Couture Sewing: The Couture Cardigan Jacket, Sewing secrets from a Chanel Collector

I have pre-ordered this book in May 2013 and got it today's morning ( November 2013 ) and have to tell it worths to wait it all those months!Clear instructions, nice pictures in the book and more over - DVD disk and you are privileged to watch Mrs Schaeffer and her step-by-step tutorial! Absolutely over the moon!This book of course is not for complete novice. But if you are experienced sewer and determined to create a "real" Chanel jacket for yourself you will be delighted with this book.I am very keen to start my new project and can not express how exited I am!Highly recommend to everybody who is addicted to couture home sewing!P.S.few days later I discovered some problems with DVD disk - on some places it does not play and the phrase "skipping over the damaged area" occurs.When I am trying to restart it from the next chapter, it starts from the beginning! So I could not watch the final 30 minutes of it - very disappointing because I was really enjoying the video tutorial and it was really helpful addition to this brilliant book. The disk is obviously brand new and I treated it very carefully - from original pack straight to the computer.

This book takes you through the stages of making yourself one of those beautiful 'Chanel' style box jackets. The photographs are very clear and beautifully detailed. Clare goes through each stage of the jacket from how to cut out the pieces to placement and sewing. Her instructions are easy to understand and follow. Added to this, Clare gives an explanation as to why you need to do XYZ rather than just say this is how you need to do it. The background information really increases your understanding as to why you have to complete the jacket in a certain way. However, the piece de resistance is the DVD included in the book. The DVD brings the whole process to life and even someone with little sewing experience could follow and make this jacket. Worth every penny and I hope Clare writes some more books.

I love the DVD - how amazing to be able to see all the steps. The book is a back up to the DVD, in case you want to refresh your memory quickly.Claire concentrates on the construction process. She says make a muslin & fit, but does not discuss how the jacket should fit or how you would achieve that.I have not made a jacket yet, but so far as I can see, she covers all the steps and I'm going to try to make one soon.She hurries over some processes, assuming you know how to mark & sew, but she covers basic techniques in depth in her couture DVDs which I have, so the two titles work well together.I enjoyed watching this and I'm sure it will be useful.

Excellent book and DVD. Watch the DVD first - the book is a well photographed subset of what you see in the DVD - excellent reminders. I've 2 books/DVDs in this series now. Shows you how to carefully prepare and sew a chanel style jacket - mostly by hand. I think it's only the quilting that's machined, though you could do that by hand too. The only technique I didn't agree with was the mitred corners - I use a much better way which leaves a flatter, perfect mitre with no snipping required

I had already made two channel style cardigan jackets (under instruction at my sewing class) when I purchased this book, so I already had an understanding of how to make this style of jacket. The steps Claire takes you through are slightly different to how I made my previous jackets, but I found this book to be clearly written and well illustrated with photographs not drawings. It is a good source of reference if you just want to refresh your memory or good clear instructions to follow if you want to make your first cardigan jacket.

I enjoyed this book, the dvd is a visual of the book so you can sit with the book by your machine or enjoy the dvd to inspire you. This does cover creating the whole jacket but you need to understand what is going on so previous experience of following patterns needed. Also her approach may not be yours in laying the pattern, marking seams, darts etc. it covers the buttonhole, collar, facings etc for the jacket not a wider selection. I have made many items and have good reference books this is a pleasant afternoon dvd but a good designer vogue pattern will give you as much instruction however if you need to 'see' or be 'shown' then this is helpful for this particular cardigan jacket.

this is a great book if you're interested in couture sewing I find the whole concept amazing Clare Schaeffer makes it all look so easy I'm sure that's because she is so experienced it looks like fine sewing is second nature to her I would love to be as good and I value this book as a step on my journey to that goal also I like the dvd that comes with it you can watch as well though I still think the book is good on its own

I have been a fan of the cardigan jacket for a long time but have been unsure how to approach making one. This book gives detailed instructions and I love the photographs. The accompanying DVD is also very clear and I look forward to making my own version of the jacket in the near future. I have already recommended this book to like-minded friends and can recommend it to anyone who is thinking of making a Chanel-style cardigan jacket. An invaluable book that all keen sewers should have.

Mi è piaciuto tantissimo, parla per filo e per segno di tutti i passi di cucito per ottenere una giacca Chanel fatta secondo lo stile classico - che non corrisponde esattamente alle giacche Chanel degli ultimi anni, ma piuttosto a quelle degli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta. Non c'è alcun cenno alla modellistica, anzi si consiglia di prendere cartamodelli pronti. Per chi vuole fare una giacca Chanel con tutti i crismi (catenella sul fondo, fodera impunturata, occhielli ricamati) questo libro è imprescindibile, e Claire Schaeffer è l'esperta mondiale di riferimento sull'argomento. Segnalo anche gli altri suoi libri, per gli appassionati di cucito classico sono molto utili.

I used the book as a guide for sewing a Chanel style jacket. I love the book for its comprehensive, detailed instructions and for its up close pictures of finished designer jackets with all the dressmaker details. It’s a fabulous reference book for all dressmakers.

Nice

I have bought this book to add to my collection as I have a plan to eventually sew to couture standard; this jacket is iconic, and the book is certainly very detailed. With patience and about 200 hours work, I hope to be able to apply all the very detailed directions to make my own jacket. Delivery and packaging very good.

very good