My First Sewing Machine

Booklist (American Library Association)

The sewing machine and its accompanying home economics classes were once something to be feared, with many complicated moving parts and instructions. Today, the instrument and its directions have been simplified and streamlined, as Bijasson's guide, translated from French, demonstrates.
Labeled for ages seven and up, the guide focuses on Bijasson's 30 projects while ignoring some basics of the machine (there are no details about sewing machine parts, diagrams, and troubleshooting, for example). The projects, though, are easy-to-make home and kitchen items (tissue box cover, apron) and wearables (skirt, scarf, T-shirt revamp). Patterns feature a color photograph of the finished item, with some cutting and overall diagrams and short instructions. With some parental guidance recommended, this will excite sewing-obsessed kids.— Barbara Jacobs


LIBRARY JOURNAL

Fashion and pattern designer Bijasson’s book is a beginner’s guide to using a sewing machine, for children ages seven and up (with the help of an adult). The well-chosen designs enable sewists of all ages to make a variety of bags and purses; bedroom, classroom, and kitchen accessories; and simple pieces of clothing (all of which are modeled here by girls). Bijasson gives clear instructions for different sewing machine techniques, illustrated with step-by-step line drawings. The patterns advance from simple straight seams in early projects to sewing curved seams, inserting zippers, topstitching, gathering, and adding elastic and drawstrings. All the patterns require measuring and drawing cutting lines on the fabric, and most are simple enough to execute in this manner. Note that the measurements are listed in only metric, so readers will need to make the unit conversions themselves.  VERDICT This machine-sewing book is easy enough for beginners of all ages to follow, as long as they’re comfortable with metric measurements.