Knitting : Ragg Socks

I recently finished up a new pair of socks. The yarn was gifted to me and it was fun to knit with. The yarn is Trekking (XXL) in colorway 100. I love Trekking sock yarn but I have had a hard time finding it near me. One 100 gm ball has generous yardage that may be enough for a pair of men's socks. I had yarn left over that will migrate to some scrap yarn socks at some point. With this color way, do not expect to be able to knit symmetrical socks. The color changes are random throughout the whole ball. With this yarn it is fun to watch the color changes as you knit. You can see how each sock came out below. Some comments on Ravelry has a few negative comments about this yarn brand, but I found this colorway to be soft, with no knots or tangles.

I knit my usual vanilla socks using the basic sock pattern from Ann Budd in the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I have knit a few things using this book and it is a worthwhile investment. Another nice thing about Ann Budd is she is on Ravelry. If you link your socks to her pattern, she will leave a nice comment. I believe she looks at any project made from one of her patterns.

Book Review: Mending Matters

Mending Matters by Katrina Rodabaugh is a visually beautiful book. There is full color photography on every page. The pages are thick and glossy with a sewn binding in a hardcover book. The layout and graphic design work is really well done. Those qualities alone may justify the price.

Mending Matters is a book with two blended parts. The first part contains essays on Rodabaugh's journey to Slow Fashion. She explains what Slow Fashion is and the values that are important to the movement. There are also essays from other bloggers involved in the movement. The second part involves tutorials on mending with step-by-step photography for each project.

I have mixed opinions on this book. The first involves the discussion on Slow Fashion. Like the traditional food crowd, there are certain values involved with the consumption of clothing and textiles. There are words like sustainability, ethics, social justice, and activism used throughout. I almost felt brow-beaten by the philosophy. For Rodabaugh, Slow Fashion means buying and wearing only biodegradable fibers like cotton and linen. It means rejecting Fast Fashion trends completely and wearing clothing until there is no hope of repairing it. It means buying only clothing at a thrift store and using fabric dyes made from plants. There are a lot of little decisions one must make in order to be a part of the Slow Fashion movement. My first introduction to Slow Fashion was the Alabama Chanin trend, which has many beautiful examples. Rodabaugh's book goes a step further.


But even the author concedes that as you become more aware and educated about how clothing and textiles are produced, you will likely have to compromise on the very values you proclaim. This is because the entire production cycle from fiber to fabric to clothing to retail involves some process that may harm the environment or conflict with some other value. As an example, Rodabaugh wears linen because it is a biodegradable fiber. But the process in creating that linen fiber involves manual labor in foreign countries that do not necessarily pay what we would consider fair wages, followed by bleaching, dying, and transportation across long distances.

But as I have trouble with the Slow Fashion movement, I am actually participating. For me it is less about a political statement or personal philosophy. Granted, I think that we should work to find safer ways to grow and process fibers and find ways to reduce waste. Those are good things. My participation is more about thriftiness and economy. As I read this book, I realized that a majority of my wardrobe comes from the thrift store. There are, of course, certain things I can't buy at a thrift store, and those are purchased new, but on discount. I also repair and mend as needed and up-cycle what I can. Everything else goes back to the thrift store at some point. I never put a label on those activities because it was something that I naturally did.

The second part of the book contains tutorials on how to mend. The tutorials themselves are rather simple projects. Many similar projects can be found through online tutorials from various places. Rodabaugh does have a certain aesthetic and it really shines in the photography. Her mending uses sashiko stitching to elevate a mend or patch to something artistic. Sashiko thread is a cotton thread with long cotton staples and is known for its smooth, lustrous quality. Pearl cotton thread is a bit more economical, comes in many colors, and is pretty much the same thing. Sashiko stitching is precise stitching in a repeated pattern. Rodabaugh relaxes her stitching, though there are many beautiful examples of true Sashiko stitching online that you could follow if you choose.


In the past mending was meant to be invisible, if possible. In this case, it is meant to be a focal point. Some of the projects, such as the bags, lack practicality and would likely not hold up to heavy use. Hand stitching with large stitches lack strength. But, for some things it is probably fine. Below is a link to my pinterest board with more mending ideas.

As I said, I have mixed feelings. It is a beautiful book, no doubt. The projects are inspiring in their aesthetic appeal. It is making me rethink a few mending projects of my own. But is the book as a whole worth the cost? I'm not sure. What are your thoughts on the Slow Fashion movement?

