Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing: A Modern Guide to Couture-Style Sewing Using Basic Vintage Techniques (Gertie's Sewing)

First of all, kudos to Amazon's excellent shipping. This book is supposed to come out on September 1st and I got it today on August 23rd. Brilliant.Second of all, this book is everything I've ever wanted as an eager seamstress eager to learn and aching for a vintage wardrobe. The book comes with ten patterns and several different instructions for variations on the patterns resulting in 23 different garments you can make from this book. You really can make yourself a pretty complete wardrobe from this book if these clothes are your cup of tea, and since this book matches my personal style so accurately, I plan on making a ton of professional clothes for myself using Gertie's excellent patterns.The instruction in this book is top notch. I don't know how informative it will be to an advanced seamstress, but to me, an advanced beginner, I'm learning tons from it. Gertie's instructions are clear, well-written, and well-photographed. In addition to the sewing techniques in the book, Gertie also shows you how to make garments based off of vintage patterns (which can be tricky to fit) and how to modify both vintage and modern patterns to better fit yourself. She also shows you how to start drafting your own patterns. It's nothing too advanced, but to someone like me, an aspiring fashion designer just starting to dip my toes into pattern making, I feel like Gertie provides a good starting point.Anyway, regardless of your sewing ability, I feel like the book is well worth the buy for the patterns it contains. The designs are gorgeous classics based off of the garments in the 1952 book, Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing (the book Gertie started her blog for), and will never go out of style. They range from easy (starting with a pencil skirt) to hard (ending with a coat dress) and there are little tidbits in the instructions that tell you what you could do to make the design more of the challenge (like adding boning to the pencil skirt waistband instead of using interfacing).Overall, this book is fabulosity in print form. I know for a fact that I am going to be oodles better as a seamstress once I finish reading and sewing my way through this book. Bravo, Gertie!

I enjoyed the book a lot. I'm an avid garment sewer, and I do blog Gertie's blog. I bought the book to help me work out a project, and it was a great reference for me. I also enjoy some of the unusual lines in her patterns. Overall, it had a lot of good information, but it could use a little improvement.The good:1. The design of the book is great! It has a spiral binding so that the book will stay open on a page and cover kind of covers the binding to help protect it. The colors, sketches, and overall design of the book is very attractive.2. The patterns are very nice retro designs and I like that she walks you through making variations from them. As a sewing blogger, I get a lot of questions about finding a pattern for a specific garment they want to make; people don't realize that they can easily change a neckline on a pattern and frankenstein patterns together to get the result they're looking for. It's also just good for someone learning to sew.3. I enjoy the little personal segments and tidbits. It was nice to see discussion of proper undergarments. The sewing info provided is also nice.4. Some of the patterns have interesting lines and are drafted in a way most modern patterns are not. You'd only find these lines in retro patterns, so I'm interested in trying them. The patterns are worth the price of the book.The bad:1. It covers a lot of beginner information, but much of the book is worded in a way that only someone more advanced could understand it. It just seems a little confused.2. It says the patterns have a 5/8" seam allowance but when I measure them out, and even sew them up, they don't appear to have any seam allowance. The instructions are also kind of vague, and someone without experience with sewing and patterns will likely find them hard to follow. The patterns are also laid out in a way which conserves paper and makes sense to preserve the patterns, but can be very overwhelming and confusing to beginning sewers.3. & minor quibble: ink transfer and blur from the printing of the book. Also, a lot of the photos of the garments made up appear to have fit or construction issues. I somewhat enjoyed this since it makes me feel like something doesn't have to be perfect to be worth wearing and sharing. Seeing another sewing bloggers relaxed attitude towards her sewing is what helped get me into sewing in the first place. That said, it is a book teaching people to sew.

This book is an excellent overview of how to sew vintage-style, with some haute-couture techniques too. I wouldn't recommend it for the absolute beginner, as it can go into quite some depth at some points. However, I'm very glad I made this purchase. Thank you for all your hard work and research, Gertie :)

I was pleased with this book. I have not yet had time to make anything from it but the instructions seem clear and there are a good many patterns covering a number of well photographed vintage styles, so it makes it good value for money. Fortunately I have had lessons in pattern cutting so grasped the general idea of using a "base" pattern to recut all the other pattern styles from, although sewers who have made garments exclusively from commercial patterns may possibly find this a little tricky at first but do not let this put you off. Overall a good addition to my growing sewing and craft library.

Beautiful book. Including patterns for beginners. I bought it for myself at Christmas, been given money and this was a real treat which I wouldn't normally do. If you buy this as a gift they will be delighted with it.

I absolutely adore this book. I only recently discovered Gertie's blog and have spent far too many hours reading it. So I had to get the book. It did not disappoint. I have tried quite a lot of sewing books and generally find them basic and uninspiring. This book is completely different. I considered myself an experienced dress maker, but in this book, I found so many new ideas and techniques to try out. So far, I have made the portrait blouse and the pencil skirt, but I intend to make everything in the future. Hand picking a zip had never even occurred to me before (that's what machines are for, right?) but there is something so satisfying about doing it by hand. So far the patterns have fit me very well, which is remarkable as I tend to be a bit of a fitting nightmare. The layout of the book is lovely, with stunning illustrations and photos (although, like other reviewers, I did notice some unpressed hem issues...). Gertie's style of writing is informal, but extremely informative. And a ring-bound book has proved a godsend when you are in the middle of a project. I would say that to use this book, you would need to have some basic dressmaking skills, but it does cater for a range of sewing levels, with some straight forward designs to some more complex tailoring projects. Gertie is bringing out a new book next year, and I for one cannot wait for it's release.

I really looked forward to getting this book. It came and had no patterns in it. Managed to get some money back, but wasn’t happy with the answer as to what happened with the patterns that should have been at the front of the book. Apart from the hiccup the book is good.