Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista

As a novice, I appreciate all of the basic info at the beginning of the book. I also like the authors' fun, hip, "hey girlfriend" tone. Each project includes a time estimate, and many projects provide instructions for handstitching as well as machine-sewing. Would I cut off the sleeves from a sweater to make leg warmers or turn vintage ties into cuffs and collars? Probably not. But I will try turning a sweatshirt into a tote and definitely "un-taperfy" some pants by adding a triangle of fabric for flair (and yes, flare too). This book is fun and helpful for novices, and its projects encourage personal creativity and new ways of thinking about clothing.

This is a fun and inspiring book. I noticed that some of the other reviewers thought it was too simplistic. It is true that it focuses on some of the most basic sewing techniques, including handsewing, and how you can take a minimum amount of tools and create fabulous outfits. It is for would-be sewer who is intimidated by the notions, patterns, and fabrics in the fabric store, but would love to get started on some quick, creative projects using what s/he already has. Being the daughter of an amazing seamstress/designer, I have always been ashamed that I can't sew. Most patterns assume some level of knowledge and involve complicated diagrams. This book however got me jumpstarted and now I am doing all sorts of projects. The first part of the book focuses on technique and some people may not use this. However, I found the hand-sewing information very useful. With the advent of machines, I never learned to handsew. I wish there had been information on sergers, since I just bought one, but it was probably considered too advanced. The rest of the book involves modifying clothing you already have, such as making a t-shirt fit better, changing a pair of jeans into a skirt, or converting a tee into a tube top or a messenger bag. Many of the ideas can be done in under an hour and it is great to find a use for all those baggy t-shirts I had acquired. This book is in fact very GREEN in that it encourages re-use and recycling of existing clothing, rather than buying new fabric! It's also encourages creativity - break away from those patterns and make something new - or take something off the rack and modify it! I really like the idea behind this book. Some of the ideas I have seen before, in a similar sewing manual from the 1960s/70s, which was also geared towards young people. Of course, fashions have changed and this book is more punk rock than hippie. So I think it serves a market, the young new sewer, and this market needs to be developed if sewing is to survive as an artform.

I'll admit it, I was very excited to get this book (being from the Bay Area an all). At first I was disappointed cause it started out as a crash course in sewing, I have been sewing for 10 yrs so I skipped all of it. Even the projects in here did not seem that spectacular. HOwever the more I looked at the projects and re thought my wardrobe, I got excited cause their ideas spawned more ideas and personalized the projects. I have actaully made a few of the projects in there, not their way, but I would have never even tried some of those things (that turned out super cute btw). Yes I am 27 with an ecclectic style, so the book does speak my language.

Reconstruction seems to be all the rage lately among fashionistas and celebrities alike. Recently, a major fashion magazine ran a profile on a certain fashion muse as she went on a shopping spree in a very fashionable city; along the way, she took some of her mom's old shirts to a tailor to have them made into dresses. To some, this idea of "taking something old and making it modern" might be a brand new concept. But to the two Melissas and a Hope this is nothing new-- in fact, they've been doing it for years. And after reading "Sew Subversive" you'll be doing it too. Reading this book is like hanging out with your girlfriends for a sewing lesson--fabulous girlfriends who have an eye for style that goes beyond cookie-cutter "mall-fashions." The projects are fun, the directions are easy to follow and the technical terms have been revamped for a more modern seamster, i.e. talking about the "business side" and "party side" of fabric. And the projects ... this definitely isn't your mom's sewing book. From fashioning tube tops from old t-shirts, leg warmers from old sweaters and dresses from pillow cases, there are a lot of creative ideas in here. There are even some projects that are as simple as adding a few pin-tucks to a skirt or adding some ribbon piping to a pair of jeans. Don't leave the reconstruction to the celebrities and fashionistas! Grab this book and see for yourself what you can come up with. Good luck.

What a great book! We got this a few weeks ago and are absolutely LOVING it! People who are comparing it to Sew U aren't really getting it. Nothing against them or that book (because hey, we bought that one too!), but these books are about totally different concepts. The awesome thing to us about Sew Subversive is the idea of taking clothing meant for other things and turning it in to something completely unique and new, like when you make legwarmers out of an old sweater. We've always loved when bands cover songs, taking someone else's raw material and turning it in to their own unique piece, or when great hip hop producers take a riff from an old song and turn it into a new song...that postmodern idea of taking bits and pieces of creative things and molding them into something else entirely, creating something completely new but as or more creative than the original. It can even make a cool statement about the original while being totally new and different. That's why we're jazzed about the book and eager to put our stamp on some of the suggested projects!