*I am an Amazon affiliate and any links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Book review : Sizing in clothing

This is one of the books I ran across while working on my own book on grading. Sizing in Clothing (Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles) is a collection of scholarly papers edited by S. P. Ashdown on the current (as of 2007) issues related to sizing ready-to-wear clothing. It is a dense read and it took me every bit of time I had with the book to get through it. I'm glad I read it.

The audience for this book is very narrow in scope. This is not a book for someone starting their own apparel line. Do not run out and buy this book unless you have a real interest in sizing theory - it will not help you figure out the sizing for your line. If you did want to buy it, the book runs in the $200-$250 range. I obtained a copy through inter-library loan, which also proved a bit of a challenge. Only a handful of college libraries carry a copy they are willing to loan outside their library system. So I had to read this book on a deadline and handle the book with kid gloves over the holidays.

Some technical designers, pattern makers, and graders may be interested in some of the included articles. Over the next several weeks, I will post a review/discussion on some of the topics covered. My two favorite articles were on the History of sizing systems and ready-to-wear garments by Winifred Aldrich and Military Sizing. There are other really great topics about sizing and target markets, size standardization (a hot topic!), apparel production and sizing, and of course, pattern grading.

Because each chapter is written by different authors, it's hard to give a review of the book as a whole. Some articles were very well written and easy to read, such as my two favorites listed above. Others are written in a formal academic style which is very difficult to read and even more difficult to ferret out what the author is trying to say. As a collection, the articles cover nearly every angle.

Since the articles are written mostly by academics, there is a bit of a disconnect with those working on the front lines (the exception being the Military sizing article). It would be easy to characterize the writers as sitting in their academic ivory towers telling us what to do because they "know better". Embedded in many of the articles is criticism aimed at the industry for assumed sizing problems that the industry either "created" or refuse to solve. While some of the criticism is unfair in my opinion, the information they provide us is still valuable. I'll discuss some of this later in the individual reviews. Despite all of this, I'm glad there are people out there willing to think about these problems, propose solutions, and test them out.

Book Review : Better Homes and Gardens Quilting pieces of the past

I've had quilting on the brain lately. I don't really have time for it right now, but I do have plans. Who doesn't when they have other more pressing projects? When I'm in the zone for some other crafty venture, I usually waste time on Pinterest or borrow books from the library. In this case I came home with Quilting Pieces of the Past (Better Homes & Gardens).

This book was published back in 2004, which doesn't seem all that long ago. The book traces the last 175 years of quilting with 54 quilting projects and full size pattern pieces in an attached insert in the back of the book. The book is divided up into distinct historical periods followed by quilts that are reproductions of that time or inspired by that time. Many of the quilts in the book are drawn from previously published Better Homes and Gardens quilting patterns.

The historical information is very interesting but not nearly as in depth as I would have liked. But it does contain full color pictures throughout with fabric swatches representing the color and style of fabric used in quilts for each time period. The biographical information on the early quilt designers was interesting. Each section contains a historical time period showing the major events of the day so that the reader can understand what influenced some of the quilt designs.

Some of the reviewers on Amazon gave the book poor reviews because many of the projects were not updated with contemporary styling or colors. This did not bother me so much because the quilts were meant to be reproductions of older quilts anyway. It would be easy to update the quilts with newer, fresher color schemes and fabrics. The instructions are where the book struggles a bit. Most of the instructions rely on traditional cutting and piecing techniques. This means that some of the quilt blocks are more difficult to put together because of inset seams. This is particular true with the Lemoyne star block, Bride's bouquet, and a few others. More modern techniques have broken down these blocks to make them easier to piece using strips and special rulers. Some of the quilt blocks are quite intricate and would require very precise cutting and sewing. Several of the quilts are applique quilts and the book contains no instructions on applique.

Despite those deficiencies, I still really liked the book. I loved reading the historical sections and seeing the quilts that came from each time period. I do like many of the quilts in the book and I could see myself making some of them one day. If nothing else, the book could be used as a source of inspiration. It would be easy to take some of the more traditional blocks and up date them. This book is not really for beginners because of several difficult to make quilts  and the sketchy instructions. Still, there are a few projects a beginner could probably attempt without too much difficulty.

