What do you think?
Rate this book
Sew Any Fabric: A Quick Reference to Fabrics from A to Z
Fabric Basics at Your Fingertips Have you ever wished you could call an expert and ask for a five-minute explanation on the particulars of a fabric you are sewing? Claire Shaeffer provides this key information for 88 of today's most popular fabrics. In this handy, easy-to-follow reference, she guides you through all the basics while providing hints, tips, and suggestions base don her 20-plus years as a college instructor, pattern designers, and author. In each concise chapter, Claire shares fabric facts, design ideas, workroom secrets, and her sewing checklist, as well as her sewability classification to advice you on the difficulty of sewing each fabric. Color photographs offer further ideas. The succeeding sections offer sewing techniques and advice on needles, threads, stabilizers, and interfacings. Claire's unique fabric/fiber dictionary cross-reference over 600 additional fabrics. An invaluable reference for any one who sews, Sew Any Fabric provides practical, clear information for novices and inspiration for more experienced sewers who are looking for new ideas and techniques.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
15 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 16, 2023
“Sew Any Fabric: A Quick Reference to Fabric from A to Z” by Claire Schaeffer is an excellent resource for quilters in general and all sewers in particular. Although this book was published by Krause Publications in 2003, this reference book is still entirely relevant.
Schaeffer arranged this book into 4 major parts: Part One: The Fabrics; Part Two: Sewing Techniques; Part Three: Fabric/Fiber Dictionary; and Part Four: Appendices. The appendices (or appendixes), include sections on Needles, Thread, Thread Guide, Burn Test, and Stabilizers. The author also wisely included a Glossary, along with an Interfacing section, a resource list, and a bibliography.
What I really appreciate about this book is that the author paid close attention to a wide variety of fabrics, both natural and synthetic. Each fabric had its own section and included a Sewing Checklist and Workroom Secrets. This was so important for me. I quilt a lot and sew other items as well, and the author used these subsections to include her recommendations for the best seams to use on the fabric, how to best press it, the linings to use, garment care, and etc. She even included a Machine Setup section to provide recommendations for stitch length, tension, and even different feet.
Besides what I outlined above, the author put in a lot of other useful information. For example, Schaeffer stated that,
“…To set creases, saturate a brown paper grocery bag with water. Place the bag over the fabric and iron until the paper is dry…” (Schaeffer 2003: 20% mark).
I’ve never heard of this little trick before, and it is something that I will definitely use in the future. Although the author included some brief data at the beginning of each fabric section, I would have liked to have seen additional information about how the fabric was manufactured, along with a section on manufacturers label their garments and the federal laws regarding the labeling. That information would have been extremely useful.
Overall, this is a reference book that I will be using a lot. Although the hard copy of the book is a bit expensive ($40), the Kindle edition was only $8.99. This lower price enabled me to purchase this book and use it for constant reference in all my sewing projects.
Schaeffer arranged this book into 4 major parts: Part One: The Fabrics; Part Two: Sewing Techniques; Part Three: Fabric/Fiber Dictionary; and Part Four: Appendices. The appendices (or appendixes), include sections on Needles, Thread, Thread Guide, Burn Test, and Stabilizers. The author also wisely included a Glossary, along with an Interfacing section, a resource list, and a bibliography.
What I really appreciate about this book is that the author paid close attention to a wide variety of fabrics, both natural and synthetic. Each fabric had its own section and included a Sewing Checklist and Workroom Secrets. This was so important for me. I quilt a lot and sew other items as well, and the author used these subsections to include her recommendations for the best seams to use on the fabric, how to best press it, the linings to use, garment care, and etc. She even included a Machine Setup section to provide recommendations for stitch length, tension, and even different feet.
Besides what I outlined above, the author put in a lot of other useful information. For example, Schaeffer stated that,
“…To set creases, saturate a brown paper grocery bag with water. Place the bag over the fabric and iron until the paper is dry…” (Schaeffer 2003: 20% mark).
I’ve never heard of this little trick before, and it is something that I will definitely use in the future. Although the author included some brief data at the beginning of each fabric section, I would have liked to have seen additional information about how the fabric was manufactured, along with a section on manufacturers label their garments and the federal laws regarding the labeling. That information would have been extremely useful.
Overall, this is a reference book that I will be using a lot. Although the hard copy of the book is a bit expensive ($40), the Kindle edition was only $8.99. This lower price enabled me to purchase this book and use it for constant reference in all my sewing projects.
September 9, 2019
excellent reference source...discusses workroom secrets, best tools, best patterns, tips on techniques and issues that might be troublesome.
this is a timeless source of information.
this is a timeless source of information.
April 5, 2023
A great reference book! How to identify it, care for it, sew it...made me want to go shop for more fabric though!
June 9, 2015
Great reference book for different fabrics. Organized alphabetically by the fabric's common name, it is easy to use and instructional at the same time. Information about threads, stitches, needles and appropriate use are very helpful. A must have for any sewist. I hope there will be a new printing of this soon. It is available used through bookstores and online.
July 29, 2007
this is an excellent resource for knowing which fabrics work for which project. goes on to include which type of sewing needle to use as well as other detailed helpful hints. i don't feel so lost at the fabric store anymore.
March 27, 2008
Easy to use. Fabrics are listed alphabetical order. The proper needles, stitches per inch thread, ironing and cleaning tips are listed on one page.
There is also a guide to the sewing difficulty of each fabric. You can be prepared and warned before you waste money on bad fabric.
There is also a guide to the sewing difficulty of each fabric. You can be prepared and warned before you waste money on bad fabric.
December 29, 2008
This is an awesome resource. But, it's not really good to check out from the library. I need one by my sewing table at all times so I know what to do. I'm gonna have to buy this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews