary

Yves Saint Laurent

Vanity Fair 100 Years: From the Jazz Age to Our Age

Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion, and Architecture

Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style

Dior Couture

Tom Ford

Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko

Sneaker Tokyo vol.2 'Hiroshi Fujiwara'

Bape

Hiroshi Fujiwara: Fragment

(Part 4/4)

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Fit

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Fit rules are obviously entirely dependent on your body type and personal preferences, so I won't write mine out here. Almost everything I know about fit I learned from Antonio Donnanno's series Fashion Patternmaking Techniques and Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear, which are actually textbooks about pattern drafting but have decent sections on addressing fit issues in making those patterns that can also be applied to buying RTW. Kenneth King's Smart Fitting Solutions is also good. (Expensive books -- check your library for them or something similar if you don't actually want to learn pattern drafting.)

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--Tailoring: If you don't know enough to know what needs to be done, I usually recommend that people buy the item and take it to a trusted tailor to ask what they think. (Obviously don't do this if it can't be returned, and *definitely* don't try to return something you've already had altered!) I don't normally trust department store alterationists -- I think they're usually talented people, but I also suspect they're encouraged to tell you that anything is possible so they can make a sale. I also don't trust any tailor/alterationist where you (1) can't see any sewing machines in the shop (like most dry cleaners' offering alterations), or (2) they don't make you try on the item in the shop and pin it there for you. Sewing machines + changing cabins are both signs that you're working with someone who actually knows what they're doing.

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Maintenance

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--Washing and drying: So, continuing to prove that I am insane, I hand-wash all my clothes in the sink or shower and hang them to dry or dry them flat. Washing and (eek!) drying are probably the cause of most wear on tear on the average garment. I find commercial detergents are too harsh, even the fancy eco/gentle ones. Instead, I use Marseille soap (which is called Castille soap in America I think), a variant of Marseille soap called savon détachant (stain-removal soap, link in French), and washing soda.

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--Dry cleaning: I never dry-clean my things because I think it damages the fibres, but I have no proof this is actually the case. I had my coat dry-cleaned once and swear the fabric felt thinner when it came back. At any rate, I find it a hassle and can't stand the smell.

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--Ironing and steaming: I actually have no rules on this (other than that my Rowenta iron was NOT worth the money), but I wanted a chance to share this awesome video of an absolute master ironing a shirt.

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--Repairs: I expect to have to repair my stuff. Learn to mend holes both by re-stitching seams and by darning (knits) or patching (wovens), and to sew buttons. Anything else can be done by a tailor if you don't want to learn how to do it yourself.

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I also always like to put in a plug for invisible mending whenever I can. It's a dying art where they basically pull threads from invisible parts of the garment fabric (like seam allowances) and weave it back into the main fabric to repair holes. The end result is basically undetectable. It's expensive to have done, but if you have a beloved piece that's got holes, this might be worth it. There are similar techniques for knit fabrics, but I'm not aware of anyone offering them commercially (but here is an awesome video of a pro repairing a ladder in a knit).

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--Pilling: A wool comb is also a necessity if you wear sweaters. I don't go in for any of the electric sweater shavers, but TBH I've never tried them -- the £3.50 wool comb works just fine, lasts years, and doesn't create any electronics waste. There is a variant made specifically for cashmere with differently shaped 'teeth' (they're less sharp/abrasive) that is also worth owning if you wear a lot of cashmere. I think most specialty cashmere shops sell their own one of these, and they're usually a lot cheaper than 9€ (I think mine was like £4).

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Ethics

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I will admit that I'm not a hugely 'ethical' shopping -- I fall solidly into the demographic of people who would like to shop more ethically, but then gets lured away by shiny things elsewhere. Frankly, I'm moderately sceptical of most companies' claims to 'ethics'. I prefer to look for items that meet all my rules -- consuming less is one way to reduce environmental damage, and trust me, with all these rules I *really* don't buy much lol. I also have a slight preferences for brands that manufacture in the EU (where I live), mostly because I am a nerd for heritage factories and like locally produced goods, but also because the environmental regulation is mostly decent.

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The brand blacklist

Sometimes, despite all of the above, I end up buying something that doesn't meet my quality standards over repeated wears. If this happens, I blacklist the entire brand. The one exception: if it's a legitimate manufacturing fault (shit happens) and the company offers a suitable repair/replacement without making me fight for it. I don't know why I'm this vicious about it, I just am. *shrug*

I'm so happy for this thread! In American libraries, go to 646 to find cosmetics. I would totally encourage you to stop in next time you're near your local branch, because free makeup books are awesome.

Sephora's book would be great for beginners, lots of pictures, and has some product suggestions as well.

I also liked Carmindy's books for beginners or easy looks. They're easy, approachable, photo-heavy.

Paula Begoun's Beauty Bible has a very dense chapter about classic makeup and application. I definitely recommend it if you want to learn application for work, or formal or conservative situations. If you're more into fashionable and creative makeup it has less to offer there, though it's probably still worth a skim.

Color Me Beautiful (website) was the 90's classic for finding your undertone.
Life in Color by Jesse Garza is a beautiful newer book, mostly about clothes but it has a chapter on coloring and makeup. I think this one's great for learning about complementary colors.

How to Look Expensive has a fun chapter about makeup, which is not really about looking expensive. It has a couple pretty tutorials and lots of dupes.

Bobbi Brown has a new book, Everything Eyes (2014). I only flipped through it but it looked gorgeous. Check it out for applications for various eye shapes and makeup for glasses. Her books Living Beauty and Beauty Evolution are also great if you're starting with makeup in your 30s or later.

Robert Jones has a kind of specific personal style and uses a limited color palette, but I think I recall his books have a lot about contouring, eye makeup, and formal occasions/photos (edit grammar).

Definitely. Pressing is part of the process and some of the problem may be that you haven't pressed so you can't see everything that's happening.

I know of many resources. Some of the books are expensive or hard to find. You may be able to borrow them from a library.

Online

• Cutter and Tailor: Forum created by a professional tailor. Read the section for people who are teaching themselves. There is a bibliography.
  
  
• The University of Fashion. Right now, only women's wear, but it has good tutorials prepared by professionals.
  
  
• Bob Maldonado's online shirtmaking class. I like the video on sewing a shirt sleeve placket which is free. I haven't done the course, but have an internet acquaintance who has and his work looks great. You can download the video lessons.
  
  
  
  Books
  
  
• Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket (geared to women's wear, but it has very good general instructions on different tailoring styles and nice photos)
  
  
• Classic Tailoring Techniques for Menswear: A Construction Guide 2nd Edition
  
  
• Hand stitches for the fine custom tailored garment
  
  
  
• Shirtmaking: Developing Skills For Fine Sewing
  
  
• The Shirtmaking Workbook: Pattern, Design, and Construction Resources
  Some Japanese men's pattern books can be found here and here.
  
  For Inspiration
  
  
• Tailor Rory Duffy's videos on making a suit.
  
• The Notebook, a blog by the apprentices at Anderson and Sheppard, an esteemed Savile Row tailor.
  
  I can't make a recommendation for menswear patternmaking books. I plan to take a class this spring and the teacher told me he was going to follow the basic format of a particular book, but he noted that the book had mistakes.

this is something that I highly doubt is available in a pattern. I would highly recommend making this a drape project. Get a mannequin that is close to your size and line out the idea of the pattern you are interested in creating. I would agree, this is really not a first garment project, though. It's important to learn how fabrics lay on the body and just how patterns fit together.

This dress is has to have a lot of structure built in underneath, as well, to get those perfectly triangular cutouts, especially cut on the bias, which i also suspect it is, since there's some mild wrinkling that follows the triangles. I would highly doubt that interfacing is used unless it's very nice wool interfacing, the stuff that's in a good quality tie (also cut on the bias!). So, that would mean you'd need some knowledge in creating structure in the garments. I'd highly recommend checking out this book Patternmaking for Fashion Design before going into this project.

Pattern Making for Fashion Design. It's expensive. You need to make boring stuff to get the basics down and then you can apply those principles to your own avant garde designs and drafting patterns for them.

All those Instagram "models" and such look incredibly high maintenance, vapid and fussy. Following their specific fashion styles visually puts you in that group and that's how you're going to be first perceived. This is no different than edgy teens in the early 90's with the goth look; they wanted to live that lifestyle so looking it was also the part.

You can try looking through a book like this: https://www.amazon.com/Science-Sexy-Unique-Figure-System/dp/1592402607/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494269576

You measure yourself and you have a little section of do's and don'ts dedicated to those measurements. You also get a celebrity double that you can get inspiration from.

I feel that RPW fashion is sophisticated and more timeless rather than following seasonal fashion trends.

