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We’ve been using The Secrets of Sewing Lingerie: Make Your Own Divine Knickers, Bras & Camisoles by Katherine Sheers for lingerie work in class since it came out a couple of years ago.  It is a really great little book and the patterns are trued up well and well marked.  The instructions would be a little rough for the early beginner, but anyone who has a couple of patterns under their belts should be fine. The language and vocabulary isn’t in standard American English, so there are words here and there that aren’t what you would expect if you are from the US, but  the world isRead More →

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We bought a copy of Early Victorian Men by R. L. Shep to help round out our menswear books at the workroom a while back. Amazon describes it as: “The end of Men as Dandies & peacocks! Fashions did not change much since they were set by George IV and Beau Brummell except they were less extreme. This book is a good look at what they were between the 1820s up to 1850 and how to make them. After that they got more drab and less interesting. George Walker’s rare “The Tailor’s Masterpiece” of 1838 is paired with the full text of “Hints on Etiquette” 1836Read More →

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In: Advanced, Basic, Books, General, Intermediate, Sewing classes (general)
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We purchased Handsewn: The Essential Techniques for Tailoring and Embellishment by Margaret Rowan to help give some direction to students who were learning hand sewing and tailoring. We needed something that was comprehensive but wasn’t an embroidery book specifically. Amazon says of it:  “Take handsewing to the next level! Sewists are developing increasing interest in heritage handsewing techniques that add beautiful or couturelike finishing touches to the final project. Small handfinished details can quickly become a testament to the style, creativity, and skill of the sewist. Handsewn offers step-by-step instructions for a comprehensive collection of hand-finishing and embellishing techniques, including hems, edges, buttonholes, cuffs, tacking layersRead More →

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Verena wanted to work up some clothes for her baby so that it has some cute modern non-gender specific stuff to wear when it gets here, and started looking for a copy of “Esprit Kimono pour les Petits” by Peggy Goyer-Roussel and Zazo Bouzi. It is a French children’s pattern book that can be hard to find, but she found it and worked up some of the cutest little kimono-inspired tops. The instructions are all in French, but the sequence and layout will make this easy enough for the non-French speaking intermediate sewer. The shapes are simple and if you do read French, the directionsRead More →