She Wears the Pants

She Wears the Pants
Gifted by Tuttle Publishing
www.tuttlepublishing.com
Reviewed by Jeanette Benoit, Editor, AllFreeSewing.com

BONUS! Enter here to win a copy of this book in the Gorgeous Sewing Pattern Collection giveaway. Contest ends 4/5/15

Dressing like a girl is super fun because not only do we get to wear feminine skirts and dresses, but we can also pull off some men's fashions, as well. Lately, baggy pants, work shirts, and other menswear-inspired fashion has been hitting the runways lately, and I kind of love it. There's just something empowering about a woman pulling off a "borrowed-from-the-boys" look.

Popular fashion design Yuko Takada apparently loves it too because she designed a whole slew of menswear-inspired sewing patterns. Inside She Wears the Pants, you'll find a sophisticated collection of sewing patterns and instructions for twenty different pieces including versatile tops (dress them up or down), timeless jackets, straight-lined dresses, various length pants (from culottes to full-length trousers), and more.

The first half of the book reads like a fashion lookbook; the first 30 pages are nothing but pictures of the clothing items and models showing them off. I always think this is super helpful because you can really get a good feel for what the patterns look like and will give you outfit inspiration on how you can incorporate these styles into your own personal wardrobe.

Once you browse at all the outfits, it's time to learn how to make them! The next few pages (in the middle of the book) go over sewing basics and techniques that will help you complete any one of these trendy sewing patterns, and the remaining section of the book includes pattern instructions for each one of the designs. Full size patterns can be found in the very back of the book.