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How To Start Sewing
A Sewing Course in a Book If you have just decided that you want to learn how to sew, this book has been designed for you. Learning to sew can be simultaneously frustrating and rewarding, so you want a book that will start slowly, build your confidence and help you avoid common problems. Designed as a thorough sewing course, How To Start Sewing will walk you through the entire sewing process, from your first hand sewing stitches to your first complete garment. You don’t even need to have a sewing machine to start learning. Just like having a sewing teacher in your own home or studio, let us show you how to choose and use your first sewing machine, troubleshoot your way through common sewing issues and build your sewing confidence. Go easy on your budget by buying new equipment and materials only as you need it, then put your new supplies and skills to use in hands-on exercises. Don’t let the large size of this book intimidate you; everything is explained in straightforward language with practical examples. No prior experience required. The Perfect Reference Book For the more experienced sewer, How To Start Sewing is designed as the perfect reference book. Forget trawling multiple books and videos to decipher sewing instructions, sometimes you just want a book on your studio shelf that you know you can trust. Use our Table of Contents and Index to get right to the technique that you need. We have focused on the most versatile techniques and explained them step by step with detailed drawings. Use our troubleshooting guides to master your sewing machine, improve your stitch quality and solve recurring construction issues to raise your sewing skills to the next level. Practical Sewing Exercises with Patterns to Match It can be frustrating trying to learn how to sew a detail when your pattern doesn’t match the instructions. To solve this common problem we have included a whole library of small sewing patterns. Trace off the patterns, cut them out in fabric and follow the step-by-step exercises to sew seams, darts, pockets, zippers, vents, and plackets. This process will help you to create a reference folder full of your favourite techniques. Next time you forget how to sew the lining for an invisible zipper, or how to adjust the tension on your overlocker, you will have your reference sample there to remind you. And next time you want to swap or modify a detail on a sewing pattern, you will have the pattern library to use as a handy reference. Professional Techniques for Superior Results Whether you are studying fashion design, have your own label or sew for yourself at home, we know that you want to master techniques that are of a professional standard. We have specially selected the details that are the most versatile in womenswear and menswear collections so that you can mix and match them endlessly across your own garment patterns. Or apply the details in this book to your favourite commercial sewing pattern. We will only teach you the details and methods that are used to create high-end ready-to-wear garments. With practice, you will be able to consistently create garments of a superior quality. Designed for Different Types of Sewers If you are a perfectionist, this book will suit your pragmatic desire to know everything about the how and why of sewing and will help you build your skills and knowledge in a specific order. Learn to analyse garments and diagnose construction problems like a professional and fine-tune your techniques. Or if you prefer to make mistakes first, and then ask questions later then we are here for you too. Just use our troubleshooting guides to tell you why you keep breaking needles and tangling your thread so you can quickly solve your issues and plough through your first projects. The sooner you start making mistakes, the sooner we can help you fix them.
630 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2016
8 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 28, 2021
Assembil is a project aimed at novice sewers which provides comprehensive instructions covering everything from basic hand-sewing right through to complex tasks such as bagging out linings and inserting fly-front zips. It is a companion book to their first publication, How Patterns Work.
I have been sewing for over forty years. My mother taught my sisters and me how to cut patterns and how to use a sewing machine. My grandmother taught us to knit. That was back in the day when it was cheaper to make clothes than buy them. Then fast fashion appeared and these old-fashioned skills were abandoned in favour of wardrobes stuffed with rapidly produced, almost disposable clothing at a fraction of the cost until, that is, we started to wake up to the appalling environmental cost of the global garment industry and its mistreatment of garment workers. Needless to say, there is now a resurgence in the domestic sewing market, especially among younger, environmentally-aware age groups. It makes me want to shout three cheers from the roof, for it is a wonderful skill to have.
So, why did I read a book called How to Start Sewing? Principally, to see if it’s worth recommending to new sewers and it is, but with a few reservations. It is an A4, print-on-demand paperback 600 pages long and I have read the whole thing (3 months!). It is certainly comprehensive - I cannot spot anything the authors have missed out - and must have been a Herculean task to produce. However…
Although the instructions for each technique are thorough, the authors use many abbreviations that are not explained beyond the first pages of the book. This might be confusing if it is to be used as a dip-in, reference book as intended.
