COUTURE TAILORING

chapter 1; preparation, professional equipment (no recommendations on brands or sources) and pressing equipment 8 pps. chapter 2; planning the jacket, styles, fabric & support materials 13 pps. chapter 3; essential skills, hand stitches, seams, darts, hems & pressing 39 pps. chapter 4 design details, button & button hole placement, buttonhole types, thread and fabric buttonholes, double buttonholes, finishing facings, inseam buttonholes, button loops, tailored pockets, flaps, applied & set in pockets, double welt pockets & inseam pockets 59pps. part two chapt. 5; construction sequence, pattern, cutting and marking, matching fabric patterns, inner structure, shaping fabric, building the foundation (layers if interfacing), basting in front canvas, basting for try on, & first fitting 28pps. chapter 6; the jacket front, correcting the pattern, fixing the bridle, pad stitching, taping the fronts, jacket facings and lapels, fitting the facings, & panel front 18pps. chapter 7; jacket backs and lining, back vent, lining, setting an inside pocket, close shoulder seams 18pps. chapter 8; collars, terminology, fixing and making the collar, notch, rolled, shawl, & stand collars 26 pps. chapter 9; sleeves, criteria for well fitted sleeve, terminology, tailored sleeve, hanging the sleeve, shaping the sleeve cap, hems and vents, lining the sleeve, 3 piece sleeve vent, finishing lining at vents, shaping the armscye, setting the sleeve, sleeve heads and boosters, felling the lining, kimono & raglan sleeves 35 pps. chapter 10; finishing, perspiration shields, sewing the label, shoulder pads, top stitching, belts, final press, buttons & links, other fasteners & weights 24 pps. chapter 11; toiles, assembling, fitting, altering, making a paper pattern 17pps. glossary, index & picture credits 10 pps. slightly larger format than previous books leaving room in margins for self notes, couture hints and detailed drawings for reference. cloning couture online has a dandy reference material for making a form while craftsy online has classes on making toiles. have fun

This book is the bible for anyone interested in high-quality women's jacket construction. Shaeffer discusses all aspects and reveals information you won't find anywhere else. For example, she uses various couture jackets to demonstrate the different approaches to interfacing. Or there's a detailed chapter on final pressing. Everything clearly illustrated with diagrams and photographs. It's a book for purists, as it contains no shortcuts or glued interfacing and offers little advice on fit. It focuses solely on the meticulous craftsmanship of a well-fitting garment. And that, however, is executed to perfection.

E' un libro molto dettagliato sulle tecniche di sartoria da utilizzare nella creazione delle giacche. Insegna proprio tutto dalle basi, ad eccezione della modellistica. Dà anche tante idee sui particolari diversi che rendono il modello interessante ed unico; spiega la lavorazione di tutti i tipi di tasche, di spacchi, il davanti e il dietro, i colli, tutto. E' in inglese, tocca andare a cercarsi i termini tecnici. Mi è piaciuto talmente che ho ordinato, della stessa autrice, quello sulle giacche chanel e quello sulle trim fai da te. Aggiungo che oltre ad essere utile è anche un volume particolarmente bello e lussuoso, si prende in mano e dà soddisfazione solo vederlo. Se qualcuno fosse in dubbio se prendere questo o un libro di cucito tradizionale (tipo quello di Burda ad esempio) sono cose diverse. Qui spiegano proprio come fare il capo perfetto, senza nessuna scorciatoia; poi uno sceglie se seguire o no, ma almeno si sa che l'alta moda fa così (e si comincia a comprendere il perchè dei prezzi che a chi non sa cosa c'è dietro possono sembrare assurdi). Insomma, consigliato a chi vuole perfezionarsi nell'arte della giacca.

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I got the Kindle version of this first, as it was cheap, and almost immediately decided that I simply must have the real book. The problem with Kindle layouts is that the captions get separated from their illustrations, which is very impractical in such a heavily illustrated book as this. Kindle is great for reading the text, but if you want to be able to use this book, a hard copy is a must. It is expensive, but no wonder: the plethora of illustrations must have taken many, many hours to prepare, even with the aid of computer software. I strongly disagree with reviewers who complain that photos should have been used instead. There are many reasons why photos would not be suitable. Photos would all have to be taken in exactly the same lighting conditions, at precisely the same scale and at consistent angles. To produce such a vast number of photographic illustrations in one go would be impossible and would need multiple sessions. Someone would also have to supply a stitched sample for every single photographic illustration, and every single stage in the construction of the garment. The photos would then also all have to be marked up in a graphics program to highlight the stitching lines, if only because thread, even in a contrasting colour, is much thinner than a drawn line, and would simply disappear in photographs. It would be extremely difficult to achieve the same level of precision and detail as in professionally-drawn line artwork, which is deliberately drawn not to scale for very good reasons. Besides all of that, the financial cost of trying to use photography would be enormous. Other readers say that videos are best. That is true up to a point, but there are times when looking something up in an index and going straight to the relevant page is far quicker and more convenient. Most readers who have not worked in publishing are blissfully unaware of the enormous number of hours that it takes to produce a book of this type, and the number of people involved: author, commissioning editor, copy-editor, designer, typesetter, layout artist, graphic artist, indexer and proofreader, to name most, but not all of those people who must prepare the book before it’s reading for printing. I take my hat off to everyone involved in the production of this wonderful book.