Grab a book from our Sewing and Craft Library to read on those rainy days!
What rainy weather we have been having this past couple of weeks. It just doesn't seemed to have stopped much at all. My daughter is not complaining though as she loves to splash in all the muddy puddles! I have taken inspiration from the wet weather and thought about the things I like to do when it is raining and top of the list is get cosy on the sofa and read a book. This is why for today's blog post I have been nosing through our extensive Sewing and Craft library on Sewing-Online.com and written a list of 5 books that I think would be perfect to sit and read on the sofa while it is tipping it down outside. Luckily for you all we are having a huge summer sale over at Sewing-Online so now is the time to pick up a bargain! There is up to 50% off some items.
Top of the list has to be the range of Cath Kidston books. I have bought the Stitch! one before now as a gift for one of my aunties and I loved all the floral cross stitch projects in the book. Although I haven't ever read the other titles in the series I can imagine they are just the kind of crafty, inspirational books you want to read when you are kept in the house because of the weather. The names of the other books in the collection are as follows, Sew! , Patch! and Make! Each book contains instructions on how to make projects that have been designed by the Cath Kidston team. If you would prefer a smaller version of these books then you can buy pocket-sized editions of 3 of them: pocket size Stitch!, pocket size Make! and pocket size Sew! The pocket size books measure 21.2 x 15 x 2 cm whereas the regular editions measure 28 x 21.4 x 2.4 cm.
The next book that has taken my fancy is Vintage Style For Kids written by Fiona Bell and photographed by Vanessa Davies. The book gives you instructions on how to make 25 unique designs of children's clothes and accessories. Fiona Bell is the founder of Their Nibs which is a kid's vintage styled clothing brand that can be bought online from their own store and even in prestigious shops such as Harrods. Here is the description for the book - 'Many of the designs are based on styles from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and the signature prints –which include Toadstool Fairy, Retro Planes, Butterflies & Carriages, Mermaid, Russian Doll and Pirate- also have a distinctly vintage feel. Vintage Style for Kids contains selections from Fiona’s favourite and best-selling designs. In chapters focusing on ‘Babies’, ‘Playtime’, ‘Parties’ and ‘Bedtime’, she reveals how to make and style many gorgeous garments, from cute babies’ clothes and pretty party dresses to classic shirts and pyjamas. These beautiful, whimsical designs will appeal to children and adults alike, reminding us of the simple pleasures of a gentler, slower-paced era, when mothers took time and care over making clothes and keepsakes for their children. Vintage Style for Kids comes complete with cutting patterns on a disc and easy-to-follow instructions'. I can certainly see me whiling away a few hours flicking through the 144 pages of this book dreaming of pretty dresses to sew for my little girl. :o)
Book no 3 on my list is The Encyclopedia of Quilting and Patchwork Techniques. I have mentioned in a previous post that my new year's resolution for 2012 is to learn the art of patchwork. The reason for this is that I have bags full of my daughter's old clothes that she has grown out of and I have the best of intentions to turn these into a patchwork quilt made using hexagons and the English paper piecing technique. It is now getting towards the middle of July and I still haven't managed to make a start on the quilt so my job for this week is to get all the old clothes washed and dried so I can photograph them next week. The reason for the photographs is because I want to be able to have a reminder of each garment that has gone into making my daughter's, hopefully, heirloom quilt. I hope I will be back here next week with a photo of a pile of clothes ready to be cut up...fingers crossed! :o) I think I'll be getting the clothes dry indoors though...not much chance they will dry outside in this weather.
Now I cannot crochet but I would like to learn one day and that is why I chose The Granny Square Book -Timeless Techniques and Fresh Ideas for Crocheting Square by Square by American author Margaret Hubert for my list. It is a spiral bound book that is packed full of 75 granny square motifs. I have heard people talking about Granny Squares on our Facebook page and I have seen how beautiful they can be. If I do manage to learn to crochet one day then I'm sure this book will come in very handy for when I start to hook myself some Granny Squares. (Hopefully I used my crochet lingo correctly there)
The last book on my list for today is sewing pattern book Oliver + S Little Things to Sew. The book has 20 sewing projects for accessories and small things to make for kids. I am pleased to see there are 2 full size pattern sheets with this book as I wouldn't need to venture out the house into the pouring rain to photocopy and enlarge pattern pieces. Instead I could get up from the sofa, trace off the pattern pieces and commence sewing without needing to leave the house for a moment. I have seen Oliver + S patterns on the net before and I have always wanted to buy one but as yet not got round to it. It is for that reason that I am delighted that I could now buy this book which has lots of Oliver + S sewing projects in. The book is currently on sale at £16.06 so that is a good price for a book with 20 projects to make. An example of the projects are a Bear/Teddy/Doll carrier, Penguin backpack and Cosy Winter Hood. My daughter would absolutely love a front carrier made for her so she can carry her toys around. It would make a great Christmas gift....if I found myself becoming really organised! Not likely though. :o)
I hope you have enjoyed looking through my list of 5 craft books for rainy days. Don't forget if you pop over to the site now you can order them at sale prices! Here is a link to last week's blog post that mentions 20 of our sale items but there is lots more sale items to see on the Sewing-Online website.
I think I might write a future blog post about rainy day craft projects so I will be asking for your input on Facebook and Twitter later today. Please come by and let me know your favourite craft projects to do in the wet weather.
I hope you have a nice weekend.
