Picking up where the celebrated Alabama Stitch Book left off, Alabama Studio Style is a craft and lifestyle book all in one.   Here Chanin shares many more of her stitching, stenciling, and beading methods and applies them to twenty extraordinary clothing and home décor projects, each made with organic or recycled materials and designed with “haute homespun” flair. Along with the company’s celebrated camisole and tank dresses, the featured projects include skirts, scarves, pillows, woven chair seats, and a stenciled scrap-wood table. Rounding out the book are recipes for three delicious party menus. Alabama Studio Style shows us that true style encompasses not only what we wear, how we decorate, and what we eat, but also how we care for our environment. Praise for Alabama Studio Style “Transform organic or recycled materials into clothing or home décor items with haute homespun flair.” —Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More magazine

    EllynAnne’s enthusiasm for these textile artifacts dances across the pages as she muses on aprons in the kitchen; housework aprons; aprons worn by America’s waitresses, butchers, and maids; barbecue aprons; children’s aprons; holiday and dress-up aprons; and the sassy variety that are equal parts smooch and sizzle. She dishes on fabrics and adornments; aprons as custom gifts; and collecting, displaying and preserving aprons. She shares tidbits of advice and recipes, along with her favorite apron stories, gathered from apron wearers everywhere like ripe cherries in the lap of her own apron.The Apron Book is loaded with fabulous four-color photographs of the author’s vintage apron collection, plus the images of apron lovers past and present. You’ll also find four basic apron patterns—the waist apron, the bib apron, the smock apron, and a little girl’s apron—plus a host of variations for sewers of any skill level. As a bonus, the bib apron pattern is packaged separately and tucked inside the book!There is no other book like The Apron Book, which celebrates the humble yet lovely apron and the spirit of the men and women who once wore them, while providing the inspiration and tools to reinvent aprons for the here and now.According to EllynAnne, “Aprons don’t hold us back, they take us back “ — the very reason for the apron’s status as today’s hottest collectible.

    Filled with gorgeous project photography and quirky vintage illustrations that bring the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, and beyond to life, Sew Retro celebrates sewing yesterday and today.Learn more about Sew Retro and enjoy bonus projects and tutorials at www.sewretrothebook.com!

    Each seasonal project, specially designed to promote health, creativity, relationships and more, provides gentle inspiration to live your best life. When Ishida was diagnosed with a chronic illness and lost her corporate job, she thought her life was over. But these challenges ended up being the best thing that ever happened to her because they forced her to take stock of her life and focus on the important things, and enabled her to rediscover sewing--her true passion.   Inspired to succeed at just one thing, Ishida vowed to sew all of her daughter's clothes (and most of her own) for one year. Sewing Happiness includes 20 projects plus variations (including Japanese-inspired home goods and children’s and women’s clothing) organized by season, and stitched together with Ishida’s charming personal story.

    Acting as a kind of fashion anthropologist, she documents and decodes the sartorial sensibilities of Americans across the country. Our fashion choices, she argues, contain a riot of visual cues that tell everyone instantly who we are, where we came from, where we feel we belong, what we want, where we are going, and how we expect to be treated when we get there. With this philosophy in hand, she tackles and unpacks the meaning behind the uniforms of Washington DC politicians and their wives, the costumes of Kentucky Derby spectators, the attractive draw of the cowboy hat in Wyoming, and what she terms the "stealth wealth" of distressed clothing in Brooklyn.In this smart and rollicking book, Wilson illustrates how every closet is a declaration of the owner’s politics, sexuality, class, education, hopes, and dreams. With her signature wit and utterly irreverent humor, Wilson proves that, by donning our daily costume, we create our future selves, for good or ill. Indeed: your fate hangs in your closet. Dress wisely.

    Alexis had just ended a four-year run at eBay during the dotcom boom and bust. Alexandra had just spent three years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Now they were entering the country’s top training ground for future titans of Wall Street and the Fortune 500.  Little did either suspect that five years later, they’d become famous not in finance or consulting or corporate management, but at the bleeding-edge intersection of fashion and technology.Gilt Groupe – launched by Alexis, Alexandra, and three colleagues in 2007 – is one of the most fascinating startups of recent years, with a valuation of more than $1 billion. And it all began with one bold idea: to bring sample sales online and change the way millions shop.As Alexis and Alexandra write about the day Gilt.com went live: “We had created a website that could potentially change the rules of retail, for both shoppers and brands. If shopping was traditionally a slow, leisurely activity that might consume an entire day, it would now be competitive, addictive, urgent, thrilling—a rush delivered at the same time each day. Shopping would become not just easier, but so much fun.”But turning that vision into reality wasn’t easy. Designers had long controlled their own sample sales by staging them in anonymous, makeshift locations and strictly limiting invitations. Those lucky enough to hear about a Marc Jacobs or Hermès sample sale would drop everything and run for dramatic, fleeting bargains. Why should elite brands support a new startup trying to replicate the experience online?And even if brands like Valentino, Christian Louboutin, and Zac Posen got on board, would shoppers embrace such a website? Would the kind of people who love high-end fashion really visit a new online sale each day? Was “accessible luxury” a breakthrough idea or an absurd oxymoron?Alexis and Alexandra share their perspective in this dramatic story of Gilt’s birth, rise, and evolution. They show how they juggled the conflicting needs of their suppliers, engineers, marketers, and potential investors. They explain how they blended their individual strengths and weaknesses and managed their rapidly growing team. They cover the growing pains of expanding into new categories like housewares, travel, and menswear. And they take us through the darkest moments of the recession when Gilt might easily have died.As you’ll learn from the true story of Gilt, anything is possible for those with the creativity to recognize a new opportunity and the perseverance to make it real.

