I learned to sew from my mother's copy of Fryer's Easy Steps in Sewing for big and little girls or Adventures among the Thimble People. That book has been reissued in paper back fairly recently. I highly recommend the Womens Institute of Domestic Arts Correspondence school booklets - they are very useful. I found mine on EBay. I also treasure all of my sewing manuals from the 1930s - many ideas there.