Book Rating: 4 stars

Grading rulers and how-to drawings

I've been hard at work on my grading book. The first half of the book explains children's sizing. The second half is a how-to manual on grading. I've been stuck on the how-to section for quite a while. I could not decide on whether I should do step-by-step photos or illustrations. I fiddled around in Inkscape and managed to pull together some pretty good how-to drawings. The drawing above is a sneak peak.

Photographs would be great but I didn't think I could pull off photographs that were good enough for print. There are some practical matters too. An eBook filled with as many photographs as I need would be enormous. Too big of a file size to process for print (fingers-crossed they turn out ok) and too big to download easily. There are photos in the book, but just a few. So yes, I am planning on an eBook version, though probably not for Kindle.

So the how-to section will be step-by-step drawings. The drawing above is the set-up for hand grading. It shows the guidelines and grading ruler placement. The shaded area represents tag board. The pattern piece is cut in tag board too, but is white for clarity.

The gridded area represents the grading ruler. My grading ruler is the rectangular gridded ruler in the middle below. I was lucky enough to find it at a thrift store stuck in the book below.

This style of hinged grading ruler is no longer available. Never fear, there are options. You can grade with any clear ruler that has 1/16" gradations like the 18 inch ruler in the picture above. You can also buy a grading ruler from Connie Crawford. The price can't be beat! I've been looking at special quilting rulers and those are tremendously over-priced in comparison.

The grading how-to section will cover hand grading in depth and a general overview of grading for CAD. CAD grading depends on the CAD software, so in depth instructions would be difficult to cover for each major system.

Because things can be lost in translation - meaning my drawings and photographs may not convey the best for everyone - there will be at least one how-to video. I'm not sure what I'm setting myself up for, but I'll give it a try.

A Pattern Review for J. Bernardoni's Nutcracker Cavalier Doublet Jacket

In the ballet world, the Christmas season is Nutcracker season. This year, I was commissioned to remake the Nutcracker/Prince jacket for Utah Artist School of Ballet's Children's Nutcracker. The director requested red stretch velvet but other than that I designed it. She approved the design and I had a very short period of time to build 2 identical jackets, 4 days to be exact to make photo call. The director was understanding that the jackets for photos would be wearable and only partially decorated. Within a day, I found out one of the two dancer's would not be there for photos. Since this was a short build, I bought a pattern to use from Tutu.com. Pattern No. JB11002 Nutcracker Cavalier Doublet by J. Bernardoni, a New York costume designer. Tutu.com is the only source for this pattern and I believe it is not actually listed on their website but can be ordered via phone. (I am not affiliated nor was I compensated with tutu.com or the pattern designer). Also this pattern comes one size per an envelope and is printed on heavy white paper. I always trace off my patterns and never cut out the original that way I can make changes as needed.

Reviewing the Pattern

In costuming, I am used to not working with pattern instructions. Oftentimes, patterns are drafted in house, cut into fabric and handed over to the stitcher, sometimes with a design sketch and brief verbal instructions. This pattern has instructions but they are written very simply and with the assumption you know what you are doing or built something similar in the past. I briefly skimmed through before I began. I noticed that 1/2" seam allowances are included. Hem allowances are 1" with 1/2 seam allowance making for total of 1 1/2" turned up. The pattern designer, included a pattern pieces diagram with a cutting guideline. He doesn't include yardage amounts nor fabric recommendations. Having made doublets in the past I estimated approximately 2 yards per jacket. My fabric was 60-62" wide which in the end was an over estimate of 1/2 yard per. Usually, I like to buy 10% more than is needed for future repairs or alterations, slightly more if the fabric has nap or one way pattern direction. The pattern designer lists two different flat-linings; coutil (for the body, epaulets and collar) and washed muslin (for the sleeves) and one interfacing of fusible hair canvas.

Fabric Choices

For my project, stretch velvet was chosen. The director wanted it to fit generically so it could be used for years to come. I was hesitant to use a stretch fabric when the look and design is for a woven. Often with men's ballet tunics, woven fabric tops can be made in two pieces,  an over vest and a stretch under shirt with sleeves attached. This enables the dancer to have full movement of arms. I have seen some built without using the undershirt method and instead stretch panels are used in the sides or wherever needed, etc... This pattern doesn't use the undershirt nor does it mention using stretch fabrics. This is where experience and knowledge of a show's choreography is necessary so changes to the pattern can be made. I chose to go completely with stretch fabrics for the jackets. My flat-lining fabrics were 4 way stretch cotton lycra for  the body, shiny milliskin for the sleeves (gives just a little bit of slickness) and rayon bemberg for the collar and tails. Interfacings (from Fashion Sewing Supply) used were shirt crisp for the collar and tricot deluxe for the body front and tail sections. (I am not affiliated nor was I compensated with Fashion Sewing Supply, just really love her products).

Pictured here is a side back. The interfacing is in white and applied to the tail portion. This is where I deviated from the pattern instructions which has you apply fusible hair canvas to the tail lining. The fabric being pinned on top is the flat lining. 

Side back ready for flat lining as stated in pattern. 

I made the side seams with 1" seam allowances as well as the
center back.

The jacket is completely flat lined except the tails. This is the way I would have created the pattern. One thing that bothered me about the original patterns is that the lining stops short of the side seam allowances. (see picture). This would look unfinished if the sides were ever let out. Most likely they probably won't be, (most dancers have similar sized bodies) but you never know. I think the pattern designer did this to eliminate bulk which in theory it is a good idea. Also, the front and back are constructed separately, sleeves put in flat and then the sleeve seam and side seams are sewn in one. I don't like this so much. I like to have the sleeves separate and and the jacket finished up to the sleeve insertion for a first fabric fitting. This way I can make adjustments to the shoulder line and arm scye if needed. I have to make a note here, I made the jackets up completely with no fittings nor measurements of dancers ... got to love regional/community theatre).  

Finished linings in the tail. 

Almost done!

I only have a female dress form so the jacket looks a little odd. As I was pinning the trim on, I made the decision to hand tack the trim. Velvet can be quite finicky and I didn't it want it to stretch the fabric out. I think a walking foot on a machine would have been nice. One day I will buy one...

Even with hand tacking, I got some weird pulling but on stage it was not noticeable. I also got some bagging out on the sleeve, probably due to the flat lining (milliskin) fighting the velvet. These are some of the reasons I wished I used a woven fabric instead. 

Overall, I really liked this pattern. I could tell it was made by a costumer who knows what they are doing. Personally, I would have been fine without seam allowances included. I look forward to trying out more of his work. 

The Nutcracker

The Prince

Review of Simple Modern Sewing pt. 2 : Sewing up a sample

I have to admit that I put off the rest of this review. It's hard to be so down on a book that I had so enjoyed perusing. You can read the gushing in part 1 of my review. First the positive:

The photography and layout of Simple Modern Sewing is great. The instructions are adequate for experienced sewists. The patterns are printed on sturdy white paper.

And then when you pull out the pattern sheet, this is what you get:

As you can see, nearly all the pattern pieces and sizes use the same exact black line. It would have helped to at least denote the different sizes with different line types and colors for different styles in the same way that Burda does. You have to really look carefully for notches, because they are easy to miss despite extra notations on the pieces. And in just this one snapshot of one part of the pattern sheet, there are 5 pattern pieces that overlap.

The issues with the pattern sheet are relatively minor though, especially if you are comfortable with Burda patterns. I did manage to trace everything off for the wrap blouse and dress. I had to select the large size since that matched up with my measurements best. There did seem to be some discrepancy between the measurement chart, printed finish measurements in the pattern instructions, and the actual pattern pieces. I didn't take the time the track it down and it could be just differences in how one measures. For me, it resulted in a bit more room (which was actually needed) than I expected. One good thing is that the shape of the armhole and sleeve was along the lines of what Kathleen recommends.

A bigger issue did present itself once I started checking the pattern. There is a grading error on the shoulder seam of the bodice pieces of the wrap blouse for the medium and large sizes. In order to fix the large size, you will need to pull the shoulder point of the back shoulder seam in about 3/8 inch. The other smaller sizes match up just fine. I debated whether this was indeed a grading problem because sometimes the back shoulder is eased instead of having a dart. On boxy, loose fitting styles there is no easing or dart, which is what this style is supposed to be. Since the smaller sizes matched, there could be no other explanation. No other bloggers have mentioned the same problem, so I'm not sure if it is just an anomaly on my copy.

After correcting the pattern and adding seam allowances, I proceeded to cut and sew and got this:

DH said it looked like a medical scrub, except it didn't even fit that well. The dart points in the wrong direction, which means I probably should have done a FBA or something else. The skirt part of the blouse has an extremely small gather ratio, less than 1:1.25, which makes the gathers look like a mistake. The result of all of this is that it looked terrible on.


I probably could spend the time to fix the pattern and try again.


But it would take too many iterations.


This project caused me to loose my sewing mojo. Who else hates spending time on something with such disappointing results? I think I can now understand beginning sewists frustrations.


Having said all that, I can recommend this book only for its design and styling inspiration. Go elsewhere for patterns which are similar.


I cannot recommend this book to beginning sewists at all. If you have more experience altering patterns and don't mind endless fiddling, then maybe this book is for you.

Review: Simple Modern Sewing pt. 1

Simple Modern Sewing one of the new how-to sew books at my library. I was excited to review this because Japanese sewing books have a reputation for precision and design that elevate the average sewing book. The Pattern Magicand Drape Drape series of books are two notable series that pattern making enthusiasts rave about. I knew that our local patrons would not respond well to Pattern Magic or Drape Drape, but they would probably respond to Simple Modern Sewing.

This book is written by Shufu To Seikatsu Sha. The photography and styling of the designs really grabbed my attention. I personally found the designs very appealing and in this case something that I would actually make and wear. In comparison, I did not find any of the designs in the books I reviewed previously inspiring enough to put in the work necessary to make them up. The book consists of 8 simple patterns that can be used to create 25 garments. Each grouping of patterns can be mixed and matched interchangeably to create the different styles.

The book is divided up into three general sections. The first is the photography/inspiration section that shows each of the style variations. The second is general pattern and sewing instruction. The third contains detailed cutting and sewing instruction for each style variation. This includes a pattern layout, diagrams, and a list of sewing instructions.

The styles in the book are sized for the average Japanese woman. The average American woman may find some of the styles a bit on the small side. Some of the styles are intended to have a lot of wearing ease, so the largest size may fit some American women anyway. There is a size chart and finished measurements for each style, which helped me determine the correct size to trace.

Overall I really like the styles in this book. I selected the wrap blouse, shown on the front cover to sew up as a test for the dress. The biggest downfall of the book is the pattern sheet. It is nice to see the patterns are printed on sturdy white paper rather than tissue paper. But the pattern sheet is a dizzying array of overlapping pattern pieces in multiple sizes in solid black lines. All the patterns and all the sizes are solid black lines. Burda patterns are similar, but they are much easier to sort out. Each style is a different color and the sizes are differentiated by different line types.

To finish up part 1 of the review, the book is inspiring and lovely to look at. The general sewing information and detailed sewing information appear to be adequate for sewists who have some experience. The cutting diagrams and pattern prep require a bit of work. Because of the difficult pattern sheets, I don't know that I can recommend the book for beginning sewists. The styles are simple enough that one could find similar patterns from the Big 4 without the hassle of interpreting the pattern sheet.

Anyway, I've traced off the blouse and dress pieces and begun the pattern checking process. So far I've spent maybe 4 hours just in prep work. Updates as I work my through it.

Review : A field guide to fabric design

I hope all had a wonderful Christmas. It is during this time, the week between Christmas and New Year's, that I spend time cleaning off my desk and sorting my papers in preparation for the tax man. As depressing as it is to know that we will probably owe taxes this April, it is strangely cathartic to clear off the desk and start fresh for next year. Among the piles of papers is the book A field guide to fabric design by Kimberly Kight of the True Up blog.

Fabric design, or textile surface design, has long fascinated me. The ability to play with the color, proportion, and spacing of a design through a repeat is very intriguing. Kight briefly explores different styles, design and color fundamentals as applied to textiles. This includes a look at both digital and traditional design techniques. The meat of the book is the explanation of how repeats are created, including different repeat styles. Both digital and traditional (hand drawn) techniques are explained. Interspersed throughout the book are comments from fabric designers, both established and just starting out, from which the reader can draw inspiration. Finally, Kight presents ideas of how to print and sell your own fabric. What quickly becomes clear is that textiles fabric designing is a competitive and difficult market.

There are several instructional overviews including hand block printing, screen printing, designing a collection, and textile basics. All are comprehensive and a good foundation for further study and exploration.

