Crafts Hobbies Books

Very useful book for those responsible for keeping young children interested and involved with handicaft projects. Supplies are readily alvailable and at nominal cost. Instructons are clear and uncomplicated.

Kids Create! is an excellent collection that uses various mediums and can apply to children with varied artistic ability. I am a 6th grade art teacher, and I purchased the book after borrowing it from the library. There are too many wonderful ideas to let it slip away! My students especially love Carlson's collection of sculpting projects.

The craft instructions in this book are indeed easy, fun, cheap to do (etc) for kids. But the best part was the discussion in the back of the book on appropriate levels of creative projects for kids of different ages. It clearly outlined what attention span and dexterity level you should expect from kids of different ages. And it had useful advice for adults on how to make the project fun for kids; not just push the child to produce an "aesthetically ideal" finished project. That unanticipated inclusion in the book made it really stand out for me.

I've been quilting (self-taught) for 18 months and bought this book about 6 months ago, so I'm not quite a beginner but still have plenty to learn. I use it as a reference work, but unfortunately I have learnt to use it with a pinch of salt. I made the mistake of using one of the tables for calculating how to cut a certain type of triangle. Thankfully I double-checked with a template before cutting my fabric, as the formula given was wrong, although I then had all the trouble of cutting fabric with two sets of markings on it. The formula for calculating the width of binding is also incorrect. I've not checked any of the other formulae, but I'm extremely wary of using them now.

This book has no overall contents section, which is awkward, although there is a contents page for each section at its start. It is divided into the following sections, and the pages are renumbered at the start of each section, e.g. 8-12, which again is an awkward way to do things, although it is useful that the section name is printed in the outside margin of every page.

1. Tools, notions and supplies
2. Fabric and colour
3. Planning pieced blocks
4. Planning the quilt top
5. Cutting
6. Hand piecing
7. Machine piecing
8. Hand and machine applique
9. Assembling the quilt top
10. Basting and backing
11. Hand and machine quilting
12. Binding and finishing
13. Specialty techniques
14. Glossary
15. Index

As you can see, this covers the whole process of traditional quilting fairly well, and as it's a long book, there is plenty in it. There are oodles of nice clear photographs, good headings, diagrams, charts and formulae (which may not be correct!), separate instructions for left-handers where applicable, and spaces at the end of every section where you may write your own notes.

Where techniques are discussed (a few aren't - bargello quilting gets a paragraph saying what it is but no instructions, for instance), they are usually discussed thoroughly. There are usually several ways to do anything in quilting, and a lot of the time this book will describe several options, though not always. For instance, it gives a variety of options for joining multiple pieces to make backing, but only one option (and not the most popular either) for joining two pieces of batting. I'm not wildly happy with the basting instructions generally, though they're certainly useful when used alongside other instructions. I also feel that a lot more space should be given to hand-quilting technique, where only one page is devoted to the all-important quilting running stitch. I can't judge the sections on machine-sewing as I have yet to learn how to use a sewing machine, but as is usual for quilting books, machine-sewing is assumed to be the norm. Where it comes into its own is in giving a lot more information about hand-sewing than most quilting books these days do, and as a hand-sewer I'm extremely grateful for that.

There are very few troubleshooting sections, which is a particular loss in a book which is giving out incorrect formulae: if you follow this book's instructions to the letter, you're going to run into problems. There are definitely gaps. For example, the only method suggested for marking up fabrics is to use templates, when many quilters prefer to calculate the piece sizes and draw them straight onto the fabric using an acrylic ruler (a method that is, in my experience, far more accurate and far quicker). It doesn't even discuss making sure your shapes will fit together the best way possible to use up the minimum fabric (personally I always sketch them out on graph paper first), let alone how to calculate how much fabric to buy.

The most serious omission is that this book is only interested in old-fashioned quilting. If you plan to spend your entire quilting career sticking to traditional geometric patterns based on repeated square blocks, you'll be fine - as long as you don't expect the book to teach you how to make any of these blocks! Some basic units, such as flying geese or a square within a square, are covered, and there are discussions on the grid underlying blocks as well as five pages of pictures of traditional blocks (a couple of which I'd say are wrong), but nowhere does the book walk you through putting together a traditional block. This is unusual in quilting books aimed at beginners, which usually give instructions for a few blocks and indicate the level of difficulty for each. If your only source of quilting instructions is this book, half of the blocks in the gallery will be beyond you, since there is absolutely no information on how to sew more complex blocks depicted such as the Mariner's Compass or Double Wedding Ring. To be honest, an encyclopaedia-style book should really have a much fuller block gallery than this.

