Sewing

Hello!

Today I just wanted to write a quick post on some sewing books that have been super helpful for me.  Cosplay is an insane combination of skills.  Costumes have garments that need to be sewn, armor that needs to be built, accessories that have to get made.  It's a lot to learn!

For a lot of people who are just getting into cosplay or who are just starting to make their own costumes the sewing part can be really intimidating.  If you don't own a sewing machine you have to either borrow one or buy one, and if you buy one which one is the right one? Even if you're just getting a cheap one from Walmart that aisle has a lot of options!  Then when you get the machine you have to figure out what all the buttons do, how to put the bobbin in;. it can be really overwhelming.  For that reason, I decided to write this post on some of the books I've enjoyed using.These will probably be most helpful to beginner to intermediate learners. There are thousands of sewing books on the market, so these are not necessarily the best.  They're just what's worked for me in addition to the plethora of knowledge on the internet.

1. Simplicity Simply the Best Sewing Book


I bought this book for for my sewing 101 class.  It's a nice book.  It goes over all the basics, pattern reading etc.  The downside is that it's illustrated and doesn't use as many photos as some other books in this post.  The instructions were pretty clear though and easy to follow, so I still think it's a great book for a beginner or if you're like me and you just need a friendly reminder on how to do something.  It's seperated into short chapters and has some patternless projects you can try to get you started.


2. The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniques

This book is great for people who kind of know what they're doing already, but aren't experts.  If you forget how to do a french seam or how to put a zipper in this book has easy step by step guides for everything.  It's kind of like an encyclopedia for sewing.  It's also got more photos than any of the other books, which I appreciate because I find illustrations can be a little confusing.  I prefer photo guides.

The con of this book is it's a little expensive.  I bought mine used at a used bookstore.  DK also makes a smaller version of this book that might be cheaper, it's got the same great information and format, it's just not a doorstop.

3. Me and My Sewing Machine

I don't own this one yet, so I don't have a picture.I came across this book at my public library before I took my first sewing class and I loved it. It's full of pictures, detailed oriented and everything a beginner needs to really needs to get going on their projects.  If you're like me and you prefer photos to illustrations I'd get this over the Simplicity book.  It's got most of the same information, but it uses photos.

4. How to Use, Adapt, and Design Sewing Patterns

I think I checked this book out two or three times at the library before finally deciding to buy it.

For a lot of my costumes I like to start with a commercial pattern and modify it.  Sometimes that gets tricky and confusing; things don't fit right.  This book helps things become less frustrating.

I also like this book because when I'm ready to start drafting my own patterns it's got a lot of detailed information about that too.  It's something I can grow into.