Book picks similar to
Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide by Claire B. Shaeffer
sewing
fashion
non-fiction
crafts
Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt
Megan Nicolay - 2009
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).
Cable Left, Cable Right: 94 Knitted Cables
Judith Durant - 2016
Cable Left, Cable Right, by expert knitter Judith Durant, eliminates the mystery with detailed, in-depth instructions for creating 94 different styles of cable, from perfectly plain to fantastically fancy. Close-up photos and clear instructions teach you the techniques you need, including design options like braids, diamonds, and pretzels so you can make your cables truly one-of-a-kind. This book is the perfect companion to any knitting pattern featuring cables, giving you the information and skills to make polished, beautiful, and unique cables for any project.
Mastering Color Knitting: Simple Instructions for Stranded, Intarsia, and Double Knitting
Melissa Leapman - 2010
Now, for the first time, she brings her passion for advanced color knitting to knitters who want to knit with any and every color of yarn they can wrap around their needles. Conquer classic stranded knitting, “draw” images in yarn using intarsia, and make two projects in one with reversible double knitting. Leapman’s clear instruction proves that knitting with multiple colors may appear more complex, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. She includes the quickest, easiest, and most intuitive methods for each technique, using knowledge honed over years of color knitting workshops with knitters from across the country. Once you’ve learned the basics, practice your new skills by creating projects for yourself, your friends, and everyone on your gift list. Each chapter includes a handful of sample projects to get you started, a Designer Workshop that teaches you important concepts in every designer’s toolbox, and a pattern treasury of unique patterns to apply to projects of your own creation—more than 50 patterns and 12 projects in all. Throughout, Leapman’s helpful collection of how-tos, diagrams, tips, and hints (including a refresher course in color theory to help you choose the perfect color combinations) makes Mastering Color Knitting the book you’ll turn to for information and inspiration time and time again.
The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort
EllynAnne Geisel - 2006
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.
New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One
Cat Bordhi - 2007
But if you want to play, the possibilities are infinite: -- let hand-painted yarns spill their colors along new and artful pathways -- harmonize the rhythms of familiar stitch patterns with the book s universal formula, and see the familiar reborn with a new and beautiful look -- combine architectures for infinite hybrid forms, or be the first to try something brand new
Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista
Melissa Rannels - 2006
The three twenty-something co-owners of Stitch Lounge, an urban sewing studio in San Francisco, teach you, in plain, fun language, how to do it, whether you're hand sewing, machine sewing, or, in a few cases, simply wielding a pair of scissors.The first three chapters lay the ground work: Hand Sewing Basics, You and Your Machine, and Gearing Up, which includes Fabric 101, how to set up a sewing space, and a run-through first project on the sewing machine. Then the fun begins with Embellishing and Customizing projects, including adorning your pant legs with ribboning, turning a computer-scanned image into an iron-on that you can apply to a t-shirt or skirt, taking in a skirt, or untapering a pair of pants (the authors believe tapered pants are the devil's work). Then move onto Refashioning: The Next Life of Your Old Clothes and turn a t-shirt into a skirt, a sweater into a halter top or legwarmers, or a pair of pants into a hip belt. There are 22 projects in all, some of which only require an iron and/or pair of scissors, while others can be sewn by hand, for those readers who haven't yet made the sewing machine plunge.
Knit Wear Love: Foolproof Instructions for Knitting Your Best-Fitting Sweaters Ever in the Styles You Love to Wear
Amy Herzog - 2015
In Knit Wear Love, she guides us through picking a base pattern that works for our inherent shape, then customizing it to suit our size and style—all with the skill of a top-notch teacher and designer and the honesty and humor of a BFF. Known for her uncanny ability to simplify what might initially seem complex, Herzog masterminded for Knit Wear Love an easy mix-and-match pattern system that allows us to choose among the eight key sweater forms (pullover, cardigan, vest, cowl, tunic, wrap, tank, and bolero/shrug); eight fashion styles (modern, classic, romantic, sporty, bohemian, avant-garde, vintage, and casual); a trove of customization details; ten sizes; and three gauges of yarn. The result? Sweaters we can knit with confidence, wear with pride, and love for many years to come.
Loop-d-Loop: More Than 40 Novel Designs for Knitters
Teva Durham - 2005
At the same time, they are not so trendy as to turn off more traditional and/or older knitters, and the technical applications are so clever and unique that even advanced knitters are fascinated by them. Most of the designs - even those that may look complex--are actually fairly easy to create, providing gratifying learning and artistic experiences as well as fast results. Because of the strong technical nature of Loop-d-Loop, it is poised to last much longer than a simple collection of fashionable patterns and to become a standard reference within the knitting community.