If you want to learn how to make art quilts, or how to piece quilt tops that aren't made of geometrical repeating blocks, there isn't a word to help you. Ruth McDowell is a good author to go to there, and there are many books and websites discussing more unusual techniques.

I've reluctantly given this book three stars. There are too many important omissions in this book, and for a book that sets itself up as a start-to-finish bible, readers may be deceived into thinking that it will cover all of their needs. More importantly, some of the information is plain wrong and will wreck a quilt if followed literally, and some of the instructions give rather odd methods while ignoring the most commonly-used ones. If you take all of that with a pinch of salt, and have other quilting books around to fill the gaps, as well as checking techniques before using them on a full quilt, then it is certainly a very useful book to have in your quilting library.

Great book full of very useful information. Only drawback was that I had to get it in paperback with out the spiral spine.

This is a great book: Outstanding illustrations,super ideas, easy to follow directions.
Wish I HAD THIS BOOK TWO YEARS AGO. I bought one for my sister and she loves it.

This is the best book. It gives you lots of info on quilting both hand and machine. With lots of pictures and written info. Good book for the beginner.

A great book for someone getting started in quilt making. Wife has had an earlier copy of this book for some time. This copy was ordered for a Grand Daughter that entered into a new career two years ago, that being a first time young wife dedicated to becoming a profesional Home maker. Am told this book is a step in the right direction.

My daughters, ages 9 & 12, were looking to replace Jane Bull's "Great Indoor Outdoor Book" which they had lost. This was the closest thing we could find. It is full of wonderful ideas and crafts, with step-by-step instructions. My eldest wanted to learn to knit, which she easily accomplished using the instructions within. We also did many weaving projects, made marble paper, paper boxes, and salt dough. There was enough to keep us engaged and busy for the summer. You can bet I'll get it back out when the vacation doldrums set in again!

This is an excellent book to have in your arsenal of craft ideas. Any of the crafts are brightly illustrated and can be adapted for any class.

This book is full of creative, easy ideas for kids. Cotton fabric dolls, beginning cross-stitch, string art, weaving, knitting, string balls, pom-poms, sun dial (from a paper plate!), paper roses, boats (made from "trash" items), miniature campsite, miniature playhouse made out of a box (including accessories like lamp, chest of drawers,...), magic tricks, making masks, painting scary faces, dyeing fabric, decorations (parties, seasonal), making marble paper, and box-making are just a few topics in this incredible book. It's a must-have for any young crafter.

This is really the best craft book. My daughter loves to do crafts and she found things in here she just "had" to do...... It has some great ideas we will be turning into xmas gifts.

I bought this for my friend's daughter as a birthday present. She's one of those kids that takes everything she can get her hands on to make a craft out of it. We got her this book to give her some new inspiration. She loves it! Her mom says she's been consuming it and is grateful for the new ideas. It uses things that she has around the house and basic craft stuff. A great book for the craft lovers in your family.

the papers are double-sided and the colors are vibrant. the patterns don't distract from any design you choose to fold. i only wish i had bought two!

Nice assortment of paper. I bought it to do origami boxes and the weight of the paper is heavier than most which was beneficial.

The large size of the paper works well since you can use it full size or quarter it to make a smaller nesting boxes.

The colors and patterns are subtle and sophisticated. The double-sided patterns are complimentary and for the most part contrast well.

For example, if you're making Tomoko Fuse's hexagonal boxes in her Origami Boxes book, you'll probably want paper that has strong enough contrast so that the star burst center of the box shows up well against the main color of the box.

Most all of the paper in the packet has nice contrasting values. The flip side of the paper is reversed in color from the primary side of the paper (i.e. if the pattern is green and white on side 1, it's white and green on side 2).

My six year old son loves the origami paper because of it's fun and interesting colors. Unlike traditional origami paper which is colored on one side and white on the other, this paper is colored on both sides. Most of the paper has a dark side and a light side which makes it easier for beginners to know which way to fold. It is good paper and good fun!

Buy this book if you're looking for answers on how to do certain things.
This book filled the gaps left by "Stitch n bitch" and has helped me out of several jams.

The patterns are crap, but the reference is good.

Not a good way to start out someone learning to knit. Not terribly well-written, either.

I taught myself to knit with this book fairly quickly. Getting started was a little confusing, though and I had to do an internet search to find a video to watch about it. Some things are very clear and others I had a lot of trouble with (although I'm assuming it's just because I was learning).

