How To Start Sewing: The How and Why of Sewing for Fashion Design: Sewing Techniques with Matching Patterns

I absolutely love, adore, & cherish this book. “ IT IS MY BIBLE “ This book is hands down the best sewing for beginners book you’ll ever buy in your life. It is well organized & extremely thorough. It feels like someone is holding your hand from start to finish. This book is extremely extensive & dense & will take about 4 months to read alone. if you are going to do the exercises as you read the book, it will take about 1 year to do. There’s only one thing that I don’t like about this book & that is it’s cheaply made. The cover & the glue that holds the book together is NOT GOOD. I wish the author would have spent more money on making a hardcover & used a high quality book covering & binding. I would gladly pay more money for that, the book started falling apart 1 month Into me reading it, but because the book is so amazing. I’m still going to give it 5 stars. I can tell the author was extremely passionate when writing this book because it is simply amazing. This book will assist in making my dreams of becoming a fashion designer come true because it is so easy to learn & loaded with over 600 pages of information, patterns, charts, button sizer & so much more . This book is simply amazing I also have have their “ how patterns work “ book & I love that book as well. I will continue buying books from this author for the rest of my life

I have a lot of sewing books, all the most highly rated classic ones. How to Start Sewing is my absolute favorite and the one I am using as an at home sewing course. The drawings are spot on...it is like having a teacher at your side the entire time. Both the drawings and text is very detailed and sequential and Enough to execute properly and not get lost. It truly covers I believe nearly all that a sewist would need to know about general sewing. It is not chatty or fluffy. It is not just a conglomeration of techniques like a lot of books. It truly is a sequential in depth course written for those who want to learn more in depth sewing and be competent at execution. Never do I need to ask myself “What do I need to know prior to being able to do this technique?” I will have already learned what I needed to know to be successful at the next technique, because it is already set up sequentially! It’s awesome. I can not say enough positive things about this book. After I finish using it as a course for learning to sew, it will become my go to reference. Which book would be the best choice for learning to sew? I believe This One!!! (I am in not affiliated or compensated by the publisher or author. I am just a grateful user. How to Start Sewing has been the Best discovery of my Sewing Journey.)

I decided to buy this after I read rave reviews when I was looking for beginner sewing books for a friend. As I was looking through my own small collection of sewing books, my copies of “Singer Sewing Book”, “The Complete Book of Sewing”, “Couture Sewing Techniques”, and “Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing” all felt a little lacking on their own, so I decided to give this one a go, and I’m so glad that I did. I’ve been sewing for over 20 years and am an intermediate/advanced sewer. Reading through this book made me feel like someone had taken all of the things I’d ever read and learned through my own trial and error and compiled them into one comprehensive, surprisingly easy to read tome. It’s great for beginners to intermediate sewers because it covers things like fabric grain and using a sewing machine to pressing, construction and finishing, and even a little bit of pattern making. I also appreciated that, unlike many sewing books, this one is strictly focused on sewing clothing vs decorative hand stitching or other random sewing projects. This book teaches good sewing habits (except for putting the tread in your mouth if you’re having trouble threading it through your needle, which is gross and unnecessary) and has clear, easy to understand illustrations throughout. If I could only have one sewing book, this would be it. I think it’s that good.

I love this book, even though I've been sewing awhile now. You can use this book several ways - as a step by step learning guide with exercises, as a reference, or as a reader. I like that it introduces tools gradually, as you need them. No need to run out and buy everything at once, in case you decide sewing is not for you. It covers sewing by hand and by machine, how to read pattern markings, all about fabric choices, in addition to all the constructions techniques. The only (surprising) omission is that it doesn't cover bound buttonholes or welt pockets - but those have been easy enough to find elsewhere. The bonus with this book is that it contains mini patterns that you can cut out and sew to learn the techniques, before practicing on full size garments. When you're done, you can add to a sample book along with all the settings you used, so you can refer to them the next time you need to use that technique. Assembil has now even created the sample patterns in pdf form - no need to cut or trace them out of the book, just print them off as many times as you need. I have learned many new tricks using this book, including a lapped zipper for fly-front pants, and making covered buttons and snaps. The book itself is very comprehensive, with plenty of diagrams. Don't let the thick size of the book intimidate you, it really is thorough in taking you through steps for each technique. This book is geared toward garment sewing, but some of the techniques can be used by craft sewists.

I am 66 years old and have tried on two different occasions over the years to learn how to sew, it has been tears and frustration until now. This book How to Start Sewing is the best teacher I have ever had, with precise directions, materials list, and learning lessons in each chapter it has been a pleasure learning to sew. The illustrations and examples will show you exactly what you need to do. Highly recommended this book!

This book is incredible! First off all, it's huge! 6 parts, 49 chapters, plus a part 7 which is a library of sample patterns. It goes into lots of detail for all the steps (even tips for threading a needle, needle types, how to press properly - the list goes on). Lots of illustrations that show all angles so you really understand what you're doing. Each new thing taught starts with a list of tools needed. It goes into detail about the tools and types. It explains preparation and then has exercises to practice the topics. And each section is followed by a neat illustrated list of everything you should know after going through the section. I love the fact that each chapter is blocked out on the sides and within the pages so you know where you are at and for quick reference. I'm just sad I did my typical ADHD jump into this hobby and quit when I got recklesslyin over my head. But this book has finally given me all the tools I need to finish all of my half done projects. And hopefully it will allow me to stick with this hobby long term.