Last-Minute Fabric Gifts: 30 Hand-Sew, Machine-Sew, and No-Sew Projects
Cynthia Treen - 2006
Arranged by how long it takes to complete each project, this book focuses on gifts that generally require less than three hours of time. It details the knowledge and skills you need to improvise on these projects.
Gentle Art of Quiltmaking
Jane Brocket - 2010
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.
Little Stitches: 100+ Sweet Embroidery Designs
Aneela Hoey - 2012
Aneela Hoey offers basic instructions for simple stitches, along with a generous selection of original embroidery patterns.
The Knitter's Life List: To Do, To Know, To Explore, To Make
Gwen Steege - 2011
Veteran knitter Gwen W. Steege has canvassed the knitting community to create this inspiring compilation, which includes amazing yarns to try; classic techniques to master; ground-breaking designers to know about; most-loved patterns to knit; knitting-related museums, movies, and books to enjoy; and much more. These are the experiences and events no knitter will want to miss.Novices and masters alike can read about qiviut from the musk ox and then check it off their list once they've made something with that luxury fiber. They'll explore classic sweater designs and visit the yarn-friendliest cities. They'll discover brave folks who delight in yarn-bombing; master intarsia; and even try spinning, weaving, dyeing, embroidery, and crochet.With all of this irresistible content to devour, knitters will keep coming back for more challenges to take on—and check off—from The Knitter's Life List!
Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women
Jo Packham - 2005
Like the bestselling Business of Bliss, it's practical, inspirational, and beautiful to behold.Research by Craft Trends Magazine reveals that 89% of all crafters are women, and that they want to work in an environment conducive to creating their art. This invaluable and very special guide helps them achieve that goal, whatever their passion. It goes straight to the experts: successful women who have made their mark in more than 10 different creative fields. These top designers and artisans offer insights gleaned from years of experience, reveal how they constructed their own creative spaces, and explain how the reader can make practical use of these decorating, organizational, and inspirational techniques as they go about designing their own work areas. Among the pertinent questions they answer: Where did you like to work as a child? What's the most important thing about having your own place to work? Are women's creative spaces different from men's? How important is it for you to organize your work, and how do you do it? Do you listen to music when you work--and what kind? The featured designers include Wendy Addison, Dena Fishbein, Jill Schwartz, and Suze Weinberg and their fields range from paper crafts to gardening.A Selection of the Crafters Choice Book Club & the Homestyle Book Club.
Sweater Design in Plain English
Maggie Righetti - 1990
In clear, straightforward terms, Maggie Righettie shares her knitting know-how and good fashion sense so that, no matter what your knitting level, you can overcome the fear of failure, avoid costly mistakes, adapt already-existing patterns, and plan and create sweaters that really fit and look terrific-sweaters that will be worn for many years to come. Topics and techniques include:-Understanding the nature of yarn and pattern stitches-Choosing the most flattering color and design for the wearer-Taking accurate body measurements-Estimating the amount of yarn you'll need-How to tell whether or not a sweater will look good on you-before you start to knit-How to alter printed patterns so they really fit-How to understand the mathematics of gauge and pattern design-Plus start-to-finish instructions for thirteen classic sweatersEach technique is illustrated with clear diagrams, sketches, or photographs. Complete with conversion charts and a personal-measurements record-keeping section, Sweater Design in Plain English takes the guesswork out of every creative knitting effort.
9 Heads: A Guide to Drawing Fashion
Nancy Riegelman - 2000
This new edition of "9 Heads" is the re-statement of the author's approach to the subject of black and white drawings, incorporating the most developed thinking and views, both in terms of what the end product should look like, and how best to achieve it. "9 Heads" also presents a different style of finished drawing, one where figures are usually more fleshed-out and where garment fabrics are more rendered than in the drawings of the previous edition. This edition has been extended in scope as that together with "Colors for Modern Fashion" the two books constitute all the elements of modern fashion drawing from Beginners through to Advanced. In-depth treatment in men's fashion. More serious treatment of children's fashion. Completely revised and expanded chapter on drawing clothing on the figure. New chapter on fabrics shows how to make drawings so the fabrics can be identified from the drawing. New appendix with hundreds of flats of modern garments. Quality of the drawing is far higher than the other books on the market. Ideal for those who have no previous formal training in drawing and who have a need to learn the basics of fashion drawing quickly.