High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers : A Step-By-Step Guide to Sewing Stylish Seams

by: Claire B. Shaeffer

Topics include: stiletto tracing wheel, mark the lengthwise grain, lingerie guards, skirt front pattern, pocket underlay, new dart line, prepare the muslin, chiffon hem, fly placket, front facing pattern, yoke seamline, design studio secret, interfacing side, garment wrong side, armscye seam, ditch stitch, yoke pattern, flounce collar, bias facing, stitch the shoulder seams, strap seams, new seamline, neckline facings, garment sections, new cutting line

Book Description:

Book Description -- Internationally known sewing expert Claire Schaeffer reveals the secrets of high-fashion legends such as Geoffrey Beene, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Claiborne, and Calvin Klein. Claire's illustrated, step-by-step instructions let you duplicate the design details made famous in expensive ready-to-wear. Plus, Claire's timesaving patternmaking and copying methods can be used to create one-of-a-kind, original garments. Only a few simple tools and patternmaking skills are needed to copy your favorite garments. From the Back Cover -- "A surefire bible for any sewer who yearns to copy the high-priced couture garments seen at retail."--Victor Costa, Fashion Designer "Serious sewing students have always looked to Claire Schaeffer's inside view of the industry as the link between ordinary home sewing and real professionalism. This book contains the information and techniques that we have been yearning for, asking for, and needing to evaluate the quality of our work."--Linda Lee, Owner of The Sewing Workshop, San Francisco, California Internationally known sewing expert Claire Schaeffer reveals the secrets of high-fashion legends such as Geoffrey Beene, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Claiborne, and Calvin Klein. Claire's illustrated, step-by-step instructions let you duplicate the design details made famous in expensive ready-to-wear. Plus, Claire's timesaving patternmaking and copying methods can be used to create one-of-a-kind, original garments. Only a few simple tools and patternmaking skills are needed to copy your favorite garments. Claire Schaeffer has studied in the high-fashion workrooms of New York and Europe and is known for her easy-to-follow and innovative sewing techniques. She has authored more than a dozen books, including Couture Sewing Techniques and Claire Schaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide. About the Author: Claire Schaeffer has studied in the high-fashion workrooms of New York and Europe and is known for her easy-to-follow and innovative sewing techniques. She has authored more than a dozen books, including Couture Sewing Techniques and Claire Schaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide.

Editorial Reviews Amazon.com -- If you want your notched collars to lie smoothly like Ellen Tracy's, your pants zippers to be as invisibly fused with the inseam pocket as Giorgio Armani's, and your topstitched facings to have the impeccable look of Chanel, this is the book to have. Home sewers need and want exactly the kind of painstaking construction tips that Claire B. Shaeffer provides. She not only tells you how to add designer details such as those mentioned above, but also how to copy any garment, alter a sleeve, change seams to darts or folds (or vice versa), and make a basic pattern. This is one of the best intermediate sewing guides on the market.

Transformed me from a beginner to a confident sewer -- I bought this book about 6 months ago and read it from cover to cover. I was fascinated, but I didn't want to write a review until I had actually tried some of the techniques. Well, I've done the piped pockets, the bias cvered seams, and I'm working on the flounce collar (which happens to be fashionable again), and they look pretty good!! But worth all the money, are the pages on manipulating patterns. With commercial patterns costing well over $10 today, this book enables you to play with what is already in your collection. Before this, I was a slave to the pattern companies, but now, I know how to make what I want. I eliminated a waist seam on a jumper for my daughter, and created an unusual skirt by combining two patterns. My confidence in my ability to construct a garment, and have it look professional, has increased mani-fold. The best sewing book around for intermediate ++ sewers -- I have been sewing all of my life, and have studied under some of the most qualified teachers, but this book goes further than any other in its context and pictures. Claire shows some of the many techniques High Couture achieves its name. A must for any serious sewer, especially one who wants a beautiful finish as well as fit in her/his garments. It is a very technical book, which might be a bit frustrating for a beginner, but it will definitely inspire everyone. It has replaced my old Vogue sewing book of the early 60's. Bobbie Carr's book is also excellent, but this one is much more inclusive in its techniques. I think it is a must.

Reviews:

Glad I bought it -- This book has been very helpful in my struggle to break out of beginning sewing. It helps the reader construct garments on a much more professional level. And it helps you to alter existing patterns to create your own design ideas as well as make your own patterns from scratch. I don't know if this would be really useful for someone who is very advanced in his or her sewing skills, but for someone like me it's a huge eye opener and a great introduction to pattern drafting. Expected alot more than received -- being a fasion student in America I look for any resource that I can find pertaining to real Haute Couture, but this book was a real disappointment. It basically has everything that I've already learned expect for the roses thats a pretty good idea. But for home sewers its absolutely PERFECT! Home sewers will really get alot of experence from this book. Hidden bonus: pattermaking basics and garment copying -- The gimmick of the first two-thirds of this book is that the author shows various designer ready-to-wear garments with an interesting construction method or detail, and then she shows you, step-by-step and in detail, how to reproduce it. Where there is a trick or shortcut that reduces the time to do something without lowering the quality she uses it, but on the other hand she includes many labor-intensive methods where the quality would be improved by such methods. She covers facings, hem, pockets, trims, fasteners, and more. The book is not so comprehensive in the number of things it covers that it could replace a reference-style book, but where it covers something, it does so in detail (an you need to read closely sometimes). The illustrations are excellent--way above average for a sewing book. The really interesting thing about this book is the last third on patternmaking basics. She covers the three basic ways to copy a garment (measuring, tracing, and rub-off), and tells you how to check your copied pattern pieces against each other, how to true them, etc. She then goes into pattern modification techniques. I managed to copy a Land's End buttondown shirt with a certain amount of success following her instructions.

Modesto Reviewer -- Anyone serious about sewing garments that look expensive should get this book. Lots of pictures and instruction that is very helpful in constructing top notch garments. A must have book for any sewing buff. A Must Have like all of Claire's other books -- All sewing books I buy should be able to teach me at least 1 new-to-me technique before I rate them. This one is a winner. Worth its weight in gold for the information you get.'I rate myself an intermediate sewist with patternmaking skills. It is a must for intermediate and advanced sewing enthuasiasts and if you are a beginner then you will need this book to inspire and guide you to becoming an advanced sewist. My friend's daughter wanted a dress made with a cowl neckline. I had never made this style before and had no idea how to. I drafted the pattern, fitted the muslin, corrected the pattern and was raring to sew! I went through all of my sewing books looking for information on sewing cowls. I have just about all sewing books....Claire's book not only showed me how to sew this but also how to "stay" the cowl. It was the best piece of information ever. The neckline was perfect and I could see without the "stay" how the neckline kept misbehaving! Another bit of information was on lining a wrap skirt....cutting the back lining on the cross grain....wonderful information. How would I ever have the know-how without the experience? Claire's books are winners.

Designer Details Unveiled -- As an experienced seamstress, I find this book to be very useful. It is a frequently used resource for those beautiful details sighted in some of the better RTW and designer lines. I now know how to make a professional looking inseam pocket with an invisible zipper located in the seam. And it looks great! The many pictures were very clearly illustrated, and the book is full of full-color photographs. I am a visual learner and without those pictures, I'd be lost. Throughout the book, there are details and tips from such well known designers as Liz Clairborne, Coco Chanel, Geoffrey Beene, Galanos, and one of my favorites in casual wear - Calvin Klein. Each designer detail includes a description, a listing of tools & necessary supplies, many detailed pictures with step-by-step instructions, tips and hints along the way to help make the detail perfect, and finishing touches to make it look professional. I've constructed perfectly flat topstitched hems on my stretchy jersey knits, flawless bias-binding necklines, and learned the secrets of making my zippers look great. My favorite section includes fancy details like piped pockets, windowpane pockets, and bound buttonholes. I can definitely say that using this book has helped my work look ten times more professional. My only qualm about this book was the section on patternmaking. This is not the book to buy if you want to learn how to draft patterns. There is basic information on the subject, but you will be left wanting for much more. It is a helpful section to look through before playing around to make changes to your own ready-made patterns as you'll gain some knowledge on how patterns are made, but there is so much more to know before you can draft your own. I hope Claire Shaeffer comes out with another book as beautiful as this with MORE designer details. It is an extremely useful book in my library.

Great, but NOT for beginners -- This is NOT a book for beginners--you must know what you're doing before attempting some of these things. You at least have to know basics and have some experience first. But when you get the experience, you will like this book! I used this book to trim a rather blah-looking two piece light blue suit, consisting of a skirt and short-sleeved, princess seamed top that comes down to the hipline. (One of those "See and Sew" patterns for $1.97.) The cut was great, the style looked great--on paper. I don't know what it was, but despite my best hopes and efforts to pick the right fabric, it just didn't look good. I wore it twice but still didn't like it. (Everybody else did--go figure.) Flipped through this book, and decided to give the Chanel-style trim a try. If I ruined it, so what? Worked like a charm. Okay, my stitches aren't perfect, but it looks infinitely better than it did before. I also tried that YSL trick of edgestitching the binding after topstitching it down--WOW. I may try a black suit with white trim next time. THAT will be great. I have tried, but unsuccessfully, the slanted welt pockets for skirts and pants from Calvin Klein. Guess I'm just a math dummy--I couldn't make it work for anything! Next up: try to duplicate that Christian Doir top that's done up in orange. I guess if I'd actually READ the book instead of flipping through it like a reference book I'd get more use out of it!