Pattern drafting and clothing sketches are two entirely different things. I didn’t get much out of school in terms of sketching but some books that helped me were Illustration Techniques - Takamura Fashion Illustrator - Morris and this one which was a textbook of ours Fashion Drawing - Bryant. When it comes to flat pattern making, “art” and “drawing” have little to do with it, it’s measurements, rulers, curves, tracing paper (medical doctors office paper is my favourite), cardstock “oaktag” paper, mechanical pencils and the foggy kind of cello tape you can draw on. Basically you learn to make a bland sheath to fit the body first (“block”) then you can learn to manipulate the block into different pieces and designs and there you go, you’re drafting. It’s the whole reason I’m in school right now and if they had it on YouTube I would never have bothered enrolling.
The best books for that are first and foremost Patternmaking for Fashion Design - Joseph-Armstrong, Patterncutting/Patternmaking - Chunman-Lo and I’m looking forward to getting The Costume Technician's Handbook (3rd Edition) - Ingham/Covey which a classmate said is great for blockmaking, and Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear - Aldrich which I’ve been told is a staple.
As far as editions, the later ones of Patternmaking for Fashion Design are better for basic block making and they have way more than the earlier ones, and the girl who put me on to the Technician’s book said the 3rd is essential. The rest I wouldn’t really know because I haven’t used them extensively. Afaik Chunman-Lo’s book has only one edition.
There’s also Fitting and Pattern Alteration- Liechty/Rasbrand/Pottberg-Steineckert. We haven’t used it yet but it’s on the curriculum.
With these resources either bought or borrowed from the library you’ll learn everything a fashion student learns. As far as sketching goes, YouTubers are out there and can help, and practice makes perfect.
I hope this helps. Post progress photos so we can see how well you’re doing! Good luck.

You can do it yourself with this book. I've found it difficult to do while shopping because the different lighting in stores has such a variable impact. Thanks to the book I know what colors do and don't work on me and it makes shopping so much easier and faster.

I’ve been reading about capsule wardrobes lately and am trying to move that way with my wardrobe. I realized that despite my over abundance of clothing, there are only certain specific pieces that i wear over and over again and really love. Personally, I don’t think an extremely strict capsule wardrobe would be very realistic for me, but I think there are a lot of good principles that can be pulled out of the concept. I love the idea of focusing on quality, versatile pieces that fit you well and that you feel great in vs. as many fast fashion/trendy/cheap pieces as you can afford (which I realized is how I currently shop and is definitely why i always feel like i have nothing to wear even though my closet is overflowing).

I ordered a book on Amazon called (the Curated Closet. I haven’t finished it yet so I can’t 100% vouch for it, but I’ve flipped through it and read the first couple chapters and I think it will be really useful for me. It’s very functional, it gives you exercises to do to help you develop your personal style and then build your wardrobe around that as a guide.

I think it's because sewing is predominantly female hobby, so pattern companies ignore menswear...
Burda magazine has some patterns
http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns?for=2&page=1
https://beta.burdastyle.de/shop/schnittmuster/herren

You can also try to learn pattern drafting with these books

https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Cutting-Menswear-Winifred-Aldrich/dp/1405182938

https://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Menswear-Gareth-Kershaw/dp/1780670168

https://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Menswear-Contemporary-Myoungok-Kim/dp/160901944X

I just have Esquire's Handbook of Style. It's quaint and gives the fundamentals of men's style. I didn't care for the constant criticism and witty remarks for anything that violated their supposed mandate of fashi...actually you guys might like it.

I recommend joining the Cutter and Tailor forum, which is a terrific resource. As a beginner, you will not be able to post or ask about jackets until you've learned the fundamentals. Learn to sew shirts, trousers, skirts, and vests before attempting a jacket.

There's is an older edition of the below book that probably is cheaper now.

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Tailoring-Techniques-Menswear-Construction/dp/1628921706/ref=dp_ob_title_bk


Good photos, and discusses hand, machine, and hybrid methods:
http://www.amazon.com/Tailoring-Classic-Sewing-Perfect-Jacket/dp/1589236092/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1G1MR8C41H6P2XHD4KD9

Discusses women's tailoring, but the techniques are good, if somewhat lighther than those used for men.
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Couture-Tailoring-Thomas-Nordheim/dp/1847973736/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459214116&sr=1-1&keywords=vintage+couture+tailoring

I am ~6'3" and 240 pounds so I think we should be the exact same size.

I was always told that it did not matter how big you were, you should always buy clothes that fit you. Well fitting clothing will accentuate the favorable parts of your body while having a slimming effect on those not so favorable. This is really the main idea, the rest will be detail and personal experience describing how to know when clothes fit right and what to look for while shopping.


Pants:
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2

As a taller person you can wear pants with a cuff at the bottom and vertical stripes. The stripes will elongate your legs making them look thinner and longer but the cuff will break up the line of your pant your legs and make look not look like giant.

Make sure that you get pants that fit in the waist. This is THE most important thing. Here is where I come to a little bit of an injunction. I know that the belt line of my pants should be resting on my hips, about an inch or two below my navel, but due to my gut I cannot realistically put pants there without them looking ridiculous. So I do what I can and put them right under my beer gut. This is where I measure my waist, as I continue to lose weight it will probably change. There should be absolutely no lines anywhere around your waist. This is important. This is make or break for pants. Next if there are no creases or lines, move to the pockets. They should not be folding up on themselves, sticking out, or have any pressure on them. If the pocket opening a little bit that is fine, but no more than 3/4".

The length of the pants was something I did not understand until recently. The pants should "break" or crease 1/3 of the way up your shin. Just one fold. A good point to remember here is that when you are walking, people should not see your socks. I have found that trying to implement both of these ideas turns into baggy pants. So I tend to go a bit shorter (if the next size is too short you can hem the pants) especially in the summer. That has been my personal experience, but I would trust these sources over what I just said.

As a side note, I like to avoid pleats, they have never worked for me but somehow I have about 6 pairs. They are a bit more comfortable to me but they look awful on my body and I never wear them (Remember, you wont wear something that doesn't fit or you dont like). Try some out though, you might be the perfect fit for them.

I have had good luck with Dockers pants recently, so give those a shot.


Shirts
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Shirts are a little bit easier as I find its not as hard to hide your fitting mistakes. Goto a shop and try on about 8-9 shirts and get your size down and memorize it. This will help immensely. The first thing to check for in shirt fitting is the collar size. If I cant wear a shirt with a tie, I won't buy it. When you have the top button buttoned you should be able to get two fingers in between the shirt and your neck. If you strangle yourself getting them in there, it's too small. You should have to wiggle your fingers just a tiny bit to get em there, nothing more.

The shoulder seem should fall right where your arm rolls off. This is a bit tough to understand, but you'll know it when you find it. If you have trouble, refer to the links above. The cuff of the shirt should come down to the beginning of your palm. I shoot for it to hit the base of my first thumb bone or the last skin crease of my wrist.

For a bigger guy I think the length of the shirt is not terribly important for guys our size as long as you can tuck it in securely and it not come out if you happen to stop sucking your tummy in. Though, the fit around the stomach is a bit harder to get right. You don't want much fabric here because when you tuck your shirt in you have to find a place to put it. Just a few spare inches is all you need here. 2-4 inches will do. You wont pop a button, you cant use it as a tent, just right. I highly recommend the "military tuck". Its a nice way to cheat a shirt to do what you want because you probably wont be able to find a shirt that fits you perfectly in all the previous areas, so if you have to forsake one, forsake this one.


Jackets

Use them to cover up any mistake but don't rely on them. They can help to make you look more lean. A good suit jacket will to wonders, sometimes miracles. Use one to cover up that military tuck.




In closing (I'm getting tired haha)

1. Shop for your size.
   
   a. Dont fool yourself into buying smaller clothing, you wont wear it.
   
   b. Shop at thrifts stores, you size isn't hard to find there.
   
   c. ^ This also makes it easier to throw out clothes don't fit.
   
   
   
   
2. There are tricks, but don't over use them.
   
   
   
3. Every brand will fit and fall differently on you. Try a lot of them.
   
   
   
4. I recommend this book They have some good stuff for people our size.
   
   
   
5. Lose weight.
   
   
   
6. Nothing will fit perfectly unless you get it tailored or you lose weight.

It's still around and still current. I was gifted it in the late 90s. Although I'm pretty pale, I'm definitely an autumn. I found although the book was geared to the workplace, it could be applied to everyday wear just as easily. It taught me that anyone can wear just about any colour, if they got the right tone (my big things were pink and pure white always looked awful, but if I went into a more salmon colour and off-whites worked so much better.

Drafting patterns is definitely scary! This is the book we used: http://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Fashion-Design-5th-Edition/dp/0136069347. It's a bit pricey, but the earlier editions would probably be just as helpful! If you get into your project and you need help, just shoot me a PM! I learned a lot of things the hard way, so I'd like to help people learn from my mistakes, haha. I could also take pictures of my pattern pieces if it would help you visualize (the circle skirt especially was a bit weird).

This is the wool I used: http://www.moodfabrics.com/dark-turquoise-solid-coating-fw12295.html When I first looked at it, $18/yd sounded like a lot, but it ended up being the least expensive in my class. As you can tell from my pictures, it's much greener than the picture on Mood!

I think part of it is that I’m not aware of this being taught in trade schools. Take this with a grain of salt, because my experience is with theater costuming in middle, high school, and college (including designing costumes for a play), home sewing, and historical re-enactment, but my major was neuroscience in college, so my knowledge is less extensive than a fashion major.

I have been sewing; however, for more than two decades.

That being said, Rosika Parker’s The Subversive Stitch makes a pretty good argument for the historic devaluing of sewing during the Middle Ages with concurrent social movements to restrict female power.

Here’s my perception of the hierarchies in the different careers and the education requirements (see further down)

1. fashion designer
   
2. line/season/show manager
   
3. higher level seamstress (might manage a couple outfits)
   
4. likely more layers of hierarchy
   
5. underlings (actually sewing the outfit parts)
   
   .
   
   
6. costume designer
   
7. levels of hierarchy (sorry)
   
8. underlings (actually doing most of the sewing)
   
   Here’s what I’m aware of for schooling (skewed because my experience is at a four year university)
   
   

• four year universities have majors in fashion design (which includes flat and dress model pattern drafting as well as rendering the patterns and concept art online), costuming (similar to fashion design but with more of a theater focus), and theater management (which includes designing concept art for plays, choosing and altering costumes, hair, and makeup)
  
  
• whatever the name for the fashion design seamstresses who manage an outfit for a fashion designer’s show is a one year masters program after four year university (for more info check out Zoe Hong on YouTube)
  
  
• theater set work (including costume making and alteration; not management) and (less sure for this) the actual sewing and embroidery work for fashion design is more of an apprenticeship area of work. You get hired already knowing how to sew and then receive on the job training to meet the costume designer’s standard (for theater and fashion design)
  
  
• and then there’s the tangential stuff like preserving and repairing historical garments for museums (likely masters maybe grad school) or working at historical sites like Jamestown, Williamsburg, etc. which from my understanding are also more of an apprenticeship (William & Mary undergrads are allowed to do this for the summer, so a college degree is not required)
  
  You might have better luck hunting down your local theater (you might be able to do this with fashion designer houses too; no idea) and asking for the required qualifications to be hired.
  
  For historical costuming, try an apprenticeship or membership with your local re-enactment society or SCA
  
  For learning how to sew (may not include pattern drafting, rendering patterns digitally, or concept art generation) try your local sewing machine service shop (search vacuum service shops too because they overlap).
  
  Here are some books to recommend:
  
  Fashion:
  
  For someone who already sews
  
  Here are ones I feel I have to include, but they’re kind of impractical:
  
  
  
• Patternmaking for fashion design by Helen Joseph Armstrong (textbook; too expensive to just buy)
  
  
• Draping for Apparel Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong (textbook; too
  
  Here are cheaper options
  
  
• Transformative Reconstruction by Shingo Sato
  
  
• Pattern Magic by Tomoko Nakamichi
  
  For learning to sew
  
  
• The Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing
  
  
• I don’t recommend Gertie Sews books for beginners because several of the patterns are misdrafted, also ignore older (pre mid 2000s) Burda Patterns because the seam allowances are wrong or inconsistent between patterns
  
  Historical Reconstruction
  
  For someone who already sews:
  
  
• Patterns of Fashion series by Janet Arnold
  
  
• Copies of historical fashion magazines like La Mode Universelle Ilustree (in French) and Harpers Bazaar are sold on EBay. They are only in one size and therefore require pattern drafting and alteration knowledge to use.
  
  
• Reconstructing History
  
  
• Laughing Moon

I just read The Curated Closet and found it to be very helpful. I didn't do every exercise in the book, but it's SO helpful and sounds perfect for what you are looking for. I got mine from the library.

The book first has you basically brainstorm what styles you love and what you love about them. Then, through a very detailed process, you distill down to eventually curating your dream wardrobe with clothes you absolutely love and fit your lifestyle, including a wardrobe for work, after hours, exercise, etc. The book also include comprehensive selections on how to identify quality clothing and a good fit, what can be tailored easily, how to shop, how to update your wardrobe, how to style, etc.

It was very helpful for me as someone who has worn hand-me-downs most of her life (thanks big sister!) but is almost 30 and never really defined a personal style. I encourage you to take a look at it before going out and making any purchases. You won't regret it!

I'm personally a fan of McCunn's How to Make Sewing Patterns and Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting series, but as /u/JBJeeves said, everyone has their own way of doing things. It's really a matter of experimenting to find out what you like best; personally I like having books in front of me to follow along, but some people thrive on the creativity that can be had in draping their own patterns from their imagination.

Into Mind is recommended here a lot, as well as her book, The Curated Closet.

Yes! I am catching the 90s vibes too. I love that aspect of it. Maybe there’s a designer out there making a similar inspired dress that’s not so straight across the neckline. If you like, you could sell yours on Poshmark or consignment and put the cash towards the new one.

I checked out The Curated Closet from the library awhile back and it helped me a great deal. I didn’t even finish reading it before it was due (curse of an over ambitious reader!!) and I still got so much from it.

What makes me respect Dries even more is his insistence of doing things his way. I remember a quote from the Dries book that he's been using the same artisans in India since his early days. It's a few areas with cottage industries, and they've been doing a lot of his embroidery for decades now. While everyone is obsessed with the connotations and "brand value" of made in Italy, France, or USA, Dries only cares about the quality and authenticity of his clothes. While a lot of people, until now, still scoff at items made in countries outside those commonly associated with luxury goods, Dries has been producing some of the best made clothes out of those countries for years.

I have this book

https://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Book-Encyclopedic-Step-Step/dp/0756642809

It's full of sewing techniques for making clothing and it's helped me out a lot. But I don't think you need a book to do what you want to do. Adding waist darts to a dress is pretty easy and bust darts aren't too difficult either.

Heres a video on how to do bust darts https://youtu.be/d9FoVBffroo

First, I want to congratulate you on losing the weight! I started a new job about six months ago and wardrobe was basically what I wore in college and graduate school. I wanted to step up my wardrobe a little bit, so I picked up The Curated Closet from my local library. It has helped me define my style and helped refine my wardrobe. One of the 'exercises' it has you do is to create Pinterest boards of your clothes to help you define your style and what not.

I've only tried Poshmark and had mostly successes. I've gotten some great pieces (dresses, sweaters, jeans, and flats). But I would agree with u/Truant_Muse, patience is key and knowing measurements.

Good Luck with building your wardrobe! I can't wait to see it :)

We used "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" by Helen Joseph-Armstrong for our first patternmaking class and reference it all the way through our senior design classes. It's an awesome reference book--almost any project/design I've had I've been able to find the alteration I've wanted in this book, or at least the basic starting point. It has a LOT of information/ideas, so sometimes jumping into more advanced techniques can be a bit daunting if you haven't learned or at the very least read through the basics. I haven't purchased and used them yet, but if you're looking for some cooler patterning techniques I've heard both first hand from classmates and in general online that the Pattern Magic books are amazing.

For draping we used "Draping Basics" by Sally Di Marco. I think this book is a good reference, but my professor thought it wasn't the most beginner-friendly. I didn't struggle with it throughout my classes and think it's great, but it can be a bit dense to read through if you don't have a teacher/person demonstrating the technique in front of you and have no previous draping experience. Again, great reference and has tons of info, just takes a tad more effort if you've never sewn or draped before before you pick up on the terminology/patterns of what they're doing.

The last really good book I'd recommend is "Professional Sewing Techniques" by Julie Cole/Sharon Czachor. newbies to sewing may need to Google some terms now and then, but it's perfect for all the little details--all the different types of pockets and how to sew them, different methods of creating tucks and pleats, etc. Say I know I want a specific detail, like a cuffed sleeve: I can look it up and see all the different ways they do it in the industry (all of which are easily doable on a home sewing machine) and see all the subtle differences those techniques make. For costuming, it can help you be more accurate and it's great to see all the variations laid out in front of you. It also makes a massive difference in how professional things end up looking.

TL;DR The three books in the links above should have you covered for flat patterning, draping, and all the little details that make your costume/clothing look professional and well-finished. Knowing at least the basics of sewing is recommended for the draping book, but the rest of the terminology used in all three beginners should be able to Google and understand no problem!

(Edit: formatting)

You could go for something like The Pillars of Tubal Cain, Tubelo's Green Fire or The Roebuck in the Thicket. Or maybe Mastering Witchcraft.

Or you could go the other route and get her books on Chaos Magic, which would allow her to create her own witchcraft paradigm. Something like Alan Chapman's Advanced Magick for Beginners.

You are giving me such good advice. I appreciate it! I'll definitely make a practice version. I feel like the dress will be fine even if the fit is a bit off after switching fabrics. This dress is not meant to be a precise fit at all, so it should be fine.

I have The Sewing Book, and it seems pretty thorough.

I learned how to knit socks using Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. If you can find a copy at a library, I highly recommend checking it out.

Ann Budd very thoroughly covers sock anatomy and common problems with sock knitting (though, admittedly, top-down only). The book also contains basic sock recipes for multiple sizes (from small kids socks to large men's socks) and gauges (from 8 stitches per inch/fingering to 4 stitches per inch/bulky). Finally, it has guidelines to convert shoe size to sock length/circumference.

Overall, I think it's a great resource, and I find myself returning to it to adapt other sock patterns to different sizes or gauges.

Otherwise, if you're set on free, online resources, Silver's Sock Class and Tin Can Knit's Rye are also great, as others in this thread have mentioned.

They might mean this.

Or her book.

Looks like maybe bleached e:denim canvas which you can then distress and dirty. You can then preserve that and get the "hard" layer by waxing it.

