30 detailed and easy-to-follow patterns for garments and accessories are presented including a slimming Jackie Kennedy-style Camelot coat and a reversible tank top with scoop neck.

    “A new generation discovers grow-it-yourself dyes,” says the New York Times. And you don’t have to have a degree in chemistry to create your own natural dyes. It just takes a garden plot and a kitchen. A Garden to Dye For shows how super-simple it is to plant and grow a dyer’s garden and create beautiful dyes. Many of these plants may already be in our cutting, cottage or food gardens, ready for double duty. These special plants can fit right in with traditional garden themes. A Garden to Dye For features 40-plus plants that the gardener-crafter can grow for an all-natural, customized color palette. A dyer’s garden can be a mosaic of flowers, herbs, roots and fruits that lend us their pigments to beautify other areas of our lives. The richly photographed book is divided between the garden and the dye process, with garden layouts, plant profiles, dye extraction and uses, step-by-step recipes and original, engaging DIY projects. This is the book that bridges the topic of plant dyes to mainstream gardeners, the folks who enjoy growing the plants as much as using them in craft projects. www.agardentodyefor; and on Facebook: A Garden to Dye For

    With this book you will learn the basics of:- How to Choose Yarn and Needles- Casting On- The Most Popular Knitting Stitches- How to Start a New Ball of Yarn- Binding Off- Basic Color Knitting- How to Read a Knitting Pattern- Seaming and Finishing- Increases and Decreases- Knitting in the Round- PurlingThe book also includes a BONUS section that includes a beginners knitting dictionary and 10 videos to help you get started! Get started right now, on the incredibly fun hobby of knitting!

    Get wild with printing, painting, drawing, stenciling, and other surface design methods and unique materials such as plastic bags, photographs, and cardboard. Dive into 12 simple sewing projects to make colorful, wearable, and hip designs, including a stunning wall quilt, adorable hats for kids or adults, a pretty wreath, cuff bracelets, and a modern ruffled apron.Artist Alisa Burke demonstrates many of the techniques and essentials of surface design and sewing on an included DVD. In addition to the in-depth video instruction, you’ll get a bonus project exclusively on the DVD.Whether you’re already a rule-breaker or you’re looking to improvise, Sew Wild shows you how to create fabric and designs that explode with color, pattern, and soul.

    Thanks to Hollywood's newfound obsession and updated, stylish designs, a whole new generation has caught on to the art of knitting. For those just starting out or veteran knitters, expert Donna Kooler's newest, Encyclopedia of Knitting, will get those needles clicking. This comprehensive guide covers all the basics, from the history of knitting, tools, and materials, to how-to instructions for 164 stitches and stitch patterns, with tons of photos and diagrams to show the way. Includes instructions for both right-handed and left-handed knitters, with narrative directions and symbols to make learning easier. Contemporary projects by today's top knitting designers are suitable for a variety of experience levels and include a man's vest, a baby's dress, and decorative pillows. If the runaway success of her two previous Encyclopedia volumes is any indication (and we certainly think so ), this one has "bestseller" written all over it.

    Even experienced stitchers are often wary of working with stretch knit fabrics, but in this book Tilly demystifies the techniques needed and shows how to sew stretchy makes on a regular sewing machine – no need for a fancy overlocker. Aimed at dressmakers who have grasped the basics and want to expand their sewing horizons, Tilly's tried-and-tested, learn-as-you-make approach is structured around six made-to-measure, speedy-to-sew garments. Tilly's friendly instructions and the clear step-by-step photographs are accompanied by lots of tips and tricks to make your sewing a breeze, and the multiple variations and ideas will help you customize your garment to suit your own style.

    Fair Isle's unusual technique employs two colors in each row; the wool not in use is stranded along the back in short loops, resulting in an extremely warm and weatherproof double fabric.In this definitive guide, the author shows how any circular-method knitting technique can yield the popular Fair Isle patterns. Its treasury of designs features more than 70 pages of patterns that can be used for mittens, jerseys, jackets, and hats. In addition, its practical advice on designing garments and the use of color offers valuable assistance to knitters who wish to create their own patterns and seek the inspiration for an endless array of variations and adaptations.Long out of print, this volume is well known as the best source of authentic Fair Isle patterns. Its republication offers a new generation of knitters a reliable resource for projects in the traditional and much-loved style. 31 halftones and 17 color illustrations.

    Louise, brings her unique style of coordinated knitwear with cute colourwork details to this new collection of toy animal knitting patterns. There are a total of 12 knitted animals - each with their own unique personality and style. The animals all have the same basic body, with a few colour variations and tail additions, so the clothes can be mixed and matched between them to create endless outfit possibilities. Choose your favourite animals and outfits and have fun making the perfect gift for friends and family.

    Quilting expert Ricky Tims presents an imaginative, new piecing technique that quilters will adore! Convergence quilts feature two or more fabrics cut into strips, sewn together, then cut and pieced again.

