Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time: The Ultimate Dressmaking Guide

So many books these days are aimed either at complete beginners or at more advanced tailors wanting to learn about time-consuming couture techniques involving much tacking, interlining, padding and hand-sewing. There’s very little on the market for sewers who have basic sewing skills and want to make clothes but who do not have the inclination or time to master advanced pattern-drafting skills. Such sewers just want the knowledge and confidence to make a variety of unfussy styles for their everyday wardrobe without having to buy multiple expensive patterns, most of which use very similar bodice blocks or skirt blocks. With commercially bought patterns, you’re often paying for a pretty picture, or unneeded trim suggestions, unaware that at least half of your pattern is already in duplicated elsewhere in your stash. Sometimes, all you want is the skirt pattern, but you have to pay for an unwanted jacket and trouser pattern as well — for the same price as this book! This book lets you make any kind of dress or skirt you want, with easy to follow instructions. You can mix and match bodices, skirts, sleeves and collars to achieve a huge number of different looks. The basic blocks fit together very cleverly without any extra input. But for the more advanced or adventurous sewers, there are instructions for how to adapt those basic pattern blocks to create any design you can dream up. The book gives you the basic recipes, which you can add to vary according to taste and skill. This is a practical “how to” book which not only demystifies the whole process of constructing a dress but also makes it much easier to understand than other books on the subject. It doesn’t blind you with science or go into massive technical detail — no need to! Just trace your pattern and get started as per the instructions. The finished garments modelled in the photos show the high quality that can be achieved from good fabric and relatively simple patterns — unlike the shapeless garments made out of plastic found in today’s rough and ready fast fashion.

I love this book so much! I'm only really a beginner, sewing for just under a year, so I would recommend it if you've had a little experience sewing. I've had the book for a couple of weeks and already made plenty of dresses from it. The only things to be wary of (and this could be my own fault) is when you do a pattern drafting of your own such as the circle skirt, she explains it but the way she explains it is much harder than it needs to be and, in my case, way way too big. For the skirt pattern alterations you just need to make sure that the pattern is just over 1/4 of your waist size (I made one particular skirt that wrapped round me twice). What I've found is I can read what she says and if it doesn't make sense to me or the pattern I've drafted is way too big, then I go and look it up myself, for example making the circle skirt, so it's not really an obstacle. I would highly recommend this book because it has all of the basics e.g. basic bodice (which she shows you how to turn into a blouse too) and basic skirt and then various necklines. Then you can get more complicated bodices and draft more interesting skirts. I feel with this book you can make almost any dress you see (I've already got a pinterest folder filled with dresses I want to make.) I also think it's a great way of advancing your skills at your own pace. I can't say how much I love this book enough, it's the best sewing book I've ever bought.

In buying this book, I shouldn't need to buy another dress pattern - ever! It has every type of neckline, sleeve and skirt style you might ever want in a dress, for any occasion, even a simple wedding dress, with instructions for lining too. The patterns come in 12 sizes, so cater for a range of body shapes. The editor clarifies the dressmaking process making it accessible for beginners and more experienced sewers alike. I expect tracing the patterns to create my basic designs and fit to require an up front investment, which you might expect if you want to achieve a good fit. However, the pattern pieces are squeezed onto 3 large sheets in black & white, and overlap, each with 12 size lines - I expect tracing to be tricky, although haven't tried this yet. My last point if that each of the sizes is provided with measurements, but it's not clear what ease is included, or what the finished sizes are. Again, this can be resolved by investing time to build a pattern based on personal measurements. None of this is a problem, but whereas the author points out many women used to make many of their own dresses, given today's busy working lifestyles, for me this will require patience and tenacity over several weekends.

Had this book a couple of years now. I have made so many items using the patterns in the book. I always wear dresses as they as easy to wear, small to pack when travelling and comfortable with no waistbands digging in. They are rather tricky to trace as they are grey scale only. You need to be fairly confident as there are basic patterns for tops and skirts which you put together and/or alter however you like. Be aware that there are two or three types of each, for example, there are princess, basic and wrap top patterns, which you then adjust to whatever style you want. Initially I was very nervous of altering the patterns myself...but I soon realised what an absolute bargain this book is, rather than spending almost as much to get 1 dress pattern. Once you've cut out the patterns you wish to use, it's really quick as you can just snip through the same ones and make so many different styles. It's great to be able to make exactly the style of dress that I want and I definitely recommend it. The book also includes explanations of how to alter the patterns to fit your shape. As I've got more experience, I am using the patterns to make items beyond those suggested in the book. Have a few pattern books now, but I use this one all the time..the others have turned out to be a waste of money. I look for new books sometimes, but every one has items I can make so easily from this book. I'd almost say this is the only book you'll ever need to make dresses.

Since retiring I have rekindled my interest in dressmaking. I had seen this book before and have been too long deciding whether to get it or not. I have previously bought some other books like the great British sewing bee and others that are regarded in pattern making and alteration, but apart from the fact that I am having to do some tricky tracing off of the supplied master patterns, this book has put everything that I have read in other books straight into a much more straightforward and understandable, with a little effort, set of instructions. I am quite re-enthused to get creating. Wished I got this book first. The sewing bee books are really good because of the patterns and detailed instructions too, but this book is now my fave!

This is an amazing book - a must have for every beginner to intermediate sewer. First there are all the patterns and combinations but there is so much more. This book has several pages on dart manipulation that is clear and simply explained to help you move on to designing your own dresses. Also the pages on fit are useful because with the basic bodice pattern you essentially have a sloper to develop from. I have just spent a day redrawing darts and making a muslin that fits better than any bodice I have made up until now from other patterns. It isn't that the fit info can't be found elsewhere it's just that the fit and adjustment info here works perfectly to try out with the patterns in the book and that is what makes it so much more than a book of pretty dresses. But it is also a book filled with pretty dresses! I can't understand why this book doesn't have hundreds of rave reviews and featured on all the sewing blogs, it seems to have been under appreciated in my view.

I love dresses, and I love sewing. So this book is a match made in heaven for me. In chapter 1 the book goes through the essentials of tools, fabrics, using the patterns and assembling a dress. Also, facing versus lining. What they are and how to do them. The following chapters cover bodices, necklines and collars, sleeves, skirts, and finally fittings and alterations. In the book there are 35 examples, with detailed instructions. This should get you started. If you only want to make a skirt, you can do this too. Instructions for making a waistband are at the end of the chapter on skirts. All the patterns for all the dresses are printed onto 3 sheets, and are found in a pocket at the back of the book. These will need to be traced onto the pattern paper you wish to use. I think this is a great book. I don't think I'll ever need to buy another dress pattern again.

This is a great concept. You can mix and match bodices to skirts and vary necklines and sleeves. You don’t need to buy anymore dress patterns. I’m not sure it’s suitable for novices, unless you’ve got good sewing support, but if you have some experience, go for it!