This and this are good books for patternmaking. The second offers halfscale patterns that you can blow up and modify if you have access to a plotter.

Construction is going to be pretty difficult to learn, especially manipulating denim with a home sewing machine. You'll want to learn how to do a flat felled seam if you're working with denim. Unfortunately, the roping will be hard to achieve without a chain stitch machine.

I did it! I had sewn a couple dresses in highschool (10+ years prior), but hadn't sewn a single garment since. I had, however, been quilting for the last 4 years and so I felt like I knew my way around a sewing machine.

I used Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book which I borrowed from the library, and it was great! Super helpful and thorough!

(Oh, and I made it knee length, which also makes it way easier.)

Did it look a bit more homemade than some people would want? Yeah, I admit that it did, but I was pleased with it, I got to make EXACTLY what I wanted and I also only had 5 weeks between getting engaged and getting married (not shotgun, I swear!), so traditional bridal wasn't much of an option.

I did what u/Pancake_nips said (except I just took measurements and did some tracing instead of disassembling the garment) and it worked out pretty well. Here's a very useful sew-along.

It takes a lot more work, but you can make your own pattern from scratch. This book gives you directions on making a sloper, and then has instructions for several patterns based off of that, including jeans (and tops and outerwear too).

This what you want: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Beautiful-Carole-Jackson/dp/0345345886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409199867&sr=1-1&keywords=color+me+beautiful

I know you mentioned wanting replies especially from working designers or fashion majors. I'm frankly neither of those, but in true Reddit fashion wanted to give my opinion anyways since I'm a fan of 2 of the 3.

First, let me describe my style evolution. My mom was a tomboy who wore no makeup and kept her hair short so she wouldn't have to bother with styling it. I grew up without knowing how to apply make-up properly and while I rebelled and had long hair, it was all one length and it went down to my waist. Styling my hair, to me, meant putting it into a pony-tail.

Fashion was a similar issue. My mom was overweight, and wore men's clothing, usually cast offs from my dad or my brothers (who were all pretty big guys.) What did I wear? You guessed it, I wore t-shirts (guys) and jeans, despite being unhealthily thin. I made small attempts at looking girly, but it was either an abysmal failure or created such as stir of shock and surprise that I always immediately regretted wearing anything frilly or cute.

As an adult, I joined the military. This meant my non-make-up wearing was a plus (less time getting ready prior to watch, etc.) and was forced to either keep my hair short or to put it up. I prefer to have long hair, so I mastered a simple, but severe, bun. Also, wearing uniforms 7 days of week while underway meant not having to worry about fashion.

On my days off, I basically had a dress code I had to follow while overseas (button up, collared shirts or blouses that covered shoulders, stomach, and were conservative.) So my style upgraded to polos and jeans. Occasionally I would wear a really nice button up silk blouse. Dresses were rare and of the "clubbing" style that I would wear once, feel awkward in, and then let a friend permanently borrow it.

I've been out of the military for 6 years now and I've had a nightmare time of trying to experiment with business casual, nice dress clothes for after working hours, etc. It also doesn't help that after battling a lifelong eating disorder and a (recently discovered, thanks Reddit!) genetic medical disorder, I've ballooned up in weight, gaining 60 lbs in the last 6 years.

Needless to say, I'm a fashion wreck. I'm a hodgepodge of outdated ideas of what I think is fashionable and how to dress to my body type. Then I started watching "What Not to Wear." While I won't say its the greatest show on earth, it has helped me to start identifying my issues and to try to experiment and try on things I haven't before.

As to "Project Runway", the best thing this show has done for me is to introduce me to Tim Gunn. He has a little book about style that has led to me getting properly fitted for a bra, get my work clothes tailored (I never realized I was actually a petite when it comes to arm length!) and not hate myself for how I look.

So now that I've addressed my issues concerning those 2 shows, I'll go back to your original question. As prior military, I hate, hate, hate when they completely screw up aspects of military life. I know certain details are deliberately misinformed for national security purposes. However, and in particular, showing officers as doing everything in a unit boils my blood. Most shows have 10 officers as characters and 1 enlisted person (maybe.) In reality, in most situations you have 1 officer and 30 enlisted doing the work. Its actually considered the job of a good senior enlisted person to keep the officers OUT of the workplace and as uninvolved as possible. In a well run shop, the officer is there to take care of the command politics and to back-up the senior enlisted.

I think anytime you have a show that portrays a particular industry, you're going to find that the details annoy the heck out of those who are in and actually know about that industry.

TL;DR: Team Mondo because I think purple stripes and green plaid can work together in amazing ways and Kenley can go suck on a polka dot

I learned from a book, Metric Pattern Cutting for Women. It was super helpful at understanding where to start with making a pattern and different pattern shapes. I will say that you should know how to sew clothes before jumping into this book because there is no provided glossary for the sewing terms. No need to be an expert sewer. Just know how basic garments fit together.

What a great post! I want you to dress me.

On a related note, I have this book on my list. One of my favorite bloggers says it changed the way she got dressed.

​

Couture Sewing by Claire Shaeffer. She also has more specialized books on the parts of Chanel-style suit, such as The Couture Cardigan Jacket and The Couture Skirt. Here's her Amazon page.

​

Thomas Von Nordheim's Vintage Couture Tailoring is excellent. He did the structured costumes for The Phantom Thread.

I've only looked through it, but Zoya Nudelman's The Art of Couture Sewing had beautiful photos.

Roberta Carr's Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing has hideous examples but good information.

​

For pattern making, Helen Joseph Armstrong's book is very popular. Books by Ernestine Kopp and Natalie Bray are others.

​

this textbook might change ya life

I like this book quite a bit for helping me alter slopers. Has a lot of interesting ideas for designs and features too. Not a ton of info on how to construct, but if you have experience with commercial patterns and finishes, should be ok with some help from google/youtube.

Sewing machines - Vintage sewing machines often cost the same as brand new cheap machines and are better quality. The problem is that they require more research and legwork.

So, you will most likely want to buy new. If your girlfriend finds that she enjoys sewing and you bought a brand new starter sewing machine, just plan on getting a better sewing machine in the future. By the way, I think most are recommending the Brother sewing machine as a starter machine.

Personally, I love my 1920s Singer sewing machine (Even though my machine is almost a hundred years old, it is reliable as heck, and it will sew anything.)

Sewing kits - a few essential supplies
Avoid buying any tools made by Singer. They are poor quality and not worth the few cents it takes to buy them.

If it looks cheap, it's likely cheap.

Good companies - Fiskars, Gingher, Dritz (There are several more.)

Here's the starter sewing kit that I would want, but it's high quality. http://merchantandmills.com/products/gift/starter-set/ Geez, I still want it, and I'm not a beginner. The link is from the UK where they are located, but there are US resellers, too.

Another option is to buy each of the following sewing tools individually. Dressmaking shears (commonly known as scissors but the shape of shears makes cutting fabric easier), a package of various hand sewing needles (always good to have), thread snips or embroidery scissors, tape measure (flexible not the clunker in your tool box), some pins, and a seam ripper (essential).

A good beginner sewing book is essential and they often have beginner project instructions, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Book-Encyclopedic-Step---Step/dp/0756642809/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417205004&sr=8-1&keywords=sewing+book

Fabric - Just so she has something to sew when she opens all her boxes, buy some fabric. For example, I would buy quilting cotton 1/2 yard each of 5 different colors. There will be lots and lots of this in fabric stores.

Thread - Buy All-Purpose thread. One spool each of Black, Tan (khaki), and white.

Those are my recommendations. There are so many different ways to do this. I think your $300 price range is definitely achievable. Mostly, I'm trying to make sure that she will be able to make something after she opens all of her packages.

Last but not least, YouTube is a sewist's friend. There's been many a time that I couldn't figure something out, and finally, I check Youtube to find that someone has uploaded a video that showed me exactly how to do what I couldn't figure out.

http://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Fashion-Design-Joseph-Armstrong/dp/0136069347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418560325&sr=8-1&keywords=helen+armstrong+patternmaking+for+fashion+design

This one, used at my local craft college in their fashion design program. It's extremely through and recommended by industry professionals.

(as in - I'm in a private forum with garment manufacturers and they say it's good)

Like /u/jereviendrai said,
Helen Joseph Armstrong's Pattern Making for Fashion Design.
It is a textbook and it is wonderful and very thorough. Any publishing year will do. Libraries usually carry it. Also can be found in "easily liberated" formats.

I recently bought this book and have been using it to make a mixed stitch stripey blanket. I definitely recommend it; I bought it for exactly the reasons that you're describing, i.e. to learn a bunch of new stitches.

The Amazon page says it's paperback, but it's not a true paperback. It's got a thicker cover so you could definitely get away with keeping it in a bag. That being said, it's definitely not hardcover. It's kind of just a floppy, more durable paperback?

There aren't any mistakes that I've found in the book so far, and I've probably tried like 30 or so stitches from it? Maybe more? There have been a couple where I've tried to read the book but ended up just YouTubing it, and I think the combination of the book + videos on YouTube has been helpful. I do really like though that the book has a picture of each stitch, the stitch diagram for it, and then the written pattern for it. It's been good for learning how to read diagrams since it has all three things on each page.

