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Book List — Clothing, Sewing and Design
Books on Fitting
Liechtey, Elizabeth; Pottberg. Della; Rasband, Judith. Fitting and Pattern Alteration A Multi-Method Approach. Fairchild, 1993. Comments: Good reference on specific fitting problems and possible solutions, detailed illustrations on alterations has multiple methods of alteration. Highly recommended.
Minott, Jan. Coordinated Pattern Fit. Burgess Publishing, 1969. Comments: Geared toward the home sewer, this book spends the entire time fitting one sloper. Good overview of fitting for asymmetric figures.
Zieman, Nancy. Fitting Finesse. Oxmoor House, 1994. Comments: Good overview of Nancy's pivot and slide technique. An easy way to do pattern alteration, although not exactly a precise method. Very good.
Fitting Your Figure from Threads Tauton, 1994. Comments: Articles collected from the magazine on fitting. Includes pattern alteration, grading, fitting shoulders, padding a dressform, waistbands that fit. Recommended.
Books on Patternmaking
Haggar, Ann. Pattern Cutting For Lingerie, Beachwear And Leisurewear, Blackwell Science, 1990. Comments: Good patternmaking reference for bodywear. Measurements in metric are a bit confusing. Does not cover resizing existing patterns, but creating new patterns from custom blocks. Still under review, but looks good.
Gebbia, A, Modern Method Of Women's And Children's Garment Design, Master Designer, 1955. Comments: Measurement charts, flat pattern and drafting information.
Armstrong, Helen Joseph. Patternmaking For Fashion Design, 1st Ed. Harper Collins, 1987. Armstrong, Helen Joseph. Patternmaking For Fashion Design, 2nd Ed. Harper Collins, 1995. Comments: Excellent technical patternmaking text for flat patternmaking. Sloper drafting instructions, many, many illustrations on drafting based on slopers. 1st ed. has a chapter on fitting. 2nd ed. has updated pictures/designs, standard measurement chart, and a chapter on children's designs. Each book has a different method for drafting bodice slopers. Highly recommended.
Rohr, M. Pattern Drafting and Grading Women's And Misses Garment Design, Rohr Publishing 1968. Comments: 40-50's vintage illustrations make this a fun text. Although a thin book, it's packed with good patternmaking and design ideas, very short section on grading. Good to have.
Pepin, Harriet. Modern Pattern Design. Funk & Wagnalls, 1942. Comments: Great vintage illustrations. Instructions are confusing but excellent ideas for the fitted body of the 40's. Get it if you can find it.
Hillhouse, Marion S., Mansfield, Evelyn A. Dress Design: Draping And Flat Pattern Making. Houghton Mifflin, circa 1945. Comments: Excellent vintage illustrations. Good section on draping and fitting. Beautiful ideas abound in this book. Out of print but worth the search.
Erwin, Mabel. Practical Dress Design. Macmillan, 1940. Comments: Great vintage illustration, wordy instructions. Still worth getting just for the pictures.
Howland, Karen. Cut to the Fit. Kensinger Press, 1995. Comments: Subtitled "Sloper Drafting Manual" that is exactly what it is. Illustrated technique is a little hard to follow, but the results are good. Recommended for sloper technique.
Cloake, Dawn. Fashion Design on the Stand. B. T. Batsford, 1996. Comments: Shows draping techniques on ruching, stretchwear, and eveningwear. English and metric measurements. Good draping guide.
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences. Drafting & Pattern Design (1924). Lacis, 1994. Comments: Beautiful reissue of 1920's pattern instructions. Some illustrations. Feeling retro? Very fun.
Ralston, Margaret C. Fashion Outlines: Dress cutting by the Block Pattern System. Lacis 1990 (reprint) Comments: Actually, a very nice look at1920-30’s patternmaking techniques. Great pictures.
Books on Grading
Kirschner, Jack. Advanced Pattern Grading Simplified. Fairchild, 1951. Comments: Interesting look on how commercial grading was done before machine shifting became standard. Yikes!
Handford, Jack Profession Pattern Grading For Women's Men's And Children's Apparel Plycon press, 1980. Comments: Good guide on grading patterns. Easier to understand than most grading text. Geared toward shift method grading. Very good.
Books on Design/Illustration
Zangrillo, Leto Frances Fashion Design for the Plus-Size, Fairchild, 1990. Comments: A bit dated picture-wise, this has basic design, basic patternmaking, basic draping, and a chapter on grading all geared toward the plus-size. Good to have.
O'Hara, Georgina The Encyclopaedia Of Fashion Abrams, 1986. Comments: A bit dated, but everyone needs a fashion encyclopedia. Good.
