Has anyone read 'How to Start Sewing'?

[maliw]

Places like The Works sometimes have the Alison Smith books, I think thats where I got my copy.
There are so many tutorials on line that I hardly use the book but I do use it if something is tricky and I need something that doesn't 'switch off'.
I bought the Vogue sewing book from a charity shop but gave it to DDiL.
Have you any sewing friends/acquaintances who may have a book that you can borrow to see if you like it?

[SewMeSome]

You've got some good suggestions for books here and I also think that Gumtree, eBay, charities etc are good places to look for them.  I think that a book is a good starting place as you don't know what you don't know and what questions to actually ask.  Once you've got an idea of some of the basics it's easier to formulate and fire away your questions. Good luck

That is exactly right! I don't know what O don't know, and therefore you can't even start to find things out by asking. Very well put @coffeeandcake

[SewMeSome]

Places like The Works sometimes have the Alison Smith books, I think thats where I got my copy.
There are so many tutorials on line that I hardly use the book but I do use it if something is tricky and I need something that doesn't 'switch off'.
I bought the Vogue sewing book from a charity shop but gave it to DDiL.
Have you any sewing friends/acquaintances who may have a book that you can borrow to see if you like it?

I don't know anyone who sews.

I just realised that Amazon would always let me return the book if it is in un-used condition within 14 days - so I could buy it and then go from there

[WildAtlanticWay]

If you’re interested, here’s a couple of good YouTube channels to try that explain things very well, I find.

How to Sew.
Starting with the basics of your sewing machine. She’s made lots of videos covering all aspects of garment sewing and her explanations are very thorough and well filmed.

https://youtu.be/dxitW4LqAtI


Jojo Remeny offers mens tailoring advice. He’s recently started running an online course but I have no personal experience of using it.

https://youtu.be/JDE5V0KLsZ4

[Ouryve]

I often make use of kindle samples to find out if a book is likely to appeal to me. Not possible for all books, though.

[BrendaP]

All my books are really old and out of date now but thinking back different authors tended to give their own methods with few doing things the same way! Techniques have changed a lot as so many new fabrics have been developed but a lot of us here seem to do things in a very similar way.

If you are sewing woven/non stretchy fabrics the techniques haven't changed much, the main difference is finishing seam allowances.  You don't find much RTW with seams pressed open and if they are they will be finished with narrow overlocking.  Men's shirts usually have felled seams, traditionally done in two passes, in RTW it's often done in one pass with specialist machines that can sew two parallel rows of stiches.  For hand sewn either the traditional two passes or overlock, press to one side and then stitch down.

Sewing stretchy/lycra fabric is a different ball game.  These modern materials do need modern machines to get a good result.  IMO you will never get as good a result using a regular sewing machine and a zig zag, you really do need an overlocker.

[So Chic]

How to Start Sewing is expensive and, having looked at it on-line, I wasn't impressed.  There are other much better books such as the Reader's Digest Sewing Book.  Others have made some good suggestions and, of course, there is always YouTube for some excellent advice.

I have Dressmaking by Alison Smith which I could let you have for the cost of postage as it covers much of the same ground as The Sewing Book by her.  Please let me know if you are interested.

[SewRuthieSews]

Hiya @SewMeSome
I have the Sewing book "Sewing Basics for Every Body" by Wendy Ward.
The patterns in this are Unisex so you might find it works well for you

There is a sweatshirt, trousers, shirt, jumpsuit and coat, and everything is really well explained with lots of pictures.
She shows lots of different versions of each pattern which is great for getting ideas of what you might want to make.
The patterns are on sheets in the back, but you do need to trace them off onto tissue paper.

[Kwaaked]

My daughter got me the The Mood Guide to Fabric and Fashion for my anniversary yesterday (picked it up at a dollar store for a buck, but she paid for it out of her own money).

It is a very basic book on fabric.  Others do it as well, but they do hit on modern fabrics.  If you are a rank beginner, this is a good book.  I'm not going to complain because of how I got it, but if you can find it in a pound store or cheap, and you're new, it's not a bad investment to learn basic fabrics.

[SewMeSome]

How to Start Sewing is expensive and, having looked at it on-line, I wasn't impressed.  There are other much better books such as the Reader's Digest Sewing Book.  Others have made some good suggestions and, of course, there is always YouTube for some excellent advice.

I have Dressmaking by Alison Smith which I could let you have for the cost of postage as it covers much of the same ground as The Sewing Book by her.  Please let me know if you are interested.

That is very kind @So Chic - I am interested
It's late now and only just seen this , I will message you tomorrow for details
Thank you

[DrMike]

One book that I have found very useful is The Dressmaking Technique Bible by Lorna Knight.
I am fairly new to sewing and this is my go-to book whenever the question "How do I go about doing this?" arises. It's quite inexpensive considerng the wealth of information contained within.

[Andymat]

The Alison Smith Sewing book is very good.
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/s?k=alison+smith+sewing+book&crid=VHE2L4KFBRFO&sprefix=alison+smith%2Caps%2C88&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_12

I can also recommend "The sewing book". I got this as a birthday present last year as I was in a similar position to you - I have my mother's old machine and have been using that to do mending and alterations but I am now starting to do shirts and shorts. This book does have step by step photographs for the techniques that are required and is a good place to look up anything you do not immediately know - although here is very good too!!

But the patterns are not men oriented generally. I do find that most patterns I have bought have reasonable instructions and/or you tube videos to follow and have managed shirts, hoodies and recently some cargo shorts (from wardrobe by me).