A Guide to Fashion Sewing

Book Review: A guide to Fashion Sewing                                                                   Ashley Hann

By: Connie Amaden-Crawford

After reviewing Connie’s book I found out a lot about her and her love for sewing. Though I couldn't find out where and when she learned how to sew I'm guessing it was when she was a child growing up in her first house because of how much talent she has now. Connie has written twelve books, and has various of DVDs and patterns. I think Connie is highly knowledgeable to have written this book because of all her high achievements like graduating from LATTC and receiving her teaching credentials from UCLA. Connie is also a licensed designer for the McCall company under the Butterick label, member of the sewing Hall of Fame, and president and CEO of Fashion Patterns by Connie. She was a former instructor of FIDM and has professional experience as a pattern maker, grader, design consultant, and designer.

I found the book very useful for sewing but the layout had so much information that my eyes were wandering. With so much information I feel that this book is designed to be a reference book. For example, there are lots of different sections like “The sewing machine and sewing equipment” and “Identifying Fashion Fabrics.” People may not read all of it but can reference to that when needing help. There are specific projects included in the book which are a sports bag, pajama and robe, hooded pullover, easy jacket, pant, T-top, blouse for all cup sizes, pinwheel skirt, camp shirt, and princess seamed jacket. All the projects seem very well designed, they are all basic designs that a lot of people would use. The table of contents is very organized and easy to see. The index in the book can come in handy when I'm trying to find a certain term, there are ten pages filled with all kinds of different terms. Also included is lots of step by step images to guide people but still a good amount of words to read.

In the book there is a ton of visual aids. At first glance they would be hard to understand but if I'm trying to learn something specific it would be easy to understand. There are more illustrations in the book then photographs which in my opinion is easier to understand because they are more detailed with things like seam lines. The some photographs that are in the book do help me understand what the different types of materials and textures look like though.

The writing style of the book is very organized and well written. The instructions and information is clearly written and has lots of facts but it almost seems like too much. The tone of the book is formal, I think formal is good for this book because it explains how to do things step by step. The only additional material included in the book is a DVD that includes visual videos on how to do certain steps. This DVD helps people learn at their own pace basic sewing skills and techniques such as seams, darts, bias bindings, zippers, and garment assembly. I would recommend this book to a beginner sewer and a sewing teacher. This book would be great for a beginner sewer because it has everything a beginner sewer would start with to get better. For example, the first chapter is all about getting started with the sewing machine and sewing equipment. I would recommend this to a sewing teacher to give to their students for a useful guide if needed help with a certain project.

The overall impression I have of this book is very helpful especially to me. It has everything I would need to help me learn how to sew. I think it is definitely worth the list price of $115.