The content looks awesome. Well organized and detailed and I'm excited to start working through it. It's bigger than I expected. The writing and instruction are amazingly clear and easy to follow. The beat sewing hook I've found so far. However, the shipping was AWFUL. It was shoved into a box that was too small for it. The box crumpled both bottom corners and ripped the spine as well as scuffing the cover.

I have taken years of sewing classes in addition to learning under three different professional seamstresses. Thus, when looking for the perfect birthday present for a friend who was really getting into sewing and was immensely enjoying it, I decided to get him a top notch sewing book. I figured that I could get him a very complete guide and he would be able to use it for the rest of his life. (His wife also loves to sew, and is teaching herself while trying to guide him, so an in depth book would help them both achieve more joy in their lives.) At first I was going to go with an old tried and true, reliable book like the Reader's Digest guide to sewing, or something similar. Those are excellent guides for beginners, and I have gifted those books to many friends who were just getting into sewing. However, as I was looking at one of those guides, this book showed up in my feed. With all the 5* ratings I figured I should take a look to see why this book was getting such good reviews. I almost bought the other book before I looked this one over. I'm glad I didn't! My friend is an engineering type, and his wife has enough experience that they would probably get bored with one of those more approachable books before they had learned much from it. This book on the other hand... This book has it all! It teaches you about hand sewing. It teaches you about your sewing machine, and the basics of maintaining it. This book goes beyond just oiling and inserting the bobbin. It explains adjusting your tension depending on the type of fabric you are sewing. How to tell if your tension is correct, and how to tell if the tension problem is coming from your upper thread or your bobbin. It teaches you how to sew all types of seams, hems, and joins (where you have 3+ pieces coming together at the same time). It teaches you how to work with different types of fabric, be the fabric super heavy, super thin, is knit, or simply "walks". It teaches you how to adjust your patterns to fit you. It teaches you how to drape, and how to make slopers, how to turn either of those into patterns, or how to turn those into the clothes you were dreaming of. This book has everything you need to go from wth is sewing and how do you do it through to an advanced sewer. It has guided lessons in every chapter, or can be used as a reference book. It won't teach you EVERYTHING there is to know about sewing, however it will take you farther than most people ever go. Heck, it will take you far enough to become a professional seamstress or tailor. From this book, you would only need another sewing book if you wanted to get in depth into topics like advanced pattern making, or advanced sewing techniques with certain fabrics or styles, or into depth with hand sewing techniques. Is this book easy to read and understand? Yes. However it does go in depth into each topic. Is this book the right book for everyone? No. This book is better for an engineering type, an autist who has a passion for sewing, or for an intermediate/advanced level sewer who just needs to fill in the gaps or remind themselves of techniques they used to know. Would I buy this book again? Yes. And I did. I bought it for my husband who often needs to sew, and is competent with his sewing machine, but doesn't know the details, and doesn't always understand me when I try to explain them to him. I am also certain that I will be borrowing this book from him for things that I have forgotten, or didn't yet know.

Explicaciones gráficas muy claras.

J’aime beaucoup! C’est exactement le livre qu’il me fallait! Contenu intelligemment organisé. Je n’avais pas envie d’un livre avec des exercices de vêtements que je n’aida envie d’avoir. Ce livre-ci donne des petits exercices, sur de tout petits patrons, bien catégorisés. Ça m’a permis de bien comprendre les différentes étapes et techniques nécessaires à la confection d’un vêtement. En plus les illustrations sont si bien faites qu’on peut quasiment faire les exercices sans lire! Génial!

The books is well structured and written, and there are many exercises throughout to help the reader to get started and learn the skills in the process. Lots of graphical materials accompany the text, so the material is very clear. I would recommend this book primarily for people who has very little to no experience in the domain.

Extremely detailed sewing guid that brings you from the absolute basics of sewing by hand to using a sewing machine for patterns and tailoring. Easy to read and good diagrams to follow . Looks a bit old- fashioned but is full of great tips and multiple ways to master a sewing technique.

I like this book a lot. - Very complete, there is a lot of information. - Not just the how, but also the why of different techniques. Understand why you do what you do, including alternatives. - Nice, clear, black and white diagrams instead of photos -- see photo. (Some may not like this minimal style, I do) If you are just starting out, this book may be a bit overwhelming. There are more basic books out there, if you only need the very basics. But if you want a thorough course in sewing, here it is. Go through it from beginning to end, or dip in here and there to get what you want. Does not include whole garment patterns, only patterns for details (samples). Does not include information about creating your own sewing patterns or draping, which are more advanced topics. It does show you how to read existing sewing patterns, and how to make them from start to finish. See the assembil.com website for a detailed table of content of the book, or to download the samples patterns (to practice the different techniques described in the book and create your own samples library).