My Favorite Sewing Books For More Advanced Sewers
As you all know, I love sewing books. However, I'm at this stage now where I feel that I've passed the level of beginner books, so I'm diving into more 'advanced' books to get to grips with more advanced techniques.
Here is a list of my 5 favorite books for sewers who want to expand their knowledge beyond beginner level!
Classic Tailoring Techniques, Robert Cabrera and Patricia Flaherty Meyers
This book is my favorite book on tailoring. It's dry and very much to the point, but is a fantastic resource for those looking to deepen their tailoring skills. It shows all the steps of adapting your garment from a muslin to a unique piece that truly fits your body, using tailoring techniques. If you'd come to like "cute" and "pastel" lay-out and colors in sewing books, this is not what you'll get with this book. It's straight on, grey photograpsh and line drawings accompanied by tons of information!
Couture Sewing Techniques, Claire B. Shaeffer
This book had me in awe for multiple nights in a row (I read my sewing books as bedtime books...) I stopped putting in post-its when I noticed I had post-its on almost every page, so I just re-read it every now and then! This book focuses on couture sewing techniques such as the actual sewing, garment construction and construction processes used in the couture world. It contains really pretty photographs of couture garments and most importantly: their insides (yes!)
The Serger's Technique Bible, Julia Hincks
I recently obtained this book in Dutch and learned 12 new things about my overlocker/serger in the first 25 pages. If you are looking to get to know your overlocker and you want to stop feeling afraid of the beasty machine: the Serger's Technique Bible is your book! I also love it to expand my knowledge about all the techniques that are possible with a simple overlocker, aside from sewing stretch fabrics and finishing seams.
The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques, Lynda Maynard
This is also a book I own in Dutch, but I love all the information in it. It shows a couple couture sewing techniques such as finishing necklines and hems as well as ideas on layering fabrics to obtain a more luxe look. I actually saw some of these techniques: such as underlining a satin with a layer of flanel to give a more luxe feel applied in the costume department I'm currently working at, which shows me the techniques in this book are legit! I also love the fact that my Dutch copy is spiral bound. This makes referencing it a lot easier!
Pattern Cutting: The Architecture of Fashion, Pat Parish
There are a ton of books available on pattern cutting but this one is one of my favorites. (I own a lot of those, I'll show you in the future if you are interested) It's very thorough but accessible at the same time. I also happen to love the lay-out, which always helps. The book covers ground rules of fit, proportion, balance, line and form, so you can understand Patrick in The Sewing Bee whenever he talks about how a garment is well-balanced. If you are looking for a book on pattern cutting, this is a good start!
So, these are my 5 favorite books (at the moment, things are always a-changing) if you happen to know another gem of sewing knowledge, please pass it on to me! I love learning more!
P.S.: Want to read more about sewing books? Here is an episode of Sewing Café where Lieke and I discuss our favorite books and this is a post on books about fabrics!