The diagrams are as simple as possible but some tasks are complex with intricate folding, facings, lining, under-stitching, sleeve-insertion, etc, and showing this clearly in a diagram is a big ask. I’m not convinced I would always have followed had I not already known the techniques being illustrated.
This book is only about sewing; there is nothing at all about how to fit clothes in either this or the first book. It also uses metric measurements throughout with no inclusion of the imperial measurements still favoured by many sewers outside Europe.
I cannot fault the effort and attention to detail in this book but sewing is far more easily taught when demonstrated, so I have one word of advice to novice sewers – YouTube! There are some superb sewing teachers out there sharing their skills on video and I suggest using the logical sequence of this book’s content list to build up a comprehensive file of online sewing lessons. Sorry Assembil!
For fitting techniques, I suggest the excellent Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto as this topic is not so well covered on YouTube.
I have been sewing for over forty years. My mother taught my sisters and me how to cut patterns and how to use a sewing machine. My grandmother taught us to knit. That was back in the day when it was cheaper to make clothes than buy them. Then fast fashion appeared and these old-fashioned skills were abandoned in favour of wardrobes stuffed with rapidly produced, almost disposable clothing at a fraction of the cost until, that is, we started to wake up to the appalling environmental cost of the global garment industry and its mistreatment of garment workers. Needless to say, there is now a resurgence in the domestic sewing market, especially among younger, environmentally-aware age groups. It makes me want to shout three cheers from the roof, for it is a wonderful skill to have.
So, why did I read a book called How to Start Sewing? Principally, to see if it’s worth recommending to new sewers and it is, but with a few reservations. It is an A4, print-on-demand paperback 600 pages long and I have read the whole thing (3 months!). It is certainly comprehensive - I cannot spot anything the authors have missed out - and must have been a Herculean task to produce. However…
Although the instructions for each technique are thorough, the authors use many abbreviations that are not explained beyond the first pages of the book. This might be confusing if it is to be used as a dip-in, reference book as intended.
The diagrams are as simple as possible but some tasks are complex with intricate folding, facings, lining, under-stitching, sleeve-insertion, etc, and showing this clearly in a diagram is a big ask. I’m not convinced I would always have followed had I not already known the techniques being illustrated.
This book is only about sewing; there is nothing at all about how to fit clothes in either this or the first book. It also uses metric measurements throughout with no inclusion of the imperial measurements still favoured by many sewers outside Europe.
I cannot fault the effort and attention to detail in this book but sewing is far more easily taught when demonstrated, so I have one word of advice to novice sewers – YouTube! There are some superb sewing teachers out there sharing their skills on video and I suggest using the logical sequence of this book’s content list to build up a comprehensive file of online sewing lessons. Sorry Assembil!
For fitting techniques, I suggest the excellent Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto as this topic is not so well covered on YouTube.
April 27, 2023
This is one of the most thorough books on sewing I have ever seen or read. While it is technically written to be a textbook for the industrial sewing : fashion / pattern making industries; it covers both home sewing and industrial sewing machines and techniques.
While it could not possibly cover everything; it is thorough enough that even the most experienced sewer is bound to learn a few things. If nothing else, another technique for doing something they do differently. As it does show a few ways to accomplish the same tasks, when differing techniques exist.
And, when paired with their first book, “How Patterns Work: The Fundamental Principles of Pattern Making and Sewing in Fashion Design”, you would have a thorough knowledge of how to sew just about anything; and even adjust it for optimal fit.
These two books should be on every sewers bookshelves.
While it could not possibly cover everything; it is thorough enough that even the most experienced sewer is bound to learn a few things. If nothing else, another technique for doing something they do differently. As it does show a few ways to accomplish the same tasks, when differing techniques exist.
And, when paired with their first book, “How Patterns Work: The Fundamental Principles of Pattern Making and Sewing in Fashion Design”, you would have a thorough knowledge of how to sew just about anything; and even adjust it for optimal fit.
These two books should be on every sewers bookshelves.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews