Blog Giveaway Day 4 - Mend and Make Fabulous by Denise Wild

Today we are looking at Mend and Make Fabulous by Denise Wild.

Mend & Make Fabulous

Stylish Solutions to give your clothes a new lease of life

Denise Wild

ISBN 978-1-78221-029-0

Price £12.99

www.searchpress.com

For the lover of Vintage clothes, the risk of finding the perfect outfit that has flaws or wear and tear is quite high.  This book is a one-stop manual for dealing with the most common faults you might find and also provides ideas for upcycling and updating outfits to give them unique and individual alterations.

For the experienced seamstress, the ‘Mend’ parts of the book are probably a bit simplistic, but there is a good collection of simple covering all bases.  Even though they are simple, you might find that they are more technically accurate than you might be used to dealing with (such as the use of a cocktail stick to help sew on a button) or offer a better finish to a garment (such as adding a chain to a hem for a better hang).

Having the ‘Make it Fabulous’ sections in the book makes it more than just a mending manual.  I found that some of the ideas were fresh and exciting, and being able to modify and update vintage clothes to suit your own purpose is a skill that will stand you in good stead when considering what you might want to buy as part of a vintage wardrobe.   These range from the simple (re-doing buttonholes in a contrasting thread) to the more labour-intensive (changing necklines, changing straps, adding ruffles).

There are illustrated explanations for each step of a technique, and each  ‘Make it Fabulous’ section includes photographs from high street sellers and blog posts of a variety of fashion and vintage bloggers.  This gives you several alternatives for a particular technique, and ideas of how to take it further than the guidelines given.

Overall, a good starting point for those wanting to venture into buying vintage, as it gives you the most common faults you are likely to come across and ways of improving the garments you might find and update them whilst still retaining the vintage feel.

My blog giveaway is running over the next few weeks.  Every day this week I will be posting a review of each of the books I am giving away.  Please leave a comment on my blog, comment on and Like my Catch a Crumpsey Facebook Page or email me at catchacrumpsey@gmail.com, stating which book you would like.

After the competition has closed, I will randomly choose a winner for each book title from those people who specified that book.  I will announce the winners on my blog and Facebook pages!

Closing Date for Blog Giveaway: Sunday 18 May 2014


Winners will be announced the following week!

In order for entries to be processed, your e-mail address will be passed onto Search Press with your permission.  I have been assured that your details will not be used for anything other than adding you to their mailing list to advise you of forthcoming titles and any promotions and your mailing address used so that Search Press can send your their new catalogue.  Your details will not be passed onto third parties or used for any other purpose.  Please email me on the above email address if you have any queries about this.

Blog Giveaway Day 3 - Making Cushion Covers by Debbie Shore

Day 3 brings the last Debbie Shore book I have to give away.

Making Cushion Covers

Debbie Shore

ISBN 978-1-84448-730-1

Price £9.99

www.searchpress.com

Anyone who watched the TV series Men Behaving Badly in the 1990s will remember a joke that caused much hilarity at the time over one of the female character's propensity to collect cushions and secrete them all over the house. Well, if you buy this book, it may perpetuate that myth that you can not have too many cushions by giving the reader ample opportunity to find a cushion for any and every occasion.

Debbie Shore is the Queen of homely interior accessories and this book will not disappoint.  There are 26 designs to choose from and all take a slightly different approach which creates a book which has enough to keep you interested and wanting more from your home furnishings.

I like the way that all the books I have read by Debbie Shore require very basic equipment to begin.  This is particularly good for the beginner, who may not have had the years of collecting paraphernalia that some of us may have hoarded over the years.  This means that as long as you have some fabric, a simple sewing machine and some haberdashery such as pins and scissors, you are ready to go.

The books starts with basic cushions to familiarise the reader with the techniques you will need as a starting point.  These are well-explained, with measurements and photographs to illustrate each step.  You have a basic envelope, hand-finished, round and piped cushion to practice before they start to be jazzed up a bit and a bit of fun is injected into the proceedings.  Then you have knots, pleats, rosettes, ruffles, buttons and ribbons as examples of some of ways that this fun is achieved.  My personal favourite was the flower cushion which had felt flower decorations sewn onto the cushion cover and created an expensive looking end product.  There were great personal touches on some the designs, such as a ‘Love’ heart cushion and a pleated ribbon butterfly cushion, and with several variations shown alongside the finished cushion, you get a great sense of how to move on from these patterns and create your own.  They are all pretty designs here and you will find that with the easy-to-follow instructions, you will be able to master a variety of cushion-making skills in no time.  Then you will be left in the difficult situation of how to secrete them in all corners of the house without tripping over them.

My blog giveaway is running over the next few weeks.  Every day this week I will be posting a review of each of the books I am giving away.  Please leave a comment on my blog, comment on and Like my Catch a Crumpsey Facebook Page or email me at catchacrumpsey@gmail.com, stating which book you would like.

Tomorrows book will be Mend and Make Fabulous by Denise Wild.

After the competition has closed, I will randomly choose a winner for each book title from those people who specified that book.  I will announce the winners on my blog and Facebook pages!

Closing Date for Blog Giveaway: Sunday 18 May 2014

Winners will be announced the following week!

In order for entries to be processed, your e-mail address will be passed onto Search Press with your permission.  I have been assured that your details will not be used for anything other than adding you to their mailing list to advise you of forthcoming titles and any promotions and your mailing address used so that Search Press can send your their new catalogue.  Your details will not be passed onto third parties or used for any other purpose.  Please email me on the above email address if you have any queries about this.

