The Handsewn Wardrobe

A Complete Guide to Making Your Own Clothes from Patternmaking to the Finishing Stitches

Contributors

By Louisa Owen Sonstroem

Formats and Prices

Price

$25.00

Price

$32.99 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. ebook $25.00 $32.99 CAD
  2. Hardcover $35.00 $45.00 CAD

Discover the slow, quiet joy of sewing clothes by hand in this one-of-kind guide. 

Featuring step-by-step, illustrated instructions, this hand-sewing course-in-a-book shows you how to create nine wardrobe staples, including a t-shirt, button-up, and jeans, using simple hand-sewing and hand-stitching techniques. Author Louisa Owen Sonstroem shares her sustainable, empowering, and portable craft with gentle encouragement and guidance. 

Sewists of all experience levels will learn how to: 
  • Draft a pattern to fit custom measurements. 
  • Select and cut fabric.
  • Make nine pieces of clothing with simple hand-sewing techniques.
  • Construct each garment without using a sewing machine. 

On Sale
Aug 5, 2025
Page Count
344 pages
Publisher
Storey
ISBN-13
9781635866278

Louisa Owen Sonstroem

About the Author

Louisa Owen Sonstroem is a maker, illustrator, educator, and technical designer. She studied design and patternmaking at Fashion Institute of Technology and pattern drafting at RISD and MassArt. She has worked in the garment industry as a technical designer at Macy’s and Eileen Fisher. She teaches hand sewing and patternmaking classes and is the founder of Patternmaking in Public Places (PIPP), a project seeking to democratize access to patternmaking skills. She is the author of the self-published book, Hand Sewing Clothing: A Guide.

Learn more about this author