    A mother hen and her chicks (and their adorable knitted eggshells), three little piglets, and a black lamb full of good intentions are just some of the appealing projects in Spud and Chloë at the Farm, the latest innovative work from author and world-class knitter Susan B.Anderson. The projects in this book follow Spud, a feisty pet sheep, and Chloë, his perky owner, as they travel to a farm and meet the inhabitants of the barnyard, including a brown cow, some mice, a dog, and a barn cat. To continue the theme, and set the stage for loads of interactive play, the book also offers instructions for making an assortment of farm props, such as a picket fence, bales of hay, dainty baskets, and even a three-sided foldable barn.Meanwhile, witty full-color cartoons (presented one per spread throughout the text of the book) tell the story of Spud and Chloë’s visit to the farm, which starts with an invitation from Spud’s cousin Little Lamb. Featuring charming full-color photographs of the knitted toys, this book is a must-have for knitters and their loved ones.

    Every project, from a misshapen hat to the most magnificent sweater, holds a story. Yarn Harlot tells all those stories with humor, insight, and sympathy for the obsessed.Over 50 million people in America knit. The average knitter spends between $500 and $1,700 a year on yarn, patterns, needles, and books. No longer just a fad or a hobby, knitting has advanced to a lifestyle.Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter moves beyond instructions and patterns into the purest elements of knitting: obsession, frustration, reflection, and fun. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's humorous and poignant essays find humor in knitting an enormous afghan that requires a whopping 30 balls of wool, having a husband with size 13 feet who loves to wear hand-knit socks, and earns her "yarn harlot" title with her love of any new yarn--she'll quickly drop an old project for the fresh saucy look of a new interesting yarn.Since the upsurge in knitting began in the early '90s, the number of women under 45 who knit has doubled. Knitting is no longer a hobby for just grandmothers--women and men of all ages are embracing this art. Describing its allure is best left to Stephanie who explains: "It is a well-known fact that knitting is a sparkling form of entertainment, as spiritual as yoga, as relaxing as a massage, and as funny as Erma Bombeck trapped in a PTA meeting."

    This beautifully illustrated guide will not only enhance your understanding of how to bring out the best in every woman, but also sharpen your photography skills in order to capture her successfully. Whether shooting with a pro model, plain-Jane, curvy gal, or soccer mom, Christa gets to know her subject intimately in order to help her look and feel beautiful, sexy, and confident. Christa shares her personal tips and techniques throughout the entire process, creating an amazing experience that produces photographs packed with emotion. She covers every step in creating a successful boudoir shoot, including how to prepare a subject who has never posed before, coaching sensual movement, beautiful lighting setups with minimal equipment, how to flatter every figure, and more. With "Before and After" profiles and "Do and Don't" scenarios throughout, essential lists, practical tips for male photographers, metadata for every shot, as well as post-processing techniques in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, this book offers clear and inspiring instruction. The Art of Boudoir Photography is about transformation. It's about cultivating sex appeal and enthusiastic positivity. It's that jolt of confidence and bolt of sexual prowess to tease out of your subject. It's for each woman to recognize her individual beauty, provide an opportunity for her to break through her comfort zone, honor her body, and celebrate femininity. For photographers with varying levels of experience, this book is for you-to appreciate and embrace boudoir photography, enhance your understanding of what it is, what it can do for women, and most importantly, how to have fun with it!

    Beautiful models display the clothing, and every exquisite pattern shows how classic can be very sexy. Sterling

    Rachel was no different. She juggled her many roles and responsibilities well and rewarded herself with wine at the end of each day; after all, she deserved it. But, gradually her wine intake began to increase each night and soon it had gone from being a little treat to an absolute necessity. As wine invaded more and more areas of her life, it became harder to cope. In turn it meant she drank more wine, firmly believing it was the cure, never considering for a moment that it could be the problem. Eventually, when wine was dictating everything she did and did not do, Rachel realised that something had to change. However, as soon as she attempted to restrict or moderate her drinking, she seemed to want it even more. Her best intentions fell quickly by the way side after the first bottle was opened and the first drink took control, compelling her to have more. Drinking would continue until there was none left or Rachel 'fell asleep'. The following day consisted of a hangover, depression, overeating, remorse, worry, despair and self-hatred, until the time came around when the next bottle could be opened and these awful feelings could be blotted out. This pattern of trying and failing to control her wine drinking brought Rachel to acknowledge that it was not possible to do so, and she decided that she had to remove alcohol from her life forever. Despite being sick and tired of the drinking-hangover-drinking cycle of failure, giving up was not easy and it was only after a few more failed attempts that Rachel managed to do so. This book details her life in that first year of going alcohol-free. It describes in detail how her everyday pursuits became challenging and changing. Her outlook on the whole point of life turned on its axis when alcohol was removed, leaving her with a whole different sense of self and being. The changes that occurred were astounding and beyond anything she believed could be possible. She thought that removing alcohol from her life was all about giving up; she had never considered what she might gain.

    Life has always been hard, and now she and her little brother Billy are left homeless and alone. But Grace must put her grief and fear aside, and think practically. Accepting a job as companion to the wealthy, lonely Mrs Spencer means that she and Billy have a roof over their heads, but just as Grace starts to find her feet disaster strikes again. Things look desperate, and when she is offered marriage and the good life for herself and Billy, Grace is tempted. But is her suitor to be trusted? Or is she, in her search for safety for her little family, flying too close to the sun?