SEW ... The Garment-Making Book of Knowledge

While Sew... The Garment Making Book of Knowledge isn't necessarily the sewing book I'm looking for now, as someone who's been sewing for several years, this is definitely the book I wish I'd had when I started.  I think the book has a very logical layout, with the chapters taking you from exploring what and why to sew, to picking out patterns and fabric, to adjusting for fit, and finally to advice about tools and sewing plans.  I really enjoy Barbara's opinions about what makes sewing successful and rewarding, and her attempts to point everyone in the right direction so they can achieve success of their own.  Her advice about sewing for your lifestyle takes the main ideas of The Curated Closet and distills it down to a single chapter.  The mini-lessons contain some brilliant tips to assist with tricky sewing (like dealing with hems or bulky necklines), and I really wish there had been room for more of them in this book.  Final verdict: I think this would be a great book to give as a gift to someone who is new to sewing, or would be a great purchase if you are new to sewing yourself. 

As for me, I'm holding out for a full book of tutorials, tips, and tricks from Barbara, because I think she has a lot of wisdom to share.  As someone who is in that weird intermediate-not-quite-ready-to-be-advanced stage, I'm totally missing books with modern solutions to sewing problems that I run into frequently.  I want something that will give me ways to deal with tricky sewing issues that include modern fusibles, cover stitch machines, and sergers, and show me the best ways to utilize them.  Honestly, what I'd love to see hit the market is a book with detailed instructions about how to get clean interior finishes, or even comparing RTW finished with traditional home sewing and couture finishes and discussing the merits of each.  I think the mini-lessons in Barbara's book have given me hope that this could exist in a future book, and I really think the home sewing market is ready for something like that.

Anyway, long rambling tangent aside, I really like this book.  I think it has a fun, modern aesthetic, sound advice, and good tutorials.  Although it might not be everything I'm looking for in a sewing book at the moment, I'm happy to have added it to my ever growing sewing library.