I've not worked my way through all of this book, but I would say that it's a good way to get started knitting. =)

At last, a book that explains how to knit in a way that I can comprehend. I cast on right away! Shipped very quickly too.

I ordered this for a friend who wanted to learn how to knit. I have used Dummies books for lots of other subjects, and in general, have found them very helpful and clear. Not this one.

I understood "for dummies" to mean for people who know absolutely nothing about the topic but want to learn. I don't know if the authors are so experienced that they don't remember what it was like to be a beginner, or if it's just really bad editing, but this book jumps all over the place and even talks about designing your own sweaters in the first few pages, as if a beginner would understand what that means. Knitting lingo that only experienced knitters would know appear way too early as well.

The first couple of lessons, just casting on and knitting, are too complicated and have errors. The diagrams don't go with the text or are on the next page from the text (?!) so you can't refer to both at the same time. The material is presented in a bizarre order and the ugly format using cheap newsprint with the color pictures in a clump in the center just doesn't do it for a knitting book. I'm so glad I shipped it to myself so that I could send it back in exchange for the Teach Yourself to Knit Visually book, which is superb, packed with color pictures, and costs only a couple dollars moreTeach Yourself Visually Knitting (Teach Yourself Visually). From now on, I will go to the bookstore to review a Dummies book in person before purchasing! A real disappointment.

I had heard many raving reviews about this book so of course I had to buy it. The patterns are wonderful as promised but I was also looking forward to the 'history' of the knit along and was disapointed. The history was very mater of fact and nothing that I had not already assumed. I have not finished reading it so it might get better but... It is a good kniting book but I was hopping for something better.

I love it! It's an interesting read and the patterns included are great. A wonderful gift for any knitter...

Buy this book if you're a long-time knitter. Buy this book if you're a newbie knitter, or someone who thinks,"Hey, maybe I'm interested in this knitting thing." Buy this book if you *know* somebody who loves to knit.

You'll understand. What Larissa and Martin have done is created a book that is also a camera's viewfinder, in which you see other people, like yourself, all over the world, knitting, creating, becoming involved in the art, and involved in each other.

Every time I open it, I see something new and interesting, informative and life-affirming. Hey, the patterns and projects are GREAT, the writing is really, really excellent, and the photography is perfectly beautiful, but this book is special. Larissa and Martin hand-knit this book for you and me. For us. Get this book.

I have been knitting for a few years and I love the sense of community you get when you are doing a Knit-a-long. This relates the number of ways to knit together.

I really liked the premise of the book - that of knitting together with old friends or new friends. Also, there are some very nice patterns in the book. I think it is worth the money.

I have done a lot of sewing. I did make bridesmaid dresses and altered brides dresses. It was very interested to read about the different technics in the making of a good bridal dress. I hope I will get to make one in the near future and than I can use this book for the fine touches
This book is not for beginners.
Lucie Zandstra

The Susan Khalje book is an excellent source of its sort - not speaking of the nice design and pictures, it tells you everything you would want to know when trying to make an evening or wedding dress. Susan Khalje gives many interesting tips and tricks that would otherwise be very time-consuming to figure them out, like how and where exactly attach boning, what layers to use under skirts to make them look as you want to, how to work with lace and how to place it on the curved bodice by hiding the cut places, she gives suggestions as what fabrics to use for what garments - she is very fond of silk organza - for petticoats, underlining, bone channels.

This is one of the rare books that show you professional-done garments and reveal all their making secrets. Even if you're an advanced sewer, I still think you'll find many good tips here. Maybe a pure beginner would not be able to appreciate the value of the information given.

Highly recommend this book if you are making a wedding gown for the first time. Very clear instructions complete with pictures. There is also great chapter on how to attach lace.

I have been sewing for over 25 years and have a degree in design. However, I am always looking to evolve my technique, and I looked into this book because I wanted something that detailed couture techniques for formalwear. In reading other comments on this site before I purchased this book, I noticed some reviewers did not like it because of the outdated dresses. However, I wanted to add that while the specific dresses shown in this book are dated, the techniques described and illustrated are fantastic. This book is for someone that already knows how to sew well, but wants to take their sewing up another level. Don't buy this book expecting to copy one of the dresses used in the examples. Buy this book if you are looking for instruction on choosing and adding stability, using boning, etc, etc. This is about applying couture techniques to your own design. I was looking for something very specific, and found this book to be very helpful. I am glad I purchased it.