Book Giveaway Day 1 - Debbie Shore's Half Yard Heaven

Hello to all.  I hope you had an enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend.

Here is the first of my books to be given away in my Blog Competition.

Half Yard Heaven

Easy sewing projects using left-over pieces of fabric

Debbie Shore

ISBN 978-1-84448-892-6

Price £9.99

www.searchpress.com

Debbie Shore has had a variety of careers through television, and is now a best-selling author of sewing titles, TV presenter and craft writer.

For any lover of fabric, we know all too well the lure of a pretty fat quarter, and you may well have a nice little collection nestling at home, wondering what small projects you can find to suit this size of fabric.  If you are not a quilter, then it is a fantastic book to come across, as it is specifically geared towards using small pieces of fabric to create useful and pretty pieces of homeware.

There are 26 projects contained in the book and they range in difficulty and size.  There is a cover for a wet wipes packet which is aimed at people with babies or pets.  But any textile artist who deals with mixed-media will know that there are a million clean-up uses for spilt inks or paints, especially when you can create new fabrics from these mop-ups.  So the appeal of making your wet-wipe packet beautiful for your workspace is appealing. 

 There are patterns for slippers, several doorstops, neck cushions and a craft caddy to name a few.  The latter is a good design for an organiser to keep threads, scissors or tools you are using for a particular project, and I think to use it with a strong stabilizer such as pelmet Vilene or Decovil, would make it a particularly useful hold-all for what you are working on.  With its handles, it becomes mobile and you can travel with everything to hand.

The projects would be a good starting point for younger sewers, as they are quite simple to tackle.  A noticeboard or placemat in fabric chosen by a child would be a good way of getting them involved.  And I like the approach of the book in getting you to use up those fabrics you may have been hoarding in your stash.  Debbie’s approach is fresh, her fabric choices pretty and appealing, and the projects are not daunting to a beginner.  It’s a good book for someone starting out with sewing because it introduces some simple sewing and quilting techniques such as piecing and applique, tackles both flat and stuffed pieces, and all the projects included here have a useful purpose.

Tomorrows book giveaway will be Sew Bunting by Debbie Shore.
My blog giveaway is running over the next few weeks.  Every day this week I will be posting a review of each of the books I am giving away.  Please leave a comment on my blog, comment on and Like my Catch a Crumpsey Facebook Page or email me at catchacrumpsey@gmail.com, stating which book you would like.

After the competition has closed, I will randomly choose a winner for each book title from those people who specified that book.  I will announce the winners on my blog and Facebook pages!

Closing Date for Blog Giveaway: Sunday 18 May 2014

Winners will be announced the following week!

In order for entries to be processed, your e-mail address will be passed onto Search Press with your permission.  I have been assured that your details will not be used for anything other than adding you to their mailing list to advise you of forthcoming titles and any promotions and your mailing address used so that Search Press can send your their new catalogue.  Your details will not be passed onto third parties or used for any other purpose.  Please email me on the above email address if you have any queries about this.

Lindsay Taylor's Embroidered Art Book Launch

Today I have had the most fabulous day at the Book Launch of Lindsay Taylor's book Embroidered Art, published by Search Press.

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You can see from the cover that you get a pretty fabulous book with some of the most beautiful stitching fashioned into exquisite shoes and necklaces and pincushions and more.  My full review will be in the September issue of Workshop on the Web, but suffice to say, I would jump at the chance to buy this book and immerse yourself in Lindsay's welcoming and open account of her life in stitch.  It is a book you will treasure.

The launch was at Kew Gardens, and I couldn't think of a better venue for a book so immersed in nature and beauty.  On one of the hottest days of the year as well, it couldn't have gone better with the venue, the surroundings and the company.

I had the chance for a quick chat with Lindsay Taylor and told her how wonderful I thought the book was, and how beautiful that artwork is.  It is refreshing to talk to someone with so much enthusiasm about her work and generosity in sharing her story of how she got to where she is now.  Dressed in an amazing outfit and a rather splendid bag (home-made I'm sure), the whole atmosphere of the event was of a family affair (many of Lindsay's family had come along), and I felt privileged to be part of it.

Another high point was meeting the lovely Mary of Search Press, who supplies me with many lovely books to review for Workshop on the Web.  Making our introductions purely by chance, I chatted to Mary about books and fairs and some of their upcoming projects.  I left without any more time to have a sneaky peak around Kew Gardens, but it was worth it through having had such a lovely time chatting away.

An amazing lampshade and stand hand felted and embroidered with leaves.   

A close up of an embroidered leaf on the lampshade.  Beautiful work.

One of my favourite pieces, with beautiful pastel coloured roses in a bouquet.

An amazing cabbage teacup.  I loved this - doesn't it just look exactly like a cabbage???!

There were several beautiful necklaces, so elegant and again showing a huge amount of detail and artistry.

Another necklace.

Lindsay Taylor and myself, feeling very tall and very short respectively.  Lindsay did have high heels on and I was wearing flats, which probably didn't help with our height difference.  Lindsay has a natural style and looks amazing.

Me and my New Best Friend, Mary from Search Press.  After several years of communicating via e-mail, it was great to finally meet her.

Lindsay Taylor with her book in the beautiful surroundings at Kew Gardens.

I had a fantastic time.  And the great news is that Search Press are offering a copy of the book for a Workshop on the Web giveaway.  You need to go to the WOW Facebook page to get the details on how to win this or one of a selection of books reviewed either on WOW or on this blog.  Good Luck!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Workshop-on-the-Web/174523459465