How many of you have the “Sew Beautiful Book” by Kennis Wong of Itch to Stitch? I do, I do!! This is such a beautiful book with lots of patterns and lots of options for each pattern. I wanted this book as soon as I saw it online and told my daughters I wanted it for Christmas. They dutifully obliged! They are always happy when I actually tell them what I want. I received this one and a few others which I won’t disclose in case I decide to review them later.
The “Sew Beautiful Book” opens with beautiful, full-color photos of each of the patterns. Kennis then tells you which tools you will be needing and gives you basic fitting information. There is also a glossary of basic sewing terms you will encounter throughout the book. The Sew Beautiful book features 8 patterns. With all of the options each pattern has, I think you can make close to 20 different looks. Options include different sleeve lengths, necklines, and hem lengths such as a top and dress or pants and shorts from the same pattern. The patterns range in size 00-20. Four of the patterns are made for woven fabric and four of the patterns are made for knit fabric. As you can see, there’s a lot going on here!
It was quite a difficult task deciding which patterns I would make for this review. I wanted to make one woven pattern and one knit pattern. The Palermo Top (pictured above) in rayon voile from the book is already in regular rotation in my wardrobe. I wanted to make at least two new items for this review and blog post. My other desire was to make them with fabric I already owned. This made the choices even more difficult. Since I couldn’t make an easy decision on which two to make, I decided on three. The three patterns I chose are:
- The Mornington Top
- The Prague Cold-Shoulder Top
- The Fortuna Shorts
- THE MORNINGTON
When deciding on the Mornington, I was originally going to make the dress but I knew I would get much more use out of the top so I went with that. I had a beautiful Telio rayon poplin in a black and white graphic print and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. Since this top is fully-lined, I used the same fabric for both the exterior and the lining. It has such a lovely drape and I think the two go perfectly together.
I found the part where you have to sew the back seam together from end to end and then the two side seams together slightly confusing but it may have been that it was almost midnight at the time! I decided to put it down and get back to it the following day which proved to be a smart move. After reading the directions a couple of times, I was able to figure it out. Other than that, I found Kennis’ instructions to be very comprehensive and the illustrations helped as well. The Mornington Top is now in my top five list of garments I have sewn for myself and I can see it getting much use!
While trying to decide on which of the knit patterns I was going to make and which fabric I would use, I came to the conclusion that I would be making more than one. My first choice was the Fortuna Shorts pattern and then I wanted to make one of the knit tops. I decided it would be either the Prague Cold-Shoulder Top or the Orosi Peplum Top. I chose to make the Prague because I love a cold-shoulder top and I’m not usually a big fan of the peplum! Both the shorts and the knit top were made using Robert Kaufman Laguna stretch (cotton/spandex blend).
2. THE FORTUNA
The Fortuna Shorts were very detailed. The instructions were very good and they came together easily. The only difficult part was tracing the pattern. There were too many pieces on one page and they were too layered. This made it difficult to see the colors and to make out which line went with which piece. Make sure you have adequate lighting and use some very translucent tissue or Swedish pattern paper. This was only true of this pattern because there are three versions and all versions and sizes were on one page. I would still highly recommend this book. For the price and all that you get, it’s a steal!! Fabric is found here.
3. THE PRAGUE
The Prague Top is so darn cute with its lovely, feminine shoulder openings. I couldn’t wait to wear it. It gave me a bit of an issue because I found the neck binding to be too short and it made the neck opening gather and look very small. I removed it and cut out a binding that was about 1-1/2” longer (added ¾” to pattern cut on fold). This seemed to work out much better. The shoulder openings worked out much better without any alterations. This could have been due to the fabric I used but I did use the method illustrated in the book to find the percentage of stretch and it was 50% which should have worked. Fabric is found here.
I now have three new items to add to my wardrobe that fit well and are lovely and stylish! Thank you, Kennis for a wonderful addition to my library!!
Sew Beautiful Book Link to Amazon
You can purchase this book and most others that I have reviewed (or plan to) here.
If you liked this review, you might be interested in this one too…
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” #adlink
