Crafts Hobbies Books

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other comments on this site before I purchased this book, I noticed some reviewers did not like it because of the outdated dresses.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.

I was looking for some new ideas on how to jazz up my pages. I didn't find much in the book that I would use.

Like other reviewers, I found pictures on her pages were lost in the mess on her pages.

I expected more from this book - not quite sure what but I haven't learned anything other than that I would not want my pages to look like those doen by Ashley, whose work I usually adore...

I have converted to digital scrapbooking a while ago but this book makes me want to go out, get paint and glitter and get messy. Thanks for the inspiration!!

I am a professional collage artist and I own many books on paper and collage and what to do with it. I LOVE this book. I never would have bought it for the "scrapbooking" content, but for the instructions and ideas for dressing up the paper yourself, it is truly a must have item. Great instructions, great photos, all easy to understand and wonderful and easy to do with easy to get art supplies. Messy and beautiful and real - a great step to personal journaling - which is why I purchased it.

I agree that this book is "way out there," but I like that. It isn't your ordinary "fifty ways to use patterned paper on a layout" idea book. Instead, Ashley Calder introduces new materials and techniques, and shows you step-by-step how to incorporate them in your scrapbook.

I would not recommend this if you are a die-hard Creative Memories user who never lets anything with even a hint of acid touch her scrapbook's pages. But if you are willing to look outside the box, give it a go. I like Ashley's quirky style, even if I am a more traditional scrapper.

I had knit several typical sock patterns with success, and I loved the finished product, but the sock bug had not hit me. I found typical patterns to be kind of boring and I also had a little bit of trouble with consistency in the sizing.

Cat's patterns are wonderful and extremely well written. I love her new increases (though the mother/grandmother stitch hint did nothing for me) and the master patterns and numbers are excellent. I will use this book forever and probably never get tired of it.

I used to think socks were boring and took a long time. Now with Cat's patterns, I realize how captivating and quick socks can be!

One more time Cat Bordhi takes knitting to a new level. With her new looks at how to construct sock gussets she has changed the way socks have always been made. The book is written for many levels of knitters and the more adventuresome can use these ideas for a jumping off point for endless possibilities for making socks for everyone from babies to men. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn how to make socks with these new methods. I can't wait for book II!

Cat Bordhi has a brain I envy. She's taken something that's been done for generations in pretty much the same few ways and broken it apart to examine it, put the pieces together in new ways and said "Why not?" The socks she offers are beautiful and innovative in the extreme. Directions are detailed and clear.

One star off because of the paging back and forth required to follow some patterns, plus the tendancy to larger guages, which a lot of sock knitters, including me, aren't enamoured of.

Das Buch ist eine Fundgrube von Ideen, wie man Socken mit verschiedensten Abnahmen machen kann. Die Anleitungen sind sehr gut erklärt und natürlich kann man sie mit Rundnadeln stricken!

I'm an expert knitter (30+ years) and I've created my own patterns and taught knitting. I've mastered the art of knitting back backwards and I've created several of my own cast-ons when I found other cast-ons too constrictive or too complex.

And yet I was starting to think that there was something wrong with me that I found this book confusing and overly complicated. I'm so glad to know there are other people who feel this way. The "choose your own adventure" aspect - where page 51 tells you to turn to page 9 and you get to page 9 and it tells you to look for box 10 - is unnecessarily complicated and, frankly, lazy. Make the instructions clearer - even if it means making the book longer.

The second, and almost as annoying, aspect of this book is the way she makes up terms. What the heck? Is there something wrong with "SSK" and "K2tog"? I don't see the point, unless you're teaching a rank beginner with this book, and if you are, she's going to go off to other books and patterns and come back to you: "What?? Help! I don't understand!"

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I'm a process person, not a product person. But while the ideas in this book might be wonderful, the execution is so flawed as to make the book virtually worthless. I've had it for almost two weeks and I still haven't cast on a sock from it. This is unheard of for me: I've been known to cast on an interesting pattern on the way home from the knitting shop.

This book offers great alternatives to finish your knitting projects. The stitch directions and well written with photos of each edging included. There are even a couple of project patterns included where the edgings are used. Overall, it is a great book that gives you beautiful finishing alternatives. I think I'll consult this book a lot as I undertake new projects.

Great book!
Well written, well described, really nice ideas.
Highly recommended.

I used to work in a yarn shop. I have saved so many pamphlets and photo-copied a ton of patterns for sweaters, afghans, etc. that I would never make just to have patterns for the details. This book has helped me declutter! I can't believe that she has all of this in one book. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The patterns from "Knitting on the Edge" that I have used have all worked out. I have also easily been able to vary the patterns to work into the piece I was working on. She's made it very simple. And having worked some of the edges in - they really have made the pieces 100% richer looking. (Borrowed it from our library and had to buy my own copy.)

The author wanted to make a single source that collected all her edgings and the book is simply a collection of 350 patterns on edges. The chapters are; ribs, ruffles, lace, fringes, flora, and points and picots. There are some finished designs in the book that I don't believe that anyone would knit, they are simply not fitted, but she definitely fulfils her edge-aim. At first I was pretty bored when looking in the book. Then I realized that I was thinking about several different knits I would like to do, being inspired by the edgings in the book... Therefore, I believe this is is a book for anyone who likes to make own designs and who wants new inspiration to make edges that adds something to the knits. I haven't looked into her other two books on edgings, so I don't know if or how they add to each other.

The astonishing popularity of knitting in recent years has resulted in hundreds and hundreds of knitting books. Everyone wants to get in on the craze but, as someone who has been knitting for close to 50 years, I find most of them lacking. This book has at best five good, inventive, creative, unique edgings and the rest are just mediocre variations on the same things. Fringe? Did we need a section on fringe?

I'm willing to admit I'm a bit jaded and, while I love finding gorgeous new patterns and stitches to try, I find many of these new books to be spectacularly uncreative. It makes me wonder what the point was other than to cash in on the current hot market. I found one really interesting and creative lace edging, a couple of interesting variations on old themes, but the rest would not likely appeal to anyone who has been knitting for more than a few years.

I have leafed through a number of project books only to be disappointed with the types of projects that would be offered. Many would be cheesey and not anything you really would find useful or feel comfortable making for another. This book is quite different.

If you have friends and family members that enjoy items of a "Michaels" craft variety, you will definitely find something worth making and giving to them for holidays and other special occasions. If you are a father/grandfather/mother/grandmother who would like to see a young child experience a toy or piece of furniture that is not molded in an asian factory, this book would also be for you.

Joinery for the projects is somewhat varied. Unlike other project books I have looked through, these are not all butt-joints and overly simple (though there are some projects that are very simple for those getting started). The book will not teach you how to paint, cut, or join. It is what it says it is, a book of projects that has ideas, plans, and diagrams. If you are very new to woodworking, I would suggest buying this with another book that teaches the basic woodworking skills necessary to build the projects listed safely.

i have yet to receive 2 products that i ordered over 2 months ago. i will NEVER use amazon again!!! it deserves 0 stars.

I just got started in serious woodworking, and was looking for a good book to get me started with small projects to cut my teeth on. This was it. I've already completed a couple of the items and have more on my to-do list. The drawings are excellent, the instructions are, for the most part, helpful and accurate, and the materials lists are simple and low cost. The bulk of my Christmas gifts this year are going to come from making projects found in this book.

If you or someone you know is just getting started, this is the book to give them for a bunch of great project ideas that will build skills without incurring a bunch of costs.

This book has so many projects in it that some are bound to interest you. The problem with books that feature, say 25 projects, is that if you find 10% of them interesting you get 2-3 projects out of the book. This has 150 projects. If you find 10% of them interesting then you walk away with clear instructions and pretty detailed plans for 15 projects. This book is well written and includes sections on finishing and material selection. I own many "project" books. This book outshines them all by a wide margin. Joinery is pretty basic and the projects run from beginner to intermediate, with most of them being the former. One point that I feel compelled to mention, however, is that most projects in this book require a machine (or hand tool) that will cut curves. Just buy it!