The book is laid out well and is easy to read and follow. The instructions for designing repeats are clear and easy to understand. Kight strongly encourages the use of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop because of their common usage in design work. She discourages the use of open source programs such as Gimp and Inkscape, which is unfortunate. Her primary objections to Gimp and Inkscape are the lack of Pantone color palettes*. The objection is valid because Pantone is used to ensure proper color matching. But anyone that has printed fabric knows that colors don't always work out as expected even when using Pantone**. Pantone color palettes are proprietary and that is the reason Gimp and Inkscape do not include them by default. In other words, their exclusion is entirely a legal and financial matter and not anything lacking in the software itself. But the palettes can be acquired (not easily) and added. Also, Pantone has CMYK and RGB equivalents (here is one tutorial) and if you are serious, you can buy a set of color chips and match things up. There will probably be a lot of back and forth until the correct colors are obtained, and that is probably why most designers use Illustrator and Photoshop (because there will be less of that). At the end of the day though, Gimp and Inkscape are just as robust as their commercial counterparts. In a separate blog article, I'll show how easy it is to design repeats using Gimp.

I liked this book a lot and I will reference it when I play around with designs, whether for a desktop wallpaper or for fabric I intend on printing.


*For more information google Gimp and Pantone.

**I managed to design a book cover using only free software and have it printed exactly as expected at one printer and not at another. There are a lot of variables between designing on a screen and a printer's capabilities that can't be completely solved by the use of one color matching system.

Book Reviews : Dressmaking, Collette Sewing Handbook, and Burdastyle

Our library recently acquired three new how-to-sew books. Sewing is picking up in popularity and the numbers of books coming out about sewing reflect that. I took some time to flip through them and here are my thoughts. All of these books give the impression of being exhaustive in their subject. They are also project based meaning the how to sections are emphasized by the included projects.

Dressmaking


Published by DK, Dressmaking has the fantastic photography one comes to expect from DK. The book is written by Allison Smith who previously penned The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniques also put out by DK. The layout and organization of Dressmaking is above average. The how-to photography is clear and easy to understand.

The projects are in the back of the book with additional instructions to complete each project. This means the how to section is designed to support the projects. So, you will have to flip back and forth to get a complete how-to. It also means that the how-to section is not comprehensive. You will likely need a more comprehensive how-to sew book such as the Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing to supplement what is missing. What is missing is the info to complete some other project not included in the book. Much of the information can be applied to other styles. But you may want to do a project with some design feature that requires a different technique, which is not included in this book. Thus the need for some other sewing manual. For advanced sewists, this is not a big deal, but then again an advanced sewist probably wouldn't need the how-to section anyway.

The styles are pretty basic. The graded patterns are printed on grids at the back of the book. This means you would have to enlarge them yourself. Since I didn't make up any of the styles, I can't tell you how accurately the patterns are drafted. I also can't comment on fit. You will almost certainly have to spend time testing the pattern in muslin. The process would be time consuming.

The biggest problem with this book is the binding. It is a large book and while the binding is sewn, it is cheap. Many DK books of this size fall apart with semi-regular use. In the library, we have replaced one very popular DK book several times, which begins to fall apart after only two circulations.

The Collette Sewing Handbook

Written by Sarai Mitnick, the book was written to support Mitnick's indie sewing pattern company Collette Patterns. The book is spiral bound, so it will lay flat when open. The layout and photography is also pretty good.

Mitnick spends time explaining her five basic principles: a thoughtful plan, a precise pattern, a fantastic fit, a beautiful fabric, and a fine finish. I only spent a few minutes reviewing the sections on fit and sewing. The information presented is pretty basic and you will need supplemental resources if you do not have the fit issues described. The sewing information is also basic but will at least help you sew the projects in the book. The patterns are apparently drafted for a C-cup, which means that if that is not you, expect alterations. The patterns are printed on tissue and included in the back of the book. I didn't take the time to check the patterns or sew them up as the styles didn't appeal to me.

Burdastyle

This sewing manual is written by Nora Abousteit, a Hurbert Burda employee and Alison Kelly, a Project Runway alum. The book is designed to support the Burdastyle website and Burda sewing patterns. The book is spiral bound so that it will lay flat when open with the patterns included in the back.

