Vintage Couture Tailoring Hardcover – June 8, 2012

This book is a must for anyone who wants to tailor beautiful garments. The directions are easy to understand, and the book is well illustrated.

UPDATE: I would love to see this book added to the Kindle MatchBook program. The book is great, but I'm hesitant to carry it around for fear of losing or banging it up.I've been taking sewing and tailoring classes and am working up to making clothing for myself. I bought this book when it came out because it looked great online and upon receiving it I went through it and was very impressed by the photos and detailed description of techniques. I agree with at least one reviewer that the typeface could better, but it is not "almost impossible to read," as one reviewer said.Last week, I did my first serious pad stitching exercise and didn't like the results. I was frustrated because some people were telling me that it was just a diagonal stitch. I knew that couldn't be the case because a regular diagonal stitch leaves a big thread bar on the underside and with a permanent pad stitch the thread is not supposed to be visible. I couldn't figure out how to maneuver the needle through layers of canvas and fabric to create the half-chevron shape without exposing a sizeable stitch underneath.I looked at all the tailoring books I own, including Roberto Cabrera's "Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear", Stanley Hostek's "Hand Stitches For The Fine Custom Tailored Garment", and "Tailoring: The Classic Guide for Sewing the Perfect Jacket." Only the last title gave me a partial answer. Then I looked at this book. It provided the most detailed instructions by far, including the best needle to use. There was also an interesting anecdote about a French woman who had taken a master tailoring exam in the 1930s, which illuminated the standard that could be reached for this technique. An hour later, I was doing much better. I was pleased that my initial instincts had been correct; but I needed the additional finesse provided by this book. Many books fail to include the small tricks that make all the difference.

Amazing book. I have a carefully cultivated library of sewing books and this made the cut, despite the high price.Intended audience: In short, this book covers the construction of a blazer-type garment. I would say that this book is targeted those who are experienced enough with sewing to attempt some meticulous, old-fashioned techniques, such as handmade buttonholes, pad stitching, and shaping with an iron. It is not the sort of book to discuss things like fusible interfacing or other modern shortcuts.Content: I've read this book from cover to cover a few times, and while I have not tried every technique mentioned in the book, the instructions seem to be extremely clear. I found that both the chapters and sections are well-organized and well-defined.Visuals: This book has numerous color photographs, but nearly every single one is clear and informative (though not very enlarged. If you have trouble with things like newsprint, these may be troublesome). It does not spend resources on dramatic or artistic photography.What this book does NOT do: This book does not give you step-by-step instructions on how to drape a blazer, but it will teach you to do things like getting a collar to sit as intended. Also, while the advice about scissors is generally good, I would like to add that someone with smaller or weaker hands would want to go on the smaller end of the recommendation, or a different model that is more lightweight, but still high quality. My palm is three inches across, so attempting to use 12" shears of the all-metal varieties illustrated would be like attempting to wield a pair of hedge clippers with one hand. Instead I use a pair of 9" (very sharp) professional shears that are made to be lightweight, with the metal extending through the handle for strength, but plastic for the grips for comfort and a lighter weight.

I choose five stars for the quality of the graphics and the clear explanation of every step to follow in the construction of a jacket. The jacket you see in the cover of the book is the one that is made step by step in almost all the pictures. I guess the author chose this particular reddish fabric to make it more visible. I particularly don't like the color and the style of that jacket, but that is not the point of course You can choose whatever pattern and fabric you may want.I have no complaints with the book, my only problem is that after knowing what is behind the construction of these wonderful garments, I feel that there is no point in spending all that time an energy constructing a garment that will finish in my closet with the no longer used clothes (but that's my opinion of course). I would love to have one of this Jackets in the 20's when eternal clothes were the thing. However I think it would be great for me to try to make one of these jackets just to have the experience and see how it resulted. Maybe I love it.If you are patient, like to use your hands and value fine garments or if you only want to know what is behind of the construction of vintage couture tailoring this book is for you.