With 150 projects in the book, you are bound to find at least a couple that you find interesting enough to build. Such is the case with this book. Most of the projects are so-so and are worth a glance or two. I have a list of about 5 projects that I will actually try.
The designs are clear and the instructions mostly thorough. The one error I did find was easily recovered from (a flip-flop in order of steps in the fanning candleholder).
I was hoping for about 20-30 projects that would actually be attempted so for that reason I drop the rating to 4 stars. Overall this is a good book that should give the weekend handyman several ideas.

Couldn't wait to receive it and it lived up to all my expectations. It is a wonderful new hobby which I am hoping, with the help of this book, to eventually conquer. Very informative and inspiring.

The patterns in this book are absolutely beautiful. My favorite designer in the book is Sauniell N. Connally. I've had a chance to look her up and she's new with good ideas. But I have to give every designer kudos that contributed to make up this book. Everything is exactly as the title says - Sensual. I love it and give good direction to the patterns. Highly recommended by me!

I had high expectation but was disappoited. But I like the pattern for the cardigan on the bookcover.

This book is exactly what it advertises -- an interesting assortment of attractive and feminine knit patterns. It's well laid out and easy to read. The patterns appear to be well-written, though I have no yet knit very many of them. The pictures are very good and give a good idea of what the finished knit will look like from several angles in most cases.

I got this book less than a month after it came out and at least three of the yarns used in the book were completely unavailable, one of which has been definitely discontinued. The point of the book was to use unique yarns that were soft and sensual feeling (hence the name of the book), so it is hard to try to find substitutes. It seems the editor should have checked to be sure these yarns would still be available when the book was published.

Other than the yarn issue I think the patterns are beautiful, classic, and very fashion forward. It's a great book to browse and be inspired by and a few of the patterns appear to be appropriate for a beginner although many would be a challenge to even a more experienced knitter. If I can ever find yarn I plan to knit several of the items in this book.

I buy a lot of knitting books---probably too many. Usually there's a pattern or two worth knitting, and that's enough.

In this book, I'd say there's a pattern or two NOT worth knitting. Everything else is an absolute gem. I've had the book three months and I'm already knitting two sweaters from it, the striking Transparency and the classic Balloon-Sleeve Jacket (which appears on the cover).

This book should be on the shelf of any sweater knitter, especially, and anyone who wants to knit sweaters. Many of the designs are simple, but not the kind of "big-needle-fast-knit-crap" found in all too many books these days. These are thoughtful designs with shaping and drape to flatter most figures. Most are classics; a few are fashion-forward. Most are mid-weight (worsted, DK, Aran), some are lighter for a less bulky fit.

Do yourself a favor and at least flip through this book, or check it out on Ravelry. I think you'll find you can't wait to acquire a copy.

For those of you interested in starting your own business, race out and pick up a copy! Loads of great ideas, tips and tricks and funny stories.

A must-read for anyone thinking of starting a craft business. Fitzgerald knocks it out of the ball park with this one!

I found this book to be very helpful as a mom running her own business and I was very happy to be asked to contribute to it. Reading the things the other contributors had to say about being able to do what you love for a living were very motivational. I hope this book encourages more women to start their own businesses. [...]

This is a cut-to-the chase approach that profiles a cross-section of successful businesswomen crafters. Before you start setting up any kind of business, you'd better make sure your idea is unique and marketable. Sit down with Fitzgerald's book for a few hours, and you'll see what these women did to stand out and succeed in a very competitive business environment. I particularly liked that each profile is in that woman's own words. If I'm going to make my dream of starting a business a reality, I sure need to hear from those who stepped off the crafting cliff before me! I really liked this book.

First of all, this book was hard to get a hold of. Did they not print enough or what? Borders couldn't even order it for me, Barnes & Noble had no stores nearby with it and took a couple weeks to get it in.

I've been working on my own crafting business for almost two years now, and I love Country Living Magazine, so I was excited for this book. I would just recommend it to those who are looking for more inspiration than real direction and hardcore answers.

