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10-20-30 Minutes to Sew
The TV personality gives her tips on sewing preparation, illustrated instructions for sewing various items, fabrics, and methods--all procedures timed for less than thirty minutes
143 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1992
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Zieman
164 books21 followersNancy Zieman—author, designer, businesswomen, producer, blogger and national sewing authority—was the host of the popular show "Sewing With Nancy" which appeared on Public TV and online. Nancy was also the founder of Nancy's Notions, a direct marketing company, featuring sewing and quilting products.
Nancy wrote numerous books on sewing and quilting, including her autobiography, "Seams Unlikely," which was co-authored by Marjorie L. Russell.
Nancy wrote numerous books on sewing and quilting, including her autobiography, "Seams Unlikely," which was co-authored by Marjorie L. Russell.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 11, 2018
How to use small units of time to create quilts, items for the home, and gifts. Nancy Zieman was an amazing woman who worked as a TV personality, entrepreneur, designer, and writer about sewing. This book is so helpful, I have gone to it many times over the years. Simple patterns and easy to understand instructions make this book a must have. She created the concept of using small units of time instead of having to sit all day to sew. Great!
November 8, 2021
Nancy Zieman is still revered by seamstresses and even her PBS sewing show is in syndication. Many of her books are still relevant today as when she first wrote them. This book is full of good pointers and ideas for those who sew clothing or quilts. With each book I read, I learn something new.
October 18, 2020
Very informative.
January 31, 2021
The projects are dated but there’s still a lot of good advice in this time-saving classic.
March 9, 2013
Nancy Zieman is the Julia Child of sewing - her public television program, "Sewing with Nancy", has been on the air for 30 years. This book was published in the early 90s. Typical for a Nancy Zieman book, it is technique-oriented and is jammed full of sewing hints and tips, together with clear line-drawn technical illustrations and photographs of the finished results.
The theme in "10, 20, 30 Minutes" is to help you use your sewing time more effectively in two ways: 1) improve the way you organize your projects and 2) streamline some common sewing techniques. Nancy leads you through the process of planning sewing projects and breaking them down into "units of work" that can each be completed in 10, 20, or 30 minutes. She also shows you how to do as much work as possible in advance, and how to juggle multiple projects at once. Then, when you have some time free in your schedule, you can pick the unit of work from an open project that best fits the time available and your mood.
The remainder of the book is a collection of sewing techniques, often with streamlined shortcuts. The techniques are grouped by chapter: fashion design elements, serger techniques, knit fabrics, elastics, and specialty feet for your sewing machine. The knits and elastics chapters get special mention for their breadth of content. Knits has a catalog of instructions for many types of knit collars, and Elastics offers many variations for waistbands and legbands using different types of elastic. It even shows you how to make cycling shorts.
If I have one difficulty with the book, is that it doesn't completely stay on-theme. Many techniques are labeled with the amount of time they will take to execute - 10, 20, or 30 minutes. But a lot of them aren't. And a few of the techniques are simply specialized embellishments - decorating the front of a garment with serger-made twists of fabric, for example.
Finally, there's an appendix in the back with a basic getting-started guide for those completely new to sewing. There's also a glossary of sewing terms, including photos and diagrams along with the definitions for most terms.
I picked this book up from Alibris for 99 cents. I think I might have read about it online somewhere.
The theme in "10, 20, 30 Minutes" is to help you use your sewing time more effectively in two ways: 1) improve the way you organize your projects and 2) streamline some common sewing techniques. Nancy leads you through the process of planning sewing projects and breaking them down into "units of work" that can each be completed in 10, 20, or 30 minutes. She also shows you how to do as much work as possible in advance, and how to juggle multiple projects at once. Then, when you have some time free in your schedule, you can pick the unit of work from an open project that best fits the time available and your mood.
The remainder of the book is a collection of sewing techniques, often with streamlined shortcuts. The techniques are grouped by chapter: fashion design elements, serger techniques, knit fabrics, elastics, and specialty feet for your sewing machine. The knits and elastics chapters get special mention for their breadth of content. Knits has a catalog of instructions for many types of knit collars, and Elastics offers many variations for waistbands and legbands using different types of elastic. It even shows you how to make cycling shorts.
If I have one difficulty with the book, is that it doesn't completely stay on-theme. Many techniques are labeled with the amount of time they will take to execute - 10, 20, or 30 minutes. But a lot of them aren't. And a few of the techniques are simply specialized embellishments - decorating the front of a garment with serger-made twists of fabric, for example.
Finally, there's an appendix in the back with a basic getting-started guide for those completely new to sewing. There's also a glossary of sewing terms, including photos and diagrams along with the definitions for most terms.
I picked this book up from Alibris for 99 cents. I think I might have read about it online somewhere.
June 24, 2014
Great organizational ideas and sewing shortcuts w industry results.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews