From my library - sewing books

Back on June 5th when I was making my Cynthia Rowley dress I estimated that I owned 20 sewing books.  So, today I thought I'd actually count them and tell you a little about my favorite ones.

Well, here are my sewing books and there are 30!

In this pile:
Couture Sewing Techniques, by Claire B. Shaeffer - Really good book for fine sewing, I look at it often.
The Bishop Method, by Bishop Arch - This was the method I learned in 7th grade.
Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry, by Susan Huxley: Sewing with Nancy's Favorite Hints, by Nancy Zieman: and Clotilde's Sew Smart - These 3 books have really good sewing tricks and tips.  After having read through them once I don't really use them.

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These two specialty books I have found very useful, particularly the tailoring one.  It gives options for quick tailoring, great for theater rush jobs and tells how to do hard core tailoring for garments you want to last a while.
 
Sew a Beautiful Wedding, by Gail Brown and Karen Dillon
Easy, Easier, Easiest Tailoring, by Pati Palmer and Susan Pletsch.

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I've got a neat collection of Simplicity Sewing books from the 30s through to the 70s.  I should probably get a current one to round out my collection.
The earliest one from 1937 is really good, I have to say. There are pages that discuss different body types and the most flattering silhouettes, also what colors looks best on different people.

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Here is a very small collection of Singer Sewing books, two from the 20s, one from the 30s and a modern one. The 20's one titled "How to make dresses the modern Singer Way" starts off with the sentence, " The first essential to sewing is a good sewing machine."  Ha Ha ...The one from the 30s recommends you get your measurements properly recorded by your Singer instructor every year.  WOW! 
But then I just read the intro to the 30s Simplicity book and it says that the first step in sewing success is selecting a pattern ... and then they say "It is always well to be frank with yourself.  Once you admit the existence of any figure defect, you are halfway on the road to remedying it."


I wonder if we are all being frank enough with ourselves?

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These three books I refer to often for period sewing techniques.
Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques, edited by Kristina Harris - available from Dover books, it is a reprint of a book from 1905 by Butterick.
Making Smart Clothes, from 1930 by Butterick - I'm told this book is fairly easy to find used because so many were printed.
The Dressmaker's Guide 1840-1865 by Elizabeth Stewart Clark - a modern book that demystifies 19th century sewing.  Great for re-enactors and to supplement the instruction from a commercial pattern. You can buy it HERE.

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You can find digital editions of old sewing books for free on line.  Google books has so many. Here is a link to a good one.  Once you are there you can search for many more.

But this has been my "go to" book for ages.  I buy copies at used book stores to give to the people who sew for me sometimes.

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I think the illustrations and instructions are very clear.  Several options are given for most operations.  There are some nice projects included.  I'm sure there is an updated version which would include things like serging.  The copyright on this one is 1976.


I just found the new version HERE. You can also find this old one starting at $4.

I think of the sewing instructions given in a pattern as more of an assembly guide.  Pattern companies don't know what fabric you are going to choose to make any one garment.  So, the sewing instructions given for any one operation might not be the best choice for your fabric.  It is good to become familiar with a variety of sewing options and that is what a good sewing book will give you.