Made to Measure

What a fabulous book. Elisalex is the pinnacle of sewing and has shared this knowledge with people like me who aspire to sew to her standard. Clear steps and instructions. Great patterns. Size inclusive. I can’t wait to try out this book at my sewing machine.

Very good book that explains the basics of sewing.
The first chapter explains things needed to start you off on your sewing journey.
The book leads you through pattern drafting and creating your own beautiful clothes that will make you feel amazing and so accomplished.
I am really happy with this book, it’s very good for anyone who would love to start sewing.

Exactly what I need, got my sewing machine about 3 months ago and still learning. Perfect tips. My only critisism is that the curly font was slightly hard to read for me

This is a great sewing book for beginners or experience sewistas looking for info on how to draft their own patterns. I have sewn many of my own clothes, but I have never tried drafting my own patterns before, and this really gives me the tools that I need to feel confident trying it. Definitely a worthwhile purchase to add to a sewing collection!

This is the type of book that you will always keep on hand when sewing. It explains everything that you need to know if you want to make your own garments - not only how to make your own patterns, but how to hack any other pattern, how to master techniques that you will use most often. The amount of information might seem intimidating at first, but everything's really well explained. Patterns may not be the most fashionable, but this book is still great as a kind of bible for home sewing.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Made to Measure was really great! I don't normally grab an instructional book from NetGalley... However, I have been sewing a dress and this popped up. I thought, "Why not?! I could stand a chance at learning something!". The layout of this guide is fabulous; it isn't too busy with excessive writing, color, or patterns... They stick to the basics, but it is still beautifully presented on each page. I also love that Jewell made this user friendly and taught you how to make your own patterns, for your own body. I felt empowered reading this book and want to share it with friends. Not only was this enjoyable to look at, I felt like I learned so much. Jewell has a gift at presenting information in a way that the learner wants to keep going.
Will recommend!

As someone new to sewing and that wants to start making my own clothes, this book was overwhelming but in a good way. I feel like it will be a good guide but I do think it may be designed for those who know more about sewing but it also seems more accessible to me now than it did.

This book is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to sew clothes. As someone who can sew but has never sewn clothing before, I found this book easy to understand, incredibly helpful, and filled with fun patterns I could try.

To say this book should be in every sewing room in America is an understatement. I have been sewing for a while and still learned so much by reading this book. My favorite pattern is the Paneled Wrap Skirt and cannot wait to make my own.
The illustrations are beautiful, and the descriptions are so well written. This is not a book of patterns; it is a book showing you how to draft your own pattern. I custom fit garment. The illustrations are valuable in the way they show you how to complete each step in the process.
I will be buying a few copies to keep on hand for gifts because I truly believe every household should own this book.

Made to Measure is the sewing book you needed in high school textiles class.
Seriously, short of operating the scissors and machines this book is like a cheat sheet.

Made to Measure is packed with illustrations, that are frankly gorgeous. Not only are they stunning but they are incredibly informative.
Although not a novice around a sewing machine I absolutely adored this book and even found a new way of doing a technique.

Not only does this book have answers for everything, it then is filled with stunning patterns that would suit a range of body types and tastes with handy hints on how to make it work for you.

Honestly this book could have saved me three years of stress has it been produced ten years prior.
This is definitely one for the bookshelf - not the sewing box, it's far too pretty.

I was gifted a digital copy of Made to Measure by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley, Quarto Publishing and Elisalex Jewell for the opportunity.

Worth investing in - I'm a novice and nervous beginner and I'd buy this book. It explains the mechanics of sewing your own clothes clearly and simply. I would use this as a resource when making my own garments and, dare I say it would even try making some of the garments. I enjoyed it from start to finish and when I get the paper copy it will be stored right behind my sewing machine.

Made to Measure is a pattern-drafting resource to help teach beginner to advanced sewing techniques for best fitting garments.

I’ve read a few different sewing books like this that highlighted fit and alteration techniques, or even tips for patter drafting. What sets this one apart are the practical patterns shown as step-by-step examples to create based on your own measurements. And the best thing about this is the size inclusivity! Models of all shapes and sizes are used in the examples, showing how different fits can be achieved when you draft your own patterns.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in altering or drafting their own clothing. I think it’ll be a really useful resource for me in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarry Books for an advanced copy of this book!

Very nice, handsome book with a great aesthetic -- I'm looking forward to giving some of her designs a try this fall. I've never been a fan of following sewing patterns, so this is much more up my alley. Great idea, packaged very nicely.

What a wealth of knowledge! I've been sewing for over a decade, self-taught and as a costumer, typically having to combine multiple patterns or create my own in an attempt to get close to the garment that I want. Advice on self-drafting or altering patterns was scattered or in hard-to-parse fashion textbooks.

This is laid out beautifully, with cute, simple illustrations to guide and has a plethora of additional things to keep in mind, like ease, how the weave of a fabric will affect fit, how adjust for different types of tension and body shapes, all with wonderful constant reminders that if something doesn't fit right, it's always the garment's fault and can be fixed, not the body's.

There's something in here for everyone, whether you're looking to sew your garments entirely from scratch, or just alter them, if you've been sewing for years or are looking to pick it up in an increasingly fast-fashion world.

