With clear instructions illustrated by more than 900 step-by-step photographs, the five projects included here are designed to teach all of the techniques and skills you need to reupholster any piece of furniture to suit your own taste and style.

    Get in the spooky spirit with this guide to your best Halloween yet! With this collection of 23 Halloween Crafts for Kids: Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas and Spooky Décor, you can:•Design frightfully fun homemade Halloween costumes•Share laughs with your little ones as you make kids’ Halloween crafts•Create homemade Halloween decorations to make your home spook-tacularAnd so much more! This is your year to be the most festive haunted house on the block, so grab this eBook and start preparing for a bewitching Halloween.

    The blog began as a way for readers to follow Hirsch’s progress as she stitched all 14 fashions from the iconic 1950s sewing book Vogue’s New Book for Better Sewing (a Julie & Julia–esque experiment for the modern sewist). It quickly became a place for Hirsch to share tutorials and lively posts about sewing as it relates to fashion history, pop culture, body image, and gender. An extension of the blog, Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing is a hardworking reference title packed with lessons on couture techniques and customization, as well as an inimitable pattern collection featuring 25 wardrobe essentials and variations inspired by vintage fashion and Gertie’s spirited, modern style.

    Lafosse's complex and beautiful origami projects are well known around the world. Focusing on models from nature, Advanced Origami provides unparalleled instruction on how to create master-class level 3D origami paper folding projects. The origami designs are challenging—they require some folding experience—but the results are more origami art than craft. Paper folders will create projects that can be displayed or given as gifts.Sophisticated origami or paper crafts fans will appreciate the unique origami designs along with complete detailed instructions and easy-to-follow color photos and diagrams. Advanced Origami also features information on paper selection and preparation, advance techniques such as "wet folding," and making your own paper.This origami book contains:136 page, full-color book15 original and challenging projectsStep-by-step instructionsColorful diagrams and photographsAdvanced techniques and tipsIn recent years origami has evolved beyond simple folding and creasing into a true art form akin to sculpture. For those seeking to learn origami at such a level, Advanced Origami provides all the essential information and techniques. Soon you will be able to design and fold your own origami sculptures!Origami projects include:North American CardinalKoi FishOrigamido ButterflyPond FrogAnd many more…

    Learn how to trust your instincts so you can work more intuitively, and develop a new appreciation for the therapy of sewing without a plan.

    In this, her first book, she recounts how she came to study hundreds of exquisite Japanese stitch patters and then apply her new knowledge to the sock designs showcased here. Whether short or long, fine or bulky, simple or complex, each of the 30 designs in Knitted Socks East and West is named afer an intriguing aspect of Japanese culture. For example, the leg of the Origami crew socks appears to fold in and out; the Sumo slipper socks are named after the heavy, organic movement of the cables in their thick yarn; and the Ikebana knee socks highlight a textural floral design. Step-by-step text and easy-to-read charts are included for each design, along with illustrated directions for the Japanese stitchwork introduced in the projects.

    Take a cue from entertaining expert Amy Sedaris and host an unforgettable fete that will have your guests raving. No matter the style or size of the gathering-from the straightforward to the bizarre-I Like You provides jackpot recipes and solid advice laced with Amy's blisteringly funny take on entertaining, plus four-color photos and enlightening sidebars on everything it takes to pull off a party with extraordinary flair. You don't even need to be a host or hostess to benefit-Amy offers tips for guests, too!  (Number one: don't be fifteen minutes early.) Readers will discover unique dishes to serve alcoholics (Broiled Frozen Chicken Wings with Applesauce), the secret to a successful children's party (a half-hour time limit, games included), plus a whole appendix chock-full of arts and crafts ideas (from a mini-pantyhose plant-hanger to a do-it-yourself calf stretcher), and much, much more!

    The Modern-Day Pioneer celebrates these forgotten joys by showing you how to incorporate basic skills and living into your everyday life. Whether you're interested in growing your own fruits and vegetables, raising chickens for meat or eggs, crafting delicious meals from scratch, or creating and mending your own clothes and quilts, this book makes it easy to live a healthier and more sustainable life in the twenty-first century.Filled with step-by-step instructions and homegrown inspiration, you'll wonder how you ever lived without the sweet taste of locally harvested honey or the refreshing scent of homemade lavender soap.

    Charming, easy-to-make, and undead, Zombie Felties contains 16 irresistibly haunting projects to celebrate the zombie zeitgeist. Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate awaken their inner George A. Romero and focus their creative attention on the malleable, fuzzy softness of felt inside Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead. Inside, crafters will find instructions for more than 15 zombie creatures, including a Romero-esque Day of the Dead Zombie. Additional Zombie Feltie projects include: * Zombie Bride * Zombie Puppy * Vampire Zombie * Zombie Bunny * Folklore Zombie * Zombie Surfer, and more! With only the most basic of sewing skills, crafters can raise their own macabre multitude of Zombie Feltie creations from the undead with an average construction time of less than one hour per pattern. Each design includes a full-color photograph of the finished project, as well as an illustrated, instructional overview, pattern diagrams, and a convenient list of everything needed to complete the project. Zombie Feltie friends can be customized with limitless embellishments and they make great Halloween decorations, party favors, finger puppets, key rings, and even mobile phone mascots. Get ready to shudder as you stitch!

    Designer Mags Kandis inspires with this delightful collection of beautiful and colorful little projects for you to knit, crochet, and felt.From wearable accessories such as hats, mittens, scarves, socks, and wraps to home decor including a tea cozy, pin cushion, needle case, and laptop cover, these 30+ pieces are sweet, lively and add a little joy to every household. Each project features creative embellishments and personal touches, including beading, buttons, needlefelting, applique, and embroidery. Mags also shares her recipes for easy food gifts and simple sewing projects such as sewn fabric gift bags and sachets to pair with fiber gifts. Directions for making these little add-ons that make a gift personal and extra-special are scattered throughout the book.Gifted will inspire you to grab another ball of yarn and invest a little time and love to create something special for someone special.

    Here are 18 sock patterns inspired by a host of folk knitting traditions.

    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.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    • 26 one-of-a-kind projects, from artistic to folksy to whimsical• The variety of materials and embellishments is sure to inspire you to make every bird in the book • These little sweeties make delightful gifts…and the perfect pets!• Beginner-friendly projects work well with scraps, fat quarters, and upcycled fabrics This adorable book is all about the birds! From budgies to owls to peacocks, these projects will pique your curiousity and make your heart sing! Many talented designers bring you soft sculptures, quilts, ornaments, and more.The first in a series of titles called Design Collective, this book features designs by a group of clever and talented fabric artists from Canada and around the world who all share a love of cute little birds. Included are patterns for 26 hand-made projects to sew, stitch and quilt.contents:Susanne Woods INTRODUCTION Bari J. Ackerman LITTLE BIRD MOBILE Amy Adams FANCY PEACOCK Amy Adams STORK WITH A HEART MOBILE Heidi Allred OUR FLOCK EMBROIDERY Heidi Allred TWEET BIRDS APRON Abigail Brown BIRDHOUSE Eleanor Bruce FRED THE CARDINAL Eleanor Bruce EDWARD THE OWL (AND FRIENDS) Jamie Christina BIRD IN A CAGE Laura Clempson LITTLE ROUND BLUEBIRD Laura Clempson BLUEBIRD WALLETS Samantha Cotterill MILDRED THE DOVE WITH BAGUETTES Alicia Diane Durand BIRDS ON A WIRE QUILT Lisa Fell EMBROIDERED DOORKNOB ORNAMENT Nancy DeWeir Geaney MID-CENTURY SCRAP QUILT Melanie Hurlston PIKKU THE PENGUIN Robin Kingsley GARDEN OF BIRDS EMBROIDERY Kimberly Laws BIRD’S NEST JOURNAL Margaret Oomen BIRD IN A RAG NEST Anita Peluso LITTLE BIRDS QUILT Sharon Smith OWL WALLHANGING Jantze Tullett BUDGIE Noor van Krimpen WREATH WITH A BIRD Monika Wintermantel BIRD ON A BRANCH MAKEUP BAG Mika Yamamura CHEWY THE OWL ORNAMENT PATTERNS EMBROIDERY STITCHES

    From choosing the right hooks and yarn and crocheting basic stitches to joining pieces together, this easy-to-follow guide will have you hooked in no time. Our hands-on workbook gets you crocheting fashionable, fun designs in a focused, step-by-step manner. You get a review of the basic stitches and stitch combinations, along with a concise appendix containing easy-to-follow instructions for working these stitches. You'll find plenty of tips on changing colors and adding shape to your projects. Plus, you get full-color photos of every project--from potholders to afghans, belts to table runners, skirts to vests, and much more. You'll also discover how to:Decipher crochet lingo Make a gauge swatch, read a pattern, and understand garment sizing Work with the most common stitches and stitch patterns Crochet in the round or with color Shape a design through increasing or decreasing stitches Use new techniques like felting and working with wire Crochet pictures and words using the filet crochet technique There are also quick-and-easy designs that are great for kids to make, as well as handy hints on caring for your finished items. Featuring more than 50 fantastic patterns perfect for beginners or those wanting to take their skills to the next level, Crochet Patterns For Dummies is your one-stop guide to crocheting success!