Checking out his video tutorials, I found, for example, that Jim’s zip insertion video was much more detailed than the instructions in his book.

I would have liked more illustrations of inserting and gluing a zip using a store-bought item, rather than one made using sliders and a soldering iron. In spite of the benefits of making your own zips, people starting out may not want to invest in such supplies before knowing how much latex crafting they’ll be doing!

One thing I liked in Sian-Kate Mooney’s book was that she included garment instructions to get someone started. Quite often I’d stumble across an outfit on a night out and recognise it as one of her lessons!

But it also gave her book some direction, and allowed a new student to utilise the skills taught.

Obviously a student at Jim’s workshops will be guided and inspired to make a bespoke garment — very successfully, judging from the website student galleries. But a learner starting out alone in a remote area of the world with just this book won’t have such a luxury.

How To Make Latex Clothes is a good guide for the right materials and supplies, which will benefit readers not located in the UK. But I would have preferred it a bit meatier, and for Jim to have added a chapter or two of his excellent tutorials.

The tutorial for making leggings would be a superb addition to the book. The printed section on pattern-making is extremely good, but the omission from the book of important instructions and illustration for taking measurements, all found on his website, is a surprise.

I also think adding a chapter on how to buy latex clothes, as covered by a page on his website, would be a great boon for readers. It could save people a lot of heartache by teaching them how to be better-informed consumers.

I reckon an expanded edition of How To Make Latex Clothes could be priced much higher than the current £35, and customers would likely not balk at the higher cost. Or perhaps the additional material I’ve suggested could form the basis of a second volume.

On the whole I am really happy about this book, even if I was left wishing that a bit more of Jim’s expertise had been transferred to print from his tutorial videos.

Whether for use in conjunction with his excellent website, or better yet, to take home with you after a session at one of Jim’s actual workshops in London (which I’m hoping to report on soon in person), How To Make Latex Clothes is well worth buying.

LatexWorkshops.com   
Latex Workshops.com/Order The Book   
Latex Workshops/YouTube Tutorials