High-Fashion Sewing Secrets : From the World's Best Designers by Shaeffer B. Shaeffer and Claire B. Shaeffer (1997, Hardcover, Revised)
Learn how to design your own clothes with High Fashion Sewing Secrets
"High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers" should almost have been labeled "The Encyclopedia of everything there is to know about sewing, pattern making & Designing!" Okay, I know it doesn't include everything about sewing, but I literally could not believe how much information is packed into this 246 page book!
While there are plenty of tips I may never use, the majority of the tips & methods in it are practical enough that even someone new to sewing would be able to accomplish them well! In fact, there are so many tips & methods in here that I have a forest of Post-It tabs sprouting out the top, to remind me to try each exciting technique! Every time I open "High Fashion Sewing Secrets", I find new inspiration for building my wardrobe, and because most of these tips & techniques were gathered from famous couture designers, they do not look like people expect "home made" clothing to look. I enjoy having clerks at the expensive boutiques asking me if I purchased my homemade clothing at their store, because I had used these designer techniques! I don't mine looking like a million bucks because I carefully fit & detailed my homemade clothing that is made from Walmart $1.00 a yard fabrics!
"Sewing Secrets" are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, along with very well done full color drawings or photos showing how to accomplish each skill. This is very helpful to people like me, who have dyslexia or other learning difficulties, because you not only have instructions, you have step by step photographs or drawings showing exactly what to do.
Beyond the standard simple decoration of contrasting binding, Claire illustrates for readers how they can add sleek sophistication to their home made clothing by adding special trims or embellishments to commercial patterns, but she also shows you how you can design & create your own patterns. I cannot guarantee that every idea included in this wonderful manual is original, & never been seen anywhere else, but I can guarantee that anyone who sincerely desires to create quality clothing, even couture clothing, "High Fashion Sewing Secrets" is possibly the best resource they will find for that purpose.
Despite sewing since the 4th grade, as I pored over this book, I realized how little I know about sewing! My teenage dream of becoming a fashion designer with my own boutique has not come to fruition, but I am perfectly happy to be able to learn as much about designing & making clothing as possible, to create my own unique style, and be able to do so with such a high level of expertise as is taught in "High Fashion Sewing Secrets".
I would recommend "High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers" to anyone who sews their own and/or their family's clothing, as well as to anyone who is interested in the field of fashion. I think the only reason this isn't a number 1 best seller is because everyone is buying clothing so cheap from China, so most households don't even have a sewing machine anymore.
While there are plenty of tips I may never use, the majority of the tips & methods in it are practical enough that even someone new to sewing would be able to accomplish them well! In fact, there are so many tips & methods in here that I have a forest of Post-It tabs sprouting out the top, to remind me to try each exciting technique! Every time I open "High Fashion Sewing Secrets", I find new inspiration for building my wardrobe, and because most of these tips & techniques were gathered from famous couture designers, they do not look like people expect "home made" clothing to look. I enjoy having clerks at the expensive boutiques asking me if I purchased my homemade clothing at their store, because I had used these designer techniques! I don't mine looking like a million bucks because I carefully fit & detailed my homemade clothing that is made from Walmart $1.00 a yard fabrics!
"Sewing Secrets" are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, along with very well done full color drawings or photos showing how to accomplish each skill. This is very helpful to people like me, who have dyslexia or other learning difficulties, because you not only have instructions, you have step by step photographs or drawings showing exactly what to do.
Beyond the standard simple decoration of contrasting binding, Claire illustrates for readers how they can add sleek sophistication to their home made clothing by adding special trims or embellishments to commercial patterns, but she also shows you how you can design & create your own patterns. I cannot guarantee that every idea included in this wonderful manual is original, & never been seen anywhere else, but I can guarantee that anyone who sincerely desires to create quality clothing, even couture clothing, "High Fashion Sewing Secrets" is possibly the best resource they will find for that purpose.
Despite sewing since the 4th grade, as I pored over this book, I realized how little I know about sewing! My teenage dream of becoming a fashion designer with my own boutique has not come to fruition, but I am perfectly happy to be able to learn as much about designing & making clothing as possible, to create my own unique style, and be able to do so with such a high level of expertise as is taught in "High Fashion Sewing Secrets".
I would recommend "High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers" to anyone who sews their own and/or their family's clothing, as well as to anyone who is interested in the field of fashion. I think the only reason this isn't a number 1 best seller is because everyone is buying clothing so cheap from China, so most households don't even have a sewing machine anymore.
