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A Good Garment Design Book

Design It, Sew It, and Wear It: Clothes from Patterns You Make Yourself   Yesterday one of my kids picked up a book I had reserved at the library, it was Duane Bradley's Design It, Sew It, and Wear It: . I see, from looking at Amazon that a new edition was put out in 1993, but I got the 1979 edition.

This is the cover from the 1993 edition. All in all, not a bad book for getting started making clothing sans pattern. On the minus side, the clothing is not fabulous, but rather utilitarian. Actually, that may not be a minus at all.  Not everyone wants to dress like a Wiccan.The book progresses from easy garments made only from rectangles to more complex garments with darts. the directions are good and easy to understand.

I'm realizing that I sound a bit lukewarm  here, but I realize that it is mostly, because I wish I had Part 2 of this book, with garments a bit more complicated. With a bit of fishing at Amazon, you can get this book for very little, especially if you look for the older edition.

I also realize that the garments made are the kind of shirt dresses and a-line skirts that were the look of the late 1970's. Not my favorite era. But made up in nifty fabrics, I think that the clothes will look very au courant.

More importantly, if you wanted to learn how to make clothing without a pattern this is a great start. Many pattern drafting books make the process seem far more difficult than it needs to be.  It really isn't rocket science.
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  1. SuzanneAugust 6, 2010 at 7:51 PM

    I have a copy of this book and a previous book of the author's, Sew It and Wear It from 1966, that I picked up a few years back. You've inspired me to get them out again. The author did a good job explaining things and making them sound simple. It really is a pity there isn't a Part 2.

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