Product Details
Kids' Clothes Sew Easy: Easy to Sew T-Shirts, Tracksuits, Leggings, Trousers, Shorts, Dungarees, Anoraks, Skirts and Dresses

Kids' Clothes Sew Easy: Easy to Sew T-Shirts, Tracksuits, Leggings, Trousers, Shorts, Dungarees, Anoraks, Skirts and Dresses
By Rene Bergh

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Product Description

Sew stylish, fun clothes for your children, even if you're a beginner. Full-color photographs will inspire you to create fantastic garments for kids between the ages of three and twelve. Comprehensive information on tools and materials lets you make sure you have everything needed, and pattern-making instructions will get you on your way. Guidance is given on taking accurate measurements for proper sizing, and plenty of tips are included to embellish the clothes to keep up with the latest fashion trends. Emphasizing simplicity, the patterns feature basic, comfortable clothes, such as T-shirts, shorts, jeans, skirts, pants, and dresses. Change fabrics, colors, and trimmings for endless variety. Whether you're a parent trying to stretch the family's budget, or an avid seamstress who enjoys sewing for friends and family, you'll find plenty here to help you create wardrobes of wonderful clothing.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1112889 in Books
  • Published on: 2003-09-28
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 112 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Forget those memories of difficult assignments in home ec--today's sewing books concentrate on easy-to-do projects that require fewer than 24 hours of stitching. Sewing expert Bergh assumes her readers have some basic knowledge of both the craft and the machine. She also assumes that manufacturing simple but trendy kids' clothes--on the cheap--is the end goal. So, instead of relying on commercial patterns, she creates five building blocks--bodice, sleeve, skirt, dress, trouser--that become the foundation of eight different outfits. Each has the same content: pattern, measurements, fabric suggestions, step-by-step sewing directions, and embellishments. Though the process she outlines is relatively easy, the difference between a professional and an amateurish tracksuit will be determined by patience and know-how. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Rene Bergh is a highly skilled dress designer with a broad range of experience in the fashion industry. She spent many years travelling extensively around the world to increase her knowledge of the trade. She is the author of the very successful Make Your Own Patterns, The Dressmaker's Handbook and Classic Clothes, also published by New Holland. She is currently designing patterns for exclusive fashion houses, working from her seaside studio in Capetown, South Africa.

Customer Reviews

Great potential, big letdown!3
I was so excited to find a new book about sewing children's clothes, since most books were written in the 1970's and 1980's.
Basically, this is a book about pattern making for children's basics. The problem is you need to have a good deal of sewing knowledge before tackling this. Descriptions of the idividual sewing projects are very brief. There are nice color pictures though. The embellishing ideas are listed very briefly with no directions. There was so much potential here if there would have been more instruction of sewing details, variations and embellishments.

Very fun and creative5
The reason I loved this book is that you can make clothes for your kids without buying lots and lots of expensive (and, frankly, confusing) patterns. I felt so creative deciding how I wanted to make things, instead of relying on the pattern makers. This is a book on how to make patterns, it doesn't teach you how to sew.

Good all-purpose resource for home sewers4
I got this book after struggling to find clothing to fit my stringbean of a daughter. With it, I was able to create clothing (dresses, shirts, pants, etc.) that beautifully fit her size 2T circumference and 4/5T height. I highly recommend it if you want to sew for kids who are smaller/larger than the standard pattern measurements, without spending all your time altering and re-drafting commercial patterns.

There are a couple places where the instructions didn't make perfect sense the first time I read (and worked through) them, and I *think* I found an error in the drafting instructions for one of the pattern blocks (can't recall exactly what it was, but it was pretty obvious what I should do in any event).

One previous reviewer commented on the lack of detail in the sewing instructions. I agree, the instructions are pretty sparse, and assume a you have some sewing experience/knowledge. However, the focus of the book is on *pattern drafting*, not sewing. If you find yourself really stumped, I'd suggest picking up a commercial sewing pattern (McCall's/Simplicity/etc.) for a similar style garment. Jo-Ann's or Hancock Fabrics have them on sale for $1.99 at various times during the year. It doesn't even have to be a kid's size, just a similar style so you can use the instruction sheet as a reference. Problem solved!

With my daughter turning four this month, I anticipate I will be getting a LOT of use out of this purchase over the next several years. (Already she is asking if she can "help" me design some new clothes - I can't wait to teach her how to sew and design for herself.)