Strawberry by Emily
Jenny Ryan, projects editor of Craft:, wants to share her love of sewing with you through her book Sew Darn Cute. Her motto is:
There is no right or wrong way to approach sewing.
That’s a good thing, because my square bear below (p. 98) looks more like a square bat and darn it, if it’s not lovable.
Layout and Illustrations
Cafe Curtain by Jen
Jen of Jen’s World! found:
The layout is very common to books on sewing. I love the colors and textures that are added amongst the directions. The different fonts, colors, borders, and textures keep the text from becoming boring. I was extremely happy with the amount of pictures that went along with each project.
I have to agree with her. The book is pretty and easy on the eyes. It has a Tools and Techniques section followed by five chapters filled with projects (Pretties, Totables, Nest, Kid Stuff, Crafties). I would have liked some more step-by-step illustrations though. For example, the Square Bear could have profited from an illustration of how to put the body, ears, arms, and legs together.
Lovable Bat by Simone
Julia of Mother of Michael just got the book!
Well, the book FINALLY arrived from the library. Not enough time to make anything, but I did read it!
It’s a lovely, sweet book. There are a couple of things in here that I would like to make: square bear and the crochet hook pouch look great and I would really like to make the eyeglass case. Her directions appear to be well written and clear. The one tip that I really appreciated and will use is the magic tape trick for making tidy lines. Simple as it seems, I never would have thought of that!
There’s just something about this book that makes me feel good. Maybe it’s the way it begins with the picture of Jenny Ryan looking so pleased with her Sew Perfect Christmas gift! (I wonder if a picture of Bobby Flay holding his Easy Bake Oven at age 10 would make me like his cookbooks any better?)
Instructions
I have to confess the book is growing on me. When I first got it I thought “Oh look, another tote bag, zipper pouch, and cute stuffed animal book.” But as I am leafing through the tools section again, I’m discovering interesting tools (magnetic seam guide) and and am reminded of good ideas (clean your machine - d’you think that’s why my thread got tangled?). What I like best about the projects is that they leave lots of room for variation and improvisation. You can turn to the basic wristlet pattern and then create a personalized piece of art with embellishments, appliques, and wacky fabrics.
With regard to the instructions, I think I’m dense, or need more rest, or I’m reading them too fast; but I had to re-read the steps several times to figure out what I had to do. For instance, Step 3 of the needle book requires you to center a ribbon. To remember what that ribbon was for, I had to turn back the page to a picture of some sort of thread spool holder included in the design. Again, a tiny illustration would have taken care of my initial confusion. In the end, I skipped the ribbon part.
Needle Book by Simone
As for my lovable bat, I just figured out why its extremities turned out so huge. I enlarged all the pattern pieces by 200%. Guess what, the ears/paws weren’t supposed to be enlarged. A little attentive reading goes a long way.
Jen pays better attention. She said
I loved how simple and basic the instructions were. In the beginning of the book you can find tools and techniques that are written so that even the casual crafter can follow along. I really appreciated the tips and variations that she added to each project.
Conclusion
I’m always excited when I learn a new technique. In putting together the bear, ahem bat, I learned to use interfacing as pattern pieces. I copied the bear pattern onto the interfacing, ironed it onto the fabric, and cut out the pieces. It was also very easy to embroider the face onto the bear following the the markings on the interfacing.
Jen really liked the book a lot and already has a whole list of items she’s planning on making like the necklace tank, the apple tree fabric collage, and the wrist pincushion. Alas, someone put a hold on the book at here library and she has to impatiently wait her turn again. I enjoyed it and will put it on my frequently-to-be-used shelf.
If you want to join the discussion, just add a comment and add your project to our Flickr Group. If you can’t participate in this discussion, but would like to be part of a future meeting, please leave a comment with a book suggestion.
Next Book
For the next meeting I’m currently eyeing:
Switch Craft by Alison Lewis
Button It Up by Susan Beal
Sewing Green by Betz White
The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin
If you have any other ideas, please let me know and I’ll include it in the poll I’ll put together by the end of the week to vote for the next book.
