Review on 👗 The Colette Sewing Handbook: Stylish Inspiration and Essential Techniques for Novice Seamstresses by Heather Shaw

Mrs Drake Review: Excellent book for beginners and intermediate seamstresses; Must be competent for the following reasons: - Covers areas of sewing essential to sewing success; It touches on subjects vital to making quality clothing and your advancement as a seamstress. The author explains these areas very clearly and in detail; - Detailed and easy-to-understand explanations (with photos) on making bias binding, lining garments and changing patterns. I consider myself an intermediate beginner but after reading this book I plucked up the courage to change the pattern of the skirt to better fit my figure, combine 2 patterns and brew 4 beautiful velvet sweaters for my 7 year old daughter no time, fully lined with rich satin and adorned with all sorts of marquetry that I made following Colette's instructions; - beautiful photos and descriptions of various fabrics. I have studied many pictures of fabrics in other books, but only this one has both shown and clearly explained to me the properties and uses of various fabrics - the book's delightfully encouraging tone. I emphasize: encouragement is an important characteristic. As an amateur seamstress, I would never consider ironing my clothes, and the word "bias" made me walk away from the project. This book has made these seemingly difficult things easier for me. Now I have a lot of different bias bindings that I made myself that I will probably always use for lining clothes. Again, encouraging and facilitating difficult things (traits rare in the field of sewing) are important features of this book. For example, one of the first things I did when I started sewing was a luxurious stretch knit velvet bodice; received many compliments. It was only later, as I learned more about sewing, that I realized that knitwear is difficult to work with and not recommended for beginners. I'm glad I didn't read it before I started working with them. It's the same with many sewing books: once they classify you as a beginner and certain techniques as advanced, you're unlikely to try those techniques anytime soon. Not so with this book. The author encourages you to be brave and shows you step by step how to do it. There are other strengths to this book that other reviewers have pointed out. My final conclusion: If I only had 2 books on the subject of sewing, one of them would be this one (the other a general reference book). Highly recommended!