lecourtisane

Apparel Making in Fashion Design by Injoo Kim & Mykyung Uh ISBN # 1-56367-216-2 Overall Rating: 5	Textbook for my Apparel Structure and Fit class. An excellent book. Shows how to take a basic pattern and manipulate it to create different types of sleeves, dresses, bodices, pants, etc. Also shows how to manipulate darts and move them around to form different style lines. Almost always the first book I reference when looking to change a pattern.
Patternmaking for Fashion Design, 3rd Edition by Helen Joseph-Armstrong ISBN # 0-321-03423-6 Overall Rating: 4	Textbook for my Patternmaking and Grading class. Similar format to Apparel Making in Fashion Design, but concentration is obviously on patternmaking. Shows how to take a basic pattern and manipulate it to create different types of sleeves, dresses, etc. as well as how to manipulate darts. Also shows the proper way to take measurements and different problem solving techniques i.e. adjusting the sleeve cap to fit in a armhole, adding/subtracting ease, etc. A little dated (shows how to make culotts and bermuda shorts!) but includes a lot of the classic pattern types i.e. petal sleeves, basic shift, pintucks, kimono sleeve, wrap skirt, pleats, etc. Second book I reference when looking to change a pattern.
The Art of Fashion Draping, 2nd Edition by Connie Amaden-Crawford ISBN # 1-56365-017-8 Overall Rating: 5	Textbook for my Senior Studio (Draping) class. An excellent book. Shows how to drape a wide variety of basic shapes onto a Misses dressform. Also shows how to take your 3-D muslin and translate it into a flat pattern. Includes how to 'true' your muslin as well as the draping terminology and tools needed. Personally, I found Draping much easier than Patternmaking because you can really see how the fabric fits around the body and how a pattern is generated from that. Excellent step by step instructions. Doesn't cover nearly as many basic pattern shapes as Patternmaking for Fashion Design but sticks mainly to the classic shapes (which you can then manipulate to create your petal sleeve, rolled collar, etc.). When I can't find a pattern that I can manipulate to get what I want, I attack a dressform and build my own pattern with this book as my main point of reference.
Concepts of Pattern Grading: Techniques for Manual and Computer Grading by Carolyn Moore, Kathy Mullet, & Margaret Prevatt Young ISBN # 1-56367-210-3 Overall Rating: 3	Textbook for my Patternmaking and Grading class. Good book for taking a basic size 12 sloper (industry size, not retail size) and 'grading,' or changing the size of, the sloper down to a size 2 and up to a size 20. With some fudging, you could grade the sloper even larger/smaller. Decent step-by-step instruction and includes directions for grading skirt, bodice, shift, pant, and sleeve sloper (as well as a few variations within these categories). Not for the beginner.

Fashion Illustration

9HEADS: a guide to drawing fashion by Nancy Riegelman ISBN # 0-9702463-0-7 Overall Rating: 4	Textbook for my Fashion Illustration class. An excellent book for learning how to draw clothing designs, with an emphasis on fashion sketches (as apposed to croquis/flat drawings). A variety of examples - from women, mens, kids, etc. - and also a handy glossary in the back for referencing how to draw certain styles i.e. boat neckline, scoop neck, crew, turtleneck, etc. Provides a lot of blank bodies that you can trace and then draw your designs over.
IF: Informed Fashion by Melanie Denny & Nancy Riegelman ISBN # 9727732-0-7 Overall Rating: 3	Not as much emphasis on fashion sketches as 9HEADS but a good book for drawing garments in general. Provides flats in the front and a variety of examples of clothing (women, mens, kids, maternity, etc.). A good supplemental book to 9HEADS (and exactly why my teacher required that we purchased both).
Portfolio Presentation for Fashion Designers by Linda Tain ISBN # 1-56367-094-1 Overall Rating: 2	Not really Fashion Illustration per say, but useful if you want to group your sketches together into a presentable format. Goes into a little detail on how to create a flat from your sketch and a few sketching tips. Also good if you plan to make a career in a design-related field, where you would need some way to showcase your work. Honestly, I didn't use this book a lot in my Portfolio class and only kept it because I couldn't sell it back... ;)

Industry Specific

The Spec Manual by Michele Bryant & Diane DeMers ISBN # 1-56367-230-8 Overall Rating: 2	Textbook for my Advanced Apparel Assembly class. Only really any use to a costumer if you have an interest in the technical aspects of the apparel industry - used mainly for the creation of specification sheets. However, it does include a CD-ROM and is notable for its good collection of traceable croquis figures (female, male, plus size, teens, toddler, infants) which are also included on the CD-ROM for easy printing. But many of these blank templates can be found for free online so that's why I don't highly recommend this book.
Textile Science by Kathryn L. Hatch ISBN # 0-314-90471-9 Overall Rating: 3	Textbook for my Intro to Textiles class. In all, not a bad book for textiles - natural vs. synthetic fibers, finishes, woven vs. knit. Takes you from fibers to yarns all the way to the finished fabric. However, also some industry specific parts - names of factory machines, chemical compositions of synthetics, fiber and fabric international laws, etc. So, it may be better to buy a beginners book on textiles if you're looking for ways to identify a fiber/fabric and aren't interested in the details. ;)
Ready-To-Wear Apparel Analysis, Third Edition by Patty Brown & Janett Rice ISBN # 0-13-025434-7 Overall Rating: 2	Textbook for my Intro to Fashion class. Goes into some detail on spec sheets, different stitches and possible finishes of a garment, determining quality, and other industry specific subjects such as marketing, consumer expectations, etc. I would only recommend this book if the retail industry is something that you find interesting. Almost nothing applicable to patternmaking and sketching - so therefore not for most costumers. Most of its useful information can be found elsewhere.

LOTR_Costume Recs

LOTR_Costume Yahoo!Group
Link: [here]

A collection of suggested costume/sewing books from a few members of the LOTR_Costume list. I've lumped them together into a handy .txt file [here].