A perfect resource for practical projects and encouraging words, 'The Crafter's Companion' is for everyone who loves the world of hand-crafts and anybody who's ever wondered what exactly there is to love about it.

    Think of a corset as a blank canvas.Linda Sparks' The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners is a comprehensive guide to building your first corset, including:Section One: Tools and Materials for Corset BuildingDiscusses the tools you'll need, plus types of steel, plastic, and textiles.Section Two: Building a CorsetEverything you need to know about working with bones and busks, setting grommets and eyelets, and creating a beautifully finished corset.Section Three: Construction TechniquesCovers all the steps, including making a modesty panel, making a mock-up, and building single layer, double layer, and fashion fabric corsets.Section Four: Alterations and FitDiscusses commercial corset patterns, as well as how to fit and style a corset for exactly the look you want.

    The "Getting Started" section will give you a great overview and help explain some things for the very beginner. Next, learn some easy stitch patterns in the section "Basic Stitches." When you're ready to try your first project, take a look at the "Potholder Patterns" section, but make sure to read the "Pattern Information & Notes" first for some important stuff that pertains to all the patterns. The ebook is also filled with photos to help you along your way.Why Potholders?Potholders are a great project to work with Tunisian crochet because:• The back/wrong side is hidden between the two layers• Tunisian crochet makes a very thick final product• Working square shapes is easy for the beginnerHave fun, and happy hooking to you!

    Claire's illustrated, step-by-step instructions let you duplicate the design details made famous in expensive ready-to-wear. Plus, Claire's timesaving patternmaking and copying methods can be used to create one-of-a-kind, original garments.Only a few simple tools and patternmaking skills are needed to copy your favorite garments.

    As a response, a vibrant Do It Yourself movement has risen to reclaim age old traditions that reconnect us to slower and simpler times. A sewing renaissance has been set in motion at a time in history when economic instability and an awareness of the importance of using sustainable resources is peaking.With this in mind, award-winning blogger Maya Donenfeld offers a guide to working with her favorite recycled materials. You’ll find linen, burlap, wool and more with details on their history, deconstruction techniques, sewing tips, and information about their environmental impact.Reinventing everyday materials into extraordinary items of beauty and utility for the modern home and family will excite new and experienced sewers alike. To add an element of personalization, Maya draws on her experience leading print workshops to share easy methods for transforming gently-used fabric with paint and ink. Stenciling templates and thorough instructions are provided, as well as encouragement to invent your own designs. Stories, a favorite recipe, and nature activity are tucked between and around the projects to offer the reader an invitation to slow down, and create with intention.

    Now in The Zentangle Untangled Workbook, you'll get enough Zentangle instruction and inspiration to last all year long. Filled with dozens of new tiles and four never-before seen tangles designed especially for this book, you'll be using Zentangle in ways you never dreamed. Create shapes, letterforms, borders, even Zendalas as you master each new tangle, all while reducing stress through the intentional act of creating repetitive patterns. Perfect for artists of all levels, this workbook will immerse you in a daily meditation of Zentangle. Insides you'll find: Seven step-by-step demonstrations to help you get started. Inspiration and guidance on how to use those tangles to create unique and beautiful tiles throughout the year. More than 400 blank or partially started tiles so you can practice all year inside this book and without the fear of the blank page. It's time to tangle!

    Albright takes readers on a rich journey through the joys of all-natural fibers - materials that can make an incredible difference, both in your knitting and in the health of our planet.

    Incorporating the finest elements of Scandinavian crafting traditions, inspiration is taken from a range of backgrounds including classic folk art, as well as more contemporary sources. These delightful designs, each with clear step-by-step instructions and beautiful photography, will have you itching to get stitching. Arranged into five chapters, the projects work with a wide variety of fabrics: there are adorable fleece and felt baby bootees finished with French knots, classic embroidered gingham napkins, and a striped machine-embroidered apron. A wide range of techniques are employed, including appliqué, cut work, patchwork, decorative machine stitching, shadow work, and ribbon work. Basic stitches such as herringbone, cross stitch, Danish knots, blanket stitch, and satin stitch are also used to great effect. Simplicity is always at the heart of Clare’s designs, and with step-by-step artworks and such clear instructions, anyone can have a go and will be surprised how quickly beautiful pieces can be made.

