Sewing books for beginners that are actually helpful

In the world of YouTube, if you’re learning to sew you might be tempted to run away from the books, but let’s talk about some sewing books for beginners that are actually helpful.

First a story. I got my first sewing machine when I was about 10. After a couple months, I gave up on it and stubbornly decided that sewing by hand was where it was at. Troubleshooting the stupid tension made me fly the white flag.

Also, I probably should have changed a needle once in a…well, ever.

Truth be told a couple basic sewing books really could have helped me, and they did when I finally got up the nerve to let them.

So if you’re looking to help someone who is just getting started with sewing or you’re a sewing beginner yourself, this collection of the best beginning sewing books will help you or your protege get to the next level.

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Sewing books for beginners: getting started books

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S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop

S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp is one of the first books that turned my sewing learning around.

It is NOT a dry textbook-like manual with boring pictures of how to thread your machine.

Diana writes just like your best friend who’s hanging out next to you walking you through the basics.

You’ll learn about how to set up your sewing space. Next, she’ll talk about tools that worth having, yes threading that machine, practice tips, and learning to read a pattern. The photos are extremely clear and easy to understand.

Interspersed throughout the more lesson-like text are little boxes with pro tips. It’s almost like she can sense you getting nervous. You’ll appreciate when she swoops in to give you the troubleshooting advice and encouragement that you need.

After that there’s 25 projects to build your sewing skills. Projects range from garments to accessories to home decor to gifts. They’re all rated by skill level and they spell out the techniques you’ll be exploring.

There’s patterns included in the book, but there’s also some dead easy drafting projects. My kids’ stuffed dogs have been the happy recipients of multiple versions of the Canine Couture Coat!

Love at First Stitch

Tilly Walnes, the face behind Tilly and the Buttons wrote a similar user-friendly guide to garment making.

Love at First Stitch is centered on garment sewing, and all the projects have a little vintage flair that’s just sweet.

The pictures are beautiful and do an excellent job of explaining what’s going on in each step.

There’s a brief section on basic machine setup and terms, then you dive straight into the projects. Woven into each pattern are more full tutorials on basic techniques like how to put in an invisible zipper and I love that there’s variations for each pattern included. This is so helpful for beginners to start looking at patterns and thinking about what you can add or take away to make it your own!

There’s little tips along the way that help you deal with the little finer details that we all run into in the course of a project. Watch out for tips for things like matching seams, pressing darts and pressing gathers. There’s also more fun mini-articles like “How to behave in a Fabric Store” and how to make sewing into a lifestyle. This is an excellent learn to sew book.

Bend the Rules Sewing

Amy Karol is a fun writer, and the philosophy she lays out in Bend the Rules Sewing is one that will serve you well as your skills increase.

She starts with her grandmother’s quote:

You have to be good enough to know when you can bend the rules

So with this sense of adventure, Amy lays out some basic techniques and then has you use them in a series of simple projects. There’s basic curtains and an apron, and an easy lap quilt. There’s also projects to make for kids. The Swing Smock was one of my favorites I made when I was a beginner (note my wonky wonky topstitching).

The tools section is excellent as it lays out descriptions of sewing tools, why you need it, and then tops each one with fun hand illustrations.

And I’ll throw in there that I learned how to make continuous bias tape with this tutorial! I had no idea at the time that that technique is one of the most useful things you’ll learn as a sewist!

Make Your First A-Line Skirt

You really can learn a lot about sewing by making a simple A-line skirt. That’s why Make Your First A-line Skirt by Jona Giammalva is making my list of the best beginning sewing books and a great choice in the best sewing books for beginners 2022.

From mastering straight line stitches to working with zippers to taking simple measurements, sewing an a-line skirt is a classic first project for beginners for a reason.

I love how Jona shows you how to change up your fabric, add some trim or a little contrast fabric to completely change a basic pattern like an A-line skirt into something unique. Sewing in the end is about expressing your creativity, and this book goes a long way in showing beginning sewers how to take something and make it their own.

