Crafts Hobbies Books

Oh My God, don't delay another second, buy this book. It's totally gorgeous, I LOVE it. I only bought it last week and have already made several things and flicked through it a million times. The pictures are adorable, the patterns sooooo simple to use and lots of them. Definitley definitley worth the money. The other Tilda books are equally as fabulous! I have pics of the teddy bears on my blog [...] (not sure if you can add blogs to this??)

I really loved this book. The projects are easy and well explaind, and the pictures help when you think you'll have some difficulty. I've made the angel on page 32 and it turned up wonderful! I named her Sophie (here in Brazil we have the habit of giving names to our dolls). I still want to do other projects, like the angel pig, the reeinder, the little shoes, and so many others... This was the fourth book by Tone Finnanger that I bought, and she surprises me every time. I think everyone will love it too.

This book is just beautiful.Glorious pictures.It's only August and it made me want to pull out the tree and deck the halls with holly!It would even make a great gift for the non sewers.I have looked at it hundreds of times already.

Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle is a beautifully done book, with full-color pictures, of all the projects, on glossy paper. I am very happy I purchased it as it is now among my very favorite crafting books. Lots (35) of unique crafting projects, with several size choices available, and yes, they really are pretty! Overall, a very well-designed book & one you will enjoy using & looking through over & over. The only caution I would add (& why I didn't give it 5 stars) is Sew Pretty is really for someone with crafting/sewing experience, as the directions & material lists are quite general.

this was a great book but i bought it new form amazon and there was writing on the sides and cover.

This book is written with a sense of humor. It has lots of ideas, tips, recipes, and facts; it even has poetry. There are no patterns but plenty of ideas and pictures (to copy). This book is a delight!

I love this guy,I've been watching his website for years. Search under
Extreme Pumpkins.Not for the mainsteam friendly smiling pumpkin carver.
The book has great pictures and instructions. You get to use POWER TOOLS!
I recommend it as a great book for yourself and to give to any friends you have with a strange sense of humor! Warning your neighbors may think you've gotten a little too far out there!!!

I love this book! Not only are the pumpkin carving ideas amazing, but the guy has great suggestions with a good sense of humor. My only regret was that I ordered it late in October and I didn't get the book in time to pursue some of the projects for Halloween night. But it sure made for a great table book and conversation piece at my little Halloween get together. Next year we'll be ready to take some of these on! The photos are wonderful and we all cracked up, deciding which pumkin extravaganza was our favorite. So if you're seriously into having some Halloween creativity and fun, get this little book.
FUNNY!

This book is entertaining, hilarious, and is guaranteed to equally disturb your neighbors and make you a legend among the neighborhood kids come Halloween. Easy instructions to make one of the many bizzare pumpkins illustrated or to "take creative wing" and scare the bejeebers out of the neighbors! Put the fun back into Halloween-this book will show you how!!!

this book is just great for the beginner or the more advanced crocheter. I use it all the time and have ordered it for other people. I give this book A+++. It has everything in it that you ever need to know.

This book is great for those of us who learn more quickly by having visual examples.

Excellent book! I am new to crochet and the pictures were very helpful as well as the "in plain english" instructions. I was able to try and successfully complete many new patterns/stitches. I would definitely recommend it to any new stitcher.

Part of the reason I bought this book was to learn some new crochet stitches; the problem is, the book is not as visual as it promises to be. Some critical pictures are left out at crucial points that leave the crocheter with nothing but a description of how to complete a stitch or continue subsequent rows. I had hoped to avoid such things with this book. I have learned some new stitches, but I expected to be able to master all the stitches in this book with its visual training technique.

I have purchased a few crocheting books but this is by far the best book on the market. Great pictures, diagrams and step by step instructions, if you can only purchase one book make it this one!

The best book for learning pattern making and as a reference when you are working in the industry!

i never received my item because they were sending it to the wrong address and i guess someone took it. They then promised to give me a refund which i haven't recieved yet either but it's only been a couple of days. I hope i at least get that back!

I am a fashion design student and this is my favorite book ever for pattern making. I strongly recommend it to anyone serious about pattern making and design.

