Book Nook: Radical Sewing - Pattern-Free, Sustainable Fashions for All Bodies

My daughter has recently gotten interested in sewing. While my mother is quite the seamstress, I am not, and so I've had to help her with my rudimentary knowledge and a lot of outside help - a fashion class taught by people from a Fiber Arts organization, my mother, and books. One book is one that I recently got to review - Radical Sewing: Pattern-free, Sustainable Fashions for All Bodies.

Now, I've never thought of sewing as radical, but the idea of sewing without a pattern is appealing, especially as pattern prices have increased. My daughter has already sewn a pirate shirt using old-fashioned sewing methods where everything was cut into rectangles, and is eager to learn more.

This book covers a wide variety of topics, so it's suitable for anyone at any skill level. People who are skilled at sewing may want to skip the sections on whether a serger is worth it, for example, or they may be interested to read someone else's perspective on those kinds of things.

What I liked best were the chapters on altering clothes and adding pockets or buttons. Those are real, practical skills, and allow even someone who isn't great at sewing like me to refashion and repurpose old clothes, fix current clothes so they have more wear, and be able to buy less.

The book is small but packed with information, so it serves as a handy guide for anyone interested in looking at sewing in a new light.