I am sop very sorry I waited so long to pick this up. It looked dull from the picture. Recently, I was whipping up some Canadian smocking (ha - I don't whip up smocking:) I struggle the web searching for directions!)for a gown I designed, and the next evening, this was recommended to me by amazon. I broke down, and let me say I wish I bought it years ago! It is instantly inspirational for me. I visualized 10 different new designs the first browse through. And the challenge of doing some of these - I find it a relaxing as knitting. That zen-like state where you need to relax and do it for it to come out right. It is beautifully done. The reason it looks drab is because Colette Wolfe has taken thousands of yards of unbleached muslin and worked them into intricate design pieces usable for fashion, home dec or art. Awe inspiring and lit a fire under me. This isn't your basic pleating and piping book. It is the highest you can go up the ladder of fabric manipulation without the aid of beads, feathers, bells or whistles. When you see the plain muslin stand up all on its own as a work of art, you'll understand my excitement. Only criticism is when is volume II coming out? I know there is more to come!

Incredible sewing ideas and execution. Would recommend to any person who can thread a needle. Now no material in my home is safe from being cut, pleated, folded, puffed, etc. Addictive.

All the techniques I've been wanting to learn all in one complete source. This book is awsome. I have read the other reviews and the negitive ones I have to strongly disagree with. I don't care that the pictures aren't in color or the lack of understanding is blamed on the book and not the person's own lack of ability. If you can hold a needle and thread you can use these techniques. If it's difficult to understand then please choose a different hobby. To me it's as easy as ready a McCalls pattern.

Who knew there were this many possibilities? This book gave me so many design ideas I'll never be able to sew them all!

I love this book. I am a freshman fashion design student and absolutely adore this book. It is very easy and includes step by step instructions on how to create textures with fashion. I recommend this book as a reference book.

Firstly, it should be said that Wolff tackles fabric with an artist's approach, with a strong sculptural bent, with the intention of transforming a usually flat medium into something expressive, three-dimensional, voluminous, and with physical presence.

Also let me express shock and awe at the sheer density of information in this book. Excluding the title and content pages, and the index located at the back of the book, I can vouch that LITERALLY every page of this magnificent publication is completely full of hand-drawn illustrations and black & white photographs, accompanied by detailed descriptions of the technique/method. I mean it--every single page has at least one if not five or six fantastically detailed images.

This is not one of those trendy books with cutesy inset "pro tips," chapter headings with punny names, blank pages and full-page photos in between everything, and tons of semi-relevant and not-very-useful anecdata. This book immediately gets down to business, in the most pleasurable way. It's so solidly jam-packed with ideas and techniques that it blows my mind.

This book is such a rare gem especially because it can function as a sourcebook for me as well as a how-to manual--the images are of textured abstract samples, not of chintzy finished-product curtains or pants, which allows me to imagine dozens of ways I could use that particular manipulation in my artwork. The samples are all in creamy blank white muslin, further giving that impression of malleability and elegance.

That's the overall beauty and draw of this book, really--it's not a project guide book. It doesn't have weekly goals like "make a funky tote bag" or "sew some ruffled curtains!". The knowledge it bestows upon you is knowledge you can use broadly, anywhere, and causes you to think creatively.

I LOVE this book!! Best thing I've bought in months, possibly years.

In the foreword, the editor mention that she kept having to give extra money to the author for more unbleached muslin fabric and after looking at this book I can understand why. This book gives detailed and readable information on manipulating fabric in ways you couldn't imagine. If I'd had this book 10 years ago when I was doing a visual arts diploma in textiles, I'd have probably used it as the focus for my work. The book concentrates on showing the techniques and leaves it to the readers imgination as to how to use them. I reckon this book would be great for art students, people who like to make unusual quilts and people who like making clothes that are a bit different.

The pictures are great. It doesn't go into enough detail in some areas and not enough pictures for others.

This book is a wonderful reference, although I wouldn't want to read it all the way through from cover to cover! It has wonderfully detailed pictures, and is as good for inspiration as it is for directions. It is true that most of these techniques seem geared towards interior decorating, or quilting, but with a bit of creativity, these methods can easily be used in the fashion industry as well!

All in all, it's a wonderful book, and I'm very glad to have it in my library!