I find this book very informative. It contains info on every aspect of making clothing. I do not think that this book is expensive for the info it has in it. I have spend hundredths of dollars on books that where a waste of money, this book is worth every dime. Len

This book is just what I was looking for. Now I can design what I want to make and this book can show me how to draft the pattern. I love it.

Martha Stewart featured this book on her show a month or so ago (summer 2008) and she and some celebrity made a dog and a bunny. They're funky little animals and look very easy to make. For how-to purposes, you probably don't need the book, just the idea...but the book is good inspiration and the thinking and planning is done for you. The book is fun to look at and would make a good kid's book too. I'm thinking an argyle sock would make a great sweater for one of these little stuffed friends to wear!

A delightful book with a cute story presentation as well as simple and clear instructions on how to make the puppets. I have recommended this book to art and craft teachers.

I have been having a blast making stuffed toys for my kids using the patterns from this book. The pictures alone make it a fun book to read. The patterns are not step by step leaving you to add a lot of your own creativity to the finished product.

This book was prefect. I was novice sewer with only little sewing knowledge when I bought this book. It was worth a million bucks. The instructions were easy to follow and within two days of buying the book I was sewing each of my friends two or three little sock and glove animals.
It's great for last second gifts, birthday presents, and Christmas gifts.
Who doesn't want a cute, little cuddly friend?
I made myself three.
I liked the way the book was setup in story format. Instead of just instructions there was colorful photography and a storyline.
I'd recommend this for anyone from beginners to experts. Even months later, after I've had much more sewing experience I enjoy using the book and making more stuff animals!

This book is awesome. The toys are easy to make - some of them have been completed by my children aged 9 and 11 years old. There is only basic equipment required to make the toys and the stitching is easy. Step by step instructions of each toy and clothes to fit are also provided.

A great gift for someone with young children or a baby on the way. I am going to make these for my friends who are expecting. They will make great cheap gifts for all - christmas, birthday etc. My children have enjoyed raiding their old socks to make new friends...

I looked at several other books trying to decide what would be "THE Sewing Book" and I decided this one is absolutely the best for me. Instructions are easy to follow and I got a lot of new ideas as well. This book would be great for the novice as well. Photographs take you through the techniques in clear colour.

I just bought a Janome sewing machine and started sewing again so this was a really good refresher course for me because I lost a lot of techniques from years of no practice. When I was in high school back in the stone ages I took a lot of home economics classes and did really well. Then life happened and I forgot a lot. So I'm getting my old knowledge back and then some from this book. This is a one stop guide for every technique I needed to relearn. If your taking classes, this would be a great accompaniment because if your classroom book doesn't explain the technique well this one would fill in that missing info with the pictures and the clear instructions printed in the book. If you're gifting someone with a new sewing machine, this would be just the right book to go with it.

This is a very good book for some one who is just learning this skill. Also lots of more advance techniques.

Only problem is it could have better illustrations.

This book is beautifully illustrated and detailed. The topics are indexed very well. I am happy I found it and intend to purchase several copies as gifts for my four daughters.

I bought this book after taking it out of the library for my daughter. She is just learning to use a sewing machine. It is full of information and colorful details. If you are a visual learner this is the book for you.

I'm a novice in the world of sewing. This book has been pulled from the shelf many times when I've been trying to figure out new things: buttons and buttonholes, different hand-stitches, zipper installation and more.

If you're looking for a reference book with great information (and LOTS of it), this is a good one. I am glad I chose this one.

This is a gem of a book, full of great ideas to give or keep. The instructions seem very clear (will not know for sure until I actually make anything, but still). I do agree that it is a bit confusing when most of the instruction pictures feature colors different than the ones on the final project, but for the most part it is ok. Really, my own project will not be the same colors as pictured, either, but will probably follow the same patterned/solid color scheme. As far as finding materials, I was having a hard time finding suitable sweaters at my local thrift store, as well, until I went to a store in a "wealthier" area of my state. I hit a gold mine! Thank you Betz(y) for the awesome book! Your parents sure are proud, as they should be :)

LOVED the ideas in this book. Lots of easy-to-make gifts from used sweaters. Great redo crafting for Christmas. Recommended!

