Even better, this is not about how to use costly, artsy paper, but how to turn stuff around the house—magazines and shopping bags, candy wrappers and paint sample cards, wrapping paper, old maps, and paper towel tubes—into stunning jewelry, gifts, home decor, party favors, and much more. Chances are you’ve seen the author’s cutting-edge work in the windows of Anthropologie, where she is the chain’s merchandising manager. An inveterate crafter who creates projects and styles photo shoots for magazines like Parents and Vogue Knitting, Kayte Terry takes the most versatile of materials and the most basic of crafts (remember snipping valentines out of construction paper?), and creates something completely trans- formative. Turn a sheaf of any white or graph paper into an amazing Scrap Happy Globe Lantern for the dining room. Fashion colored tissue paper into Songbird Votives, leftover raffle tickets into a Prizewinning Bowl, that out-dated pile of holiday catalogs into a picture frame. There’s a necklace made of playing cards, a gum wrapper bracelet, and barrettes made by quilling—a paper technique that goes back to the Renaissance. Every project is photographed in full color, and includes step-by-step illustrations and instructions. Truly a book that shows how to think outside the (cardboard) box.

    It does all this through just four very simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being. In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands.

    New 2nd edition includes 70 stitches!From beginner stitch patterns such as the basic stockinette, moss stitch, and craftsman stitch, all the way up to intermediate stitches such as a variety of cables and lace mesh designs, this stitch guide is sure to inspire your next knitting project!In order to work the stitches, you will need to have a basic understanding of how to read knitting patterns, how to cast on, bind off, and work the basic knit and purl stitch.

    Critics and popular audiences alike marveled at these quilts that combined the best of contemporary design with a deeply rooted ethnic heritage and compelling human stories about the women. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt is a major book and museum exhibition that will premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), in June 2006 before traveling to seven American museums through 2008. The book's 330 color illustrations and insightful text bring home the exciting experience to readers while displaying all the cultural heritage and craftsmanship that have gone into these remarkable quilts.

    It contains all of the 225 patterns of the historic Jane Stickle 1863 quilt as well as a series of letters to Jane about life and times in the nineteenth century, with emphasis on the Civil War and the women's movement. Among the patterns and letters you will find a dozen quilts from the 1990's, all inspired by Jane's supreme example of quilt-making artistry in 1863.

    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.

    Sweaters get damaged or go out of style but we still love the prints, colors, and textures. You don't have time to knit it from scratch. It's ecologically correct. And most of all--it's fun!Sweater Surgery shows you how to upcycle all your slightly worn, slightly damaged, or plain old out-of-style sweaters into fabulous new items for your wardrobe and your home. Readers learn how to choose, cut, restitch, felt, and embellish old sweater fabric, transforming it into beautiful handbags, mittens, scarves, hats, hoodies, skirts, jewelry, soft toys, pillows, and more!Complete instructions for 27 projects, plus a huge gallery of exciting ideas for further inspiration.

    Celebrate the season with homemade home decor items and crocheted Halloween costumes. Inside, you'll find one-of-a-kind DIY home decor patterns, homemade Halloween costume ideas, and more. Most of these crochet patterns are quick and easy to work up, which is great for last-minute holiday preparations.

    Instagram sensation Isabelle Kessedjian has created this adorable doll with her own very stylish wardrobe in crochet! Using Isabelle's easy patterns discover how to crochet your doll and then personalize her with your choice of hair, clothing and accessories for home and abroad.Each project is presented as a mini story to bring your crochet doll to life with a whole heap of extras to complete each scene, including: At the Beach with a bucket, paddling pool and air bed, Good Night! with bed linen, a pillow and cuddly teddy for sweet dreams! At the North Pole with a camera, penguin and a fish!The cute mini suitcase pattern is perfect for storing all your doll's belongings and doubles up as a bed too!Create the doll of your dreams for a little girl you love or the little girl inside!

    This inspiring book shows you how to record your experiences, using sketchbooks, journals and photography, to create personal narratives that can form a starting point for more finished stitched-textile pieces. Acclaimed textile artist and teacher Cas Holmes, whose work is often inspired by her life and the journeys she makes, helps you find inspiration through your own life and explains how to record what you see in sketchbooks and journals, which can often become beautiful objects in themselves. She explains how you can use photography, both as documentation and as inspiration, and sometimes incorporate it into the work itself, along with found objects and ephemera. Throughout the book are useful techniques that can be harnessed to add extra interest to your work, such as methods for making layered collages, how to 'sketch' with stitch, and advice on design and colour. If you want to create beautiful, unique work inspired by your life and travels, this is the perfect book for you.

    Covering a wide range of skill levels, it introduces the universal symbol language of crochet to newcomers, while also satisfying the need for intermediate level patterns. Each crochet design is broken down stitch-by-stitch in a diagram format so that visual learners can see, as well as read, each step. With contemporary designs from trendy to classic, each project offers a fresh take on crochet, providing modern patterns for purses, necklaces, belts, dresses, shawls, and more.

    As a response, a vibrant Do It Yourself movement has risen to reclaim age old traditions that reconnect us to slower and simpler times. A sewing renaissance has been set in motion at a time in history when economic instability and an awareness of the importance of using sustainable resources is peaking.With this in mind, award-winning blogger Maya Donenfeld offers a guide to working with her favorite recycled materials. You’ll find linen, burlap, wool and more with details on their history, deconstruction techniques, sewing tips, and information about their environmental impact.Reinventing everyday materials into extraordinary items of beauty and utility for the modern home and family will excite new and experienced sewers alike. To add an element of personalization, Maya draws on her experience leading print workshops to share easy methods for transforming gently-used fabric with paint and ink. Stenciling templates and thorough instructions are provided, as well as encouragement to invent your own designs. Stories, a favorite recipe, and nature activity are tucked between and around the projects to offer the reader an invitation to slow down, and create with intention.

    A rundown on equipment introduces the drop spindle, supported spindle, niddy-noddy, McMorran balance, and yarn meter, while the following sections include choosing wool and other fibers, presenting knitting patterns suitable for handspun yarn, and in-depth profiles of real urban spinners. For crafters who want to experiment with spinning but don't want to sacrifice too much of their knitting time, there are lots of ideas for jazzing up a thrift-store cardigan with handspun trim or knitting a boatneck pullover in a combination of commercial and handspun yarns. Methods for incorporating beads and threads into yarn and a technique for dyeing yarn in the dishwasher are also featured.

    This colourful, exciting book offers a rich source of stimulating and innovative ideas that will appeal to all abilities.

    With an emphasis on recycling, making projects from scratch, and improvisation - as well as detailed, easy-to-understand instructions - this title gives crafters the skills they need to self-express, by shaping their own environments, whether they're working on their bodies, their bedrooms, their lockers at school, or their first apartments.