Book Review: How to Use Adapt and Design Sewing Patterns

I'm supposed to be sewing up my white dress from my last post, but I wanted to take a quick break to review a book I deem worthy of sharing. You know I'm absolutely OBSESSED with sewing books. Hey, it's pretty much how I learned to sew. And furthermore, I like the best of the best books. The one's which clearly outline sewing concepts and help you understand fitting, altering, and sewing patterns. The book "How to Use, Adapt, and Design Sewing Patterns by Lee Hollahan is one such book.

When I heard this book first came out I wasn't really interested in it. Many books make claims in their titles but fall short when it comes to their content. Well I just so happened to stumble on this book at JoAnn's yesterday when I was picking up my white lining for my dress. Out of curiosity I swooped it up and bought it with my 40% off coupon (wink). Well I'm extremely happy I did!!! Although this book has 144 pages, it's streamlined and packed with the essentials of working with patterns, manipulating them, and even drafting your own. It even goes into details about changing the styles of patterns, doing complicated fittings, dart manipulations, etc. I think it's a great book for any seamstress on all levels. It can help newbies understand fitting and alterations without overwhelming detail. If you're an intermediate sewer or beyond, I think it'll be helpful in reinforcing what you know and  help strengthen your understanding of patternmaking and pattern design. I'm mainly attracted to this book for the drawings and photos which are extremely clear and concise. Plus every technique has step by step directions accompanied with the appropriate picture. The photos are really superb!!! If you are a visual learner like me then you'll love this book for sure. I think with sewing, it's not only important to know how to fit or alter, but it's equally important to understand the underlying concepts with each. I'll definitely make this required reading for my sewing students along with Nancy Zieman's "Sew with Confidence" (which is an awesome beginner sewer book)!  Ok, I've gushed on this book enough. You don't have to take my word for it. You can check out reviews at Amazon.com HERE.

Here's a view of some of the book content. Much apologies that I couldn't fit the entire page in some of the shots. But hopefully you can get a good impression of the book from these.

Well if this book interests you, check it out!!! I'm happy to add this to my library. I love to share great new finds! Happy Sewing!!!

New Sewing Book & DVD

Thanks for all of your suggestions for a clothing label production company in my last post. I can't wait to go through the list and make comparisons. If you've still go more info please feel free to pass it on. Speaking of passing on info......here's a few sewing resources I just purchased. And BTW, I'm not receiving any kickbacks for listing these two products. I only wish I were that special! LOL!

It's been a while since I've made a sewing book or DVD purchase. My library is pretty well stocked and for the most part I have most all the books I need. But I ran across two resources which I felt I couldn't pass up. A couple of days ago I purchased this book from Amazon.com.

I first noticed this book when Carolyn offered it on her blog as a giveaway item. Ironically after I entered her drawing I checked my inbox and noticed that Amazon.com sent me an email about this book. Hearing about this book on two separate occasions within minutes of each other was quite the coincidence. I took it as a sign from God!!! LOL! Ok, that may be a bit of a stretch, but the coincidence definitely peeked my interest. There weren't any reviews on the Amazon.com website but I have a gut feeling that the book's a good one. And fo $10, I couldn't pass it up.  I love learning about sewing and the more I learn, the better I sew. I can't wait to get my hands on this book. It should be here tomorrow or Thursday. I'll definitely give you a full review afterwards.

I also purchased this DVD today.

I have a great deal of sheer fabrics in my stash and have been itching to sew them up into some beautiful numbers. FYI: You can pretty much convert any pattern requiring a woven fabric with that of a sheer fabric and appropriate lining.

Ok, I have to admit this was more of a fun purchase instead of a necessity. I have more than enough books that cover sewing with sheers, and I've sewed with sheers on a number of occasions in the past, but I'm curious to hear what Peggy Sagers, creator or Sihouette patterns has to say on the subject. It just so happens that I own most of her videos (all but 2) and since they're pretty helpful, I wanted to add this one to my collection.  Plus I'd rather watch the her handling the sheers and see her demonstrate how she cuts, sews, and finishes her sheers. I can compare it to what I know and expand my own knowledge. BTW: I met Peggy at The Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Atlanta several years back. She was doing a workshop on pants fitting and called me and several other women out of the audience to critique the pants I was wearing and how they fit. Talk about up close and personal. But she was a real sweetheart!  Ok, I digress. I was going to wait later to get the DVD, but picked it up today since it's the last day to catch the pre-sale offer which saved me $10. I can't until I get my hands on this as well. I'll give you the 411 on it then.

