The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book by Sharon Rosenberg

The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book Reviews

• 
  Alessandra

  This is an awful book. (I have the 1971 edition, and can't speak for later editions) It gives simple, almost nonexistent instructions. The illustrations are crude and cartoony and do nothing to help you grasp how to do things. If you already know everything about how to sew, this book may help you make shapeless, flat, difficult-to-move in hippie clothes. If you don't know how to sew this book will be a huge frustration.
  
  I swear, it's like Monty Python's sketch about "How to Play the Flute" when they say "Well you blow in one end and move your fingers up and down the outside."
  
  How to use a sewing machine? "Have someone show you how."
  
  Do you know what a dart is? You won't find out here: "If you want to make darts, you can figure out easily enough how to add them to the tops." If you do already know what a dart is, you don't need this advice. If you don't, you're lost.
  
  Do you know what tacking is? They'll tell you to do that, too, repeatedly, without ever once saying what it means.
  
  How do you make shaped, set-in sleeves? Buy a commercial pattern and use that. Um, thanks.
  
  The authors spend half a page on embroidery, and half of that is bragging about their skills. The instruction part in its entirety is: "Embroidery is so easy, you can probably do it with just an idea of what stitches are available and with a few pictures as hints."
  
  That's it. The rest of the quarter page of embroidery instruction is that you can do things like cover spaghetti stains, fix rips, and sleep better (seriously).
  
  At least they give a few pages of handsewing instructions. But after that the clothing instructions are opaque, quick, and short. Page after page of the scribbly, sketchy drawings tell you to "add" a ruffle or a tassel with no further explanation of how, or to "hem" something (Have you ever tried to hem anything? It is a tricky and subtle art.). Their "bikini" pattern includes a bottom piece shaped like a rectangle with two scoops out of its sides, drawn to look plausibly bikini-shaped when made up, even though it would actually turn into an awkward, uncomfortable shape -- oh, and they never talk about how to properly sew the "bikini material" they tell you to use, even though stretch fabrics are very tricky.
  
  Look, this book is just unnecessary. It reads like a hint book for experienced sewers written in careless shorthand. But an experienced sewer already knows and understands all this stuff, probably better than it is presented here. Not enough care was taken to make the instructions or illustrations comprehensible, or comprehensive, or helpful. It is a chatty book, using a lot of hippie patois, but it is not friendly in the deep way an introductory book to a craft ought to be.
  
  It's not a book, it's somebody's notes for a book.
• 
  G.K. Bledsoe

  I pulled this out and The Son of Hassle Free Sewing to do some, well, yes, sewing. Anyone who sews knows how the price of both patterns and fabric has skyrocketed, while at the same time it's harder and harder to find good sewing fabric that's not quilt fabric. Is this all people sew any more? Quilts? But knowing how to make your own patterns, starting with clothes that you like, that fit, and that you want to copy, that at least will save you $10-$20 on a pattern, which is already more than the price of this book, used. The instructions do assume some competency with a sewing machine and some knowledge of garment construction. This was written, after all, at the end of the 60s, when girls couldn't get through Jr. High and High School without the usual Home Ec courses. But this isn't 60s Home Ec sewing. This isn't the usual demure patterns from Butterick or even Vogue. This is subversive hippy sewing. Make your own patterns. Repurpose fabric from other garments. Remake what you have with embellishments. This was a time when the counter-culture folks really did wear jewel-toned velour pants and velvet coats, granny dresses, capes and cloaks, and all sorts of vests and such.
  
  But hey, if that's a bit much for you, look up the same title on Amazon. The author has a version that was updated in 2008, and you can get it as a free Kindle download. As subversive as ever, Ms. Rosenberg is.
• 
  Daryth

  Amazing, almost more of a self help book. Already made a shirt and am wearing it now.
• 
  Selkie

  Don't let the cover fool you,as it certainly doesn't do justice to the possibilities of what you can make with this book. It actually has some great ideas in it for making your own clothes, or doing alterations on your current wardrobe to update it. It also has instructions on making your own scarves, pouches, pillows, and more.
  I only wish that it had actual photographs instead of just drawings inside, especially when showing the finished product.