Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book
Our Price: $92.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.05 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: Anne Marie SotoEditor: Simplicity Pattern Company
Illustrator: Martha Vaughan
Edition: Plastic Comb
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-12-01
ISBN: 073942100X
Number of pages: 270
Publisher: Simplicity Pattern Co
Accessories:
- Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
- Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer
Book Reviews of Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book
Book Review: I wouldn't recommend unless you are already a sewer.
Summary: 2 Stars
I was torn between buying this and the Reader's Digest sewing book, I wish I had chosen the other one though. I was looking for a good book of the basics, so I could reference it easily instead of heading to Google everytime I have a question about this stitch or that method. For a new sewer (I tried a couple of projects 15 years ago, but am now armed with a new machine and some actual motivation) I hoped this book would be a great resource, but I am finding some things harder to follow than walk-throughs I have found online.
There are a couple of things with this book that are problematic. The segments run into each other, and it is hard to follow the format.
The colors of print are black and mauve, with all the section headings in mauve. It is not enough of a contrast to stand out and makes it harder to scan for what you're looking for than if it were all in black, as the mauve is hard to see in the headings.
On top of that, at one point they start talking about sergers, and then after that, every technique has a sewing machine and a serger part, which I found hard to follow. Maybe I'm just exhausted but I would have liked the book to only be on sewing machines, if I had a serger I would prefer the book to just be on serging methods. It would not be a problem if each segment started on a new page, or were actually side by side, but I found its format distracting. If I had bought it in person I would've seen that it was serger and conventional side by side and saved myself the trouble, but I bought it on amazon.
This book would've benefited a LOT from a definition section that included simple word only descriptions. I bought some lovely polyester, and I was looking to see what they said about sewing it. There is a section on sewing microfibers, and I had to Google to see if polyester was a microfiber, because I wasn't sure and it didn't list any examples or direct me to that page in the index under polyester. Yup! it is. I should be able to reference microfiber, nap, staystitching and may other terms.
Another example (long and boring) is under staystitching instead of describing it first, it starts going on on about how fabrics that require special handling on a conventional machines are easy to sew on a serger. Stretchy sweater knits, stretch terry cloth...blah blah blah another 25 words...One of the reasons that sewers avoid this is because they tend to stretch out of shape during handling and sewing. Staystitching is the time honored way to prevent fabric distortion" ALL that before they tell me how to staystitch, and they never define the word.
This is a horrible way to write a book in my opinion. Tell me the definition of the technique, tell me how to do it, then wax poetic about whatever you want, but this way gives me a headache before I've gotten to figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing. On top of that if I went by what I read in it, I would think I could only even USE staystitching with a serger. BAH!
I am not saying this book doesn't have a place on my shelf. I think it has some handy tips, but I was disappointed overall and won't be of much use until I have more experience under my belt.
Crafts & Hobbies Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Crafts & Hobbies Books
Collins Complete Artist's Manualby Simon Jennings
HARPER COLLINS 0 PUB; Published: 2005-10-03; Hardcover; Book
Indoor Artistby Linda Birch
Harper Collins; Published: 2004-02-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.39
Drawing on the Artist Withinby Betty Edwards
Harpercollins; Published: 1988-04-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $176.90
Carolyn Warrender's Book of Colour Scheming: How to Identify the Colours That Are Right for Your Homeby CAROLYN WARRENDER
HARPERCOLLINS ILLUSTRATED; Published: 1999; Paperback; Book
Learn to Paint Gouache Pbby Moira Huntly
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-10; Paperback; Book
Learn to Frame (Collins Learn to Paint)by Sheila Fairbrass
Collins; Published: 1990-06-04; Paperback; Book
Art of Preserved Flower Arrangementby Maureen Foster
HarperCollins Distribution Services; Published: 1984-03-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.94
Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplifiedby Cal Patch
Potter Craft; Published: 2009-09-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.88
Price in other shops:
Continuous Cables: An Exploration of Knitted Cabled Knots, Rings, Swirls, and Curlicuesby Melissa Leapman
Potter Craft Books; Potter Craft; Published: 2008-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.82
Price in other shops:
How Not to Look Fatby Danica Lo
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2006-05-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Encyclopedia of Sewing Machine Techniquesby Nancy Bednar, JoAnn Pugh-Gannon
Sterling; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.33
Price in other shops:
PatternReview.com 1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips: Top-Rated Favorites from Sewing Fans and Master Teachersby Deepika Prakash
Creative Publishing international; Published: 2010-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops:
Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew, One Project at a Timeby Deborah Moebes
Krause Publications; Published: 2010-08-25; Hardcover-spiral; Book
Best price: $15.75
Price in other shops:
Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing - Revised + Expanded Edition: 1200 Full-Color How-To Photosby Editors of Creative Publishing
Creative Publishing international; Published: 2009-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.77
Price in other shops:
Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide with 25 Fabulous Original Designs, Including 10 Patternsby Diana Rupp
Workman Publishing Company; Published: 2007-11-08; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $19.11
Price in other shops:
Sewing For Dummiesby Jan Saunders Maresh
Wiley Publishing; For Dummies; Published: 2010-08-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.93
Price in other shops:
Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewingby Editors of Reader's Digest
Readers Digest; Published: 1981; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $46.97
Me and My Sewing Machineby Kate Haxell
C&T PUBLISHING; C&T Publishing; Published: 2010-05-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.54
Price in other shops:
The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniquesby Alison Smith
DK Publishing; Published: 2009-03-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.74
Price in other shops:
The New Complete Guide to Sewing: Step-by-Step Techniques for Making Clothes and Home Accessories Updated Edition with All-New Projects and Simplicity Patterns (Reader's Digest)by Reader's Digest
Readers Digest; Published: 2010-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.18
Price in other shops: