The most important item in your library.
The single most required item on a subject should sumarize within it all that you need to gain mastery over its domain. This book enables that, for one who is interested in raveling* the gems strewn about, glittering merely for the eye to catch. *(Raveling, incidentally, is defined in the book, as same meaning as unraveling. There’s much more there – this book is a precise compendium of knowledge on a very esoteric subject – revealed masterfully and in a most accessable manner.)…more info
Great info for anyone interested in Fashion
My background is basic alterations and sewing from commercial patterns since I am hard-to-fit, but this book explains what goes into the $10,000 dresses that is missing from the $100 dresses. It also goes into the history behind ‘couture’, which is very fascinating for the layperson.
It covers basic clothes selection for your body type, since what looks good on full-figured but beautiful Queen Latifah would look odd on thin Paris Hilton, even in a size 2. It also describes how most fashions need to be adjusted for variations in the more average figures in order to hang right, but if done right, can hide your figure flaws and make a person look as glamourous as the Movie Stars on Awards night.
With all the specialized fitting and sewing techiniques it descibes, the book will at least sure help my $40 clothes items I make look more like professionally sewn $400+ items instead of something made in High School Home-Ec class. …more info
couture Sewing techniques
Fantastic book, hand sewing techniques being the art in itself. Written in a friendly way, making it possible to achieve a really finished fit and look for the clothes. Details on how to make clothes structurally is something you always wanted to know, and this book gives a profound help. Not as nice layout as in High Fashion Sewing Secrets, which has better print quality, larger font and clearer pictures. Copy I received is even smudgy partly….more info
A truly wonderful book
Having tried to find books for advanced home and hobby sewers in German (almost impossible), I came across this book, and have never regretted buying it a single second. And having aimed at perfecting my skills with regard to creating wardrobe, I was amazed about how little I have known so far. Why could I not find such book a lot earlier!!
Even while browsing through it, a lot of questions that I had always had were simply solved by reading instructions, and by the conciseness of the illustrations. My only – personal – problem is that the language is quite technical, and at worst, I have to read with a dictionary by my side, as my English is not so advanced on technical discussion level, but all of Ms Shaeffers instructions are self-explanatory and very precise.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone ready for a new challenge in spicing up their wardrobes. And yes, even if you ‘only’ use the odd trick here and there, your clothes will start looking different – much more professional – as you start paying more and more attention to little details, and learn to avoid mistakes by focusing on how something should really look like – not that I wasn’t focused on what I was doing before, but this is like the difference between your first watercolours and your first picture in an exhibition.
Thank you, Ms Shaeffer, for taking the time to write this absolutely, truly, wonderful book, and keeping good traditions alive….more info
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2 Comments until now
Not just pretty pictures
Though there are wonderful pictures of couture garments, this is a how-to book. It is filled with detailed instruction and many easy to follow diagrams. “Haute Couture” is defined, and the chapter “Inside the World of Haute Couture” will be of interest to anyone who loves sewing or clothing. Then she goes on to discuss many couture techniques and applies them to a number of garments that any intermediate sewer could duplicate. This is how you get from intermediate to advanced! The best book I’ve found for information on women’s tailoring, and it includes my favorite reference when someone asks me how to make bound buttonholes. If you want to take your sewing to the next level, get this book in your library.
Inspiring!
I got this book as an inspiration, along with another, more basic book to teach me how to sew (that’s right, I am a total beginner). Now, even I made fun of me a little for buying this– if I can’t even use my sewing machine yet, isn’t trying to learn Couture Sewing Techniques putting the cart rather before the horse?
No. Here’s why:
This book explains something I hadn’t realized. Most couture clothes are hand-sewn, and many of the techniques described are for hand sewing. But not just that- things like customizing or matching fabric patterns, attention to certain details, or even the proper way to press a garment during the making of it are all good things to know as any point in the learning process.
So, now that I have read this, when I tackled my first machine-sewing project (a sewing machine cover in a pretty victorian-wallpaper patterened fabric), I didn’t just cut out the pieces and go; I matched the motifs on the fabric so that it flowed nicely all the way around, and added contrasting piping and a pretty hem detail. When I needed to fix a seam that had opened at the side of a delicate top of mine, rather than just plowing through clumsily, I used a hand-sewn overlock stitch to keep the seam invisible and secure. I wouldn’t have thought to do these things if I hadn’t read this book. I expect that as my sewing progresses, I will discover even more wonderful tricks that I hadn’t absorbed through my first read-through.
Definitely recommended.
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