There is a lot of interesting information on commercial machines and production that I found really interesting and haven’t really seen anywhere else.

I also quite liked this guide to hem allowances I bookmarked this page for later reference. I can see how handy this would be for someone trying to get clothing into production, but I love looking at fashion from more of a RTW perspective so I ate all this up. Who knew?! While some of the information is probably common knowledge for the average sewist, I like how specific it got when it came to things like interfacing and stabilizers. In the pressing section I discovered that spearmint water can be used to eliminate strong creases in fabric, as well as helping to eliminate shine from over-pressing. I still read these parts because you never know what new little trick you’ll pick up. The first few section of the book includes information you’ve probably seen covered by sewing books in your library the standard breakdown of tools, needles, thread, fabric, supplies etc. It’s basically a broad overview of clothing construction from start to finish while it’s not as construction focused as I was initially expecting, it does include a a good mix of general sewing basics and more specific construction information. It’s geared towards someone who wants to make a career out of designing RTW clothing, so it includes a mix of a lot of information.

Which was why I was super excited when Laurence King got in touch with me about reviewing their new title, Sewing for Fashion Designers by Anette Fischer. Often I’m figuring out the construction methodology while I’m in the design process, and while I have pattern-making books up the ying yang, there are surprisingly few resources out there that actually walk you step by step through different methods of actually putting a garment together. One of the biggest roadblocks I run into when designing patterns is trying to figure out complicated or new-to-me construction methods.

Fashion design books