Girl's Guide to DIY Fashion: Design & Sew 5 Complete Outfits - Mood Boards - Fashion Sketiching - Choosing Fabric - Adding Style

April 2015

In another review I mentioned how I learned to sew as a child with help from a book called My Big Book of Sewing. This taught me the basics and showed me that sewing was fun, and a good opportunity for using imagination as well as producing something useful or amusing. It was rather thin on fashion however, unlike this inspiring book on how girls can make their own clothes. Most sewing books start with what you need, show you how to use it and then give you some projects to make to get you started. This is fine for adults, but younger people need a bit more to get encouraged. You can find all that here, from lively colorful layouts to the voice of the author, talking to the book's owner like a friend. Get started by choosing a box for your supplies and decorating it, before learning what you need to put in it. Learn the parts of a sewing machine and what they all do, create a sewing space and a mood board. I love the way all this takes place first but not in a boring way as there are practical things to do such as the mood board and drawing fashion designs, and none of it takes too long to read. A fair but of knowledge is encapsulated in an admirably short section with plenty of pictures and things to try out. The projects themselves are grouped into sections such as back to school, friends, slumber party, summertime and party wear. Each section has four things to make or customizations for existing items. A project has a full page photo of the garment, plus a list of what you need, how to make it and tips to make it all go successfully. All the garments and accessories are designed to be fun to make and wear, and making them will teach a novice sewer how to do most of the basics. If this sounds boring this also includes the fun part, meaning embellishment and plenty of it. In short, this is a wonderfully produced book that is sure to appeal to any girl who wants to learn how to make their own clothes.

July 2015

This book is aimed at girls aged 7-14 and is the kind of book I would have loved as a child. From creating mood boards, to designing and making your own garments and accessories , author Rachel Low encourages girls to create, have fun and feel good about what they can make. It is filled with brilliant ideas and tips that will give them confidence and help them to find their own style. With full-sized patterns in the back, this book is written simply in language that girls will understand.