How to Design Your Own Dress Patterns: A primer in pattern making for women who like to sew

I have been sewing since I was 12 years and I have been collecting sewing books for most of my adult life. This is the most thorough book I have ever seen. Most books just give a piece of the puzzle. This books explains not only how to make a dart but why you would need a dart and how to use a dart to accomplish your design and if you don't want darts how to redraft seam lines to eliminate them. This is an awesome book! This book is old but the content is still relevent it explains everything you ever wanted to know about dress design which can also be used for blouse or top design or skirt design. What is a dress but a skirt and top? Mrs. Margolis goes into great detail to explain how to add variation in collars, openings, necklines, sleeves, and hemlines. She does not cover slacks in this book but if you ever wondered how a detail to a dress, skirt, or blouse was accomplished or how to do it yourself this is the book fo for you.

This is, hands down, THE best book on design for self-taught and home sewers. Why? Because it removes the need to be 'artistic' or 'gifted' and focuses on the nuts and bolts of design - which is to say, pattern manipulation. You learn how to turn darts into design details for skirts, tops, pants, as well as tons of exercises to help you understand the process and get your creative juices flowing. An absolute treasure and reference for any sewing room.

The book has quarter scale templates that you trace and cut out so you can practice as you read. That's genius. I love this book. It doesn't assume you know all the terms already like so many books these days do. Everything is explained simply and clearly. Every beginner should own a copy.

I bought this book based upon the rave reviews, but it is not what I was expecting. I have have been seeking a book which will instruct one on how to draft many different patterns. This book includes some very basic instructions for drafting a bodice, skirt and sleeve, but nothing beyond that. Granted, with these three slopers mastered it is quite easy to improvise from there, but I don't need this book to do that, I am quite able to do that myself, and I am not even a "seasoned" sewer. It gives you an explanation (mini little drawings) of what each pattern would look like to achieve the desired final effect, but does not walk you through the drafting process of each style. I think this is a nice resource book if you are new to pattern making, but a more accurate title would be "Basic Pattern Manipulation". I already own "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" by Helen Joseph Armstrong and it is similar in format to this but more comprehensive.

This is the best book I have seen to learn how to make your own patterns and explanation on the science behind adjusting patterns for the best possible fit.Love the book.

I love having this book on my sewing book shelf. Haven't used it yet, but I have read quite a bit, and it is every bit as informative as the textbooks I had at school.

I bought this for my sister. It’s a great gift!

The hard cover is good and the content is fantastic, but the binding is so shoddy that I already have pages trying to fall out after only opening the book once! Hard covers only become valuable if the binding can last as long as the cover to protect the internal pages! This would be a one star if the content had not been really good.

This was a gift - the recipient said it was very useful and the instructions are easy the follow.

My original copy was lost; this is a replacement.

Lovely book, very useful and clear.

I would have thought that the patterns in this book would have been illustrated in colour. However, although I was keen to learn a new craft, I was a bit put off by the illustrations being in black ink, so it didn't appeal to me and I found the book content 'old fashioned'.