Esquire tends to have better fashion advice than GQ, IMHO. Esquire is more classic.

Here are their online tips: http://www.esquire.com/style/tips/

Here is their book: http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=pd_sim_b_12

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.

The reason I learned to sew was because by the time I was 13 years old, I was a size 16. Girl, I feel your pain! I wear a size 20 these days, and many patterns do go to a 22 or 24. With that being said, there is nothing better than drafting your own patterns, and it's way easier to do than you'd think, it just takes some time and patience. My favorite book to work off of is this one. Happy Drafting!

The free pdf is here: http://zalbarath666.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/mastering-witchcraft-paul-huson.pdf

This was from when it was out of print.

Link to amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0595420060/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/103-5700418-9604628

Author's website.
http://www.paulhuson.com/

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 science of sexy"

https://www.amazon.com/Science-Sexy-Unique-Figure-System/dp/1592402607

There are 48 different dressing guides. You take different measurements- shoulders, bust, waist, hip, height and weight. From the measurements you figure out which guide is right. See if the library has a copy.

This is the one we use at my school, it is good. https://www.amazon.ca/Metric-Pattern-Cutting-Womens-Wear/dp/1444335057/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CN4YN88AJWK1&keywords=metric+pattern+cutting+for+women%27s+wear&qid=1566755333&s=gateway&sprefix=metric+pattern+cutt%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-1

I'm taking patternmaking right now at LA Trade Tech and Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Armstrong is still the standard textbook. It'll go over everything you need to know.

There are plenty of patternamking text books out there, and one is probably as good as another...the problem is that you can only get a basic block by patterning from a book and after that you'll need to know how to adjust your pattern to fit like modern jeans...a pattern drafted by following a book will fit like a tent. This is the textbook I used in college...pretty spendy for something that will only get you part way there, especially since you only need the 5-10 page jeans section.(switch to paperback and look at the used prices, waaaay better)

I'd suggest taking a patterning class at your local community college or see if your local fabric store knows who offers them.

Here are some fashion references that I used and helped. It was also the style bible not fashion bible. lol

http://www.amazon.com/AskMen-com-Presents-The-Style-Bible/dp/0061208507/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-3&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

http://www.amazon.com/Details-Mens-Style-Manual-Ultimate/dp/159240328X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-1&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-2&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

Dealing with conflict and having long relationships was something I had to build over time, and most of that will come with just working toward being the ultimate man woman desire. Having confidence, good direction in your life, lots of friends, good hobbies, good manners, being gentleman, having boundaries and standards. Don't be insecure or clingy. I didn't just read one or two books I read about 40 and at one point it became an obsession to be this ideal man woman desire.

1. This sewing book at about $28 is the most expensive thing on my WL.
   
   
2. To improve my sewing ability and to have a resource guide at my disposal.
   
   
3. To be honest, no I would not be okay with that. I always want to improve myself and my craft and anything to help means the world to me.
   
   Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds <3

Aside from getting new things, a big thing you should remember is to eliminate the old in your closet, if you haven't done so already.

Tim Gunn actually wrote a few chapters on how to clean out your closet and solidify your style in this book, A Guide to Taste, Quality, and Style that you may want to check out. It's really great and gives some practical steps on how to do it. You might even need a friend to help you clean out your closet and chuck/donate clothes that no longer fit the new style you're going for, so that you don't run the risk of keeping it and wearing it again. I myself know how hard it is to get rid of something that is actually hideous and I never wear, for sentimental reasons. So it's good to have a friend to help do what you can't, haha.

1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240328X/ref=oh_o04_s01_i00_details
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/GENTLEMAN-TIMELESS-GUIDE-FASHION-Ullmann/dp/3833152702/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3TPPWDLACPI4Z&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF
   
3. http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3HOO0657RWPLF&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF
   
4. http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32MMPCIUV1D2I&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF

If you have a little money lying about, you should pick up The Handbook of Style

I'm not sure if MFA likes this book or not, but it has a lot of useful information and one section specifically dedicated to starting a new wardrobe on different budgets. It helped me when I finally decided to stop wearing only black shirts and jeans and instead have at least a modicum of sartorial taste.

Thanks! Great job on your first project! I'm sure you'll be able to work up to clothes soon. My sister gave me this book the dress came out of and it's super helpful and confidence boosting! https://www.amazon.com/Love-First-Stitch-Demystifying-Dressmaking/dp/1611802342

I ordered Bridal Couture: Fine Sewing Techniques for Wedding Gowns and Evening Wear, Bridal Gowns: How to Make the Weddings Dress of Your Dreams, and Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book. The two wedding ones have been the most useful but they're very similar and tend to run together in my head. One goes really into muslins and the other doesn't care about muslins and is all about tissue fitting which is so weird to me. I'm sticking with the muslins. I think Couture does muslins and Gowns does tissue fitting. If I had to pick just one I'd go with Couture.

Hey hey! Sounds awesome! If/when you pick up Coven Queen, let me know what you think!!
 

1. Oh yeah, there is so much great stuff out there, but what I've found is that there is exponentially more junk. I've had to be and still have to be extremely methodical in terms of confirming the credibility of something that claims to be a good source of information on witchcraft. I've been focusing on pre-Columbian medicine by Native Americans, as well as witchcraft associated with classical paganism. Absolutely fascinating stuff. As far as traditional witchcraft, I've really enjoyed Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft.
   
2. I do still play retro games. I love 'em! I most recently stalked local stores back towards the top of the year, for months, for a classic NES mini. I've been playing a bunch of Kid Icarus and Castlevania. The nostaaaalllggiiiaaaaaaa!
   
3. This is one badass question, but I can answer it easily with much excitement! HA!
    
   

• Mountain King (Atari)
  
• Adventure (Atari)
  
• Super Mario Brothers (NES)
  
• Legend of Zelda (NES)
  
• Zelda II: Adventures of Link (NES)
  
• Contra (NES)
  
• Kid Icarus (NES)
  
• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
  
• Secret of Mana (SNES)
  
• Final Fantasy VI! (SNES)
   
  Thanks again for the fun questions :)

I am a big fan of these books:

1. Love at first stitch: http://www.amazon.com/Love-First-Stitch-Demystifying-Dressmaking/dp/1611802342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459291310&sr=8-1&keywords=tilly+and+the+buttons
   
2. The Colette sewing handbook: http://www.amazon.com/Colette-Sewing-Handbook-Techniques-Seamstress/dp/1440215456/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459291310&sr=8-2&keywords=tilly+and+the+buttons

I feel the same way! The author of The Curated Closet (which I got from the library) recommends putting your favorite images into a separate folder (not just Pinterest). I did that, deleted the ones that didn't match, and was left with a pretty clear winter style. I made a list of key pieces, crossed off the few things I already owned, and then I was ready to check thrift stores. I'll probably ask for jewelry and a jacket for Christmas/birthday, so I'd only have to spend a lot if I buy shoes. Good luck!

I thoroughly recommend Love At First Stitch - it comes with some straightforward (but rather lovely) patterns and will walk you through how to read them, as well as techniques like seam finishing 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 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.

If you’re making a muslin, you can experiment with how much to slash and spread. Because of the width of the sleeve, the cap doesn’t have to be as high as it is for a more tight fitting set in sleeve. Precise measurements are not really required, it’s more of an art than a science. They would just give a starting point. The sleeve pictured has the fullness added above the elbow, but you can do anything you want. I went to school for fashion design, but I still refer to my design book:

https://smile.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Fashion-Design-Joseph-Armstrong/dp/9332518114/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Everyone has great advice, but if you want a pattern book to read over for future inspiration that's aimed towards vintage Gertie's books are fun! Some of the patterns are more difficult than you'd want to start with but circle skirts are appropriately vintage and also easy!

There are a lot of tutorials for circle skirts, but the easiest ones just have elastic as the waistband and come together in a few hours (it gets faster when you've done a few).

Assorted tips: Buy a bit of extra fabric at first. If you don't need it you can use it for something else, but if you make massive fuck ups (like I do ALL the time still) you don't have to worry about running out.

Don't be ashamed of your seam ripper. Sometimes things just come out wonky.

If you get into a project and just hate it, you're not obligated to finish it. It's a hobby. Set it aside and come back to it or frog it (toss it) later.

Don't be afraid to touch the fabric in fabric stores. Sometimes the print is beautiful but the moment you unfold a little bit of it, it's got an awful feel. Pick something you want to have on your body for garments! Use your current clothes or vintage ones you find as inspiration for what kind of feel to go for.

Pick up hand sewing tutorials too even if you're going to buy a machine. Everything benefits from a little bit of hand finishing (especially vintage hems).

Google EVERYTHING. Anything that doesn't seem clear, Google can probably find a video, tutorial, or different instructions to help you figure it out.

One thing that's left off of the graphic (but is shown in the image) is to have a jacket taper just above the waist. That will make it look like you're actually wearing a nice suit and not a suit shaped bag.

Also, sometimes esquire has a lot of stupid/laughable/idiotic male fashion advice, but this book has most of the essential info re: suits and how they should fit and more.