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences. Pattern and Costume Designing. International Education Publishing, 1943. Comments: A little bit of pattern drafting, but mostly how to flatter a figure in design, especially 1930-40's glamorous garb. Very good illustrations. Very good resource.
Books on Emblishment/Surface Design
Books on Sewing Techniques/General
Harper, Rochelle. Sew the New Fleece: Techniques with Synthetic Fleece and Pile. Tauton Press, 1997. Comments: Good guide to a newish fabric. Has weight definitions, sewing tips, pattern alterations and patterns to enlarge. Excellent illustrations, good fashion shots, not too "crafty". Very good.
Khalje, Susan. Bridal Couture. Krause Publications, 1997. Comments: Excellent guide to bridal sewing. Concentrating on couture techniques, this is invaluable to anyone who sews formal attire. Highly recommended.
Shaeffer, Claire. Couture Sewing Techniques. Tauton, 1993. Comments: A guided tour of modern couture houses and their techniques. Good reading as well as an excellent reference. Highly recommended.
Shaeffer, Claire Sew any set-in Pocket Chilton, 1994. Comments: Sometimes it helps to have a clue of how to sew things. Easy to understand. Very good.
Singer Reference Library: Sewing for Special Occasions, Cy DeCosse, 1994. Comment: Great pictures, easy to understand. Covers basic techniques for formal wear. Recommended.
Ledbetter, N. Marie and Lansing, Linda Theil. Tailoring: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques. Prentice-Hall, 1981. Comment: Jam-packed full of info on fitting, pattern alteration, fabric selection and just plain tailoring. Not that many pictures, but good step by step instructions. Highly recommended.
Ericson, Lois and Wakefield, Linda. The Great Put On—Sew Something Smashing. Lois Ericson, 1992. Comments: Wearable art and embellishment ideas. Very fun.
Fit and Fabric from Threads. Tauton, 1991. Comment: Gleaned from the pages of Threads magazine, this book is a "best of" issues 1-26. Recommended if you didn't get issues 1-26.
Carr, Roberta. Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing. Palmer/ Pletsch, 1993. Comment: Beginner's book on couture sewing. Easy to follow techniques. Garments pictures are not my favorite. Recommended.
Coffin, David Page. Shirtmaking. Tauton, 1993. Comments: Well researched and illustrated. A excellent text for any shirtmaker. Includes fitting, alteration, and variations on design. Highly recommended.
Zieman, Nancy. 10-20-30- Minutes to Sew. Oxmoor House, 1992. Comments: Nice book of time saving shortcuts to organization, sewing, serging and selecting patterns.
Books on Fashion Reference/History/Costume
Ettinger, Roseann. 50's Popular Fashions For Men, Women, Boys & Girls Schiffer, 1995. Comments: Real vintage clothing on modern wire forms (odd) and magazine pictures from the 50's. No exact dating on garments or fashion flow. Includes price guide to vintage clothing. Interesting.
Montupet, Janine and Schoeller, Ghisline. Lace: The Elegant Web. Harry N. Abrams, 1988. Comments: General history of lace to modern times. Beautiful color prints of lace and portraits. Back of book has a guide to modern lace making centers. Fantastic inspiration.
Martin, Richard. Fashion and Surrealism. Fashion Institute of Technology, 1987. Comments: Fashion and fashion photography is sometimes very odd--in a cool way. Pictures and illustrations from Salvador Dali to David Byrne.
Keenan, Brigid. Dior in Vogue. Conde Nast, 1981. Comments: Photos and history of Dior's collection that appeared in Vouge magazine from his first collection to its eventual hand over to Marc Bohan. Very good.
Reilly, Valerie. The Official Illustrated History of the Paisley Pattern. Peregrine Smith Books, 1987. Comments: Interesting reading on the origins of Paisley.
Cope, Louise Todd. Sleeves: A Treasury of Ideas, Techniques and Patterns. Coat of Arms Press, 1988. Comments: A little drafting, a little fitting and lots of ideas. Concentrates on historical costume sleeve types. Good.
Books on Business
Maslowski, Karen. Sew Up a Storm: all the way to the bank! Sew Storm Publishing, 1995. Comments: Not so much a guide as a look into how other people got their business off the ground. Covers a wide variety of sewing related fields, salary range, experience needed. Good for unlocking a "business block". Good reading.
Spike, Kathleen. Sew to Success! Palmer/Pletsch Inc, 1996. Comments: A good guide to getting started in a home sewing business. Concentrates on clothing sewing. Measurement charts, business contracts, accounting basics, product pricing. Good business guide.
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