Sewing books that have helped me with fit and sewing
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Last year I really made a point of focusing a little more on fitting my clothes, yes bodies change and mine sure did. But with every garment I made I made a point to work on fitting things a little more and believe it or not I read a lot of books about garment fitting or construction of garments ol’ skool style.
Palmer Pletsch Guide to Fitting: Sew Great Clothes for Every Body by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto - Great book if you are looking to learn how to tissue fit. This is part of the Sewing for Real People Series. They use a lot of their current tissue fitting patterns and it’s mostly done on Real People that look like you and me. It has different examples and how to tackle so many of these. It can be how to see if you need a full bust adjustment, how to do a bicep adjustment, how to length a pattern. It doesn’t cover fitting pants so that is perhaps another book that you should look at but without a doubt it is a great book to have as a reference.
2. Fit and Sew Custom Jeans: Classic and Creative Sewing Techniques for Modern Patterns by Helen Bartley - This book is recently new…. as in a year or two new. If you are making jeans for the first time or perhaps fitting pants this is a great book to have in your sewing book library. They fit some of the most popular jeans pattern such as the Ash Jeans from Megan Nielsen, the Ginger Jeans from Closet Core Patterns or even the Ames Jeans from Cashmerette. Every time they use a real live model and show you how to tissue fit and what to look for and how to change it. It also talks about ease on stretch jeans vs. non stretch jeans. The history of jeans, what to look for in denim fabric, fabric weights, notions to use and how to tackle a few sewing tricks….. It is a great book.
3. Tailoring by Singer Sewing Books - This book is circa 1988 which I’m sorry but that was the other day as far as I’m concerned and like older books, there are some GOOOOD things in this book. It is great if you are making a suit, blazer or coat. It talks about pad stitching, lapels, interfacing, fancy pockets that are lined. It really teaches you some professional tailoring techniques and I’m going to say if you are making perhaps a coat, were you spent a lot of $$$ in fabric and are really putting in the time it is a great book to reference. It is out of print because it is older but the information in here is amazing.
4. All New Fabric Savvy - How to Choose and Use Fabrics by Sandra Bettina - Sandra Bettina recently retired and she left us with a wealth of sewing patterns and great information. This is one of those books that I reference again and again. It talks about how to care for fabrics, what presser foot to use, what needle to use, what stitch length, what stitch type, and how to finish the seams. How to do said seam finishes. It really is a great book and a Quick Reference Guide. Sandra also has another book called Fast Fit Easy Pattern Pattern Alterations for Every Figure, it’s a great book and it has a really nice chapter on fit AND ease! IT talks about the different types of ease if you want your clothes to be on the looser, or slightly fitted or very fitted and how many inches in the bust, waist and hip you should need depending on the desired fit. It is also out of print but it’s still available out there.
5. Complete Guide to Sewing by Readers Digest - I know this book has been updated quite a few times and the best place to find it is the thiftstore or perhaps a second hand used store. It is a great reference book to have in the stash. I do love the much older versions of this book because it has SO much information and good information that perhaps you may not use every day like…. shirring, smocking or tailoring techniques. It goes into basics and into some other pretty advanced techniques. It also talks about home sewing if you are into that kind of thing.
I also wanted to talk about another book that I had a chance to preview before it was released. Tova Opatrny is lovingly known in the Sewing Community as Professor Pincushion. She has a great YouTube channel were she has a lot of videos helping you tackle sewing techniques. If I need a refresher or perhaps don’t quite know how to tackle something I go check out Professor Pincushion and she has the answers. If you are a beginner at sewing this is a great book.
Professor Pincushion’s Beginner Guide to Sewing: Garment Making for Nervous Newbies by Nova Opatrny - The book is for beginners and breaks things down in the simplest forms that show you how to thread a sewing machine, where to insert a bobbin, how to read a commercial pattern, how to do interfacing, how to find the grainline and the best part of it all it gives you five pdf patterns that you can download with a QR code to get you started on your sewing journey. I thought it was really well written and it even has some of her quirky humor.