There is a book about this...kinda

I started to read it but then I just thought "mehh, fuck it" and threw it out.

yay! i get super excited when people want to learn pattern making. my ultimate career goal is to be a pattern maker. this pattern making book has helped me a lot. there are a lot of good tips in there and step by step directions on how to make slopers in your specific size (or sizes 2 4 6 8, etc.) ^_^

Ok well for general books I'd really recommend "100 designers 10 curators" as it helps flesh out a lot of different brands. (Most you will never see ever again)

As far as some of the bigger ones

i know there are more undercover books but i think they're pretty much impossible to find for a decent price so you're going to have to PDF find them.

this dries one looked really interesting if it's the same one i remember seeing in person.

rick has an absolute ton of books and magazines about him.

the terry jones id one are generally the cheapest but never have too much meat. they're pretty though and make for good decorations.

A book like this http://www.amazon.com/Metric-Pattern-Cutting-Womens-Wear/dp/1405175672

will teach you to make all your own slopers, and alter them into whatever pattern you need.

And always use a mock-up (a practice piece in cheap fabric like factory cotton) to alter your pattern/sloper to your exact shape. The book I linked to has slopers with built in ease, but you can also get sloper draft instructions without ease, for even more control.

At my school we've been using Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph-Armstrong. While it's certainly been nice having a teacher walk through it with you, and do exercises together in class, I've also been able to figure some patterns out alone by using this book.

Have you seen this book? https://www.amazon.com/Curated-Closet-Discovering-Personal-Building/dp/1607749483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501584822&sr=8-1&keywords=closet+book

I have so many clothes but find myself only wearing less than 1/10th of my closet. One big problem is we get tempted by clothes that are "good deals" so we end up buying what we don't necessarily love. I am working on shrinking my closet as well but it's so hard to let go.

I read "The Curated Closet" and it really helped me define my style to what i need and wear vs who i would like to be. It also really helped me narrow down a color palette that works for a capsule wardrobe. Typical day to day wear skinny ankle jeans (dark denim & grey), flats, half tucked linen tshirt or 3/4 breton shirt and sunnies with bright red lips as an accent. Crisp white button down for a dressier day with sleeves rolled up. Sometimes I throw on a scarf and heels. I love sheath, fit & flare dresses and pencil skirts. I have no actual changes in seasons just a monsoon season. 🤣 Which sucks because i love layering!!! I like to keep it minimalist and effortless. The bags that work the best for me are Celine trapeze, box and belt and an hermes kelly dupe. When i want to dress up a bit i switch to a Chanel bag.

Definitely sounds like you would benefit from creating your own patterns. Yay! I'm wading through a couple pattern drafting books myself right now, and while developing your own basic patterns can be slow, meticulous, and immensely frustrating, it's also hugely rewarding.

There are a ton of textbooks out there, largely written to accompany pattern making classes. This is a bit hard on the person who's trying to learn this in isolation, since so many of the books assume you'll have the extra resource of a teacher. (Might be worth seeing if there's a local sewing studio or community college that teaches patternmaking-- in-person instruction would be nice.) Don't be discouraged, though-- it IS possible to get there alone!

The standard text seems to be Helen Joseph-Armstrong's 'Patternmaking for Fashion Design.'. Connie Crawford, Donald McCunn, and Winifred Aldrich also come highly recommended.

Since all of these books are textbooks, they can be pretty expensive. To try a book before you buy it, see if your public library (or local university library, if you have access) can use Interlibrary Loan to get you a copy of any of the above. Depending on their rules about renewing, you might be able to get your basic pattern made before you have to give the text back. :)

You could also go the draping route. Since I'm completely ignorant on this subject, I'll only leave a link to Kathleen Fasanella's Saran Wrap Patternmaking Method, which produces a sloper without having to do any measuring. (Everything in Fashion-Incubator's 'tutorials' section is brilliant. If you enjoy painfully/beautifully methodical sewing and patterning instruction, you can lose yourself there for days. But I lose my train of thought. Ahem.)

No matter how you produce your sloper, you'll still want a real textbook to help you manipulate your first pattern into real shirts you would want to wear. The sloper is very basic-- it doesn't have buttons, fastenings, interesting seams, or even much extra room for moving. All that comes later.

It's also useful to have a helper on hand for the first projects in the book. Getting accurate measurements of your body is crucial, so you'll need to recruit someone who can be trusted with a tape measure. It's also useful to have a friend help pin and fit the bodice sloper. Ideally you would team up with a sewing buddy who also wanted her own patterns-- I just bully my husband into helping. ;)

Good luck! It sounds like a ton of work, and it is, but I'm a complete novice and I already have the freedom to look at commercial patterns, shrug, and say, "no, I would rather make my own-- I KNOW it will fit better."

You know AI, so this is really just about how to draft patterns.
There's a number of books on the subject, but for you (based on your post looking for men's sewing patterns) I would recommend
Patternmaking for Menswear by Gareth Kershaw: https://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Menswear-Gareth-Kershaw/dp/1780670168

This will read as a shameless plug, but the patterns on makemypattern.com can be downloaded as an SVG that you can open in AI. This obviously does not teach you to draft them, but it does allow you to tweak them.

It's worth picking up Eqsuire's book. http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461

You'll save more then $10 when you learn to purchase good clothing that actually fits.

That is true. In my group you can tell before auditions who will be playing what role. It's frustrating as hell sometimes but I don't do it for a prominent role or anything, dancing is my gig! :D

Yeah I hear you, sometimes I feel like a broken record complaining at my SO. But I know he'd rather have me talk to him that bottle anything up. And I worry alot about how other people see me, which I know is beyond silly because the only opinion that should matter is my own. There is a massive difference between constant moaning and you genuinely feeling down. I guess it can start with your realisation of that and then moving forward.

I read this book once, I didn't take on board all the philosophy it was spouting but there are some good bits in there too.

Try the writing down of things. It really does help you get a clearer picture of what's going on. I write in a journal every evening and I find it therapeutic. At one point it was the only way I felt comfortable communicating how I felt, but it gets easier to share after a while :)

I got it from a book :/ This is the only other reference I can find.

Edit: Here is the book. I really like it!

The Following list is taken from the Witches & Warlocks FB page. (This is Christian Day's group)

Witches and Warlocks Recommended Reading List
This is a collection of books recommended by our admins and participants in the group. Books must be approved by the admins so if you'd like to see one added to the last, please post it in the comments at the bottom of this list and, if it's something we think is appropriate, we'll add it! We provide links to Amazon so folks can read more about the book but we encourage you to shop at your local occult shop whenever possible! :)


BEGINNER'S WITCHCRAFT BOOKS

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
by Raymond Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875420508

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
by Margot Adler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038192

Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635500

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702765

The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition
by William Walker Atkinson (Three Initiates)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585428744

Lid Off the Cauldron: A Wicca Handbook
by Patricia Crowther
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861630328

Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595420060

Natural Magic
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0919345808

Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
by Ellen Dugan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738709220

Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635055

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705314

Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment
by Laurie Cabot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385301898

Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation
by Silver RavenWolf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703192

Spirit of the Witch: Religion & Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703389

Witch: A Magickal Journey
by Fiona Horne
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007121326

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0709052448

Witchcraft Today
by Gerald Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525932
The Witches' Craft: The Roots of Witchcraft & Magical Transformation
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/073870265X
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982031882

WITCHCRAFT HISTORY AND RESOURCE BOOKS

Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982432356

Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else!
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062009575

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816071047

Etruscan Roman Remains
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494302519

The God of the Witches
by Margaret Murray
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195012704

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634792

ADVANCED BOOKS ON WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

Blood Sorcery Bible Volume 1: Rituals in Necromancy
by Sorceress Cagliastro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935150812

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft: Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1780999208

Teen Spirit Wicca
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1782790594

Enchantment: The Witch's Art of Manipulation by Gesture, Gaze and Glamour
by Peter Paddon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936922517

Initiation into Hermetics
by Franz Bardon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1885928122

Letters from the Devil's Forest: An Anthology of Writings on Traditional Witchcraft, Spiritual Ecology and Provenance Traditionalism
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500796360

Magical Use of Thought Forms: A Proven System of Mental & Spiritual Empowerment
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowick and J.H. Brennan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567180841

Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500380679

The Plant Spirit Familiar
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774311

Protection and Reversal Magick
by Jason Miller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1564148793
Psychic Self-Defense
by Dion Fortune
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635098
The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Norwicki
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578630452
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition
by Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane and Michael Howard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861631553

The Satanic Witch
by Anton Szandor LaVey
http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Witch-Anton-Szandor-LaVey/dp/0922915849
Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality
by Raven Digitalis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VS0N5K
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition
by Orion Foxwood
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634075
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation
by R.J. Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892137038

HERBALISM, CANDLES, INCENSE, OILS, FORMULARIES, AND STONES

A Compendium of Herbal Magic
by Paul Beyerl
http://www.amazon.com/dp/091934545X

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875421229

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light
by Lady Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525789

The Enchanted Formulary: Blending Magickal Oils for Love, Prosperity, and Healing
by Lady Maeve Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806527048

Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents
by Carl F. Neal
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703362

Magickal Formulary Spellbook Book 1
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708000

Magickal Formulary Spellbook: Book II
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708108


SPELLCASTING AND SPELLBOOKS
Crone's Book of Charms & Spells
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188117

Crone's Book of Magical Words
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188257

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061711233

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567184693

Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578633915
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979453313
The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635136

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578635543


THE ANCESTORS AND WORKING WITH THE DEAD
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge & Wisdom
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715751

The Mighty Dead
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774370

Speak with the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication
by Konstantinos
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705225
The Witches' Book of the Dead
by Christian Day
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635063
_____
TAROT

78 Degrees of Wisdom
by Rachel Pollack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/157863408

My list:

• Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel - travel, see the world, experience new things
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - make friends, enjoy people
  
• Starting Strength - get fit, look good
  
• Esquire The Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good - dress well, look good
  
• The 4-Hour Workweek - work on your own terms

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.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design
and How to Make Sewing Patterns are good resources. The first is more of a textbook that addresses specific techniques in patternmaking (e.g. how do I do articulated sleeves? how do I do an invisible zipper?) while the latter is more of a general introduction.