    On her own for the first time working as a Macy’s sewing department clerk, Annie catches the eye of a salesman at the Butterick Pattern Company. Through determination, hard work, and God’s leading, Annie discovers a hidden gift: she is a talented fashion designer—an artist of the highest degree. As she runs from ghosts of the past and focuses on the future, Annie enters a creative world that takes her to the fashion houses of Paris and into a life of adventure, purpose, and love.

    Learn how to make different kinds of seams, hems, fasteners and bindings, as well as when and why to use each kind. Find your perfect signature style with fanciful finishing techniques like ruffles, pleats, ribbons and applique.

    In this follow-up to the wildly popular Bend-the-Rules Sewing you will see how easy it is to alter fabric, making and using your own custom stamps; make stencils that will totally transform totes and tees; rescue tired clothes with a new dye job; and use appliqués to spruce up anything that needs a little TLC. With Amy’s familiar, friendly tone and valuable advice, you’ll see every piece of fabric as blank canvas for your artistic vision!

    This playful and thoroughly researched handbook examines the key styles and subcultures past and present: sailor-suited gangsters, Pippi Longstockings risen from the dead, girls in blackface, teens sporting giant hamster costumes, and more. Each fashion profile is packed with photos and illustrations, history, ideal boyfriends, and must-have items. Also included are a gatefold evolutionary fashion chart, resources, and makeup tips. At last, an in-depth guide to what the girls are wearingand why on earth they're wearing it.

    It's chic. It's all yours. The T-Revolution continues. From FASHION: Get It Twisted tank top. Madame Butterfly halter. My Way or the Thigh Way leggings. To STUFF: toddler hat and cat toys, wine totes, laptop sleeves, and the Ants Go Marching picnic blanket. Plus the greenest grocery tote ever. The author of the bestselling Generation T offers up 120 new ideas to reclaim, resuscitate, and refashion the humble T-shirt—that's right, like the ones you have at the back of your closet—into something completely new. • A quarter of the projects are no sew, and a primer explains the techniques, including braiding, knotting, twisting, sizing, embellishing, and simple stitching. • Plus throw your very own Tee Party (suggested playlists included).

    This spiral-bound book lays flat for easy reference and features full-color photographs of 16 sample skirts, with illustrated step-by-step instructions for completing each one. Encouraging you to experiment with bold patterns and unique fabrics, Francesca DenHartog and Carole Ann Camp provide simple guidelines for translating body measurements into panel dimensions. Create a custom-tailored wardrobe that fits perfectly and showcases your unique and personal style.

    But when she opens a dressmaking boutique in the turn-of-the-century farmhouse she inherited, Harlow senses an inexplicable "presence". Her old friend Josie orders a gown for her upcoming wedding, but when Josie's boss turns up dead, Harlow has to find the killer-with a little help from beyond.

    And with this one skill and some basic guidance, television host and crafty expert Brett Bara demonstrates how you can make custom home decor, stylish fashions, and one-of-a-kind gifts.Sewing in a Straight Line is a step-by-step guide to creating 28 deceptively simple projects that look like they came from a chic boutique—far more impressive than you would expect for such little effort! These easy-to-make items offer quick gratification that even the busiest among us will appreciate. From a flirty two-hour miniskirt to the cutest plush toys, many of the projects take only a spare afternoon.With Brett's eye for fresh, modern style and her encouraging advice, sewing couldn't be easier. So break out your needle and thread, fire up your machine, and get creative. A world of handmade possibilities is a few easy stitches away!

    Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it's common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives.Almost a decade ago, weaver and natural dyer Rebecca Burgess developed a project focused on wearing clothing made from fiber grown, woven, and sewn within her bioregion of North Central California. As she began to network with ranchers, farmers, and artisans, she discovered that even in her home community there was ample raw material being grown to support a new regional textile economy with deep roots in climate change prevention and soil restoration. A vision for the future came into focus, combining right livelihoods and a textile system based on economic justice and soil carbon enhancing practices. Burgess saw that we could create viable supply chains of clothing that could become the new standard in a world looking to solve the climate crisis.In Fibershed readers will learn how natural plant dyes and fibers such as wool, cotton, hemp, and flax can be grown and processed as part of a scalable, restorative agricultural system. They will also learn about milling and other technical systems needed to make regional textile production possible. Fibershed is a resource for fiber farmers, ranchers, contract grazers, weavers, knitters, slow-fashion entrepreneurs, soil activists, and conscious consumers who want to join or create their own fibershed and topple outdated and toxic systems of exploitation..