Simply Sewn: Clothes for Every Season
By Michiyo Ito
Interweave/F+W; $24.99
I love the look of simple, easy clothing and when I opened up Simply Sewn by Michiyo Ito, I was immediately connected to her easy going style. The book contains 31 patterns ranging from shirts to dresses to outerwear, skirts and pants. (At the time I wrote this, the link above has the book on sale for $19.07, bonus!)
The book begins with beautiful photography of each piece of clothing and then moves on to the basics for sewing clothing, including how to prewash your fabric, prep your pattern and cut your fabric.
I have yet to make any of the pieces from the book, however, the gingham button down on the cover is at the top of my list. Each pattern has individual instruction for laying out the pattern and sewing instruction, complete with either detail photos or beautifully clear diagrams.
Three pattern sheets are included in an envelope in the back of the book, with all the patterns ready for tracing. Amidst the many pros of this book, the only con I found is tucked inside the book on page 45, which is that the seam allowances are not included in the pattern pieces. So although the patterns seem simple, there is a bit of fussiness added on the front end by having to add your own seam allowances. That's not a deal breaker for me though, especially when I look at pieces like this.
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By Michiyo Ito
Interweave/F+W; $24.99
If I had children, Stitch, Wear, Play would be dog-eared and worn out. This book contains 20 simple and oh so charming patterns for boys and girls.
The book is divided into Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter collections with instruction for each pattern then moves on to sewing techniques you will need to know for the patterns in the book such as binding an armhole, making box pleats and how to make a patch pocket.
The instructions are well illustrated and seem simple enough and I love that any special sewing techniques needed for a pattern are referenced in the instructions along with the page number to find illustrations and text with step by step instructions for each technique. The pattern instruction is logical and seems very easy to use.
The pattern sheets are located in a pocket in the front of the book, which you will need to trace.
The patterns are sized by measurements, not age, which I think is very helpful. The patterns include seam allowances and each pattern instruction advises the seam allowance that needs to be used.
This looks like a great book!
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One last thing! You won't want to miss this sale that FabricCadabra is having on all Cotton+Steel fabric! I think a lot of the patterns in Simply Sewn and Stitch, Wear, Play would look great in these fabrics!