First Time Sewing: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide

First Time Sewing: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide is a book that got on my radar when I was researching the best beginning sewing books. It caught my eye because it’s quite brief. There’s just enough projects to help you get started, just enough information that’ll help you troubleshoot things like sewing machine tension, and it’s overall nicely photographed and easy to read.

This is a great book for someone ready to start sewing that wants to jump right into a project.

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Sewing books for kids

If you want to teach your child or grandchild to sew, there are some real gems out there. Some of the sewing books for kids I’ve found are so engaging and fun for everyone. I’ll admit that I bought the Aranzi Aronzo book below as much for myself as I did my kids!

Sewing 4 Kids: 30 Fun Projects to Hand and Machine Sew by Alexa Ward

I really love the emphasis in this book on teaching kids how to sew by hand AND machine.

It’s a common thing to see sewing kits for kids that are centered around hand sewing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s vital to your sewing education to know how to hand sew, and that is 100% the way I learned when I was a kid. That being said, there’s some merit to sitting a kid down in front of a sewing machine. It’s easier to get nice looking stitches and develop some hand/foot/eye control with a machine. And there’s less threading needles!

With that in mind, I think Alexa Ward’s Sewing 4 Kids book has the right emphasis. Showing kids the basics through 30 sweet projects they’ll actually want to make that are going to start building those sewing skills they need. I love the glitter purse and the tic tac toe pillows!

This book is geared for kids ages 6 and up.

Aranzi Aronzo Fun Dolls (Let’s Make Cute Stuff)

I stinking love Aranzi Aronzo’s Fun Dolls! If you’re looking for sewing books for kids that you can just hand them, this is a good one. Sewing dolls is a great way to introduce kids to sewing. They’re cute, small, and you get a fun stuffed buddy at the end!

The directions are all in comic book format with adorable, hilarious text throughout. Most of the projects use easy to sew fabrics like felt and terry cloth. When you work with kids on the projects in here, you can sew either by hand or machine. My 11 year old made himself the donkey (christened “Bill the Pony”) with just a little extra help from me.

This is the kind of learn to sew book that’s fun for kids and adults alike.

I think this is a great book for kids ages 8 and up.

My First Sewing Machine Book: 35 fun and easy projects for children aged 7 years +

My First Sewing Machine Book: 35 fun and easy projects for children aged 7 years+ by Emma Hardy is another great book for kids wanting to get their feet wet with a sewing machine.

There’s a huge variety of sewing projects in this book from a simple skirt, accessories like an adorable fox purse to a simple patchwork quilt and DIY fabric checkerboard. There’s definitely something for everyone in this great sewing book for kids.

Sewing books for beginners with a fabric emphasis

More Fabric Savvy

Walking into a fabric store as a sewing beginner is a deer in headlights moment. There’s so many different kinds of fabrics to learn about! When you’re just starting out you have no idea how to pronounce half of them, let alone what they are.

Enter Sandra Betzina.

There’s a couple of editions of Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina, and they’re all good. The most current edition is All New Fabric Savvy. Think of this book like a compact fabric encyclopedia

Fabrics are listed by their names, and each has a full two-page spread.

In each entry, you’ll see an example garment beautifully sewn with that fabric. After that, there’s everything you’d want to know about that fabric including advice on pre-treating, cutting, marking, and interfacing. There’s also recommendations for needle, stitch length and presser foot choices and how you should finish and press seams.

And while you can’t physically feel the fabric, this book will teach you buckets.

Tilly and the Buttons Stretch!

Tilly and the Buttons Stretch! by Tilly Walnes is such a great primer for learning to sew with knit fabrics.

The projects all build on each other, and there’s some of the clearest photos and text about sewing knits with a sewing machine and sewing knits with a serger.

Just like Love at First Stitch, this book does a fantastic job showing a base pattern and giving you ideas for how to hack it to the next level.

And this book is a not just for beginners book either. There’s more sophisticated techniques like ruching, and a twist neckline, as well as some tips for more difficult knits like stretch velvet and sequins.

Fabric-by-fabric One Yard Wonders

The premise of the One Yard Wonders series by Patricia Hoskins and Rebecca Yaker is so good. They all show you how to make simple projects for things like baby, home, garments, toys and accessories all under 1 yard. As far as sewing books for beginners go, I can’t think of a better framework for success.