I have been sewing and quilting for nearly 40 years, and I have taught quilting classes. When I read a review of this book I was extremely excited, and I wanted to have it immediately. However, when I opened it and started to read I was massively disappointed. Although the book provides a decent overview of major types of fabric manipulation, there are nowhere near enough photos and what photos there are often demonstrate techniques which are not detailed in the book. I found the book very hard to follow, and it seems that this is more of a reference book than a how-to book. This book could have been so much more!

The Art of Manipulating Fabric

A great book of sewing methods for any application, worth a look for designers and fabric workers of all types.

Sean

I'm really not exaggerating. Nor do I often (ever) write book reviews. I knew I wanted to do something "creative," I had tried classes in various things that were fun but not quite "there." Interior design, color theory, drawing, drafting, art history, and even two in MS Access database design! And then I saw this book in the flesh at a store and bought it on the spot (sorry Amazon!) I read it straight through, unable to put it down. Afterward, I wanted to see and own all the muslins. I wanted to put them together into sculptural objects. I wanted to know all the things that Ms. Wolff knows about fabric and sewing. I wanted more books, some fabric, and my ancient Singer. I wanted to do it having no idea where I'd end up! So beyond all the lessons in how to do particular things that the book contains, it inspired a passion in me to work with cloth. It built a fire inside me about possibilities, and I began to see the book as beckoning me to try, with cloth as the medium. I grew up as a child threading my Grandmother's needle but hadn't sewn myself since high school.
All this was two years ago, and in the interim I have been working hard on my new passion and have created (and modified many times over!) a design all of my own. I'm entering juried fiber arts shows, and selling pieces. I work on this every day. And in addition to the motivation to start, this book's details are a central reason why I could realize my design. I would not have been able to do it without one of the very last things in the book--how to create a round spherical form to an exact size by darting a flat circular piece of fabric. When I bought the book, I never knew that this part of it would make all the difference. In fact, I didn't know it until I returned to the book with my problem still pretty unformed in my mind and was able to say, now I see that *this* is what I need! So thank you, Ms. Wolff, thank you very much for investing this huge amount of your life into this book, and for inspiring and educating me, and I'm sure many others as well.

First of all, this is definetely a book for experienced sewers. The book assumes you know how to do basic and intermediate sewing, and also assumes that you are familiar with many technical terms that are not listed in the book. If you are an experienced sewer, then that should be OK.

My main issue with this book is that there is SO much information in it that it seems to be running out of room to list it all. Pages are laid out in four column formats only with black and white photos, mostly just of the finished products. It lists so much information, in fact, that I think it's more accurate to call this book an encyclopedia or a compendium on all the different techniques listed. It's really not a how-to book at all, unless you already know what you're doing.

I didn't pay too much attention to the number of pages when purchasing this book and was pleasantly surprised when I received it! Packed full of descriptive text, gorgeous examples and clear images to inspire! A useful and wonderful tool for any serious sewer, and a must-have for my library.

This book is amazing. There are so many age old techniques that are pictured and explained in detail. The possibilities are definitely endless. I highly recommend.

When I started flipping pages in this book all I could say was, "Wow". The pictures are great showing the amazing things a little bit of fabric can do.

The instructions seem clear enough, but I haven't actually tried any of the techniques yet. I am still planning my attack. There are so many different things I want to try, it's tough to decide what to do first. I have mostly been enjoying looking through the book & pondering where I could use the ones I like best. I see overlapping tucking on a bodice, smocking at the waist of a dress, darts, godets, the list is endless.

I think this book could be useful for anyone, beginner to advanced, if only for ideas. The textures created by some of the applications are just incredible.

This is not a book meant to teach hand or machine sewing. It does not have projects or project ideas. The instructions are sufficiently detailed, but not lavish. This is probably not a book for a beginner, unless you relish a challenge.

However, it's cram packed with fabulous ideas and techniques for giving shape to fabric. If you've ever wanted to truly understand pleating, smocking, ruffling, cording, or many other fabric manipulation methods, this is for you. It's an eye-opening book. All the fabric used for photos is unbleached muslin, which I like as it allows me a clean slate to visualize my own colors and designs. I plan to use several of the pleating techniques in purse making.

I checked this book out from the library, but I feel I need to own it as I'll want to refer to it often. I can't emphasize enough how inspirational I find this book.

I am willing to try anything, but I found this book to be out
of my reach. Sorry I bought it.