I use a machine for nearly everything and am horrible at handsewing. The most hand sewing I do is for tacking down allowances or for hook & eye closures so I think you could probably get away with mediocre hand sewing technique.

Well, the first two books you should get are:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metric-Pattern-Cutting-Womens-Wear/dp/1405175672

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pattern-Cutting-Menswear-Winifred-Aldrich-ebook/dp/B008GI0I8C/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1


I wouldn't have passed my degree without them.

It is tougher starting out as a guy I think. Don't dismiss those outdated patterns. They are good for practice. A shirt is still a shirt even if its a little odd. But if you can afford it I have this one

https://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Menswear-Gareth-Kershaw/dp/1780670168

Well worth it for what I learned from it.

Here is a list of ideas in several price ranges:

Fashionary Essential Boxset

Fashion Sketchbook

Grace: A Memoir

WWD Subscription

Patternmaking for Fashion Design

Have you ever looked at Color Me Beautiful? It might really help.

http://www.colormebeautiful.com/seasons/findyourseason.html


https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Beautiful-Discover-Fabulous/dp/0345345886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509755849&sr=8-1&keywords=color+me+beautiful&dpID=51rgc4-%252BlzL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

Generally, most pattern drafting books tell you how to draft a sloper (or template of your body,) and then tells you how to manipulate the sloper to get finished designs. You can start with any sloper (from any book or website) that fits you well and jump right to the sloper manipulation part from any book you like.

For womenswear I recommend “Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking” by Dorothy Moore . It’s much, much cheaper than other books, and offers a really good, simplified set of slopers despite the book being so old. When I started drafting, four years ago, I used this book to create a dress shirt with princess seams, as well as trousers, for my wife and her co-workers assumed that they were from Banana Republic. Don’t worry though, the book also has sections on dresses, coats, jackets and even a bonus formula for a contemporary man’s dress shirt.

On a side note, you can draft anything you want, but you have to know how to put it together and most of these books do not give you construction advice. I like Kwik Sew’s instructions because they use simple construction techniques, ¼” seams and teach good habits. If you don’t know how to assemble something you’ve drafted, borrow the instruction booklet from a KwikSew pattern that is similar to what you are trying to make and write down the construction steps. In addition, you’ll see it mentioned here a lot, but "Shirtmaking" by David Coffin offered invaluable tips on how to get the collar, cuffs and yoke assembled in a non-conventional way.

Some of the other books I recommend:
“Patternmaking for Fashion Design” by Helen Armstrong, is an odd book. As a pattern drafting book, I feel that it fails, as it is too big and tries to cover too many bases. But as a reference book, those qualities make it exceptional. This is not something you’ll ever read straight through… you’ll start at the index and jump to the morsel of information that you need, e.g. dart manipulation, or collar variations. Really expensive though.

“The Practical Guide to Patternmaking” by Lori Knowles and “The Practical Guide to Patternmaking for Meanswear” by Lori Knowles are both great. Where Moore’s book looked a little dated, this one has contemporary designs.

Is there anything you do consistently without thinking about it?

Is there anything you do enjoy, that you do occasionally, but you just enjoy it for the sake of doing it?

Lastly, is there something you are really attracted to, but don't do because people will judge you?

> Honestly the only way I can find enjoyment in anything is to drink a lot while I am doing it. It's the only thing I have found that turns off the constant thoughts of: "why do you even bother, you are just embarassing yourself."

Be productive when you're drinking then. I've experienced the same thing. I started drawing a little time after I tried marijuana. I tried drawing before, but that negative voice would creep into my head and I would just quit. Marijuana gave me the ability to lose my fucks. (I'm not condoning it, but it was the initial spark that got me through my post-military depression and start doing things again.)

I started out with terrible shit, but after just the ACT of putting shit out there without care for what people would think, it got easier. I kept with it, now I can draw just through the inebriated brazenness that alcohol gives me. I'm still not good, but I have a couple things that I have a tiny bit of self-pride in.

I do it for friends, I do it for a hobby. It will never be a career...but it keeps me happy. I've started a bunch of new interests since I realized I can do whatever the fuck I want: I started reading books I like, instead of the ones I think will get me a job. Early 1900s NatGeos, John Muir, classics like Aristotle, Plato...St. Thomas Aquinas, a book on the Japanese government, lol. I recently bought two books, a sewing book, and a book on fashion. I'm a guy, and very few in America expect a guy to take up sewing and fashion as a hobby...but I want to give it a try. I've always been interested in the functionality v. fashionality of the way people dress. I find a lot of fashion ridiculous, so I want to try to offer my own stuff. The books are a start.

In high school, a wise old black woman told me, "Just do it." Shortly after I got out of the military, an alcoholic sociology major with multiple businesses told me, "Just do it." After that, a deceptively smart stripper in Florida told me, "Just do it." ...sure, it might be a Nike slogan, but their advice came straight from them and they were honest about it.

Don't give a fuck whether you think you can or can't...just do it.

These are the books I was taught with at college.

They can seem quite over complicated at times, but stick with it, after a while you start to get a 'feel' for how the patterns work, and more importantly, why they work. I never refer to the books now - once you have your basic set of blocks adjusting them to what you need starts to become second nature.

Like anything it just takes repeated practice, but these books are an excellent place to start.

http://www.amazon.com/Tim-Gunn-Guide-Quality-Taste/dp/0810992841

Sorry for the double post, I'm a posting idiot :/

How much money do you have to spend on clothes right now? Take that money and spend half of it on a good, comfortable, nice-looking pair of shoes. If you don't have hundreds of dollars, go to a second-hand store or a vintage clothing store or something, but try to buy new shoes. You can buy cheap stuff for every other article of clothing if you like, but don't skimp on the shoes; they are the most important aspect of your wardrobe. A pair of black oxfords would be versatile.

Next, get a button-down shirt (or some shirts) which fit you well in the shoulders and waist. You want your shirt to fit like a second skin. Try to find something that is long enough that you can bring the front and back together at the crotch (more or less). Check the shirt(s) for mother-of-pearl buttons, good stitching, and, if patterned, check to see if the pattern lines up from shoulder to arm. Look up the word "gusset" and try to get shirts with gussets. These are some general marks of a quality shirt. You don't need all these things, but they are signs of quality.

Trousers: make sure they look good in the butt. No frumpy ass for you; no pucker either. Length: around the ankles...no flood, no bunch up at the bottom. Try to get something simple; some nice denim goes well with a dress shirt, a blazer or sport coat and a tie.

Check out the following books:

Dressing the Man

Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion

Esquire Handbook of Style

The Affected Provincial's Companion--this one is about fashion to an extent, but it transcends it and puts it into a decorum and lifestyle aspect. In fact, also check out Glen O'Brien's new book, How to be a Man if you're interested in a more lifestyle-oriented reason to look nice.

I honestly think the last two books would be a good start for you. Due to your description of yourself, I'd maybe start with How to be a Man. The first few paragraphs are shit, but it gets really good, especially by the time it gets to "How to be sexual". It seems like you need a much better reason to dress nicely than the reasons you've suggested. I think this book could really help you develop a better ethos regarding style, and maybe even help you with decorum (if you need help with that).

Check out this quick video for a great introduction to O'Brien.

Good luck.

edit: clarification

The heel flap is worked flat, usually with a slipped stitch texture and over half your stitches. The other half will just hang out until you're done with the heel flap and turning the heel. When you turn the heel, you work short rows which give a little pocket for your heel. Then you will pick up and knit up one side of the heel flap, across the instep (top), and then down the other side of the heel flap. The beginning of your row will now be in the center of your heel and you will begin decreasing out the extra stitches on either side of your instep, creating the gusset.

I highly recommend you get a good sock knitting reference like Getting Started Knitting Socks. The pictures and explanations will help a lot.

May I recommend some books that can help you determine your shape and how to dress it, and what to look for in terms of quality when shopping? Then based on that you can decide where to shop because some stores are better for certain shapes.

