It’s no secret that I love sewing books. We have a pretty good collection of them here at the sewing studio and I have my own private collection at home.
The first commercially available sewing patterns were made in the 1800’s! For Centuries sewing has been shared through text. As a sewing instructor and enthusiast I really appreciate when a lot of care goes into sharing the knowledge of sewing.
Of course learning first hand from someone else is always the most straightforward way to go but in a pinch there are some great books to learn new skills from.
*Just a disclaimer, I linked most of these books through my favorite local bookstore because I feel it is important to support local but you could totally try to find these from your local bookstore as well!*
Pattern drafting
The book we probably use the most at the studio here is Helen Joseph Armstrong’s Pattern making book. If pattern making interests you this is basically the universally used book in all fashion design schools. It has everything from how to draft a basic pattern block to how to alter that pattern to be any style or silhouette. It can be kind of a dense read so if you’re new to sewing I wouldn’t suggest this to you. But if you’re interested in pattern drafting and are ready for a in depth look at patterns, this is the book for you. *Please note this is the most expensive book on this list*
Curious about pattern drafting or need a little extra help? We offer pattern drafting workshops & private lessons!
Kids sewing
Of course most of our clientele is kids here at the sewing studio! So if you are on the hunt for the best book for kids to learn more about sewing I would suggest Choly Knights ‘Sewing basics’. It is one of the few books we offer for sale here and for a good reason. Choly Knight is well know to produce a ton of great plushy sewing tutorials for free on her own blog and she always puts a lot of care into her descriptions and images. This book has everything from simple techniques, to trouble shooting sewing problems, to simple sewing tutorials! It would make a great gift for any young seamstress.
Essential sewing basics
The two essential books I recommend for all sewists are ‘the sewing book’ by Allison smith and ‘Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing’ . Between these two books they will be great references for all basic sewing skills. From seam finishes to darts and zippers they cover it all and have great illustrations and images to support each step. I own both of these and we have copies here at our sewing library. I often pull these books out when anyone has a specific sewing question they ask me to give great examples of what I’m talking about!
Unique sewing books
If you’re interested in historical fashion, Janet Arnolds series of books called ‘patterns of fashion’ are intriguing reads. She provides photos of actual historical garments, x rays of the garments, and scale size pattern drafting instructions to make your very own reproductions. I own 3-6 but will eventually purchase all of them I am sure. Please note that you can only buy these directly from the School of Historical Dress so don’t accidently get scammed!
Honourable mentions!
Laurie stands by and Loves Pattern Making By Dennic Chunman Lo and we have this book in our studio library, she thinks it is a more straightforward method of pattern drafting blocks!
I have tons of funky little books so if you’re curious what my favourite random thrift store finds have been: Ann Pearson has a series of sewing books that (I believe) are from the 70’s and I pick these up whenever I find them because they have some beautiful illustrations. My favorite of hers so far is the lingerie book!
I have tons of other kitchy books and sewing/ pattern drafting reference books so I encourage you to peruse thrift shops & second hand book stores and flip through the pages! It takes so much effort to convey sewing through text and you can tell the authors put in a lot of care to their craft. If you’re looking to build your own personal sewing library we sell a few sewing books in person and online!