    Walker, author of Treasury of Knitting Patterns.Elizabeth Zimmerman once wrote, "So please bear with me, and put up with my opinionated, nay, sometimes cantankerous attitude. I feel strongly about knitting." Perhaps her passionate opinions, as well as her love of wool craft and her delightful style, hark back to her English upbringing or long residence in the Wisconsin woods; in any case, the "Busy Knitter," as she calls herself, is one of the most charming and informative, as well as "un"ventive (her word) knitter-authors anywhere. This book gives full scope to her tireless imagination through a year's worth of projects, fitted to the seasons, moods, and needs of knitters who would like to design their own work.The year begins with an Aran sweater and proceeds to February baby things, a March Shetland, April blanket, May mittens, and so on through the months, completing the zodiac with November moccasin socks and a December last-minute wishbone sweater. Projects are completed in the midst of canoe trips, fishing expeditions, travel, and snowstorms. The author continuously comments on the project, its history, other ancient and modern customs, and personal beliefs.Mrs. Zimmerman works step by step with the reader, suggesting alternative methods and ideas as she goes. Her patterns are "classic," historically suited to wool, thus remaining ever-fashionable as well as tasteful and attractive. The knitter may easily adapt the designs at will, creating new, individual projects. Mrs. Zimmerman's hints (such as how to measure gauge when working a pattern and tips for baby's items) help ease the way and will instruct even the most experienced knitter. This corrected edition of the Knitter's Almanac will provide at the very least a year's worth of knitting pleasure to intermediate and advanced knitters and may even help stimulate a knitting passion.

    As a finishing touch for all your handmade garments or a great pick-me-up for a vintage find, these lovely blooms are the perfect way to use up scraps of yarn or try out interesting new yarns.Breeze through this gorgeous collection featuring a colorful palette of simple spiraling roses, saucer-sized poppies, delicate lilacs, an assortment of vegetables, and more. All are shown full-size and in scale and is complete with stitched leaves and embroidered stems. Each flower pattern has full instructions, yarn requirements, and a suggested skill level. An additional section serves as a refresher course with basic techniques and provides inspiration for embellishing your finished flowers with beads, buttons, and sequins. You can also learn how to use the flowers in a range of fun projects, from customizing clothing and accessories, to decorating gift-wrapped packages.This book will inspire all knitters and crocheters to pick up their needles and start creating their own beautiful blooms.

    In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.

    Add to that a sense of fun, and you have the sew-it-yourself Stylish Dress Book. Complete with stunning full-color photos, this Japanese sewing book (in English) gives you instructions and pull-out patterns for unique Japanese fashion—26 relaxed and comfortable yet elegant dresses and tops—pretty, timeless pieces that can be worn year after year, by women of all ages and sizes. The detailed diagrams and easy-to-follow instructions take you step-by-step from layout to finished garment. The no-rules looks pictured in this book are perfect for today's carefree fashion sensibility and will inspire you to have fun with fabric and style. Simple lines make these garments perfect for women of all ages and all sizes. This book includes a complete western-sized sewing pattern for each design that is easily adjusted to fit your body form. The concise diagrams and simple instructions allow you to develop your unique style with ease and confidence.

    Transform tacky bridesmaid gowns and pleated pants into picture-perfect tops, skirts and accessories. The two Melissas and a Hope deliver 30 great projects that are achievable for even the new sewer. "Subversive Seamster" is your secret roadmap to the jewels of thrifting and the ins and outs of refashioning. This book has shortcuts, tips, and secrets to the wide world of inexpensive, individualized fashion. Our clothes make a statement about who we are. What better way to say, "I am an individual!" than to wear one-of-a-kind items made out of other one-of-a-kind items? We derive the most fashionable satisfaction knowing that we are reusing and recycling what already exists in this material world--and looking darn good doing it!

    There's a Russian Shawl Quilt, inspired by traditional motifs of Russian folk art, a Floral Frocks Quilt inspired by summer dresses, flower gardens and herbaceous borders and a Suits and Ties Quilt reusing sober woollen suiting contrasting with extravagant silk ties designed in an Irish Chain.Finally, a practical section covers all the knowledge you’ll need – from chainpiecing, hand-quilting and sandwiching to binding, storage and caring for your quilt. Armed with the design tools, you can embark on your quilting journey and begin creating your own personal masterpiece.

    Using step-by-step directions and irresistible photography, Bonnie shows you how to master this intricate technique to make: Sophisticated sweaters, ponchos and shawls Stylish hats, scarves, and gloves A hip messenger bag with a contrasting fabric liner and a snappy shrug that's perfect for a night out with friends Celtic Cable Crochet even includes a visual stitch dictionary that takes the guesswork out of each pattern. From start to finish, this all-in-one guide will get you hooked on crocheting contemporary, Celtic-inspired stitches.