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Kodak's Most Basic Book of SEWING?
One of the absolute best books on photography is KODAK's Most Basic Book Of 35MM Photography. It explains the concepts every beginning photographer needs to know in simple, understandable terms (and illustrations that could have been done in crayon) and it was indispensible in my first few months of figuring out what to do with one of those camera things.  Even if I did not pursue photography further (which I had absolutely no plans to do at the time) I'm extremely glad I found that book. Now, I'm considering dabbling with clothing, and I was wondering if there was an equivalent book that could teach the basics to someone who doesn't even have the knowledge and experience to reattach a button that's fallen off his coat. Thanks for all your help.  Jan 28 06 11:19 pm Link I agree. I love Kodaks how to`s for beginners. They have some good stuff on their site,too. As for sewing, I do believe there is a "Sewing for dummies" and/or" Sewing for idiots". Try Amazon or your local book store. Luckily I took Home Ec in Junior high. Jan 28 06 11:31 pm Link Brian! I would recommend going to the library and getting books on sewing ... they have tons of them that normally cost $$ in the bookstores. Barnes and Noble had a wonderful big illustrated book I looked at once (the name escapes me), but it was over $70 and my design course books are around that price, so I had to let it go .....  But yeah, you might wanna try that first or go peruse in a book store.  Jan 28 06 11:33 pm Link Don`t forget ebay. I bought some photography industry books for just a few bucks that would normally cost 30-50 bucks each. They were even brand new. Jan 28 06 11:35 pm Link Glamour Boulevard wrote: Ahh yeah, although some of the newer (by newer, I mean 3 - 4 yrs. old) sewing/design books are the same price on eBay as they are on Amazon.com ..... Jan 28 06 11:37 pm Link Actually, I did take home ec. in 7th grade. I made a pillow in the shape of an "F"*. I'm sure my mom has it somewhere. She probably thinks it's the best pillow ever made. I've perused the BN shelves, but I was hoping for specific recommendations. I'll take a look at the Dummies book. And my favorite book resource is half.com. *As I recall, the "F" shape was chosen because I, always the overly clever 7th grader, wanted to be able to honestly say that I got an F in home ec. This was the same kid who named his all-black cat "Nameless" (quelling a strong desire to name her "Snowball".) Jan 29 06 02:17 am Link Sewing, fun stuff, I do sewing, crochet, knitting, a ton of craft and costume stuff, and home decor, and I'm going to be learning how to do corsets right now . Although, you might want to find a book by Singer, they're the best company for sewing machines as well as one of the oldest that I know of at least. Even have one of their antique ones that you use the pedal with, it's crazy. Their books are usually highly illustrated or photographed how to's and step by steps plus the essential skills. I didn't learn from it but I did learn from my mother who went to a French design school overseas when she was younger. kudos for me!!! YAY!!!Jan 29 06 03:42 am Link This Depends, What kind of sewing do you want to be able to do? Do you just want to be able to do your own mending, fix a hem for a model or some such or do you want to be able to construct whole garments? Singer used to and may still publish various sewing books on different subjects...basic sewing, Home sewing, lingerie etc. I'm sure that in any good sized used bookstore ( we have powells here in Portland and it is the bomb diggity) you can find a rather large selection of sewing books. Get the most basic beginner level one. It doesn't matter if it's out of date. How much advancement has there been in the feilds of threading a needle, right?? Also it might be helpful to take a class at a community college or through a sewing machine dealer. Here in portland the CC and a sewing store work in tandem and the classes are held at the store. Go into a sewing machine dealer, fabric store or anywhere that caters to the crafty and see what reccomendations THEY have. Rather than going to Barnes and noble or some other such place I would actually reccomend going to a Michaels or whatever mega craft place might be available to you, peruse the books ask the staff there what they reccomend but make sure first that they are a sewer. Jan 29 06 05:04 am Link Yes, it is called The Vogue Sewing Book. I heard we are working together today. I will bring it for you to look at. And, of course no book will teach you everything, but this is a damn good start. Jan 30 06 07:08 am Link I took up a sewing course last week at a community college. I'm more of a hands-on kinda girl. Jan 31 06 12:47 pm Link My favorite construction bible is the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. Feb 01 06 10:14 pm Link Hey Brian... Assuming you're looking for general beginner sewing books, you might want to check into the following: The Complete Book of Sewing New Edition DK ADULT; Rev edition (August 4, 2003) ISBN: 0789496585 Sewing 101 - A Beginner's Guide to Sewing Creative Publishing International; Spiral edition (December 1, 2002) ISBN: 1589230698 The New Sewing Essentials (Singer) Creative Publishing international; Revised edition (January 1, 1998) ISBN: 0865733082 I think these would get you off to a really good start. I agree with the Vogue recommendation too. From there are quite a few books with more advanced techniques, as well as those that specialize in a given area. Claire B. Shaeffer has written a couple of books from a more couture sewing standpoint that I hear are quite good, although I haven't yet seen them for myself. Certainly worth a looksee! =-) Feb 01 06 10:55 pm Link Tracey Masterson wrote: Funny you should mention that book. I shoot for its publisher and know that the revised edition has just come out. I didn't work on it, but I've worked on 10 other book projects for them including 4 basic sewing books. I just saw the proofs on one book that might be a place to start. It's a basic sewing book for teens. If an adult man can swallow enough pride to pick up the book which is aimed at teen girls, it should teach him a lot. I did the fashion photography of the finished projects. Feb 01 06 11:12 pm Link Seriously, I'm cool with something that could teach a fifth-grader to sew. Thanks for all the recommendations!Feb 01 06 11:27 pm Link Brian....I had a cat named Mouse...that belonged to my dog! Feb 01 06 11:40 pm Link Dave the design student wrote: AMEN ! Feb 02 06 11:56 pm Link |