I love this book! Not only does it have easy take-along projects, but it uses recycled wool clothing to create them! As a person who not only enjoys making gifts for birthdays, etc., but who also sells hand-mades, I cannot recommend this book often enough!

I LOVE the ideas in Warm Fuzzies and I like the idea of using felt but I HATE the idea of going to thrift stores and buying old wool sweaters that I have to felt myself. Sure, it's probably cheap and it gives people great satisfaction of knowing that they're doing something "green," but I'm not into that stuff. I don't like thrift stores and I don't like the idea of having to go through that kind of a process to make anything. I'd rather buy the fabric at a fabric store and start in on making a fun crafty project! So, that's what I did!
If the idea of felting wool sweaters on your own makes you uninterested, don't worry! Any of these projects can be done by using new fabric that's found at the craft store. It can be wool or felt or a wool combo or even boiled wool. Or, you can use some completely different fabric (and even use batting if you want it to have a thicker sweater-like feeling to it).
I'm just saying that we don't have to limit outselves to felt if we want to use the great patterns and ideas in this book.

I bought this book for my wife, who enjoys making decorative felt food. Given the subtitle and cover photo, you might assume this book contains felt food projects. For the most part, it doesn't.

I purchased this for my 3 1/2 year old. He loves it. Most of it was pretty easy for him, but I am so glad I got it. He loves stickers so the first few pages were a neat way to get started. The one on one time with Mom is wonderful and he looks forward to it every day. We usually did 3-4 pages each day. It is bright and colorful and the paper is very sturdy.

My son received this book for his second birthday and absolutely loved it! He wouldn't put it down. We have had a similar experience with the other Kumon books we have purchased since then. Highly recommend.

My son and I went through the entire book last night -- he loved it! I'm going to buy the More Sticker & Paste. He really enjoyed the gluing. I thought this would be a great book to bring on a trip with the exception of the need for scissors (which wouldn't work on an airplane).

This is an excellent book for teaching fine motor skills to little ones. I am a teacher and I highly recommend this for toddlers. My three year old loved it and wanted to do the whole book in one sitting.

My 2 year old loves this little book!! We're working through this and Let's Color simultaneously, and she asks (to put it mildly) for them everyday. It starts off very simply, placing a colored, shaped (circle, triangle, square) sticker over a coordinating blank spot in the middle a picture of an apple, watermelon, etc. I explained to her that the goal is to place it very carefully to try and cover the entire white space with the sticker. The paper and stickers are excellent quality, and can endure a couple of retries if she's not satisfied with her first attempt.
Of course you have to cut out pieces for the pasting portions. That's where the coloring book is coming in handy. She can do one of those while she's waiting for me to cut out the pieces for her next project. The pasting starts off similarly to the stickers, but advances to gluing features on a face, decorating a birthday cake, and 2-4 piece puzzles. Her first face was rather picassoesque, but the next day her panda was pandalike with no prompting at all.
This is my 4th child and I've "home pre-schooled" them all. I wish I'd had these available sooner. I love the incremental approach to more challenging activities. We've recently ordered the "More Let's Sticker and Paste" and "More Let's Color" and we're going to try "Let's Cut Paper" as well.

I receive this book today & was excited to get started on some prjects after a long wait. As I was perusing through the book my excitement waned. 1st the items on the cover is the reason why I bought the book. as you go through the book there is ALOT of projects that are either motifs or some type of granny square construction. Don't get me wrong some of the sweaters including the blue one in the pic is beautiful, Blue Sky Alpaca for the yarn finderwt, nice, but that particular pattern is a long drawn out granny square [updated]. I dont mind doing 1 0r 2 pieces and connecting together but more than 20, each project, no I don't like because than you have to match sizes for the pattern to work, plus sometime as you crochet/knit the tension in your hand changes,either too tight, loose and the project does not come out. Then the matter of connecting so many pieces, after doing 5-10, I get bored working on the pattern.
Also the book is not very big & if you are not used to so many diagrams your eyes looking over the page to get started can be frustraed. I found that 1 project was several pages because of small book or schematics taking up soo much room, annoying flipping to begining to see how to oontinue.

