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.

Learn quilting basics from a YouTube sensation and practice your skills with 12 fun projects suitable for all skill levels. Her instructional videos have inspired thousands to start sewing. Now for the first time, sew-lebrity Laura Coia shares written patterns for the most loved video tutorials on her “Sew Very Easy” YouTube channel! Learn the basics of quilt making, from cutting and pressing to borders and finishing. Then practice your skills with a dozen beautiful projects—quilts you’ll come back to time and time again—all suitable for beginners and beyond.

Acclaimed sewing expert Adele Margolis offers step-by-step instructions for turning your design ideas into working patterns. Fully illustrated, this guide will help you shape your fabric in so many ways! A must-have guide!

This comprehensive guide explores the fundamental sewing methods fashion designers need and teaches professional garment construction. Chapter One introduces sewing tools and machinery (including industrial machines). It discusses how to work with patterns and explains cutting-out methods. Chapter Two is devoted to different fabrics and how they work, focusing on the construction of a garment, including fastenings and trimmings, and the use of materials to support structured pieces, such as corsets. Hand-sewing techniques and basic seams are explored in Chapter Three. Techniques are demonstrated with step-by-step photographic guides combined with technical drawings. A guide to making garment details and decorations, such as pockets, waistlines, and necklines, is found in Chapter Four. Chapter Five addresses fabric-specific techniques, for everything from lace to neoprene. The best technical approaches to use for patternmaking and construction are discussed for each fabric. Catwalk images demonstrate how these kinds of techniques are employed by designers.

If you’ve ever watched Project Runway and wished you were a contestant, or you’re simply ready to take your sewing to a new level, Design-It-Yourself Clothes teaches you the fundamentals of modern patternmaking so that you, too, can create your own inspired clothing. Until now, the aspiring DIY fashionista has been hard-pressed to find self-teaching tools other than dry textbooks or books with outdated looks. Finally, in Design-It-Yourself Clothes, former Urban Outfitters designer Cal Patch brings her youthful aesthetic to a how-to book. If you want to wear something you can’t find on store racks and make clothes that express your individual style, or if you’ve reached a sewing plateau and want to add pattern drafting to your repertoire, Design-It-Yourself Clothes is the book you have been waiting for. In five key projects (each with four variations)–a perfect-fitting dress, T-shirt, button-down shirt, A-line skirt, and pants–Patch shares the art of patternmaking. At its core, it’s much simpler than you think. Patch covers everything an intermediate sewer needs to know in order to become a fabulous fashion designer, from designing the patterns, taking your own measurements, and choosing fabrics to actually sewing the clothing. You will also learn how to stylize patterns by using darts, waistbands, patch pockets, and ruffles. Patch offers tips, explanations, options, and exercises throughout that will make the design process that much easier. But besides showing you how to create clothing from scratch, she also teaches you how to rub off patterns from existing clothing–so if you have a pair of pants that you love but are worn out, or you have your eye on a piece in the store with a prohibitive price tag, you can figure out how to get the looks you want by using your own two hands.

Describes a system of creating original designs and copying ready-made fashions which is based on five permanent master patterns

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 books, a syndicated column for 37 years, and a host of her own show on HGTV for 6 years. 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"

With this guide to patternmaking, it s easier than ever to design a pleasing wardrobe, replace worn-out garments, and adapt clothing to changes in body shape. Expert instructions and fully illustrated techniques, show how to take measurements from clothes that already look and feel great, and transfer them to hand-drawn patterns, either full-size or to scale. There are patterns for any attire skirts and dresses, jackets and trousers, blouses, shirts and tees and they can be adapted for a variety of necklines, collars, and sleeves. The result is a wardrobe that s original, fashionable, affordable, and comfortable for years to come. "

Imagine it. Make it! You don't need to be a designer or pattern maker to create and sew the dress of your dreams. Let Liesl Gibson, founder and designer of Oliver + S sewing patterns, show you how to alter the elements of a pattern to make exactly the dress you imagine. Oliver + S Building Block Dress: A Sewing Pattern Alteration Guide shows you how to customize all the elements of a basic dress pattern. With the included Building Block Dress pattern and Liesl Gibson's detailed pattern alternation instructions, you'll learn how to create almost any dress you can imagine. Let Liesl show you how to change sleeves, silhouettes, pockets, necklines, hems, closures, and linings. By combining the elements presented in the book, you'll be able to make thousands of unique dresses. The only limit is your imagination! Use the skills you learn in this book to customize other patterns as well. With these techniques, you'll look at sewing patterns as just the starting point for your creative expression.

The fashionable Finnish sewing duo are back with a second book that shows you how to create a coherent capsule wardrobe - complete with a collection of 20 garments that are easy to make, wear and combine. Complete with stunning photography, clear illustrations and instructions, Scandi sisters Laura and Saara offer up an enticing selection of tops, dresses, skirts, and trousers for the modern seamstress. Using the five essential building blocks, choose, customize and adapt the designs in this book to create a variety of flattering garments for every occasion that suit your style and fit your figure. Taking you beyond the patterns featured in this book, Building the Pattern offers expert advice on how to achieve the perfect fit, alter the designs and add your own personal twist. Discover how to create clothes with care, build your sewing repertoire and embrace the slow fashion movement. Six full-size pattern sheets are included in this neat package. The patterns are in a range of sizes from UK sizes 8 to 22 (US size 2 to 18 / 34 to 50 EUR sizes), with concise information on measuring yourself and technical sewing tips to sew for your shape.