Or maybe you've taught yourself a little sewing know-how but have become frustrated. Whatever your background, "Stitch by Stitch" guides you through everything you need to know to start sewing and make it to the varsity level.Inside "Stitch by Stitch," you'll learn essential sewing skills--everything from basic stitching and backtacking to creating gathers, making darts and using multi-sized patterns--while completing appealing projects. In the book's unique format, skills and projects build upon each other so that you get instant gratification and motivation to progress."Stitch by Stitch," learn to love sewing with: A guide to the machine, notions and fabric. Get to know your sewing machine and learn about all the essential materials and tools you need to get started.11 modern, stylish projects. A variety of projects--like a simple tote, a piped throw pillow, a hipster belt, a sweet A-line skirt and a cap-sleeved blouse--will build your sewing skills while giving you great pieces to show off.Clear and comprehensive step-by-step photo instruction. No vague illustrations that keep you guessing.Bonus CD. Includes PDF patterns for apparel projects (in sizes 4-14), stitch practice guides, sample applique designs and more. Whether you're a sewing novice or returning sewist, "Stitch by Stitch" will give you the confidence and skills to keep motivated, get great results and finally learn to love the process.

    Each palette--which includes anywhere from 6 to 16 color swatches--forms a blueprint for a unique decorative scheme. A palette based on old Chinese silk, for example, is seen reinterpreted in a contemporary New York apartment. Plus, each palette features gorgeous photographs that bring the color scheme to life, along with invaluable advice and tips for using the colors to transform a room. Readers will also find manufacturers' paint references and numbers, lists of suppliers, and much more. The ultimate color sourcebook!

    Part instruction manual and part pattern collection, Knit to Flatter teaches you how to assess your shape—top-heavy, bottom-heavy, or proportional— and then knit accordingly. With a great sense of fun and acceptance, Amy Herzog presents silhouettes and styles that work with each body shape, along with four ideal sweater patterns per category. She then provides patterns for 10 more sweaters with guidelines for customizing, so they can be tailored to flatter. Each pattern is written in up to 10 sizes, and the garments are photographed on models with genuine curves. No smoke and mirrors here. Just real beauty!

    Designed to meet the needs of the basic sewer, Sewing for Plus Sizes guides the reader through such important steps as selecting designs, colors and fabrics that will enhance plus-size figures.

    Play it sweet in a Fembot babydoll nightie or sex it up in Hootchie Kootchie pasties. When you're feeling frisky, knit up the Baby Blue-Ball Gag or play dress-up in the naughty nurse cap or the felted Red Riding Hood cape. New and experienced knitters alike will find inventive and easy-to-follow patterns. And since the garments aren't exactly full-coverage, they don't take much time to complete. With inspiration from retro icons like surfer Gidget, Mrs. Robinson, and cavegirl Raquel Welch, Nikol Lohr pushes the boundaries of the traditional "wifely" crafts into the age of Sex and the City and cuddle parties. Part how-to guide, part peep show, Naughty Needles is a brash, tongue-in-cheek take on an age-old art. From the demure to the bizarre, with a splash of fetish thrown in, these are the projects that will make you smile--and make your partner growwwwl.

    Whether you're an employee training your co-workers on a new process or skill, a volunteer asked to train new volunteers, a chef training your staff, or a paramedic giving CPR training, it's just as important to know how to teach others as it is to know what you're talking about. It doesn't matter how much you know about your subject if you can't share it with others. And that's where Training For Dummies comes in--it offers all the nuts and bolts of training for anyone who has to educate others on any subject and in any field--and it's written in plain English.Covering all the modern, interactive instructional methods and dynamic training approaches available, this hands-on guide will help you inspire trainees and keep them engaged throughout the training program. You'll discover:How to master the jargon of training The keys to using audio and visual aids effectively How to prepare for the training certification process Helpful ways to evaluate your results and improve your tactics Tips, techniques, and tidbits for enhancing your training sessions Methods that improve trainee participation Alternatives to the traditional lecture method Tactics for gauging and managing group dynamics Strategies for addressing problems in the classroom Hints for understanding and adapting to different learning styles Resources and other extra material you can immediately use The book has a part dedicated to the training profession, so if you're interested in becoming a professional trainer, you'll learn how to upgrade your skills and knowledge and what the trainer certification process entails. You'll also gain a perspective on other aspects of the field of training.Additionally, Training For Dummies shows you ways to inject humor into your training sessions, ideas for saving time in the training room, and icebreakers that actually break the ice. Get your own copy to start flexing your training muscle today.

    Captained by hirsute woodworker, actor, comedian, and writer Nick Offerman, the shop produces not only fine handcrafted furniture, but also fun stuff—kazoos, baseball bats, ukuleles, even mustache combs.Now Nick and his ragtag crew of champions want to share their experiences of working at the Woodshop, tell you all about their passion for the discipline of woodworking, and teach you how to make a handful of their most popular projects along the way. This book will take readers behind the scenes of the woodshop, both inspiring and teaching them to make their own projects and besotting them with the infectious spirit behind the shop and its complement of dusty wood-elves.In these pages you will find a variety of projects for every skill level, with personal, accessible instructions by the OWS woodworkers themselves; and, what’s more, this tutelage will be augmented by mouth-watering color photos (Nick calls it "wood porn"). You will also find writings by Nick, offering recipes for both comestibles and mirth, humorous essays, odes to his own woodworking heroes, insights into the ethos of woodworking in modern America, and other assorted tomfoolery.Whether you’ve been working in your own shop for years, or if holding this stack of compressed wood pulp is as close as you’ve ever come to milling lumber, or even if you just love Nick Offerman’s brand of bucolic yet worldly wisdom, you’ll find Good Clean Fun full of useful, illuminating, and entertaining information.

    Sarai Mitnick, an independent pattern designer setting the high water mark in the industry, shares her knowledge of these fundamentals and offers five beautiful projects to go with them. Powerful instruction: A former expert in user experience in the tech industry, Sarai Mitnick's Colette Patterns line has gained a great deal of respect for comprehensive, clear instruction. Comprehensive resource: The chapters cover sewing techniques, planning and fitting, working with patterns, working with fabrics, working with linings, finishing techniques? In essence, each chapter focuses on what the entirety of another book might cover. Gorgeous package: Pitch-perfect combination of illustration, step-by-step photography and beautiful project shots, all with a clean, lovely design. *Disclaimer: eBook does not include Tissue Enclosures as enclosed with original book.

    Book by Walker, Barbara G.

    Known as a “modern” quilter, she actually draws much of her creative vision from quilts of the past. In Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration, Schmidt pays homage to the quilters and quilts that came before her. Each of the 20 traditional quilt designs she has reinterpreted here (among them are Irish Chain, Mariner’s Compass, and Orange Peel, to name a few) is introduced with a lively overview of the pattern’s history. Instructions are illustrated, templates are provided at full size on a pullout pattern sheet, and a complete techniques section is included at the back of the book.Praise for Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration:"Denyse Schmidt's contemporary art quilts are things of enduring style and beauty, but few fans realize her 16-year career as a textile artist began when Schmidt fell in love with tried-and-true, centuries-old traditional quilt patterns . . . Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration is the artist’s return to this fertile terrain, featuring her colorful and updated take on 20 time-tested designs. Full-page photos of gorgeous quilts full of those bold geometric shapes that first inspired her provide ample motivation, while detailed instructions, a pull-out book of templates, and a section detailing tools and techniques offer plenty of how-to support, even for novice makers." —American Craft Magazine"The book contains 20 traditional quilt styles that look exceptionally modern, hip, and fresh, with limited color palettes and minimal use of prints. To me, it is the best of both worlds—tried-and-true patterns with stories to tell, interpreted by this talented woman who helped define modern quilting. The modern/traditional debate is moot here, which is refreshing and wonderful." —Sew Mama Sew!“It's been 7 years since Denyse Schmidt's first book, and believe me, this new volume was well worth the wait...Whether you consider yourself a traditional or modern quilter, there is plenty of inspiration here, in projects that play with the tantalizing pairing of vintage patterns and contemporary colors. Although Denyse explains the origins and alternate names of many of the patterns, she rarely offers them straight: she riffs off old patterns like Mariner's Compass and Wagon Wheel and strips them down to stark basics." --Meg Cox, Journalist, Author, and President of the Alliance for American Quilts"Denyse Schmidt never ceases to inspire us . . . We are very excited to announce her latest book, the simply breathtaking Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration. Delving back to the traditional styles that first sparked her passion for quilting, Denyse gives these twenty quilt patterns a modern spin with bold, beautiful fabric choices." —The Purl Bee "In this book, [Denyse] shows off a new gamut of wonderful quilts . . . She writes in such a quiet and contemplative way, reminding me that quilting at its best isn't meant to be done in a hurry to crank something out." —Spoonflower.com

    These are smart concepts you'll grasp in a single glance and brief caption: shortcuts and quick pick-me-ups, artful displays, visual tricks that create a sense of space, “sneaky” storage to clear the clutter, and simple DIY projects (like crafting a bed canopy with ready-made curtains). All the suggestions are practical, pretty, and easy to implement.

    Designed to instruct and inspire every woodworker from the beginner to the most exacting expert, it has become a classic. It includes a discussion of all the principal hardwoods and softwoods, how to choose and use hand tools, detailed information on every woodworking technique--jointing, bonding, fastening, laminating, and much more.

    "For Fans of NBC's Making It, Bravo's Project Runway, or shopping vintage: A sweater gets a hole? Sew it closed... Part history and part how-to, Mend! traces the task's evolution from a 1950s chore to a DIY sustainability movement." -- Marie Claire For thousands of years, mending was a deep craft that has for too long been a secret history. But now it's back, bigger and better than ever. In this book Kate Sekules introduces the art of visible mending as part of an important movement to give fashion back its soul. Part manifesto, part how-to, MEND! calls for bold new ways of keeping clothes and refreshing your style. Crammed with tips, fun facts, ravishing photography, and illustrated tutorials, MEND! tells you exactly how to rescue and renew your wardrobe with flair and aplomb--and save money along the way.Whether you've never owned a needle or are an aspiring professional, MEND! gives you clear instruction and witty advice, with over thirty techniques, from classic darning and patching to cheeky new methods invented by Sekules, to help you turn every garment into a unique fashion statement. Including interviews with menders, shameful fashion industry facts, a ten-step closet mend, cheat sheets, stitch guides, moth elimination, museum conservator and vintage dealer tricks, and more, this is a book to inspire, delight, and galvanize. Sharp, funny, and incredibly timely, MEND! leads the slow fashion revolution into its next phase, where getting dressed is a joyful, creative experience for all.

    With easy-to-follow illustrated instructions and cut-out patterns, young crafters will quickly be sewing up colorful pillows, potholders, dolls, blankets, and more. These kid-tested projects require only minimal supervision and most can be made using simple hand stitches, so no sewing machine is required. With plenty of encouragement and helpful tips, Sewing School ® helps young sewers develop their skills while sparking a passion that will last a lifetime.  Also available in this series: Sewing School ® 2,Sewing School ® Fashion Design, Sewing School ® Quilts, and Sewing School ® Box Set.

    We'll have you in stitches in no time Discover how to* Select the right fabrics and threads* Design your masterpiece* Use quilting software* Save time with rotary cutters and other cool tools* Quilt by hand or machine* Get creative with applique