Five simple fundamentals can help you perfect any sewing project: a thoughtful plan, a precise pattern, a fantastic fit, a beautiful fabric, and a fine finish. With these five core ideas, The Colette Sewing Handbook shows you how to start sewing the wardrobe of your dreams. Includes five beautiful patterns for modern classic pieces, including
Five simple fundamentals can help you perfect any sewing project: a thoughtful plan, a precise pattern, a fantastic fit, a beautiful fabric, and a fine finish. With these five core ideas, The Colette Sewing Handbook shows you how to start sewing the wardrobe of your dreams.
Includes five beautiful patterns for modern classic pieces, including a scalloped-hem skirt, flutter-sleeve blouse, sweetheart neck sheath dress, asymmetrical flounce dress, and a lined dress with gathered sleeves. Each project will help you put the fundamentals into practice as you sew.
Approachable and easy to follow. Instead of a big, confusing catalog of sewing techniques, you’ll build your knowledge gradually around the five simple fundamentals. A section of basic sewing lessons means you’ll never feel lost.Hands-on learning. Start improving your skills immediately by applying each of the five principles of the book to a beautiful project, included in the book.Feed your creativity. Have more fun designing sewing projects for your personal style, and create the things you’ll actually love to wear!Feel more confident. Gain the know-how to work with any sewing pattern out there.Look great in what you make. Become your own custom seamstress and hand-tailor clothes that fit you the way you want.Get inspired by fabric. Expand your creative palette and get the look you want by choosing the best fabrics for your projects.Perfect the details. Make clothes you can be proud of with beautiful finishing techniques.Colette Patterns is known for timeless design and exceptionally clear instruction. This book from designer Sarai Mitnick guides you gradually and painlessly to becoming a better seamstress. Get inspired, feel confident, and make beautiful clothing you’ll be proud to wear!
Finishing raw edges will extend the life of your garment, keeping the cut edges of your fabric from raveling and possibly destroying the integrity of your seams.
Bound Edge [pictured]
This is a method of finishing an edge, such as a neckline or sleeve hem, by enclosing it with bias tape. The seam allowance will vary, depending on the size of the bias tape you use. Use a bound edge when your pattern calls for one, such as the Taffy Blouse pattern in this chapter. You can purchase bias tape, or make your own.
French Seam
A French seam is sewn twice, encasing the raw edges within the seam. It creates a very neat, narrow seam, making it perfect for sheer or very light fabrics. It’s not suited for heavy fabrics, since it will create too much bulk.
Flat Felled Seam
Flat felled seams are quite strong and are found often in tailored shirts or trousers. Take a look at your favorite jeans and you’ll find flat felled seams. Use this technique when extra strength or durability is needed.
Bound Seam
A bound seam uses binding around the raw edges of a stitched seam. Because of its bulk, it can show through on lighter fabrics, so it’s most often used with very sturdy fabrics such as denim, or on jackets and outerwear. It’s a wonderful opportunity to use a fun color or printed binding, to add some flash to the inside of your garment.
Serged Seam
Serging is what you will see most often in ready-to-wear clothing. Raw edges are stitched with a special machine called a serger, which holds multiple spools of thread and trims the seams as it sews. If you don’t have a serger, you can try zigzag stitching over the raw edges of your seam allowance, or use your sewing machine’s overlock stitch if it has one. Be aware that this uses a considerable amount of thread.
Pinked Seam
Pinked seams are simple to create, requiring just a pair of pinking shears. The zigzag pattern of the cut edge keeps the fabric from raveling. Pinked seams are commonly found within vintage garments, which goes to show that they can last. Use pinked seams on cottons and other somewhat sturdy fabrics that are not very prone to fraying.
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Best for Beginners Let me preface this review with the fact that I have been sewing for most of my life.I am a big fan of Sarai’s patterns, so when I saw that she was writing a book, I am sure that I pre-ordered it within an hour of the announcement.Upon receiving the book, I noticed it was packaged without the accompanying patterns, which, as a more advanced sewist, I was most excited about. Back to Amazon it went. However, I had a replacement in two days (big thanks to Ida in Customer Service. She was so helpful!)In my first run-through of the book, I was most impressed by the presentation of the book. The book is Colette through and through, from the writing style to the color palette, and the layout of the mini-tutorials was clear, the text concise. The book doesn’t assume any background in sewing, and demonstrates hand stitching as well as the basic functions of a few machine stitches. For someone with a great deal of sewing experience, the techniques weren’t a…
Even better than I expected! What a great book. Wish I had it when I started sewing way back. Or when I started sewing again a few months ago. But I was lucky then to discover the Colette patterns, which are not only lovely, wearable, flattering vintage inspired patterns, but come in great little booklets with detailed instruction and illustrations of steps – I was lucky to start off sewing again with her wrap dress, Crepe, and not with one of the Big Four patterns which would have thrown me for a loop in my beginning throes! After that I ordered and made more of her patterns, and was really excited to see that she was going to publish a book – and pleased for her – she deserves a wide audience.I pre-ordered this book, even before I saw previews of the patterns enclosed,, partly because from following the writer’s blog and the great detailed, clever and thorough tutorials thereon I expected it to be a great resource, and partly because I knew it would be gorgeous – I love her aesthetic. Then after…