On Friendships and Corduroy

I'm not sure how many of you know my friend Stephanie, we have been blog friends for years and last year when I was at Quilt Market we got to meet in real life. Yes, there were better photos but this one is my favourite.

Stephanie and I email each other a bit and we talk about life stuff and bloggy stuff and dog stuff and for a while now we have also been talking book stuff. 

Stephanie's book Uncommonly Corduroy has recently been released with Martingale. Now that I have my very own copy I have to share it with you.

I love this book! One of the things I often find with craft books is that they lack personality. They might be chock full of projects and brilliant instructions but they could all have been written by the same person.

So I was so pleased when I got Stephanie's book and thought - it sounds just like her !!! Every project has a little description explaining why it was made or how it got its name and I couldn't help but smile as I read them.

This quilt is Fairlane and Stephanie writes "Dad drove a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 for more than 40 years before selling his beloved car. That was the car of my childhood. Dad's cars were always white with black interior - classy, just like Dad." 

The solid black in this quilt is corduroy. This is one of my favourite quilts along with the first one below.

 "Images from Uncommonly Corduroy by Stephanie Dunphy, Martingale, 2014; used by permission. Photo by Brent Kane. All rights reserved."

Its called Plenty of Raindrops and the green just kills me  - I love it. 

Stephanies book has heaps of large clear diagrams, making it look like even I could whip up one of these quilts or bags. You know, maybe its an age thing but I really like big pictures in books.

The book itself is beautiful. Glossy with gorgeous large photos and step by step instructions. Its clear , uncluttered and fresh. It has 17 projects including some really cute bags - The one above is called "I Heart Dresdens" There is a great section on working with corduroy but of course all the patterns work without it just a beautifully. 

I am so excited that my friend has written this book - and as always so very overwhelmed that this little blog opened the door to this crazy wonderful life of craft and crafty mates. 

I borrowed these photos from Stephanie's blog and also from her Supreme friend Candace's blog -

You can find out what was going on in that first photo if you read here.

You can check out Stephanie's book on Martingale or Amazon . 

Corduroy- it's not just for pants !

Sewing Tales: a book review

OK, so lets begin by saying I don't really review toy making books (I don't tend to buy them either). I get all crunchy undies about it and worried that I might "borrow" other people's techniques or ideas so I stay well clear of it all. (and lets be honest there's enough insanity in my own head without adding too much more to the mix). A while ago though,  I met Kerry Goulder on Instagram, and we became insta-friends, so when she asked me to take part in her book blog hop I was happy to say yes (and I am glad I did)

Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love is a brand new release containing 18 whimsical toys, each with a little story (you know how much that appeals to me). Even before I received the book I knew I had to make Morton the Turtle. The book is peopled with gnomes and mice and magic mushrooms.

I chose Morton because of his interesting construction and my abiding love of  turtlefolk- can you see his turtle body actually slips in there under the bottom of his shell? I was a bit worried, thinking I had chosen the most difficult toy in the book but in just under three hours - he was finished. Everything works and fits together perfectly.

I love his underneath so much !

Each toy has step by step photos and clear concise instructions.  The bummer for some people might be the lack of full size pattern pieces (you need to enlarge them on the photocopier). In the end those kind of things come down to the book production cost and really a bit of money at the photocopier is not too bad when you get 18 patterns for the cost of the book.

There is plenty to learn from in this book, Kerry has a very different instruction style to me and also a really new-to-me way with embroidering eyes. There is also a great way to draw larger pattern pieces on a corner fold (That actually took me a minute or two to work out), that i haven't seen before.

If you would like to follow along the blog hop, there are lots of people posting their projects and if you are instafriendly you can follow the hashtag #sewingtalesbookbloghop

MONDAY: Nov 4th

Mollie Johanson – Wild Olive

Jessica Fediw – Happy Together

Abby Glassenberg – While She Naps

Jennet Jones-Rau – Feathered Nest Studio

TUESDAY: Nov 5th
Sabra Gubler – Sew a Straight Line
Amber Carillo – One Shabby Chick
Caroline Hulse – Sew Caroline
Amy Friend – During Quiet Time

WEDNESDAY: Nov 6th
Miranda Anderson – One Little Minute
Andrea Taddicken – Knitty Bitties Sews
Kristi McDonough – Schnitzel & Boo
Terri Harlan – Sew Fantastic

THURSDAY: Nov 7th
Shari Butler – Doo Hikey Designs
Jodie Carleton – RicRac
Jen Goode – 100 Directions
Justine Henshaw – Sew Justine Sew

FRIDAY: Nov 8th

Emily Levey – Strawberry Patch Ramblings

Nicke Cutler – Kiss Kiss Quilt

Cathe Holden – Just Something I Made

Kate Henderson – Two Little Banshees

Thanks to Fiskars, Dritz, Fairfield, Bosal, Free Spirit, and F+W Media for the box of goodies that were sent all the people participating. I told Kerry not to bother sending it all to me (postage to Australia was a bit obscene) and I didn't want to be "paid" to participate, but she sent it anyway. (She's kinda nice like that)

So, of course I am going to share it with you guys. All you need to do to enter is pop over and have a look at   Sewing Tales  and let me know which project you like the look of to be entered.

The winner will be picked at random and they will get all the goodies plus a signed copy of the book (with a smudge on page 49 where the cat stood on it while I was reading the instructions- sorry)

Giveaway, review, sale

Just before Christmas (shocking timing) Penguin sent me an advance copy of Sew Step by Step by Alison Smith to have a look at and review.

In a nutshell, I was pretty tempted to keep this book. Its like one of those old -fashioned compendiums of sewing. It covers heaps of stuff and EVERY technique has photos - which personally is just right for me. I need to "see' what is being explained.

For example, The zip section alone covers:

How to shorten a zip

Marking for zip placement

Lapped zip

Open-ended zip

Centred zip

Concealed or invisible zip (with nine photos just for this type of zip)

Did I mention comprehensive ?

The book starts with a breakdown of sewing equipment and then a section on different fabrics that is quite fascinating, detailing the properties of each fabric and its suitability for different projects, what size needles to use - everything.

The book is available in Australia at the end of this month and has a RRP of $29.99

I'll be buying a copy, not that I sew a lot of garments but as a reference tool, I think this book is worth it. You can go here to see some more about the book.

In fact this book pointed out to me how much I don't know about sewing. All the explanations for the little signs on commercial patterns were a complete eye opener !

Of course, because even though I would have liked to keep this one, it is being given away. No jumping through hoops or twitterbooking will help, just leave a comment and make sure you are contactable through your comment.

And in a fit of organisation I re-opened my Etsy shop today and reduced all my pattern stock to $10 and $5 dollars. Jump on over and grab a few, I'll keep it open for two weeks and then I think I'll be having a little Etsy rest - so get 'em while you can compadre's.