Though some of the featured gowns are very "eighties" (big sleeves, big skirts), this book is wonderful for showing how to engineer and fit the understructure or foundation necessary to achieve a remarkable fit on evening wear. The detailed instructions on preparing a muslin are easy to follow and thorough, and this book describes the small steps that, if followed, provide a "knock-em-out" gown that will stay put, even when dancing. Underlining, corsets, boning, and "how to keep things from drooping" are all demystified here. This will be terrific for evening wear and costumes, too, once the wedding gown is finished.

This overview of decorating tips for both wheel and handbuilding contains numerous great ideas that I would like to try plus easy to follow instructions for most of the techniques. It is a perfect book for any potter who wants to expand their decorating reportoire.

Some of the design is old-fashioned in our country, but the recipes are accurate and work well. I tried the tobacco stain recipe and it worked well for me. Good, clear instructions.

This is a very useful book to introduce students to a very wide range of possible decorating techniques for a wide range of pottery steps (wet, leather hard, bisque fired, glazed). There are several projects outlined at a very high level, but these seem to be for some of the more common decorating techniques. Not an awful lot of time is spent on most of what I would think of as the more uncommon techniques. But at least you have an introduction to those techniques.

This is a great book as a quick reference to get the wheels turning in your head, but there's not a lot of "how-to" behind it; a lot of inspiring photos, but not a lot of text.

I'm a college student and hobbyist who dabbles in ceramics. This book is awesome! It provides information on a variety of projects, and details the steps to guide you through each project. I can hardly wait for fall classes, so I can experiment with some of the techniques in the book.

As an amateur potter, I found this book to be one of the very best I've found. Not only is
everything clearly explained, the pictures show you exactly what he's talking about.

Generally, pottery books are either inspiring source books, or flat how-to's. This
one has the virtues of both Virtuallly every page has a helpful insight into a technique, e.g. how
to make perfectly bevelled edges for square shapes: so easy and helpful.

This is a great book for beginner potters, like me, but there are so many lovely
pieces that I'm sure it will inspire skilful artists as well.

Rosem'ry

One can easily learn the brushstrokes with this book. It is well illustrated and well worth the price.

I really like this book. Info and visuals to help the beginner and other levels of painters. I'll keep my copy.

She has many techniques that Donna Dewberry does not cover in the books of hers that I own. Some beautiful strokes using other brushes. I really like the tole painting look that this book demonstrates.

This book is just wonderful for round and flat brush stroke designs. It is also very well written and illustrated. For a beginner it is just great to see results almost instantaneously achieved. A Great work of art!!

I just received my book, and was absolutely thrilled with it. Maureen explains the use of different brush sizes, along with the most common brush mistakes made, and then, shows us how to correct them. Her step-by-step illustrations and instructions are very easy to follow. A must have for just about anyone who paints. Great pictures and patterns. From now on, anytime I paint, this book will be next to me.

There were tips that weren't in the other macrame books. Bunk hemp would be an example and how to get stubborn beads onto the lead (think rubber cement). Good descriptions. Ok pictures.

If you're beginning then this is a great book for you, and if you're experienced, its a great book for ideas. I love it.

A Great book for those wanting to learn how to tie hemp. It gives a visual instuction and a literal instruction on most of the knots so it's very hard to get confused. If you enjoy making jewlery, this is the book for you.

I love this book so much! I've been hemping for a couple years, but nothing beyond the basic square and spiral knots with some beads (which is all that many books include). literally within minutes I had learned all kinds of new techniques and was well on my way through the book with lot of cool new jewelry. easy to understand directions, nice pictures, great for inspiration, and fun! best hemping book i've seen so far, and I have definitely owned a few. I would also reccommend the second book for even more advanced techniques and bigger projects!

Had it, loved it, lost it and now buying it again. This is a great starter book because of its detailed and easy to read drawings & pictures and written instructions.

The book itself is well made and duarble too so while you have one foot and two hands busy with tying you can use the other free foot to hold down pages and not worry about ripping the book apart. Hitch , half-hitch , Phishbone, tips on gluing (get rubber cement), how to measure length, add more cord if you run short...it's all here.

My only advice is to get a sturdy cork board and some T-pins so you can pin your work to the cork board as you're weaving. I'm getting too old to hook the macrame cord around my toes.

Cork boards are cheap at wal-mart and you can take a magic marker and a ruler and mark the board in one inch increments so you can eyeball length as you're working. The boards are only about an inch thick so the trick with the T-pins is to stick them in at a 45 Degree angle for a good solid ground(w/o punching thorugh the back of the board). And when you're not using it you can put it up on the wall and stick memos to it like the manufacturer intended. ;)