If there’s anything more fun then sewing an exciting new project, it’s reading about sewing: discovering exciting new techniques, methods, and patterns that you can use next time you sit down at the sewing table. Here we’ll look at a few of the best sewing books for beginners—books that you don’t need any special expertise to understand, but which can actually ‘make you an expert’ as you read them.
Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp—there’s a reason this book has rave reviews; it brings all that sewing knowledge you wish you had straight to you in an easy to understand, easy to digest way. This book is written in a colloquial style and, if you are part of the older generation, may not be your cup of tea; but if you enjoy reading informal, chatty texts rather than stiff careful writing you are almost certain to love it. This book assumes you know nothing whatsoever, and at the same time is so chock full of information that even an intermediate sewer can benefit from it.
The photography is good, and the explanations are clear. There’s a project here for everyone: simple, functional projects that illustrate the concepts Diana is teaching you. And as an added bonus, it is spiral bound: that means it’ll lie flat on your sewing table while you’re cutting, basting, or figuring out how to sew a pattern. This book is our number 1 recommendation for a beginner’s sewing book, and the only possible caveat has to do with your preferences regarding the informal, modern style.
Sewing 101: Master Basic Skills and Techniques Easily through Step-by-Step Instruction is a more traditional introduction to sewing. This book is also spiral bound, and printed in convenient size. The 224 well-illustrated pages are packed full of comprehensive information, and there’s a DVD included as well, which illustrates some of the concepts taught in the book through video. This is a good all-round resource for a beginner’s sewing library, and when you’ve gone through all the projects you can consider yourself to have graduated from Sewing 101.
Another guide that has perhaps just a bit more charisma than Sewing 101 is 1, 2, 3 Sew: Build Your Skills with 33 Simple Sewing Projects by Ellen Luckett Baker. Ellen assumes you’ve never sewed anything before, and teaches the secrets of the trade through a series of fun projects that fit in a carefully-though out progression. You’ll appreciate the way you can start sewing right away; but there are other projects that will push you to your limits after you’ve mastered a technique.
Following along with the beautiful patterns in this book you will certainly learn how to sew, but it is more of a companion volume than a primary resource: consider buying it as the second (or third) member of your library, along with Sewing 101 or the Sew Everything Workshop to use as reference books.
There you have it—three wonderful sewing books that will make the perfect start to your sewing library. Find a cozy corner somewhere, curl up with one of these, and let your imagination start working!