Complete Book of Sewing Techniques

November 6, 2017
Gardiner, editor of Vogue Patterns, organizes the basics of sewing techniques into a photo-heavy encyclopedia (minus the thumb indexes) for beginner sewers and experts alike. Gardiner begins with the essentials: she addresses what to look for in a sewing machine and how different machines work, and proceeds to discuss types of fabrics, threads, needles, and other notions. There’s also pattern and measurement advice. She covers the sewing techniques of hand and machine stitching, plus “corners and curves” and seams. Then her attention shifts to the style techniques of hemming and facing. She covers darts and tucks, waistbands, cuffs, and fasteners (zippers and buttonholes); she teaches how to gather and ruffle and how to thread elastic through a casing. At the end, she shifts from sewing clothes to sewing soft furnishings like curtains and blinds. Along the way, among lists of types of fabrics and machines, she tucks in Heloisean hints (“use a seam ripper to open buttonholes”) and helpful tips such as how to appliqué. Although her introductions are bloated with glittering generalities (e.g.,“there is a huge range of sewing machines available today”), her main content is needle-sharp.