This blend of history, mystery, and hands-on technique debunks myths about Victorian life as it inspires beginners and ambitious knitters alike. Included are instructions for Victorian lace as the Victorians never saw it—in glorious detail, up-close and on location in and around Cambridge, England. The lace patterns progress from the first, most basic, edgings to the sophistication of "real" lace. Forty patterns are included—scarves and shawls, capes, and fichus—with comprehensive information on the tools and techniques of lace knitting for beginners and enough challenges to keep experienced or ambitious knitters engaged. Delicate and decorative, historical lace patterns are within the reach of today's knitters in this book of adventurous ideas with a vintage touch.

    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.

    Practical, comprehensive, and inspiring, this richly illustrated treasury presents invaluable workshops on beginner and expert techniques, as well as smart tips on the design process. Look no further for advice on proper gauging, altering patterns, sketching and scale-drawing, hemming, stitching sleeves, shaping the garment, sweatermaking, and more. And from beloved knitwear designer Elizabeth Zimmermann and daughter Meg Swansen: their most memorable essays and seminars ever, available again. In addition, there’s a look back at Vogue® Knitting’s history, question and answer profiles of top designers, and articles on knitting around the world. Every knitter will have to own this! A Selection of the Crafter's Choice Book Club.

    challenges designed to really get you to think about your life, your art, yourself. In this book, the authors showcase some of the best challenges from their site along with over 25 new challenges to get your creative juices flowing. And the layouts inspired by the Dares, created by the authors and their amazing contributing artists, are the perfect jumpstart to get you thinking about your scrapbooking in a whole new way.

    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.

    The section on people gives simple tricks for showing emotion (angry, surprised) and action (skipping, doing a handstand). There's also a section on clothing that shows how to draw coats and jackets, shoes and boots, bell-bottoms and skinny jeans. From tricycles to tanker trucks, the book gives tips on drawing all kinds of moving vehicles.At then end of each chapter, author and artist Chika Miyata challenges you to synthesize what you've learned and create a scene. At the end of the chapter on animals, the challenge is to draw a zoo. At the end of the chapter on food, the challenge is to keep an illustrated food journal.Each entry is broken down with step-by-step illustrations, making this book perfect for beginners or experienced artists in need of a quick refresher and a great resource for those who want to express themselves through illustration or cartooning. Each book in the Almost Everything series offers readers a fun, comprehensive, and charmingly illustrated visual directory of ideas to inspire skill building in their creative endeavors.

    120 full-color photographs.(GLORIOUS KNITS is the title used for U.S. editions of GLORIOUS KNITTING, first published in the U.K. Content is reported to be identical; both have 160 pages.)

    Her profusely illustrated primer allows you to create your own fashionable patterns and personalized commercial patterns. You'll learn how to design and execute everything from skirts, dresses, and blouses to sportswear, jackets, and children's clothing. You'll also find tips for: shaping fabric to your figure; mastering the art of flares, flounces, pleats, and tucks; creating fashionable necklines, pretty pockets, stylish sleeves, and much more.Simple step-by-step directions and more than 1,000 illustrations show how to successfully complete apparel for work, home, and play that reflects your personal style and taste.

    A comprehensive visual reference, the book covers everything a home sewer craves: the basics of sewing by hand or machine, along with five other time-honored crafts techniques, and step-by-step instructions for more than 150 projects that reflect not only Martha Stewart’s depth of experience and crafting expertise, but also her singular sense of style. Encyclopedic in scope, the book features two main parts to help you brush up on the basics and take your skills to a new level. First, the Techniques section guides readers through Sewing, Appliqué, Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing. Following that, the Projects A to Z section features more than 150 clever ideas (including many no-sew projects), all illustrated and explained with the clear, detailed instructions that have become a signature of Martha Stewart’s magazines, books, and television shows. An enclosed CD includes full-size clothing patterns as well as templates that can be easily produced on a home printer. Fabric, thread, and tool glossaries identify the properties, workability, and best uses of common sewing materials. And, perhaps best of all, when you need it most, Martha and her talented team of crafts editors offer you the reassurance that you really can make it yourself. The projects are as delightful as they are imaginative, and include classic Roman shades, hand-drawn stuffed animals, an easy upholstered blanket chest, a quilted crib bumper, French knot-embellished pillowcases and sheets, and Japanese-embroidered table linens, among many others.With gorgeous color photographs as well as expert instruction, this handy guide will surely encourage beginners and keep sewers and crafters of all experience levels wonderfully busy for many years to come.

    Plus, the projects are cute to boot!” —Sue Daly, founder of the Renegade Craft FairNo more spending more than you can afford on clothes! Chic & Simple Sewing shows you how to make modern, stylish, and fun clothes you’ll want to wear every day. Plus, you’re in control. You pick the fabrics, the cut, the size—all tailored just for you, not mass-manufactured on an assembly line. For about the price of two or three commercial sewing patterns, this book will give you full-size patterns to make the more than 20 garments, including a classic shift, A-line skirt, and figure-flattering wrap dress. What are you waiting for? Your new, one-of-a-kind wardrobe awaits!

    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.

    With simple step-by-step instructions that are accompanied by templates and pattern pieces, each project is designed to be completed in just a few hours. Get inspired and turn a yard of your favorite fabric into a quilted lunch bag, bright sundress, or a cuddly plush turtle.

    Now, in The Modern Natural Dyer, expert Kristine Vejar shares the most user-friendly techniques for dyeing yarn, fabric, and finished goods at home with foraged and garden-raised dyestuffs as well as with convenient natural dye extracts. Demystifying the "magic," Vejar explains in explicit, easy-to-follow detail how to produce consistent, long-lasting color. With stunning photography of the dyes themselves, the dyeing process, and 20 projects for home and wardrobe (some to knit, some to sew, and some just a matter of submerging a finished piece in a prepared bath), The Modern Natural Dyer is a complete resource for aspiring and experienced dye artisans.

    It’s easy, fun, and can be done right in your own kitchen! Self-taught dyer Gail Callahan shows you a variety of simple techniques to turn plain, outdated, or leftover yarn into vibrant “new” fibers using ovens, crockpots, frying pans, and other standard kitchen equipment. Detailed advice on color theory, self-striping, “grocery store” dyes, and handmade multicolor skeins make successful dyeing a cinch, even for complete beginners.

    The Book A lively how to and why to sew tutorial that marries attitude and instruction while teaching everything you need to know:How to find the right machine, and become one with itEssential skills, from winding a bobbin to sewing a dart to customizing a patternPreparing a workspaceThe Ten Fabric CommandmentsLaying out and cutting patternsWith step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs and illustrations throughoutThe ProjectsCuddle-Up CardiganTender is the NightieFoxy BoxersCanine Couture CoatCape ModPower TieTokyo Tie BagLucky Scrap ScarfNaughty Secretary SkirtFouncy Tank TopKnockout KnickersAnd more!The Patterns Includes ten original patterns—an $80.00 retail value—rated from One Spool (easy) to Three Spools (advanced Beginner) and designed to build skills.