I am very new to sewing and have looked at a lot of books to help me out. This one stands out to me because of the simple instructions with the included illustrations to make it more understandable. Elisalex Jewell did a fantastic job in making learning a new skill less daunting and I am excited to make every project.

This is an incredibly useful book, packed full of value. I have tried to draft my own patterns before and this book gives clear instructions with great imagery. I’m looking forward to trying out some of the patterns included in the book. This book is definitely suitable for someone who has never drafted before but wishes to try and it will give you a thorough grounding in the basics that you can then build on in the future. Highly recommended.

This is a great book, and exactly what you would expect from Elisalex.
I have purchased and made patterns from By Hand London for a number of years and have also followed some of the hacks posted on their website and Instagram.
Although I haven't made anything using this book yet, I have read through cover to cover.
It has so much information in about how to draft and adjust but written in a way that's easy to follow.
I'm really looking forward to using this to make items that are Made To Measure

This book explains how to self-draft and sew in very easy to understand way. I liked that the instructions are clear and that there are illustrations.

I am a sewing beginner and this book will help tremendously in improving my sewing journey!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarry Books for an advanced copy of this book!

I have been sewing for what feels like forever (ok, it might be some 10-ish years or a bit more). I never learned any tips and tricks from the designers. I have somehow learned the basics of adjusting and mashing pattern sizes. But this book gives a real and useful insight into what needs to be changed and adjusted to achieve the perfect fit. Love this book! I will be yelling about this book from the rooftops all over the sewing community.

This is an excellent guide for beginner, intermediate, and even advanced sewers! Rather than give you patterns and let you learn from there, this book teaches you how to draft your own pattern based on your body, how to fix and edit your fit, and then gives you lots of cute, versatile patterns for every body shape and size, which you can use alongside all the previously given information to create clothes perfect for your body. I'm most excited to try the faux jumpsuit with the capelet! The tips for helping figure out how to correctly size your pant curves was so helpful, and is something I constantly struggle with. This guide is going to be so helpful throughout anyone's sewing journey, and will become a staple!

Thanks to Netgalley and Quarry Books for the e-ARC!

Informative and accessible - a recommended purchase for collections where craft and sewing titles are popular.

If you want to create your own wardrobe you need this book. This is all the stuff no one teaches you. Creating a pattern from a well fitting garment and how to fix fit issues with commercial patterns are covered. The real gem is explaining how to draft your own patterns to make a true one of a kind bespoke garment. Made to Measure is a great reference for sewists of all skill level.

As someone who has wished to fly across the ocean just to attend one of Elisalex’ bodice fitting classes in person, I cannot express how excited I was for this book. And it was even more wonderful than I expected. My new favourite resource on sewing - from basics to solving fit issues and adjustments and the guide to begin to learn to draft my own patterns - it has it all. Appreciate this can be used by all levels of sewists and varying difficulty and styles for the patterns. Would be the perfect holiday gift. The best part of the book is how much each page reminds me of Elisalex - that unique and whimsical element to her style, amazing attention to detail and the clear and easy to understand illustrations and instructions. I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical copy on release day. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy.

The book provides great information on creating clothing patterns from scratch. The illustrations used are clear and allow full visualization of the steps to take in order to customize garments. As a sewing newbie looking to create my own clothing, the instructions provided allow me to start. I have used some of the information in order to customize some ill fitting patterns I had. Another highlight is the use of plus size models to highlight the clothing made. This is not always a norm in these types of book and it highlights how clothes can be made to fit any body. Overall highly recommend this book for anyone starting out into garment making and those who are wishing to customize clothes.

Made to Measure is the perfect book for those looking to sew perfectly fitted outfits that are flattering on your figure and not to complex to make. Lots of really helpful tips and advice along with many patterns to draft and sew your own outfits. I want to try making the willow wrap dress, it looks beautiful and not too tricky to master. Would highly recommend this book.

Will be recommending this to all my sewing friends!

This book is a wealth of information for the beginner to advanced sewist. It answers all the questions Google can never give a straight answer to with clear and concise instructions and diagrams.

The common fit issues and sleeve hacks sections are a dream come true for someone like me that can never seem (seam hahaha) to get these parts right. Being able to add puffy sleeves to any pattern I want? Sign me up!

Elisalex Jewell believes any garment will look good on a person if it fits well. Here she shows how to correctly take measurements and then draft patterns and she offers a range of very do-able patterns to send the reader on her way. Each pattern begins with instructions for drafting and then construction. They are sew it and wear it and avoid the fussy tricky stuff as much as possible. They are not only clever, but they look good. And if that isn’’t enough she also includes some basic sewing information for those who are new to garment making. The book is clear and concise and a complete winner.

I can't wait to get my hands on a hard copy of Made to Measure! The advance eBook was filled with lovely graphics, multiple glossaries, and loads of resources in addition to specific step-by-step instructions for creating garments based off of your own measurements. And the diversity of the models was so real and refreshing. I've been sewing from patterns for years and feel confident doing some alterations, but I am excited to use Made to Measure to understand even more about pattern development and making clothes for my own body. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Beautifully illustrated and extremely informative. As someone who has basic sewing skills (and high expectations of oneself), I found this book invaluable to my journey of becoming a more skilled sewer.

Without a doubt, I will be buying this book to continue to use as a resource and I will recommend it to others who want to try to sew their own garments.

I'm so excited to put these skills to use!