I have an admitted preference for Burda patterns because I have used some of them from the magazine. They are usually drafted pretty well, though the instructions are very anemic, which is a challenge for beginners. This book explains how to use the Burda patterns from the magazine. It explains the pattern notations, how to trace off the patterns, and how to add seam allowances. Burda patterns are based off a European sizing system. It is important to measure yourself to find the appropriate size on the Burda size chart. Unfortunately, the how to measure instructions are pretty pathetic with simple, flat line drawings. The sewing instructions are pretty basic.

There is one thing that I really liked about this book. The book encourages the reader to experiment and redesign the styles. There are only four projects in the book, but the reader is shown several variations. There are instructions for a project with no alterations and then there are instructions for a variation. Additional variations are show in a photograph with no additional instructions in the hope the reader can figure them out on their own. The variation with instructions demonstrates how to alter the patterns to achieve the desired effect. I like how the authors encourage their readers to experiment and play because I feel that is the best way to learn. I think this may be a challenge for beginning or brand new sewists.

I think most of the projects are pretty achievable. I didn't sew any of them up because the styles didn't appeal to me. The jacket would be the most challenging project, especially the variation.

A few final thoughts

All of these books will help either a beginning or intermediate sewist with lots of hand holding for the included projects. Though, I expect there will be some frustration with the patterns and some of the instructions. Additional support material is definitely required for more complete coverage of the subject. The Reader's Digest book is still a gold standard due to it's comprehensive nature. Older how-to sewing books are also better. There really isn't anything new presented with the exception of the included patterns.

There is one popular book that I have not reviewed and that is Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. The primary reason is that I don't have access to a copy and a full review would be unfair. But, I am admittedly biased against the book already. The content is just an updated version of previously available information. Gertie got her start by working her way through a Vogue sewing manual, and that is the primary source for her book. Some of her tutorials found on her blog have been lifted off of at least one other website. Also, from what I have heard, Gertie is the fit model for the included patterns, which are then graded up and down. If you aren't Gertie, then expect needing to make adjustments.

Book Review : Sew Serendipity

There seems to be a trend in new sewing books for the home sewing market. Some are written by fabric or textile surface designers as a way to expand their personal brand, others are written by indie pattern makers. Usually, they include basic how-to sew information and patterns. My local library received two of the Sew Serendipity sewing books written by Kay Whitt, an indie pattern maker (though she does sell to McCall's). The first book I brought home was the book featuring skirts and coats.

The book is organized with basic sewing how-to first followed by common instructions on how to sew the designs featured in the book. Finally, the designs are featured with beautiful photography. I have to admit I skimmed most of the how-to sewing instruction as I am probably a bit more advanced. There are some photo step-by-step instructions and each design has additional illustrated step-by-step instructions. A beginning sewist would have to flip back and forth several times to get complete instructions.

There are three basic designs, a skirt, a tunic/dress, and two jackets. Variations are presented for each design with changes in embellishment, design details, and fabric prints while the basic pattern pieces do not change. I do like the basic shapes of the styles presented, though some of the design details are just not my taste. The patterns are sized XXS to XXL and her measurement chart seems to follow a regular grade, which is nice.

As a pattern maker, I was very pleased when looking at the actual pattern pieces. The line width used on the pattern pieces is very fine, which is so much better than the Big 4. Also, the notches were not the traditional outward V notches but rather slit style notches. I did trace off the tunic pattern and walked some of the pattern pieces and they matched up really well. It is important to read the pattern sheet carefully because there are not a lot of markings other than notches and the piece name. Seam allowances are 1/2 inch unless otherwise noted. In addition, you have to read the instructions for the selected design and the basic how-to for the section. As an example, there is no sleeve cuff pattern piece because it is just a rectangle, but the dimensions are given in the basic how-to section.

A few of the seams needed a bit of refinement, but should not bother most home sewists. One area that will probably cause difficulty is the coat facing. I recommend redrawing the outer facing edge just to make it easier to sew. I think the facing has a sharp inward corner to make it easier when topstitching the facing down, so the facing shape is probably intentional. As an option you can use some other guide while topstitching and still smooth out that shape to make it easier to edge finish. Just my personal preference.

Overall, the book has a nice presentation and the designs are generally appealing. As I mentioned, I did trace off the tunic blouse to sew up but I have to put it off until I get a zipper. So the review is a bit incomplete but I think a beginning sewist will enjoy it.