"Anyone who can work through the labyrinthian directions for sewing that accompany the commercial pattern can surely learn the comparatively simple and clear rules for pattern making," says nationally acclaimed sewing expert Adele Margolis. Her profusely illustrated primer allows you to create your own fashionable patterns and personalized commercial patterns. You'll learn how to design and execute everything from skirts, dresses, and blouses to sportswear, jackets, and children's clothing. You'll also find tips for: shaping fabric to your figure; mastering the art of flares, flounces, pleats, and tucks; creating fashionable necklines, pretty pockets, stylish sleeves, and much more. Simple step-by-step directions and more than 1,000 illustrations show how to successfully complete apparel for work, home, and play that reflects your personal style and taste.

A nationally acclaimed sewing expert provides simple, step-by-step directions and more than 1,000 illustrations for making clothes for work, home, and play — everything from stylish skirts, dresses, and jackets to children's clothing.

Buying or making clothes can be very stressful and difficult. Sometimes there is literally NO standard size that fits properly. The clothes end up too big here, too small there, darts to high or too low, shoulders just don't fit right, and so on. Pattern making is the answer to the problem! Why make your own patterns? The answer is very simple - you will be using your own measurements or the measurements of the person you are wanting to sew for, therefore all the garments you make will fit those particular measurements.This book begins by covering the basics of pattern making - how to take the measurements, then using those measurements to make the original bodice pieces, how to make collars, sleeves and various necklines you can use to make an entire wardrobe of dresses. We will give you a wide variety of dress styles; however once you learn and practice the basics, you will be able to draw patterns that you see in pattern books, clothing in department stores or an item of clothing that you want to design for yourself.

Here is the straight-up dope on how to make your own clothing. With or without patterns, machines, or fancy materials?anyone can do it! Got some old clothes that you love and that fit well? Use them as patterns for new ones. Want something new and spectacular, something that fits right along where your head is moving? Cut up, remodel, add on, and let your old stuff evolve! Readers will embrace the step-by-step illustrations, clear and encouraging prose, and timeless collection of clothes?from skirts and pants to dresses, a waistcoat, and even a teeny-weeny bikini. The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book promises to be both an indispensable resource and a much-noticed collectible on every hipster?s bookshelf.

How to Make Sewing Patterns solves the mysteries of pattern drafting with easy, step-by-step instructions and clear line drawings that show how to create custom-fit garments in a wide range of designs. The book's detailed instructions on measuring and fitting include do-it-yourself photographs as well as directions for creating custom dress forms. "Don McCunn has certainly mastered pattern drafting and fitting a wide range of bodies. Whether or not you have taken pattern drafting in a class, this book is a good reference in a very readable style. I especially liked the exacting instructions on taking measurements on the body and the solution for side seams which are not perpendicular to the floor." --Sandra Betzina, the power behind Power Sewing. --Author of 10 sewing books, a syndicated columnist, --and host of HGTV's "Sew Perfect." "Beyond the impressive range of material in How to Make Sewing Patterns is the author's obvious concern that readers understand what they are doing and why. There are many helpful tips throughout the book, some quite clever and unexpected. "The section on drafting a sloper contains excellent explanations of the various body contours, measuring, and fitting. Text, drawings, and photos of the human body from every angle illustrate the various interrelated contours and just how a pattern accommodates them. He even gives detailed instructions on how to measure and fit yourself." --Threads Magazine "McCunn's book dispels the mysteries of pattern drafting, an area which was once the province of the couturier. A do-it-yourself text in which lessons build upon one another, this book provides detailed guides to creating patterns." --Library Journal "The most readable pattern drafting book I've found. The drawings are the simplest line drawings possible but executed with concise purpose." --Whole Earth Catalog "Donald McCunn leads the beginning seamstress or the advanced into pattern drafting via a thorough introduction. He shows that drafting is easy if each step is clearly related to the final outcome and if the drafter visualizes what he or she is doing." --Christian Science Monitor