The Science of Sexy: This book accurately determines your shape and shows, in drawings, what is going to look both great and horrible. It does this for each shape at different weights, too -skinny, hourglass, medium hourglass, plump hourglass for example. Whichever your shape is, there's a blurb about what great assets you have :)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Sexy-Unique-Figure/dp/1592402607/ref=pd_sim_b_61?ie=UTF8&refRID=08S0DC4T12EWBPXE21JC

The Lucky Shopping Manual: Really detailed about what happens if your pants are too droopy (you get grandpa butt) or your winter hat is too small (you look like a sixth-grader) or your pool-side hat with sunglasses is too big (you're suddenly Joan Collins.) But then it also give ideas for shaking things up. Also provides suggestions for a realistic capsule wardrobe. Describes what to look for when shopping and how to fit things when trying them on.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lucky-Shopping-Manual-Improving/dp/1592400361/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=08S0DC4T12EWBPXE21JC

What Not to Wear: (the original with Trinny and Susannah) really explains in pictures how to dress your shape when it comes to sleeves and fabrics as well as necklines, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Not-Wear-Trinny-Woodall/dp/1573223573/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412045616&sr=1-3&keywords=what+not+to+wear

The Pocket Stylist: Suggests a very classic capsule wardrobe.
http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Stylist-Behind---Scenes-Expertise/dp/1592400418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412045374&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+dress+well

You can get information online but in less detail. Basically an hourglass looks great in v-neck tops, wrap tops, scoop neck tops, a-line skirts, pencil skirts, flesh colored pointy heels (not stilettos on the end of shapely legs, slightly sturdier), jackets with one or two buttons, high-waisted pants, and v-necklaces that aren't chokers but aren't too long. Yeah, necklaces drape over a boob if they come too far down :)

Whereas sheath dresses tend to mask your shape, turtlenecks and jackets with a lot of buttons hide the fact that you are big on top because of boobs, and cap sleeves aren't supposed to look good. Kitten heels generally don't work, either.

This is a good book to get started

Letting go has certainly been a large part of my recovery. And very often I find I need to let go again of what I thought I had fully let go of before, nearly every day in fact.

I enjoy leaving the house in the morning and stopping before I get to the car, and just let it all go before it even gets to me.

This book helped a lot in seeing how much I had to let go.

Best of luck in your recovery, I hope you find many balmy breezes to let your cares go on.

I actually know what I've spent exactly since February 1!

I'm a post-grad student who lives at home, and basically my only other expense at the moment is food. I pay for everything out of my savings right now as my program doesn't allow time for a job :(

Clothes: $751. A lot! I bought a pair of prescription sunglasses I was reimbursed for which were included, but I also bought white jeans and a Hillary-esque pantsuit which were both kinda expense, as well as other bits and bobs. I don't thrift as I'm a bit of a weird shape and I just don't have the energy to find things that would fit! I know I like interesting cuts and patterns, so I'm willing to pay a little more for something that isn't basic.

Beauty: $487. Also a lot! I prepaid for eyebrow waxing services for the year, and a haircut. These are basically the only services I pay for. I have nail colours that go with my clothes at home, and I'm pretty into skincare so I spend a bit on that. I'm obsessed with glossier makeup right now so it's a bit of a premium over drug store.

When I was working I had a pretty strict budget for everything. Once I had taken all my money for rent, utilities, groceries, savings and insurance, what I was left with was my fun money which I could use however I wanted, usually on clothes, skincare, and makeup. I had different spending and savings accounts to keep everything separate. It's boring but it worked to keep my spending under control!

My feeling is that you should try to meditate a bit on what kind of look genuinely makes you feel your best. Don't think about what other people wear, just on what you feel good in. Your best tools to get you outta the rut are pinterest for your aesthetic goals, and a trusty excel sheet for the planning and expensing. I also read a book called The Curated Closet that I really liked that I think would be a helping hand in getting you started on actually building a wardrobe.

Get a book like this, some muslin or light colored fabric, dark thread and sew samples. Set zippers, sew darts, button and buttonholes, curved seams, French seams, top stitching etc. if you really want to do this it is important that you work on technique. Tailors will do dozens upon dozens of sample welt pockets before they do a real one.


http://www.amazon.com/The-Sewing-Book-Step-Step/dp/0756642809

There is a book my dad gave me once to borrow. It's called "F*** IT!!" And it helped my dad a lot. He has read it more than a few times. It didn't help me as much but there is some information in there that is helpful

EDIT: here it is
https://www.amazon.co.uk/F-k-Ultimate-Spiritual-Way/dp/1848500130

The first picture looks like a surplice bodice dress, similar to one in Gertie’s ultimate dress book.

Simplicity 8127 is very similar to your second picture. Obviously without the sleeves and the bows on the front.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of a pattern for the third image but would suggest looking at other Gertie patterns if you’re into 50’s style dresses.

i used this at a local CC here in SF and my classmates who went to FIDM already had it because their teachers had already used them for THEIR classes.

This is book that starts with a very easy project and then gets gradually slightly more difficult: https://www.amazon.com/Love-First-Stitch-Demystifying-Dressmaking/dp/1611802342
Maybe working through it could be a good way to get started with sewing.

Place a dart in a paper pattern. Self-teaching patternmaking and this book (Helen Joseph Armstrong was so annoyingly complex and assumtious that I got this book (Dennic Chunman Lo) and it's easy to follow but hard to understand at certain points, as he just "throws" you the concept with no deep how-to of it or explanation/

Any of these two books. I really want them, but are a bit expensive for me atm

The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniques

[Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques] (http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Hairstyling-Step-Step-Techniques/dp/0981663915/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3Q3B5H91EIZ85&coliid=I13B0QG9NBDQ9U)

I would get get two 32-inch circular needles in the same small size, probably US 1's. That way she can have two socks going with magic loop method, or she can try out socks on two circulars (which is my preferred method, so I often mention it).

A couple skeins of fingering. I suggest getting a midpriced yarn for a first effort, such as Opal 4-fach, Reggia, or Zitron Trekking, and perhaps a deluxe sock yarn such as Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. These yarns are found in yarn specialty stores (Local Yarn Store or LYS), not big box stores.

There are a lot more yarn choices available online, but you're out of time.

Perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to get her a gift certificate to KnitPicks and then sit down with her one day to make up an order. They sell good workhorse yarns and good mid-range needles and notions.

For instructions, consider Ann Budd's Beginner Sock Book but honestly, I think Lifestyle Toe-up Socks and Silver's Sock Class, both free online, are fine for learning.

I found this book to be really helpful. http://www.amazon.com/Science-Sexy-Unique-Figure-System/dp/1592402607

He helps you figure out what your body type is and then tells you what kind of clothing is flattering. He gives really specific examples which is great.

Also what not to wear http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/what-not-to-wear/ basically gives you the same information in TV form. They give general tips about shopping and fashion, but it's most helpful if you can catch one with someone who is the same body type as you.

My dad is a graphic designer who does freelance work, and in his business first impressions count. A few years back he realized that he was dressing like a slob, and decided to shape up. When I decided that I was going into the art field as well, he gave me this book and took me shopping for a few essentials. Before that point I always thought fashion was either runway models looking like something out of Zoolander or t-shirts with jokes on them. There's something great about a "trade secret" being passed down from father to son, but even more than that dressing well gave me confidence that I had been lacking (I had a lot of social anxiety and body image issues, despite being skinny and relatively athletic). When my girlfriend first told her mom about me, one of the things she mentioned was that I really "got" clothing, and it felt really good to know that I had succeeded to that extent, having looked like this just a year earlier (for comparison, here and here are me more recently. excuse the dumb expression in the last picture; it was from a not-so-serious photo with a cousin at thanksgiving).

In terms of ready-to-wear clothes that you buy in a store, if, for example, a size L is supposed to fit women sizes 10 to 14, that garment is actually cut to fit a size 14. The largest size in each size range is what the garment is actually cut for.

This is a pricy book, but it is an awesome textbook that covers all aspects of patternmaking: Patternmaking for Fashion Design

Alright some fun facts for you.

1. Read this book: Esquire: The Handbook of Style (http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335560463&sr=1-1)
   
   This addresses questions you have regarding dressing (and yes, wear a different shirt, undies, and socks daily), shaving, and such.
   
   
2. Do not shave your chest unless you like the way that looks, beware it will be itchy
   
   Good luck.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong is pretty much the standard patternmaking text for just about every decent fashion design program in the States. I still have my copy from the 90s which I used in school, and I still refer to it when making my own patterns.

It has a very wide variety of styles/details/silhouettes/etc. And our patternmaker at my work, who has been drafting production patterns for 30+ years, references her copy regularly.

From what I read from it (I skipped between chapters), I think what you are looking for could be the Tim Gunn book http://www.amazon.com/Tim-Gunn-Guide-Quality-Taste/dp/0810992841 I found it very sensible in all the issues you bring up.

I got the Harmony guide to crochet stitches (https://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Guides-Basic-Crochet-Stitches/dp/1596680814) and put rows of some of those into scarves and such when learning new stitches.

A bit late, but thanks for the guide, man! I've started trying to learn how to make my own clothing as well. I bought "Classic Tailoring Techniques for Menswear" as it was a highly recommended guide to tailoring. Did you learn off that? Or, are there any other books you would recommend?

Also, how in your opinion, how necessary is it to be great at hand sewing? I'd say I'm mediocre at best with hand sewing, and am not sure if it's worth putting in tons more hours getting better at hand sewing or if I should focus more on improving my sewing machine skills.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1588167461?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1