If you’re a beginner, I know the looming doom of messing up a lot of fabric is constantly hanging over your head. Getting over being terrified of fabric is a real thing. But if all you need for a project is one yard or less, things become less intimidating.

Fabric-by-Fabric One Yard Wonders goes an extra step beyond the other books in the series by dividing the book into chapters by fabric type. You’ll see a detailed description of the fabric type and how to sew with it, then several projects to make with that fabric.

So as you’re learning about a fabric type, you’ll get hands-on experience with working with it. There’s projects for fabric types like various cottons, home dec fabrics, flannel, corduroy, oilcloth, fleece, knits and wool.

My one criticism of this book is that there’s 101 projects. That’s massive! And while there’s definitely something for everybody, you have very little chance of sewing your way through the book.

With that in mind, I’d say, browse through it, pick your favorite project from every chapter and go from there!

General purpose catch all sewing books for beginners you want in your sewing library

Vogue Sewing

Vogue Sewing is a classic book that’s been printed and reprinted so many times, and for good reason.

Now, this one might be an outlier among sewing books for newbies because there’s a lot of advanced stuff in it. I will still recommend it for beginners because it answers just about every sewing question that pops into your pretty little head.

Patterns don’t always do a good job of explaining techniques in detail, so it’s wonderful to have a basic reference book like Vogue Sewing in your sewing library.

At some point you’re going to want to know about different types of seams and darts and basic fitting alterations. Vogue has you covered there.

And because it’s Vogue, there’s a great section that walks you through reading a commercial pattern and picking the right fabric for your pattern.

On a personal note, the illustration on collars has saved me multiple times from sewing in a collar upside down!

So those are my recommendations for sewing books for beginners. These are all grow-with-you kinds of books that will serve you for many years to come in your sewing journey.

Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes

If you don’t know Joi Mahon, she’s an awesome sewing teacher, designer, tailor, an all-around nice person, and someone I will always send sewing beginners to for advice. When I saw that she had written the Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes, I knew it’d be a must have for any sewing library. No doubt this will become a top choice in the best sewing books for beginners 2022.

The pictures in here are very easy to understand, and Joi writes in such a personable way that doesn’t dumb things down and yet crystal clear.

There’s info here in this book on mastering zippers, using notions, getting familiar with patterns, and more advanced techniques like tailoring or working with slopers.

I love the troubleshooting sections. So much of sewing is being able to look at what you made and analyze what’s happening. When you’ve got a guide like Joi Mahon to help you, you’ll advance much more quickly.

This is a great book for beginning sewists and advanced sewing learners alike. Definitely go pick this one up!

Basic Hand Sewing Guide: 1 hour repair guide

I’ll shout it from the rooftops: sewing is a life skill! Not every sewing book for beginners needs to hit people that are 100% going to start sewing all the things. Working on a simple goal like being able to know how and confidently sew on some buttons is a worthy goal.

That’s what Jennifer McDowell had in mind when she wrote the Basic Hand Sewing Guide 1-Hour Repair Guide: Stitching Techniques & Repair Guide. Showing people visually how to fix clothes with simple hand stitches is the aim here.

As you advance in your sewing skills, having a good foundation of being able to sew by hand is important, and I love that there’s a compact little book like this one to help you with collecting those hand sewing skills!

Sewing books are awesome, but what if I want a beginning sewing class?

Thankfully for this problem, I created Self-Reliant Sewing. I put together this beginner sewing class to help you walk through everything you need to become a confident sewist, ready to tackle anything you want to make. Fire up your sewing machine and let me help you walk through building your sewing skills one step at a time with this video based class.

Sign up for Self-Reliant Sewing here or click on the image below:

Check out the video review of the best beginning sewing books!

More things to help you learn to sew:

• How to start sewing with a plan
• 4 pro ways to sew a t-shirt neckline
• Best stitches for knit fabrics, no serger required
• 11 helpful sewing tools you can’t live without
• How to sew your own raglan tee