In Crafting a Meaningful Home, Meg Mateo Ilasco shares 27 projects that tell personal stories and celebrate heritage, all easily created on a budget. Learn how to decoupage a plate with photos of a best friend; silkscreen upholstery with folk motifs; artfully display love notes; sew a teepee from a vintage quilt top; or create family silhouettes for a festive banner. Contributed by a hip cast of well known designers from across the country, the projects are, at once, nostalgic, sentimental, and modern. Clear instruc­tions are easy to follow, even for beginning crafters.Praise for Crafting a Meaningful Home:"[Crafting a Meaningful Home] can serve two purposes on your gift giving list. If you have time, make one of the projects from the book. If not, give the book itself. It's beautifully photographed and written, and the projects are incredible." --PopSugar Rush TV

    Combining traditional techniques with contemporary design, Max Bainbridge teaches you how to identify wood types, source timber, and set up a basic toolbox, then offers step-by-step carving and cutting techniques for making your own pieces. With little experience and very few tools, you’ll learn to create hand-carved bowls, cutting boards, spoons, knives, and spatulas, perfect for adding a touch of the handmade to your home. With further advice on finishing your projects—how to sand, ebonize, scorch, and texture the surfaces, as well as wax and oil your new, beloved kitchen creations—each of your handcrafted projects will be imbued with a tangible history visible through the maker’s mark. With beautiful photography and clear how-to instruction, Heirloom Wood gives you everything you need to create timeless kitchen keepsakes to be passed down from generation to generation.

    

    Author Cristin Morgan of Marigold + Mars outlines the basics of 10 classic embroidery stitches and then teaches you how to use them to create 20 beautiful and practical projects for hoops, for the home, and to wear. New and experienced embroiderers alike will be delighted by the fresh motifs and bold color palettes and empowered by the easy step-by-step instructions and templates, which show that with just a few simple stitches, some basic materials, and an idea or two, you can stitch just about anything. A glossary of more than 50 additional patterns and motifs will inspire you to personalize your projects and use your newfound embroidery skills in fresh and imaginative ways. As an added bonus, the book includes an envelope with 10 carbon transfer papers for quickly transferring patterns to fabric.   If you received a first printing of this book that includes transfer papers that do not work, please email us at abrams@abramsbooks.com or call (212) 206-7715 to receive replacement papers.

    Whether you’re a writer, a scrapbooker, a political activist, or a postcard collector, let book artist Esther K. Smith be your guide as you discover your inner bookbinder. Using foolproof illustrations and step-by-step instructions, Smith reveals her time-tested techniques in a fun, easy-to-understand way.

    You're not going to believe how easy it is to make them! Tired of searching for special toys that weren't mass-produced, former Lucasfilm animator Jackie Huang created the beloved Woolbuddy, a collection of all-natural stuffed animals that reflect his unique imaginative vision. He went on to capture fans at craft fairs, Comic-Con, and specialty boutiques. Here Huang teaches readers, using just some wool and a needle, how to needle felt a wide-eyed owl, a toothy shark, a fuzzy sheep, a towering giraffe, and more. With step-by-step instructions and helpful how-to photographs, crafters can create clutchable keepsakes to be instantly enjoyed and forever cherished.

    She is a thread artist. And in Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing, she'll show how to harness the power of her fearless kamikaze sewing style–just dive in and give it 100 percent. Here you'll not only find out the nuts and bolts of sewing, but learn to have confidence to blaze your own sewing trail with confidence and flair. (And sprinkle of glitter!) The Crafty Chica is here to bring out the thread artist in you. Whether you can hardly sew on a button or are already threading bobbins like a champ, Kathy's got a project just for you. From place mat totes to embellished skirts, Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing proves that you're in charge of your sewing machine, not the other way around. With these 30 fun fabu-low-sew projects to carry, wear, and use around the home, you can leave the ordinary behind and channel your own Crafty Chica within.

    The pleasures to be had from slowing down can be many, with connections to sustainability, simplicity, reflection, and tuning into traditional and other multicultural textile traditions.Slow Stitch is a much-needed guide to adopting a less-is-more approach, valuing quality over quantity, and bringing a meaningful and thoughtful approach to textile practice.Claire Wellesley-Smith introduces a range of ways in which you can slow your textile work down, including:Using simple techniques inspired by traditional practice (including hand-stitch rhythms)Reusing and re-inventing materials (reuse even old textile projects)Limiting your equipmentMending revisited (practical and decorative techniques)Project ideas and resources that help towards making a more sustainable textile practiceRichly illustrated throughout, and showcasing work from the best textile artists who work in this way, this is a truly inspirational book for those looking to reconnect with their craft and to find a new way of working.

    There is a wealth of information included as well as projects with patterns and color photographs on nearly every page of the book.

    These non-traditional colorwork charts are perfect for the creative knitter looking to break away from the ordinary. Derived from graphic design elements, these fresh motifs include everything from geometric mountains, waves, and spirals to modern bikes, skulls, and sheep. Dive into stranded colorwork with confidence with a section on reading charts, working floats, and choosing colors. Learn how stranded colorwork can be used in design with five accompanying projects including mitts, cowls, and sweaters. Plus, use your imagination to modify, deconstruct, and combine the unique motifs to create your own designs. Be inspired to break the rules and use charts in creative ways with AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary.

    Their book features 16 bold and scrappy projects as well as expert hints and tips for adapting patterns to your own style, and effectively cutting, storing, and organizing your scraps.

    User-friendly and visually exciting, the contents are first divided into three sections: Blocks, Negative Space, and Borders. Then, to make it even more accessible, the Blocks section is further organized by five shapes: Squares, Triangles, Circles, Diamonds, and Hexagons. With an illustrated index, 70 free-motion quilting designs, crystal-clear instructions, and gorgeous full-page photographs, this is the go-to resource you'll want handy before starting any quilting project.

    This work features 21 projects - including quilts, pillows, and soft ornaments - that draw their inspiration from the seasons and offer a fresh, modern take on folk art.

    Brimming with lavish photographs of bold, graphic fabrics, The Liberty Book of Home Sewing offers 25 irresistible and easy-to-make projects that allow readers to incorporate a touch of Liberty elegance into their home. Simple enough for beginners, the projects range from feminine totes and aprons to handy pincushions and book covers, full-sized quilts, chic throws, plush cushions, and more. With color step-by-step illustrations, detailed instructions, and plenty of inspiration, plus an exquisite fabric cover, this enchantingly beautiful book will be treasured by longtime Liberty fans and young crafters alike.

    Even if you've never held a crochet hook before, Maggie Righetti's sound instructions and encouragement will help get you startd. If youre an experienced crocheter, you'll find dozens of tips for perfecting your techniques. This comprehensive, common-sense guide covers virtually everything you need to know about crochet:Selecting threads and yarnsDetermining gaugeWorking with the right toolsHow to interpret patterns and instructionsIncreasing and decreasingHow to fix mistakesBasic stitches (chain, double, triple, slip)Sixteen different fabric pattern stitchesAssembling the finished productHow to block, clean, and care for crocheted articlesand much moreEach technique is illustrated with clear drawings, charts or photos. Complet with a detail glossary of crochet terms, Crocheting in Plain English is one sourcebook no crocheter should do without.