Here is a list of the books people have suggested for the book club in the past with product descriptions from Amazon. I thought we could take a vote on which two books to discuss at the next meetings, so vote for your favorite in the side bar. The vote will stay open until the end of day of December 14. The next book club will meet on Wednesday, February 4th.
Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew, Amy Karol
Author Amy Karol, whose Angry Chicken is one of the best-loved craft blogs on the Web, brings stitchers everywhere a down-to-earth introduction to sewing, including thirty projects so adorable and cool they’ll inspire anyone to pick up a needle and thread.
Written with Amy’s characteristic warmth and flair, you’ll find information on basic equipment and supplies, advice on choosing and using fabrics, and a fantastic section on techniques. In addition, Amy walks readers through easy, inspiring patterns designed for the fashion-savvy crafter. Playful, modern projects, which include pillows, aprons, and purses, help novices master sewing skills while providing immediate sewing gratification—and confidence. Best of all, Amy explains what’s easy, what’s hard, and when not to sweat the small stuff.
CRAFTIVITY— 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle, Tsia Carson
From the creators of the hugely popular craft site, Supernaturale.com, comes a hip and funky compendium of new DIY projects that reshape, reuse, and redefine the concept of “handmade,” moving away from country–cutesy, granny craft into utilitarian craft art for the 21st century.
Got a pile of extra buttons and don’t know what to do with them? Make a cool bracelet. Need some pillows for your new couch, and have a bunch of old wool sweaters? Turn those sweaters into felt! Knitting, felting, leather tooling, glass and metal work––it’s all here. CRAFTIVITY is filled with 60 amazing DIY projects that make the most of what you have by taking old stuff and turning it into functional, breathtaking art.
Warm Fuzzies, Betz White
Warm Fuzzies is filled with techniques, tips and patterns for creating over 30 cute and colorful felted items made from cast-away sweaters, including cozy pillows and throws as well as comfortable hats, scarves, pincushions and handbags. There’s something to make for everybody in this book, including four-legged friends. Your pup will look adorable in the Haute Dawg Doggie Sweater with an applique dog in a bun on the back. And kitties will flip for the sunflower-shaped cat bed with an attached mouse toy. You’ll also find lots of cozy hats, fabulous bags and clothes for little ones, too. Any little guy would love the Robot Sweater Vest, and your favorite princess would adore wearing the Teacup Jumper with the playful mouse finger puppet in the pocket. The best thing about these projects is how easy they are to make…and there’s no knitting involved! Simply throw old wool sweaters into the wash to make fabulous felted material, then cut the pieces apart and use them to make felted goodies. Start with the sweet Cupcake Pincushion–they’re so easy, and so very cute!
Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals, Therese Laskey
Stirred by the Japanese craze for plush toys called “softies,” veteran crafter Therese Laskey commissioned acclaimed artists from around the world to create projects to share. From Japan to Israel to Chile to Texas, each artist brings a wicked sense of fun to the 25 cute, weird, edgy, or artful creations offered here: a cupcake pincushion; delicate snow bunnies; a peculiar robot; and many more quirky creatures. Cheeky photos, easy instructions, and ready-to-use pattern sheets make it a cinch to whip up these irresistible gifts. Best of all, a folder at back holds the patterns while spiral binding makes for craft-friendly use.
Get Real Greetings: Creating Cards for Your Sassiest Sentiments, Jessica Strawser
Forget sweet and sappy…
Celebrate the ups and downs of real life with these sassy greeting cards.
Did your best girlfriend get a speeding ticket, get dumped and get fired, all in the same week? Or did she just introduce you to her hot new boyfriend who just happens to be a masseuse? Too bad there are no sections in the greeting card aisles for those occasions!
Get Real Greetings picks up where store-bought cards and traditional card-making books leave off. You’ll find something here for all the non-occasions of everyday life–with cards covering everything from “The Usual Crap” to “The Joys of Womanhood”–as well as snarky new twists on more tried-and-true topics. Choose from 70+ fabulous card designs, plus dozens of bonus unsentimental sentiments to mix and match with your favorites. Simple instructions make it easy to create these fresh and funny cards whenever inspiration (in the form of a girlfriend’s triumph or tragedy) strikes.
MAKING STUFF: An Alternative Craft Book, Ziggy Hanaor
The type of craft detailed in Making Stuff is a far cry from the usual macramed pot holders and crocheted baby booties. It is an eclectic mix of useful, funky, beautiful and outright weird things ranging from bread lampshades to denim skirts.
