As someone just learning how to sew, this book is a great reference to have on your shelf. It's basically a picture tutorial of and I found it great to learn some of the basics and to have as a reference in the future.

I found the section regarding fabrics the most useful and since I haven't gotten to patterns, yet, I cannot review that portion but it seems helpful. ( )

I'm a self taught sewist, always looking to improve on my skills and discover new ideas and techniques. I was quite excited to explore the 400 pages of The Sewing Book - "more than 300 step by step techniques. Tools. Fabric. How to Use Patterns. Projects for the Home and to Wear." I happily turned the first page....
DK books excel at presenting information and ideas. The Sewing Bible was no exception. The images presented are full colour photographs. They are crisp, clean images that let you see easily see the details, such as the thickness of different threads and the different types of fabrics. The accompanying information is clear and concise. The layout makes it easy to read.

I sewed a lot of my children's clothes when they were young using commercial patterns. I've never attempted to create or alter patterns for myself, which is something I'd like to try. The section covering this was excellent.

The actual sewing process is detailed as well - stitches. There was a great little pattern for a simple tote bag at the end of this chapter to practice (I have lots of scraps I could use up here!) Subsequent chapters deal with the different techniques of sewing clothes. Again, excellent directions and accompanying photographs. (I preferred these over drawn illustrations.) There are more small projects to practice more skills such as zippers, linings, buttons and more. A small unit on mending was also included. Patterns and an index complete the book.

The Sewing Book is an excellent resource for both novice and experienced sewists. And it's the quality of information and product that I've come to expect and appreciate from DK. ( )

Encyclopedic, easy to read, wonderful photographs, this is my idea of a perfect sewing book.

DK always uses high-quality photographs, and has sensible sized fonts. I have been looking around for an all-in-one sewing help book, and I have decided that this is the one for me.

It is large, like most DK books, and very heavy, but I think I will put it next to my sewing table, and can imagine referring to it repeatedly. And, as a complete novice to sewing with a machine, it is worth the 36USD to me.
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Great reference book! This book covers everything! It starts out with the basic supplies one would need for sewing and moves along to fabrics, patterns, stitches, and techniques. The last section provides many projects that use the techniques described in the book. I particularly like that each technique and project has the difficulty level listed. This is nice for a beginner since it isn't always easy to tell when a project is particularly difficult. ( )