23 June 2023

£49.99

BB Hardback With fold-out sheets of pattern templates

216x280 mm

9781782218913

9781782218913

160 pages

Search Press

Dressmaking: The Easy Guide

by Helen Rhiannon

Create bespoke garments that fit and flatter!

Awarded 'Best Sewing Book' at the Creative Book Awards, 2024.

In this comprehensive, informative book, Helen explains how to create beautiful, customized dresses for every shape and size. Choose the exact size that fits and flatters you from a bespoke sizing chart that takes into account differences in body size across bust, waist and hips. 

Trace off your pattern pieces, then create a sample (toile) in calico which you can then adapt to create the dress of your dreams, in your own choice of fabulous fabric. 

There are four style options each for sleeves and necklines, including a flared sleeve, a capped sleeve, a sweetheart neckline or a boatneck; and five skirt options, including a fitted pencil-style skirt, a zhuzhy circle skirt, and an A-line, with or without pleats. 

You can also choose to add a sweet, classic Peter Pan collar, or inseam pockets, to your garment. Alternatively, you can even create a skirt as a separate garment, simply by adding a waistband or facing.

The language of sewing and dressmaking is demystified at the beginning of the book, as well as the equipment you need to get started.

Nothing is left unexplained; and stunning images of the finished dresses, on a mannequin and on a model, are interspersed throughout the book to inspire your own finished pieces.

Extra copies of the full-size pattern sheets/pattern templates exclusive to Dressmaking: The Easy Guide by Helen Rhiannon are available here.

Book Contents

Introduction 6
Tools 10
Your sewing machine 14
Sewing know-how 18
Fabrics 24
Sewing language 32

GETTING STARTED

Sizing 40
Pattern cutting 48
Adjusting your blocks 52
Making your sample 60
Altering your sample 74

MAKING YOUR DRESS YOUR OWN

Adapting the pattern 92
Necklines 92
Sleeves 104
Skirts 122
Drafting a collar 136
Drafting pockets 139

Finishing your dress 142
Constructing your garment 142
Zip closures 146

Separates 154
Tops 154
Skirts: adding a waistband or facing 156

Taking it further 159

Index 160

Information
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