book review: sew what! skirts
Sew what! Skirts. 16 simple styles you can make with fabulous fabrics, by Francesca Denhartog and Carole Ann Camp. Published by Storey publishing. distributed in Australia through Capricorn Link.
Do you really want to make your own clothes? Do you have a fear of zippers or always wanted to know how to draft your own patterns? Then I recommend this book for you. I love to make my own clothes, not like my grandmother however who would spend weeks making tailored jackets or fitted blouses or lacy evening wear (she even made her own underwear!). My style of sewing is more like if it can be finished in a day then I will do it - if not then the chances of it getting finished - ever - are really diminished. So sewing simple skirts has always been a bit of a fad of mine. And while I know how to draft my own patterns using old favourites, and I while am not adverse to a zipper or two I certainly could use a few tips and tricks to make the process easier.
For all of those reasons and others I really enjoyed this book, and I know it will be a useful edition to my craft library. This book takes the mystery out of waistbands, splits, darts and pleats.
All the patterns are based on a couple of basic skirt designs, the A-line, the half-circle and the tiered skirt. As I am a totally a visual person - the choice of fabrics used in the styles really make a difference for me, and taking that and the simplicity and design of the skirt into consideration, my favourite patterns that I am definitely going to try include the breezy wrap skirt based on the a-line, the front pleated skirt in Asian inspired fabric, and the tourist tablecloth a-line skirt. There are no patterns as such in the book, rather recipes for making your own pattern to fit you. If this seems a little daunting, don’t worry it really explained very well with good illustrations and directions.
For the most part the design of this book is great - really eye-catching with a practical spiral binding to allow it to lay flat where you need it while sewing. Its slightly retro styling is funky, there is a bit of incongruity, I thought, with the choices of fabrics for some of the skirts. The books seems to be aimed at the young - young-ish, urban chic, but some of the patterns were a little country and others a little old fashioned and seemed out of step with the rest of the book.
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April 9th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I’m going to put this on my wishlist! Thanks for sharing this as I need as much simplicity in this department (I have about 3 outfits I never finished because they took longer than a day…and are now in the years to get finished department!!).
April 9th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
THANKS for this review - I love buying books but hate being disappointed, and since I have no reliable or groovy bookstore in town, I often resort to mail order. Which means I really REALLY love the equivalent of a quick flick through the book to see if I’ll like it enough to buy it. Think this one goes on the “must get” list!
April 9th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
I actually bought this book the other day and am really pleased with it. I agree with the slightly out of step choices of some of the fabrics - but for me as an older, not youngish but wish I was urban chic - that was the deciding point for me as I could actually see my self in some of the designs. Good marketing ploy as the book will appeal to more potential buyers i think.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I really like this book alot! I got it last fall, and used it to make a silk slip to go underneath my Whiplash/Craft: skirt (plain white cotton!) Even people who have more sewing experience will appreciate the tips & tricks in this book; although I do agree about the fabric choices, some are really not for me.
I’ve done a lot of home sewing in the last year, so when I decided to tackle clothing, I was surprised by how intimidated I was. This book took all the fear out! I do wish I could find the fabric used on the short Asian Dream skirt, though! I’ve searched everywhere! LOL
April 10th, 2007 at 12:23 am
It’s like you read my mind… I’ve been thinking about sewing up some skirts, even though my sewing skills are laughable. But I just wanted some basic patterns that I could have fun with. Thanks! I’m putting this book on my wish list!
April 10th, 2007 at 3:04 am
I credit this book for rekindling my interest in sewing clothes — I made a cute baby sundress nearly a decade ago for my dd, but didn’t really enjoy the fussiness of working with a paper pattern and instructions, and the end result didn’t justify the time and effort. This time I enjoyed the process from start to finish, and my daughter loves the skirt I made for her using this book. I liked the mix of fabrics — several of the styles were not right for me, but fun to look at and I think it helped to show how versatile the designs really are.
April 10th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I am pretty sure that fabric is Alexander Henry “marnie Garden”
April 10th, 2007 at 11:24 am
This books looks gReAt! The practical spiral binding tips me off that there has been some good thought put into this one. My wishlist now lists this one!
April 10th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
I just got this book from the library and I found it inspiring. I dislike using commercial patterns and this book really demystified the process of drafting your own.
The spiral binding, engaging photographs, and clear directions were other attractions :) Thanks for the review!
April 10th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I bought this one a few months ago and have already made a few skirts from it - the very first clothing items I’ve made for myself that actually fit. I’m hopeless at adapting commercial patterns but - using this book - drafting them from scratch was a breeze! Did I mention that the finished skirts actually FIT?
April 11th, 2007 at 1:42 am
i’m so intimidated by making clothes. i think this might be my first foray into it… thanks for the review, it’s the nudge i needed to take the plunge!
April 11th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Hi -great posts and very nice site. I’ve lurked for a long time, but had to post about this book. I bought this book quite awhile ago and have made 3 skirts and they all were very easy and turned out well. I am new to sewing so I really appreciated how easy it was to make a skirt without a pattern. I actually found it waaaaaay faster and simpler doing it from this book than making a skirt from a store bought pattern. For a beginner -it made the process much more practical. I was taking an intro to sewing class at the time i got this book -i showed it to the instructor who kinda looked down her nose at it. I think its great!
April 13th, 2007 at 12:52 am
I have been saying that I’m going to sew myself a skirt FOREVER, but I am afraid of zippers, the time commitment, and in the end, looking like a schlump. This sounds like it may be the book for me to get over my fears and get me inspired — esp if Wendi was so pleased with her own results!
April 13th, 2007 at 3:18 am
I love the pictures! Wish I could find more photos of it online. Love love love the tablecloth skirt! :)
April 17th, 2007 at 9:15 am
i am a newby seamstress and i totally agree with your writeup. i do wish they had some better photos of some of the skirts. they show them on people sitting down…um. and some of them are a bit dowdy. that said, they do give really great and clear directions, and unlike most how to books, i was able to read it all the way through. ok, most of the way through and i am ready to sew my first skirt from here, my second skirt in the scheme of things. so i made my own pattern! cool!
April 28th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I love this book. I’m new to sewing too, and I’m in the process of making my second skirt from this book. It even has a zipper! The great thing about this book is that it makes you feel confident that you can make any of the skirts. It’s really demystified sewing for me (at least as a beginner, it has). Very cool. There’s a thread on craftsters.org that has photos and discussions re: this book. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=131187.00; Also, there is a group on Flikr showing off their skirts from the book. http://www.flickr.com/groups/sewwhatskirts/
May 29th, 2007 at 11:32 am
[...] consumed my last couple of weekends. My skirt journey began with a couple of posts on Whip up. This first post inspired me to check out Sew what! Skirts from the library. One day later, this second [...]