The Dressmaking Companion

This effective debut primer from stylist Guyet details the sewing skills required to create a dress. Surveying needle types, Guyet recommends ballpoint for knitted fabric and stretch needles for elastics. An overview of marking aids suggests using tailor’s wax on wool, and a breakdown of cutting supplies notes that pinking shears are ideal for clipping seam allowances. Guyet outlines typical uses and care instructions for various fabrics, explaining that taffeta is usually reserved for formal outfits and should be dry-cleaned, while microfiber is commonly used in more casual dresses and should be hand-washed. She also provides meticulous instructions with accompanying photos showing how to thread a bobbin and needle on a sewing machine, as well as how to sew basting stitches, blind hem stitches, catch stitches, and slip stitches by hand. Elsewhere, she shares how to take measurements; create collars, darts, hems, and pleats; and decode sewing pattern symbols. There are no projects, meaning that this serves primarily as a reference guide. The straightforward explanations ensure that this largely succeeds, but true beginners might wish for a bit more detail on some of the more complex techniques, such as attaching zippers and creating piped pockets. Still, this helpful handbook has much to offer budding sewists. * Publishers Weekly * This is an A5 hardback book, full of useful information for any keen sewist. Although the title is dressmaking, it includes a number of good reference sections. Beginning at your sewing machine, equipment, needles, threads, fabrics etc before covering the different techniques and pattern translation to guide you through making different parts of a garment. The book is produced on quality thick paper and printed really clearly with nice illustrations and soft coloured photographs. It is easy to follow and simply explained to assist a beginner to dressmaking, or for those that have forgotten techniques. I have been given this book to review and think its a handy reference book for any sewing room shelf. * Sandra from Half Yard Sewing Club * This really is an excellent 'companion', and will surely become your best friend. There is so much useful information contained in this little book - everything from a tour of the sewing machine, through to collars, pockets and buttonholes, with everything in between.  I will keep my copy close to hand - no more scrabbling around to find sewing machine manuals or instructions on how to do a Tunisian neckline. All the help and advice is here, in one place - excellent! * Jayne from Half Yard Sewing Club * It is a fantastic pocket sized book containing absolutely everything you need to know if you are going to do any dressmaking. The book is split into three key sections - Part One is the guide to using and maintaining your sewing machine and the equipment needed for dressmaking. The guide is really well illustrated with drawn or photographic illustrations. Part Two covers fabrics and recommends which fabrics to use for which items. It shows you how to measure yourself against a pattern and the vocabulary and pattern symbols. Part Three is all about techniques covering different stitches seams bindings, ease, gathers and darts and covers the tricky elements of dressmaking such as necklines collars and pockets. I think this book is a really useful reference guide for dressmakers. It has a sturdy hard cover so will withstand regular use and is definitely going to find a permanent home on my sewing table. Excellent value at £9.99. * Jax from Half Yard Sewing Club *