Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing [Sewing Book Club]

If you aren’t a Gertie fan, aka Gretchen Hirsch, you will be after reading Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing.  I found Gretchen’s blog not that long ago and fell in love with her tongue-in-cheek writing, clear explanations on (to me) mysterious couture techniques, and retro aesthetics.  Plus, check out her awesome tattoos!  She’s inspiring to me as well: she started as a blogger sharing her sewing experiences and has expanded into offering classes online (her Bombshell class on Craftsy is great) as well as at The Sewing Studio in NYC, teaching on TV, a pattern line with Butterick, and now has her very own book out.  All of the above is why I chose her new book as the first book of the Sew Wrong Sewing Book Club.

To be honest, I wasn’t a big vintage sewing fan before I read this book.  Maybe it’s because I don’t want to look like I’m going to a costume party (went through that phase before) or that I find it too fiddly to size a found pattern up/down to get the right fit.  It’s not necessary, however, to have a love for vintage clothes to appreciate the wealth of info in this book. Everything is covered from the pretreating of fabric, how to properly true up fabric and layout pattern pieces, and different hand stitches for hemming and finishing seams.

Probably my favorite section of the book was Gretchen’s explanation of tailoring.  I had no idea so many stabalizers existed out there to give structure and body to a garment – I can say I definitely want to try using organza for, well, everything now!  Tailoring essentially is the practice of molding and shaping fabric to retain a shape, and stabilizers play a big part in it as well as hand stitching and using pressing aids.  After reading her overview of tailoring, I think I want to learn more and try my hand at it, and her tips also come in handy for her coat sew-along happening on her blog now.

Another section that’s helpful for home sewists is her in-depth section on patternmaking.  I haven’t seen an instructional sewing technique book yet that goes so into detail on altering necklines, dart manipulations, and slashing-and-spreading.  Usually that’s found in books on that particular topic, but Gretchen presents it as necessary skills for every stitcher.  Who doesn’t need to make adjustments or want to alter a design element on an existing pattern?  I was thrilled that she broke down patternmaking into simplified instructions; sometimes those pattern drafting text books can be really technical and difficult to understand.

She also touches on some couture techniques I want to try as well: picked zippers, different types of seam finishes (great for those of us who don’t have access to a serger), and bound buttonholes.  They’re small details that can be included on any garment to elevate it from Becky-Home-Ecky to chic and professional.

And best of all, Gretchen has patterns at the end of the book that allow the reader to practice all of the different techniques she covered in the previous sections.  They’re vintage inspired, but no so much that they look out of place today; they have a modern styling to them that makes them ok to wear to the office or out for dinner.  I’m adding the Tiki Dress and The Bow-Tied Blouse to my must-sew list

How did you like Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing?  What parts did you find helpful or useful?  Do you plan on sewing some of her patterns or have you made some already?

I’m also announcing October’s new book for the Sew Wrong Sewing Book Club: Couture Sewing Techniques, Revised and Updated by the fabulous Claire Shaeffer.  This time, in addition to reading the book, let’s try to use a couple techniques in our sewing projects for October.  You know, incorporating some sewing into our reading.

I look forward to reading your responses and hope you enjoyed the book this month!