Monday Reads - Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner

    This is another one I found while browsing the shelves at my local library, and it's the newest book they had. I was honestly a little shook that they both a) had such a new book at this small, rinky dink location and b) had this particular book in a section that was last updated sometime in the 2010s.  

photo copyright WorldCat.org

    Whenever I see a book that's written by an influencer or other celebrity that purports to be an expert on something, I'm more than a little wary that the selling point of the book will be "this person wrote it!" rather than any actual expertise contained inside, but this was actually a genre-defyingly really good tutorial book.

    The sections progress in a way that makes sense, with skills building upon skills, and there are plentiful, really good photos in the book. There are techniques for seaming, with quite a lot of detail for a variety of seam finishes; design details like pleat, gathers, and tucks; alteration hints like how to add pockets to a pattern that does not describe that itself; and even nice little finishing touches like making your own fabric buttons.

    For something that I thought was just going to be an empty little feather in the cap of a YouTube star, I was pleasantly surprised. If you're an old hand at sewing and mending, I doubt there's much this can teach you, but that's fine because you're not the target audience. If you're someone who wants to get into sewing or even just mending your clothes to help them last longer, but aren't quite sure where to start, this is a great primer that holds your hand every step of the way, providing helpful details about things like what to look for in supplies and when to use specific techniques. If you're someone with an intermediate level of skill and looking to expand your horizons, this is great too, as many techniques are explained both on the machine and by hand, allowing you to make decisions about which is the better technique for which situations with much greater confidence. If you're looking to make the leap to advanced by adding unique touches to things like matching fabric buttons, adding pockets, or adding trim or decorative stitching not called for in a pattern, then this book will also give you the knowledge you need to confidently start branching out in that direction. 

    In conclusion, I think it's a neat little book that would do well on the reference shelf of nearly anyone who sews at any capacity below "professional." Nice work, Ms Banner! Thanks for defying my expectations. To find this book near you, either in a library or for sale, check out it's entry on WorldCat.org, a neat little website that lets you search library catalogs and helpfully also links to online and local sellers (where applicable) that list books with that ISBN for sale.  I've found lots of interesting books to borrow via Inter-Library Loan through this site, so if it's not available locally, but you're interested in reading it, bring this info to your local library and see if they can have it sent over. 

Happy Reading, and have a good week!