What sewing or fiber arts book(s) are you reading now? Or have read recently? Or ever?!
I’m reading a rather old book, “The History of Underclothes” by husband-and-wife team C. Willet & Phillis Cunnington. Originally published in 1951, I’m reading the second edition published in 1981.
A more recent version, published in 1992 is described here:
That book looks really interesting. There are never enough books on undergarments of the past, especially since they significantly affect the look of outer garments.
I’m not reading any sewing books right now, but one of my all time favorite historic costuming books to look through is Norah Waugh’s “The Cut of Men’s Clothes” because of all the images of men in their outfits and diagrams of the patterns used to construct the clothing. I got it as a birthday gift back when I was a teen, and I’ve only ever made paper mockups of those patterns to see if they were really to scale. As far as the ones I tried, they actually are
Yes, that’s a major point of the book: how undergarments relate to outer (public-facing) garments. Really interesting!
Norah’s book isn’t in my library, but I’ll keep an eye out for it elsewhere. Sounds like a book I’d be interested in. So cool that you made mockups of the patterns… as a teen!
I used to make tiny paper patterns for cosplay back then, because I’d learned to sew pretty young, and I never could find the patterns for costumes that I wanted. I didn’t actually have the patience back then to sew up complex costumes or the money to buy that much fabric (I spent my allowance to buy fabric for sewing everyday clothing, or thrifting things to alter) so I just made tiny paper patterns that I taped up to test if I got the shapes right. I also used to look through Janet Arnold’s books which I borrowed from the library, and any other books with diagrams of historic patterns. Unfortunately, the library from my hometown no longer has any of those books
What other sewing related books have you read and enjoyed besides “The History of Underclothes”?
Well, not a whole lot of them because I’m fairly new on my sewing journey.
Every other book I’ve read has been technical, such as David Page Coffin’s books on shirts & pants, and “Sew Any Fabric” from Claire Shaeffer.
Currently doing Bernadette Banner’s “Make, Sew, and Mend” which has some nice suggestions on how to hand stitch.
Is there anything surprising you discovered reading Bernadette’s book?
I think her advice on tension and smaller needles is helpful. I’ve not had an opportunity to try the felling stitch technique she demonstrates.
And acceptance of flaws that we see showcase garments frequently but don’t often see the messier details. I’ve been struggling a bit because the flat-felled seams on the simon/simone are a difficult technique for me.
Reading one of David Page Coffin’s books on shirts, I noticed he recommended using a flat-felling presser foot on a sewing machine. So I picked one up recently but haven’t had a chance to try it.
I’ve tried that but I’ve never been able to get one with with the same seam allowances as used on the simon/simone. I find 6mm very tight to work with at my current level of skill. It’s just a matter of needing more practice, and probably a machine tuneup.
If you’re interested in underwear, I can’t recommend the Underdressed podcast enough. Not a book I know, but Trudy is one of the pioneers of using Clo 3D to design underwear, especially bras. She interviews a whole series of fascinating people, from the venerable Beverly Johnson who introduced bras to home sewers in the 70s to Lily Fong who’s revived the whole genre in the past few years. Conversations are very wide ranging, from the most arcane technicalities to physics of support and esthetics of design. I’m pretty much a beginner in that area, and find it endlessly mind-boggling in a good way
I just took out The Savvy Seamstress from the library, and it’s pushing the boundaries of my understanding (I’m still a beginner, and never thought I’d actually design or even change patterns, but found that I have to).
Even so, it’s well written, with clear diagrams & photos. It’ll probably be 2 years before I can really say I designed a pattern or changed major parts of it (as in this book, where she shows, for example, how to change a pattern from a back zipper to front buttons).
Just absorbing random information, that will eventually be useful. For anyone who’s more intermediate level, I think it’d be a great hands-on book. Check it out.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Savvy-Seamstress/Nicole-Mallalieu/9781617453113