The Handsewn Wardrobe A Complete Guide to Making Your Own Clothes from Patternmaking to the Finishing Stitches

by Sonstroem, Louisa Owen

• ISBN13: 9781635866261
• ISBN10: 163586626X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781635866278
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-08-05
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
• More Book Details

Summary

Discover the slow, quiet joy of sewing clothes by hand in this one-of-kind guide. 

Featuring step-by-step, illustrated instructions, this hand-sewing course-in-a-book shows you how to create nine wardrobe staples, including a t-shirt, button-up, and jeans, using simple hand-sewing and hand-stitching techniques. Author Louisa Owen Sonstroem shares her sustainable, empowering, and portable craft with gentle encouragement and guidance. Sewists of all experience levels will learn how to: 

   ·Draft a pattern to fit custom measurements. 
   ·Select and cut fabric.
   ·Construct each garment without using a sewing machine. 

Author Biography

Louisa Owen Sonstroem is a maker, illustrator, educator, and technical designer. She studied design and patternmaking at Fashion Institute of Technology and pattern drafting at RISD and MassArt. She has worked in the garment industry as a technical designer at Macy's and Eileen Fisher. She teaches hand sewing and patternmaking classes and is the founder of Patternmaking in Public Places (PIPP), a project seeking to democratize access to patternmaking skills. She is the author of the self-published book, Hand Sewing Clothing: A Guide.

Table of Contents

The Joy of Sewing by Hand

The Basics
Patternmaking
    Why Build Your Own Pattern?
    Getting Started
    Drafting Your Pattern
Hand Sewing
    Why Sew by Hand?
    Tools and Materials
    Suitable Fabrics
    Preparing to Sew
    The Stitches
    Understanding Fabric (and Cutting It)

The Clothes
Woven Boxy Top
Leggings
Gathered Skirt
T-Shirt
Hoodie
Undies
Woven Button-Up Shirt
Jean Jacket
Jeans

Resources
Further Reading
Featured Makers
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Index