The Sewing Bible: A Modern Manual of Practical and Decorative Sewing Techniques

799 Pages·2009·53.398 MB·English

by  Ruth Singer

Text copyright © 2008 Ruth Singer
Photography copyright © 2008 Jan Baldwin and Dominic Harris, except for this page, this page, this page, and this
page copyright © V&A Images, Victoria and Albert Museum
Illustrations copyright © 2008 Philip Haxell
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Potter Craft, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random
House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.pottercraft.com
POTTER CRAFT and colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain as Sew It Up by Kyle Cathie Ltd, London, in 2008.
The project designs in this book are copyright © Ruth Singer. Products can be made for sale using these designs,
but Ruth Singer and The Sewing Bible must be acknowledged.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN: 978-0-307-46237-4
eBook ISBN: 978-0-7704-3468-7
v3.1

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Practical Techniques
Setting up a sewing space
Basic tools
Fabric
Notions
Starting sewing
Pressing and steaming masterclass
Hand stitches
Machine stitches
Seams
Notching a curved seam masterclass
Princess seam masterclass
Inset corner masterclass
Hems
Couture hem masterclass
Blind hemming masterclass
Edgings, bindings, and piping
Continuous bias strip masterclass
Mitered corner masterclass
Fastenings
Invisible zipper masterclass
Bound buttonhole masterclass
Projects
Stripy apron
Book bag
Falling blossom
Pocket handbag
Mr. Mouse
Decorative Techniques
Frills and ruffles
Pleats, folds, and tucks
Decorative box pleating masterclass
Trimmings
In-seam trim masterclass
Scalloped edge masterclass
Fabric manipulation
Yo-yo masterclass
Stitch and slash masterclass
American smocking masterclass
Quilting, appliqué, and patchwork
Hand quilting masterclass
Trapunto masterclass
Reverse appliqué masterclass
Patchwork masterclass
Embroidery
Projects
Pom-pom blanket
Pleated corsage
Silk cuff
Patchwork needlebook
Pinstripe pincushion
Quilted placemats
Gingham purse
Gathered scarf
Trapunto pillow
Using the Techniques
Curtains
Pillows
Dressmaking
Designing
Customizing and recycling
Repairs and alterations
Projects
Quick curtains
Vintage jacket
Pieced pillowcase
Circular skirt
Customized T-shirt
Pebble pillow
Tools
Fabric guide
Templates
Glossary
Reading
Resources
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author

Introduction
Sewing for pleasure is getting the stylish revamp it deserves. Making clothes,
accessories, presents, and beautiful things for your home is a great way to express
your creativity and personal style. Sewing shouldn’t be a chore: Making things for
yourself and your friends and family should be a pleasure, a hobby, a distraction from
real life, a creative outlet. Nothing beats the pleasure of saying “I made it!” when asked
where you got your lovely bag or skirt or cushion.
We all want gorgeous and original things for ourselves and our homes. We can buy
nice pillows in big brand shops, but our friends will have the same ones, as will millions
of other people. Our homes express part of our personalities and they should be as
original and vibrant as ourselves, not carbon copies of a magazine shoot or our
neighbor’s house. And really, shouldn’t we stop buying cheap and throwaway
products and instead invest time, money, and effort in real, handmade, ethical, and
unique things?
Unlike our grandmothers’ generation, we don’t have to sew to clothe our families.
Sewing for ourselves is unlikely to be an economic choice for most of us now: Clothes
and homewares can be cheap, and time is money. You can spend almost infinite
amounts on patterns, fancy fabrics, a sewing machine (or two), steam irons, a made-
to-measure tailor’s dummy—or you can choose to make sewing an affordable hobby,
buying fabrics from markets, using remnants, and recycling. You should buy the best
you can afford—not necessarily the most fancy, but the best quality for your needs.
Plenty of people find sewing an odd to thing to want to do. I once caused
consternation in a roommate’s boyfriend by sitting sewing in front of the TV. He had
only ever seen his grandmother and mother sewing, and then only out of financial
necessity. To do such a thing for pleasure, when clothes could be bought cheaply in
retail stores, was to him bizarre and somehow radical. Why would a young,
professional woman, brought up to reject stereotypical female roles, choose to do a
chore our mothers happily abandoned when feminism and changes in world trade
made it unnecessary to sew clothes? The answer is, because I love fabric and clothes
and always have. It seems to be in my blood. And I was brought up to do what I
wanted, not what anyone else thought I ought to do.
Although I’m now a professional maker, I spent over 20 years sewing for myself, for
fun. I made the over-ambitious mistake of starting with dressmaking, which wasn’t
perhaps the easiest way to learn. Clothes (for grown ups) are great to make, but
actually quite hard projects, and it’s harder still to get them to fit perfectly. Crafts and
home projects—like pillows, shopping bags, and pincushions—are a much easier way
to learn sewing, but by all means use a complicated project as a way of learning lots