As a side note, I'm also keeping an eye on the following DVD:

It's by Clair Shaeffer, the woman who brought us this book which I also have in my library.

I like the book ( I need to look at it again because it's been a while) but I'm not absolutely sure I'll purchase the DVD since alot of the information may already be in the book and I have a few other books on couture sewing. I am interested in couture sewing techniques though! I've been eyeballing this book for quite some time....

...but this puppy is about $75. I'll have to try and track it down on Ebay or other sites. So I'll just hold out on both of them until I can get them on sale.I never pay full price for books. I love books and If I did, I'd be broke. I always manage to get them 40-50% off when I buy them used (ebay, amazon, half.com, etc). I'm in no rush. I'll just wait and see.

How about you, have you bought any new sewing books or DVD's lately????? If so, please share!!!

Jalie 2909---Pic Heavy

  Ok, I've submerged myself in a sea of information and  now it's time to come up for some air. I've spent the last 2 weeks (yes, 2 weeks) studying pants fitting. I studied several books, watched dvd's, and studied some of my RTW pants. I chronicled the early parts of my journey in this previous post and have finally concluded with a finished pair of pants.  Are they the perfect pair of pants? Of course not. But I'm delighted to say for my very first pair of pants they aren't that bad and I'm happy with the results.
  I plan to give myself a small break from pants (you know to allow all that great info to sink in) and then have another go at it. My goal is to become good enough with pants construction that I'll be able to not only make pants for myself but for my clients as well! I'm pretty excited by all that I've learned and would love to share some of those tidbits with you. But first, here' the pattern review.

Pattern Jalie 2909

Pattern Description:
Women's elegant close-fitting trousers with regular rise (at the navel), flattering flared leg, waistband, back darts and zip fly with button closure at the front.

(I asked my husband to take a full length pic and I noticed he cut my fee off up above. 

So here's the lower half :) I stupidly did a 2" hem. I'll go back and reduce it to 1". For my long legs a pant can never be too long!)

Pattern Sizing:
I cut a size U

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes--- minus a few changes that I made to it.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Very much so!!! But I used Sanda Betzina's fly front instructions instead of the enclosed instructions. I love her method--it's just SSSOOO very easy! Anyone nervous about sewing fly front, have no fear! Just Google her method to find the video online.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked modern look of the pants.  The wide legs and fit were definitely what I was looking for. Since this was my first pants pattern I didn't want any pockets, belt carriers, etc. Plus I just need some very stylish fitted trousers to wear with all of my cute tops. Pants are so hard for me to find (since I have a 34" inseam) so I needed a pattern that I could make over and over again--and do so rather quickly---and more importantly, inexpensively:)

Fabric Used:
I believe it was a black, stretch cotton sateen.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I definitely had to shorten the crotch length in the front since I had some major folds in the crotch area. I ended up using a deconstructed pair of Lerner of New York capri's as my guide. I detailed some of the changes I made on a blog post I wrote a week or so ago here.  Also, these pants ended up being pretty snug.  I can attribute that to the thickness of the fabric. So I ended up letting 1/8" out of the side seam (especially since the seam allowance is only 3/8"). Also, somehow with the merging of the pattern and deconstructed pants, and letting out the side seam, my waist ended up being a little wider than my waist band. So since I ran a little short in the waistband length, instead of doing a button and button hole, instead I did a clasp.

 

 

(I still wasn't able to get rid of those pesky back leg wrinkles. When I remake these I plan to go a size up and work on the "shape" of the back crotch curve. I suspect I'll be able to remedy them that way.)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, absolutely I will sew it again. I have a couple of fit issues to resolve, but as soon as I do I'll be "assembly-lining" this one. This is a great pant to have lots of copies of.

Conclusion:
This is really a great pattern!!!! For those of you who are experts at fitting pants this will be a breeze. For the newbies I think it's an excellent practice pattern.

So you read the review. Now here's some of the additional things I learned from the time I spent studying pants making......

(Out of all the books that I studied.......)

 

 (This book ended up being my favorite and in my opinion the most comprehensive one. It took you from body analysis, to measurement taking, to muslin fitting, to transferring changes to the pattern, and ending up at fine-tuning the pants. None of my other books, although really good and helpful, covered this subject in such depth.)

