These are my top five picks for books for new sewers, in no particular order …

1. Sewing for Dummies – yeah, I hate Dummie books too, but there is some really good advice in this book and it’s well worth the price. A must have for someone who’s a complete novice. I’m not a novice and I keep this one close all the time.

2. The Sewing Book – I want this book, after reading it far too long at B&N recently. /blush It starts out fairly simple – how to interpret patterns, measurements, etc., and then gets more detailed – invisible zippers, blind hems, and so on. It’s a book that will grow with you, definitely.

3. S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop – I bought this book for a Craftsy class I did a few years ago, and I found the book (and the class) to be quite useful. I like the section on setting up your workspace – since I am VERY disorganized, this helped to get my new area set up fairly well. The information on various sewing techniques is also very good.

4. Simplicity’s Simply the Best Sewing Book – I don’t know if it’s really “the best” but it’s good. My mom gave me this one when she ordered it by mistake. I’ve used it a couple of times, but a friend of mine raves about it. She says it’s her “go to” book all the time. YMMV of course. 😉

5. Singer – The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing – This may be the only thing that carries the Singer name I would dare to recommend these days. My mother “won” an older version of this book several years ago and passed it on to me, as she didn’t feel she needed it. This has been MY go to book for ages now. I see they have an updated one, so it might be time to buy a new copy – mine’s pretty worn. I haven’t looked at this new version but the old one I have is a treasure trove of wonderful illustrations and directions – it only scratches the surface, but seriously, what book is going to be really in depth anyway?

6. BONUS SUGGESTION! If you can get your hands on an older version of the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, snap it up. The new one I haven’t had a chance to check out, and I wasn’t all that impressed the one that was released a few years ago, with but the older version was incredible. When I first started sewing, I couldn’t buy one because I was too poor, but I must have had the library’s copy out at least half the time. LOL A few years ago, though, I ran across one in Half Price Books, and I snapped it up. I use it quite frequently, even now, and I think it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

There are a few others I want to check out but haven’t had the chance to do so just yet – Sewing 101, A Beginner’s Guide to Sewing, and a few others. If I run across used copies, I may pick them up. I will update you if I find others that I think are worthy of a spot on your bookshelf!