Giveaway - The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits

Weird question, do you ever wish you could time travel? I would take The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits with me to 2010 if it was possible. It was around then that I heard that knits are "hard" to sew and I shied away from them, but if I had Colette's new book by my side I would feel 100% confident.

This book is a complete guide to knits, I do not think Alyson Clair, the author, left a single stone unturned. Literally every single question I had about knits was answered. Those are such intense statements, but they're so true! This book is great for beginners, advanced sewers, and everyone in between. If you want to sew knits with a regular sewing machine, serger, or coverstitch machine this book has you covered!

I'm sure that you have read bits about the book on Colette's site and reviews on other blogs, but I would like to focus on my favorite part, the section regarding the serger. Sergers can seem so overwhelming and complicated! I just bought one a few months ago and I'm still getting the hang of threading it. What I like about The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits is how this daunting task was simplified. There are instructions coupled with photos to make the process much easier to understand for a visual learner like me.


Thank goodness for the photos of problem stitches and how to fix them. Lately, whenever I start a new project I use some fabric scraps to test my stitches. From there I will fix my tension/stitch length/etc, but with my serger I wasn't sure how to go about it. After comparing my ugly stitches to the ones in the book I diagnosed the stitches shown above as a "grin" and knew how to easily change the settings for a better finish. The troubleshooting section saved me a lot of time and I ended up with a lovely Mabel skirt.


Would you like to win a copy of the book? Sarai was so sweet to offer a copy as a giveaway prize to one of you! I'm adding two yards of this lovely knit fabric which I bought on my last visit to The Fabric Store. To enter the giveaway please leave a comment with one of the following: a sewing tip, what your next knit project will be, your favorite summer cocktail recipe, or a cat photo. I want to make these comments fun! :) Make sure to leave an e-mail address or a link to your blog, so I can contact you if you win. Giveaway is open worldwide and will end at 11:59 pm PST on Wednesday, May 14th.