The first section of the book will explain the basics: how to knit, how to sew, how to do woodwork, how to make paper mache, how to embroider and cross-stitch and how to bake. The rest of the book will be a series of instructions and ideas that anyone can realize in their own home. Some of the ideas are: make a pinhole camera; knit a wrap; make a covered bead necklace; turn a pair of jeans into a denim skirt; knit a bikini; bake a lampshade; cross-stitched braces; make a sock monkey; make cool costumes; make dollhouse furniture.
These recipes and projects will be subdivided into sections according to the type of craft they fit into: knitting and needlework; for and with children; weird and wonderful; and creative recycling.
Bazaar Bizarre: Not Your Granny’s Craft Book, Greg Der Ananian
The desire to stand out with quirky, handmade, one-of-a-kind fashion has created a huge new crowd of hip young crafters hungry for ideas. In Bazaar Bizarre, Greg Der Ananian, founder of the bi-coastal craft fair of the same name, combines a variety of how-to projects from radical crafters on his bazaar circuit. Speaking to everyone from alternateens to hipster thirtysomethings with an irreverent retro-chic attitude, this book is for those looking to put an edge on the things that grandma used to make. Bazaar Bizarre offers smart, subversive inspiration unavailable from traditional crafting books and patterns, appealing not only to the nostalgia for folk expression of previous generations, but also to the popular DIY attitude of the young and stylish. From silk painting to quilting and bookbinding, projects such as Anarchy Soap and Vinyl Record Cuffs teach basic skills of popular crafts and offer tips on how to creatively customize with thrift store purchases. Readers will love Der Ananian’s sardonic commentary, “Craftoids,” about the history of crafting, punk- rock crosswords, funky finger-food recipes, and musical play lists.
Rubbish! Kate Shoup
Want to know what goodies you can make with your garbage? This book shows you how to give everyday household items a new life the hip craftster’s way. You’ll discover how to complete more than 30 creative projects using materials you already have at your disposal, while reducing trash and upcycling your personal style. From a credit card bracelet to a map photo frame, this fun guide shows you how to create truly one-of-a-kind pieces—one earth-friendly project at a time.
Simple Sewing, Lotta Jansdotter
Internationally celebrated designer Lotta Jansdotter collects 24 of her most popular sewing patterns into one irresistible collection. Our innovative packaging makes for easy use reusable pattern sheets are neatly tucked into a folder inside this full-color, lay-flat spiral bound book. Lotta has included patterns for handy tote bags, smart aprons, chic bed linens, and much more. Each project is paired with step-by-step instructions, charming photographs, inspiring design ideas, and helpful, hand-drawn how-to illustrations everything you need to make whimsical pieces for the home and beyond. Best of all, there’s nothing complicated about the projects. Never has simplicity looked so sophisticated.
Simple Gifts to Stitch, Jocelyn Worrall
Sewing star Jocelyn Worrall relies on simple, intuitive techniques that provide elegant results for beginners and experts alike. She’ll show you how to create unique gifts—from sophisticated to funky—by taking a fresh approach to working with fabrics as diverse as linen, oilcloth, and even rickrack. The variety of projects in Simple Gifts to Stitch allows you to tailor each gift to your time frame and tastes, with ideas for every occasion:
Re-Creative: 50 Projects for Turning Found Items Into Contemporary Design, Steve Dodds
This unique book inspires art, creation, and environmentalism with 50 projects that transform yesterday’s trash into today’s stylish and useful objects. Using found, discarded, and cast-off items as a foundation-from old computer cases, soda cans, and record album covers to foam packing-readers can fashion stylish clocks, end tables, frames, and much more.
The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts: Fifty Fabulous Projects from the Fifties and Sixties, Leah Kramer
You’ll find no die-cut teddy bears, cross-stitched friendship plaques, and ducks painted with bonnets in THE CRAFTSTER GUIDE. A hip collection of easy-to-make, fun-to-wear, and stylish-to-display crafts from the fifties and sixties, it features 50 projects culled from vintage craft publications, including more than 10 new retro-inspired projects. This unabashedly tacky craft compendium includes clear instructions, tools and techniques, and enough irony to fill a popsicle-stick purse.
Handmade Modern: Mid-Century Inspired Projects for Your Home, Todd Oldham
Love the look of mid-century, modern, retro design, but don’t feel like dropping two weeks’ pay on an Eames chair? In Handmade Modern, Todd Oldham shares his passion for mid-century modern homes with over 52 do-it-yourself projects for anyone who loves crafts and longs to add character to every corner of his or her home.
