The Sewing Book Hardcover – April 1, 2009

I just love this book! I found it in a Barnes and Nobles, and even though there weren't any reviews on Amazon yet and even though it was pricier than some of its competitors, I bought it anyway. (That's pretty unusual for me.) Every time I open it, I'm grateful to myself all over again. It's just wonderful. Where to start? First, it's absolutely gorgeous, with an inviting color scheme and a pleasing layout that makes it super easy to read through. (Trust me, you don't want to skimp on the readability of your sewing book.) The book itself is both lovely and sturdy -- beautiful glossy pages and a binding that promises to hold up for a long time, yet easily lays flat.But my absolute favorite thing about this book is that all the lessons are presented in photographs, which means it's realistic. The truth of the matter is that when everything is drawn, a lot of the nitty-gritty details are left out. Then when you go to sew something, you get confused because it looks different than it does in the illustration. This book shows the fabric just the way it is -- raveling edges, not-quite-straight stitching, and everything -- which reassures me that I'm not doing it wrong.You visual learners will also love that this book is all pictures with minimal text. Have you ever read through a sewing book where it was mostly text? It's ridiculously confusing, full of technical terms and spatial references like "the curve on the side adjacent to the side closest to you." Yuck! Unless you already know how to do it, it's impossible to piece together. Which sort of defeats the point of buying the book. This book does it all in pictures which, I should mention, are superbly photographed. Some books have pictures where the camera is several feet away from the sewing machine and you can't see anything at all. These photographs are taken up close and have comments on the side with neat little arrows showing which part they're talking about. It's an ingenious presentation. I just can't praise it highly enough.Now, my limitations as a reviewer: I've not used this book extensively, nor am I an experienced seamstress, so I couldn't tell you how comprehensive the material is. Nor have I pawed through every other book on the market for comparison. All I know is that this book works great for me, and everything it presents, it does so spectacularly.

This is a great book. This is a book I know I will keep handy to keep referencing when i try something new or want to find out the best way to approach a project. (I also bought the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing book, but that book is all drawings and is mainly focused on making clothes from patterns, I flipped through it once and that one is now in the corner somewhere)My favorite thing about this book is the information is presented visually in with tons of High Definition crystal clear photographs. I learn visually. The pictures are so clear you can see the different textures of thread and characteristics of the fabric. Which is very useful because you can SEE & UNDERSTAND the differences in threads, see the grain and texture of the fabric or facing materials. They don't stop at great photos, they give detailed text of what they are showing along with step by step instructions on each photo. They also tell you what needle and stitch is best and ways to make things go easier, like notching, ironing, basting, interfacing etc.... Great Pics + Great information = Learning.Each chapter is well laid out taking you from Basic levels and into intermediate as well as advanced techniques. All with difficulty rating for each subject.While the Reader's Digest book focused on patterns and has only drawing diagrams, this book has so much more. Chapters of information that go into detail about many aspects you will need to know about in sewing to really handle a variety of projects including clothes, pillows, curtains, bags etc....Chapters like Tools to use for different tasks, types of fabrics and what projects to use them for, the different types of threads and how to use them, Darts, facings, different styles of pockets and how to construct them, a great section on different stitches and hems was very informative, and not just machine stitches they also cover hand stitching and when to use one or the other. I don't like to hand stitch, but I see how it is necessary to sometimes use to make a job easier (like basting) or even if you need to mend or want to do a project by hand.I am an "advanced new sewer" I had ah-ha moments of..."so that's how they do that". I read through the reader's digest book and it is now in a corner somewhere. This book I will keep near my work area, because I know I will use it a lot to reference and check out possible how to's when I am working on a project.

Love the illustrations and simple instructions.

A very comprehensive guide to help the beginner get started and understand what they need to know. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn to sew. It certainly explains how to get started and then begin to actually sew some projects.That being said, I would also suggest that the reader understand how to use a sewing machine and be familiar with it's use in sewing. There are so many machines that it would be almost impossible to describe them all. The beginning person must decide that for themselves. Start small and simple to move on to some of the more complex.

I bought this book on Amazon about a year ago after checking it out from the library to give it a trial, and comparing it with some other instructional guides. It's beautiful, and every technique is illustrated in step-by-step format that is incredibly useful to a beginner, and a good refresher and reference for the advanced seamstress. It covers everything from sewing equipment, pattern reading, fabric types, quilting, home decor, tailoring, and a few projects to illustrate the skills and techniques explained in earlier chapters. As a visual learner, the photos are invaluable. I looked into a lot if reference books before purchasing this one, and bought it along with the Martha Stewart sewing guide and the Reader's Digest reference book- this is far superior to the other two as it offers the beginner room to grow as a seamstress- the other two are fairly basic or don't illustrate the techniques as well.