macaroni & cheese: Sewing Books Reviews, and my babies.

I have a few sewing books I LOVE and frequently use as reference. Here' s review of FIVE of my favorites. All were bought used, cheaply, and most are widely available. I imagine the last is probably nearly impossible to find, but I don't know.

Fitting Finesse by Nancy Zieman.

What I love about this book:
*how to make commercial patterns fit you, using her special measuring tricks!
*her technique for simply changing sizes on patterns
* troubleshooting guide for fit problems
What's covered:
EVERYTHING!!! Jackets, blouses, dresses, pants, skirts, and special styles of sleeves & yokes
What I've used, so far:
*The size changing technique to change a sleeve diameter but keeping the scythe the same to fit in the shoulder of a top.
*her special measuring tricks to use the right size patterns for myself and for my daughters!

The Busy Woman's Sewing Book by Nancy Zieman and Robbie Fanning

What I love about this book:
*How to organize your projects so you actually complete them!!! (what???)
*how to substitute her "short cuts" on patterns and instructions to save time
* how to find time for sewing
What's covered:
all garments, the tips are useful for all garment sewing, men, women, and children.
What I've used, so far:
*the speedy fly/zipper construction and installation: AWESOME!!!

Pants for Real People: Fit and Sew for Real People by Patti Palmer and Marta Alto

What I love about this book:
*How to make a commercial pants pattern fit you.
*how to make a gazillion details and changes to pants patterns: pockets, waistbands, hems, leg widths, etc.
* how to diagnose and fix fit problems

What's covered:
*mostly women's pants but there is a shout out for men's pants toward the back

What I've used, so far:
*how to construct a pants front with inseam pockets that don't gape out: Brilliant!! This is a frequent problem I have, and I'm happy to have found a solution.

Sew News presents Sew Much Better

What I love about this book:
*How to do everything, plus stuff you didn't know existed!
*almost every kind of buttonhole, sleeve, collar, bodice, hem, stitching, seaming, etc, is in this book.
*specifically, corded buttonhole, passementerie trim, and boning a strapless bodice are the techniques that impressed me the most.

What's covered:
*all garment construction techniques and a few others.

What I've used, so far:
*nothing yet!! It's so vast I'm still reading, but the knowledge of the many techniques available are REALLY stimulating a lot of ideas for my fall and winter sewing.

Butterick Sewing Book, 1959

I love this book!!! It hardly mentions machine use and shows all kinds of fabulous ways to do garment construction and design. There is so much information packed into this small book. I picked up mine at Half Price Books for $2.

What I love about this book:
*How to do everything, plus stuff you didn't know existed! Same as previous book, but insert hand sewn and quaint illustrations.
*almost every kind of buttonhole, sleeve, collar, bodice, hem, stitching, seaming, etc, is in this book.
*How to make a belt!!!! and making and joining a collar, hand finishing garment fasteners, ALL kinds of hems, plus simple alterations.

What's covered:
*all garment construction techniques, but mostly women's clothing, some men and a bit of girl's alteration.

My Cute Baby Aldous

Eating a strawberry that his brother stole from the refrigerator.

More strawberries. It was a REALLY good snack.

Crashed out after dinner today. He NEVER just falls asleep, but today he was a napping fool!!

And look how happy he is that I finally found the BEST OWL CORDUROY EVER!!! Thanks to Lyndsey, who found it at her Jo-Ann. YAY!!!

New DIAPERS!!!

I made four new diapers today, trying out my PUL skills. That stuff is a little tricky, but I think I've got it whipped. Purple, orange, and two black.

Both black ones have the Dalmatian Alova inside. One of them is an All-In-One and the other is a pocket stuffed with microfiber towels. They both have black PUL on the outside and SKULL SNAPS from Kam.

The orange I made for William, is an All-In-One with a light-weight terry inside. Because terry wicks wetness, I turned all the edges of the PUL in toward the terry side before I top-stitched.