  

 (I'm a very visual person, so this picture helped me understand the general differences in the shapes of both the front and back pattern pieces. Notice the front crotch curve is alot shorter then the back crotch curve.)

  

 (Every body is different and thus interprets the fit of a pattern differently (hence the need to make adjustments). So it's important to take time to analyze your figure.)

  

(I didn't realize that knock-knees and bow-legs would effect the hang of pants---especially since I have neither. But it makes complete sense when you think of it).

(The bodies "wedge", which is depicted here as the angle between the slope of the back and the distance of the protruding rear. Knowing this can help determine how to angle the crotch curve to match it. This is an interesting alteration and a new concept to me.)

(And some fine-tuning tips once your pants are sewn.)

(This is a Threads article (mag # 122) that I also found interesting and helpful....)

(.....especially this page in particular. It's interesting that fitting pants takes more than just knowing your crotch length. You have to understand how that length is distributed and shaped. You have to become familiar with your "body space".  I actually own one of those flex rulers. It was helpful and pretty fun to find my crotch length and shape.)

Well it's been a very productive 2 weeks!!! After 3 muslins and finally a complete pair of trousers I feel I've gotten some real hands on experience in pants construction. Although I have to move on to some non-pant projects for the next couple of weeks, I look forward to my next pants project and to hopefully getting even better at pants fitting and construction!!! Thanks for following along with me:)

Palmer /Pletsch Books & Videos 40-50% off

Did you know that Hancock Fabric carries Palmer & Pletsch sewing books and dvd's? Did you know that Hancock's also accepts JoAnn Fabric coupons? So you know where I'm going with this. You can get Palmer/ Pletsch products for 40-50% off at Hancock using JoAnn coupons!!! Isn't that great!!!

I discovered this during the After Thanksgiving sale at Hancock. I was out of town and the clerk mentioned it. I already had most of the Palmer/Pletsch video (purchased from their website), but was able to get the last 2 I wanted for little to nothing. I was absolutely floored!!! I've always been a big fan of Palmer/Pletsch sewing books and I love their videos as well. They do an excellent job of illustrating and resolving fit & sewing issues. I absolutely love to show this type of materials to my sewing students as well. I also like the fusible interfacing and use it as well.

Here are some of the books and videos I own:

You know me I love "not paying full price for most things" and I love to pass on savings info when I run across it. At the very least, even if you're not interested in Palmer/Pletsch supplies you can start using your JoAnn coupons at Hancock. So next time you head to Hancock Fabrics don't forget to take along those JoAnn coupons!!!!

50% off Thread DVD's SALE!!!

I love to pass on sale info when I get it. A couple of days I was "stalking" the Threads 2009 Magazine Archive DVD-ROM and ran across the information about the sale. Unfortunately the Magazine Archived DVD-ROM  isn't on sale (boo-hiss) but some other DVD's are. You can find more info here http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/catalog/crafts/best-sellers. I don't need anything since I already own the Threads Fitting DVD series & The Best of Threads Vol 1 (although the Industry Insider DVD's look a little tempting--but remember I just like collecting DVD's since there are so few out there). But I think I'll hold out for the 2009 Magazine Archive DVD-ROM. Let me get back to my stalking.......... it may take some time but I'm determined to get that at a discounted price!

Threads DVD-ROM's

So about a month ago I purchased this DVD-ROM.....



I'm a big fan of convenient sewing reference materials and I have to admit this is a great DVD-ROM. Especially since I like to print articles and compile my own reference books. Check it out here for more details. http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/the-best-of-threads-volume-one-031010.html. BTW I got it for $28 (on another website)instead of the $50 it retailed (I refuse to pay full price for anything including sewing supplies). So I contemplated buying the 2nd volume until they came out with the "Offer Above All Offers".




Why do they have a DVD-ROM with all of the Threads volumes from 1985-2009? That's crazy---146 issues!!! I think I only own about 30 or so. Kinda sounds too good to be true. And I guess at $145 that's only a little less than a dollar an issue. But I still don't know what to make of this offer. I wasn't even sewing when this mag came out so I'm not sure if the articles back then were any good. Do you have any idea??? What are your thoughts??? Of course if I get this for a deep discount then I'm definitely getting it. I guess I'll just keep this on the radar for now.