That aside, the last 40 pgs there are some really nice patterns in the back which I was excited about [only 5 total considering amt of pages for each one] these are not motifs/granny and ar some nice shell,boxed, interesting feminine designs. Upon seeing that I became torn in keeping the book, because is this really enough to hold a book for just 5 or so patterns? I hate to do that. maybe if you check the book out in the bookstore to decide & if you like come back to Amazon to get better price.

The idea of crocheting from a "blueprint" is great. It is especially nice for the granny square designs. I started the Katie bolero today, and even with the smallest hook, my motif was 5" wide, rather than the 4" the design says it should be. Now, normally, I'd switch to a smaller hook, and all would be well; however, this WAS with the smaller hook, and I crochet TIGHT (usually have to go up 2 hook sizes to get the gauge given in a pattern). Perhaps the yarn weight given (worsted) was wrong, but I'm working with TLC cotton plus, slightly smaller than worsted weight already, so I see no way that a true worsted could give a 4 inch motif. Luckily, my training is in math, so I'll work things out with a modified diagram, but for non-math people, this could be a real issue. Also, MANY of the really pretty designs are done in size 2 or 1 yarn, and alpaca to boot. This is not a book for the "average" crochet budget. That said, I love having the diagrams for fitting squares together to make garments, and the schematics are marvelous for being able to alter things to fit other between sizes. The shaping is also nice, though it is not as customizable as that in Everyday Crochet by Doris Chan. So, I'll use this book, but it will take way more work in converting patterns and gauges than I thought when I first saw it. Keep the diagrams coming, though! THEY ARE AWESOME!


Part 2: Finally made a 4 inch square for the Katie Bolero...with a D crochet hook and 2 weight (baby) yarn. Definitely check gauge!

Robyn Chachula's book is a 5 star book because of several reasons. First, she TEACHES a new way of looking at crochet with symbol diagrams that will unlock the mystery for many beginner crocheters and intrigue us veterans. She offers beginner projects to warm up with and works her way up to the show stoppers. Even the most complex patterns are made manageable by her stitch diagram lessons. In addition to her signature granny-square construction, she also offers other construction methods. The granny-style square method is made modern by the joining methods that create an illusion of seamlessness. Fantastic. I can't wait to see what Robyn comes up with next.

I must admit that I am not a totally unbiased reviewer, as Robyn is one of my friends from college, but I absolutely love her book! The book contains 18 patterns, all of which look amazingly fun to crochet. There is a pattern for a purse, a belt, and a scarf that are great ways to enter into the world of symbol crochet. She has both written out and shown the symbols for the first group of patterns. By the time you get to the "Vogue Granny Motifs" you'll be a pro! And the granny motifs are where I think the symbol crochet really shines. The grannies are so much easier to work because you can always look at the diagram and see where you are. I have already made the "Katie Bolero" (a pre-version last year-not today!), and while I was initially worried that my squares would not match up or that somehow the whole thing would come out wonky, the pattern really allows for some variation because of the construction. Unless your gauge changes wildly from square to square, it really will come together well. And it is exciting watching the piece come together. Of course, as in making any sweater, there is always that point in the middle where it seems as if you will never finish, but we all know that's when you push on through and end up with a wonderful piece!

I especially love the Isabella Wrap, the Megan sweater, the Maggie Wrap, the Paige Sweetheart Top, the Rachel Swing Jacket, and the Christin Crop. (So like I said, I pretty much love them all!) But probably my favorite part of the book is the writing and the glimpse of Robyn's personality that shines through. Robyn's love of crocheting is infectious. (It got me! I used to be a primarily a knitter!) Plus, after her introduction to symbol crochet, you will be able to make a whole new world of patterns! Literally-you can make foreign patterns that also use symbols. So dive into the symbols. And to help, the back flap of the book has a little cheat sheet for reference until you get more familiar with the symbols. One last important note, the patterns do all have an introduction, diagrams, and finishing instructions, so it's not as if all you get is a picture of the pattern. The non-granny patterns have more of a combination of words and symbols.

So now I'm off to scrounge through my stash to see what yarns I could use on some of these projects!