Hi!
I even doesn't know what it's possible to do with the fabric!!!!!Very interesting book about making 3 dimensional things with simple muslin tissue(exemple).I love it!
It's like open my mind really!!!Very good purchase! Thanks!!:-)))

First let me say that I am a simple quiltmaker. But I am a fantastic dreamer! This author has taken all of my dreams and made them come true. I cannot believe the things she does with the most common of fabrics. She sews designs and stuffs them with batting, then creates a wonderful picture with them. She pleats and ruches, too. Welting, cording, smocking, and tucking, are only a few of the lessons in her repertoire. The best way I know to describe her work is to say it's extremely varied in all areas of manipulation and is unlimited in its use. Clothing and quilts become things of great beauty when created using her methods. I recommend this book for all those who are the least bit interested in working with fabric. There are no brightly colored pictures, however. They are just not necessary here.

This is a wonderful reference book for all those interested in sewing and embellishing fabric. It's pure pleasure just looking at the pictures! I have given the book 4 stars though because, although I understand that the use of unbleached white muslin for all samples is clearly useful, I would have liked to see the pictures in color anyway, and not just in black and white. A snow-white cotton fabric over a mahogany background or something similar would have been perfect. It would have given the book the final touch of elegance and luxury which all these fabric embellishments are about anyway. A better picture resolution would have been ideal too, but maybe it's just my bad eyesight! In any case, I wholeheartedly congratulate Colette Wolff and thank her for this fantastic addition to the sewing libraries of passionate fabric/sewing lovers like myself, and I will wait for a second edition with more fabric manipulating ideas! The sky is the limit!

I am a novice sewer but have a very nice sewing machine. This book and the images just blow me away. If I cannot "get" these techniques I am going to try my best to get close for my art pieces. No, I do not make clothing, but these techniques are art in themselves. Love this book.

Amazing! Colette Wolff has presented innumerable techniques in which simple fabric may be gathered, shirred, ruffled, flounced, given godets, pleats, smocked, tucked, corded, quilted, and stuffed, and how one may use these provocative and remarkable methods of sculpting fabric using combinations of the above.

In using simple white cotton muslin, Colette presents to the student a visualization of precisely what one may expect of the diverse manipulations of fabric. A seamstress may take a plain piece of fabric and transform it into a work of art. This book is for the student who desires to go beyond simple seams. Each section is explained comprehensively and given a distinct black and white photo so that one may ascertain the accuracy of one's project.

A must-have for the serious seamstress interested in artistic needlework. Happy sewing!

In the author's words, "this is a book of ideas about sewing cloth" but what it really is, is an awesome collection of information from a thousand different sources on the techniques sewers have used since fabric was invented, to change the surface of an initially flat textile. Wolff brings little techniques of fabric manipulation from the background to the spotlight by isolating each technique, cataloging its unique features, separating the technique from end product associations, and exploring the sculptural possibilities without regard to where application will be. For any home or professional sewers who currently (or hypothetically) maintain folders of "pleating ideas," "interesting darts," or "photos of ruffles" get this book, and fast. Save yourself the chore of assimilating all the diagrams and photos and captions because Wolff has done it so thoroughly you will find yourself engrossed just reading about the humble little fabric tuck. Granted, no technique by itself makes wearable art or couture clothing, but these are the manipulations that make up the experimental stuff on the runways and in the exclusive boutiques. Learn what they do to a plain textile and you're primed to exploit fabric, for whatever purposes your little heart desires. Wolff's chapters cover: controlled crushing (gathering, shirring), supplementary fullness (making ruffles, making flounces, making godets), systematic folding (pleating, smocking, tucking), filled reliefs (cording, quilting, stuffing), structured surfaces (darts), and mixed manipulations (combinations). If you're a collector of books on dyeing or embroidery or exquisite cut, you really owe it to yourself to add this viewpoint to your library. Until the magical moment when I picked up this volume at a fabric trade show, I had no idea someone had catalogued so fanatically the world of playing with fabric. Thank goodness she has, or I might have attempted it. And as if a jam-packed reference guide isn't cause enough for celebration among fabric junkies, she's included a modest glossary, for clarity, a very helpful bibliography of books and articles, and a really thorough index that makes textbooks look carelessly written. This isn't just for garment-makers either; I can easily see applications in quilting, weaving, home decorating, wearable art, and costuming. Sewing machine recommended for most of these techniques but they could all be done by hand-sewers. I think it would most benefit the home sewer looking to spice up their wardrobe with more sophistication and interest in the fabric handling, but could also be very useful to the professional, especially in the design fields. After each time I pick up this book I find ideas bubbling to the surface on how to make my next fabric creation really pop. It's inspired several experiments and I see no end in sight.