The true stories of successful crafters are very inspiring and helpful in the advice the women give. It was fun to see the other women's crafts (many of whom are well known in this business) and hear how they came to be successful and what their dreams for the future are.

I would not recommend this book if you are looking for some serious answers about the structure, laws, options and rules when it comes to setting up your own crafting business. I would strongly recommend The Crafter's Business Answer Book by Barbara Brabec, that book will answer every question you have and help you get set up. This book, however, the Crafting a Business book, just skimmed over all these topics very briefly at the end of the book. It wasn't as thorough and didn't answer all the important questions.

I'm pretty happy with my purchase nonetheless, and have really enjoyed reading through the various success stories in this book. It is encouraging and enjoyable.

Like a lot of beaders, I've been facinated by the silver and gold clays for a while now. Also like a lot of beaders, I don't have regular access to a kiln. This book is about making jewelry using clay like PMC, PMC + , PMC3 and art clay.
Author Sherri Haab has written a lot of wonderful books on techniques and different mediums to make jewelry in, like her wonderful The Art of Resin Jewelry. This book is as detailed and as good as I've come to expect of her books.

It starts with an overview of the clay types, firing methods, and instructions for finishing pieces,it explains the kiln types, and what will work best for the sort of piece you are making.
After you know the clays, tools and methods, there are a lot of projects. The projects are varied and inspiring. A wide range from simple pieces made with clay, to pieces that mix the clay with other mediums like polymer clay, enamel, resin and even concrete and cement!

The detail in it is great, color photos and examples that illustrate very clearly how to do everything, including the best and easiest instructions I've ever seen for torch firing the metal clays. It defines the steps to start with the wet clay and end with a lovely piece of jewelry, and the descriptions of the clays are complete, firing times, the strength and shrinkage you can expect.

I was very impressed with the book, the layout is logical, the projects are lovely and the explanations are clear enough that I went out and bought a torch this weekend. I feel very secure now trying these wonderful clays and plan to make necklaces with my children this weekend.

This book is terrific for the masses! People who want to make mixed media jewelry with PMC, but don't want complicated and intricate stuff will be thrilled with it. Of course, one can go further with these techniques into much more detail-oriented jewelry, but these projects are the perfect jumping off point for anyone to try. The instructions are complete and precise, and the photographs are helpful and clear. Sherri Habb is a wonderful artist with an excellent knack for teaching, which all of her books have proven. Every one of them is very highly recommended!

This book is jammed packed with helpful information and a ton of eye candy that has me perusing the pages over and over! Having taken a PMC class and having read many books on the subject I was very impressed with the plethora of projects and the detailed instructions. Even the most minute details are covered. And the gallery is absolutely stunning and inspiring!

Many books fall short when attempting to describe step-by-step instructions, but Sherri Haab's book goes the extra mile. The steps outlined are detailed, easy to follow, and understand. The beautiful photos are so incredible that I can hardly wait to try several of the projects covered! In fact, I have already started playing with resin: Fun, fun, FUN!

Anyone purchasing this metal clay book will not be sorry. Reading Sherri's book has definitely taken my art work to a higher level. KUDOS!!!

Wonderful book with great layout, pictures and instruction.

If you are starting in metal clay this is a good book to read.

This book's cover features a gorgeous silver charm bracelet to invite you to look into incorporating resins and other media into your metal clay pieces. The book follows Sherri's 2003 Art of Metal Clay and 2006 Art of Resin Jewelry and includes the best of both. She begins with fairly thorough metal clay instructions (although I consider a class essential for safety considerations, especially for people who have not previously used a torch or a kiln). Learning how to plan a design prior to opening a package of metal clay is also an important class lesson because the binder in metal clay dries so quickly.

What sets this book apart from other metal clay books are the instructions on making findings, supports and bezels from metal clay. Other books show jewelry projects and, because many jewelers like to use precious metal findings, Sherri's instructions on findings and bezels are most welcome. There's also a section on the use of color, images, and surface design. If you've enjoyed working with metal clay and want to expand its use, this book is for you.