Sew Wrong

I Collect Sewing Books.


books

I have a confession to make: I buy sewing books and don’t read them.  Criminal, right?  I see reviews of them on blogs, stumble across them on Amazon, and I snatch them up thinking that they’ll help improve my sewing skills/solve my fitting issues/turn me into a fashion designer/whatever.  And then I open them up when they arrive, flip through them, and then file them away onto a shelf in my bookcase. For shame!  Claire Shaeffer will not be put in the corner!

Today that’s going to change.  I was giddy when I saw that Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing was on my doorstep when I came home from work.  I rushed in, opened it, and immediately became absorbed in all of the knowledge Gretchen shares in her book on vintage sewing (more on her book in a later post).  And then I thought: what other great information and tips are sitting on my bookshelf just waiting for me to read and discover?  It’s all right there, I just need to open them.

So I’m starting with two books at once:  High Fashion Sewing Secrets by Claire Shaeffer (love her!) and Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing by Gretchen Hirsch.  I’m going to read both of them, cover-to-cover, and share new tips and tricks each week from whatever sewing book I’m reading at the time.  That way, I get to power through my sewing library and learn all sorts of new stuff to apply to my sewing and share with you too, dear readers, tidbits that will hopefully be helpful for you as well.

Edit: for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to start with Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing by Gretchen Hirsch.  Two books at one time is going to be a bit much for me to power through with my limited reading time available.

How about some kind of Sewing Book Club?  Leave me a comment if you plan on joining me for a read-along on either book and share your thoughts of the book on your blog.  When I do my post on the book, towards the end of the month, I’ll include a link to your blog as well.  Sound fun?

Now if this works out, I need to try this with my knitting books as well…stay tuned!

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Collapsible Shopping Tote

For Christmas, my sister gave me the new sewing book “One Yard Wonders,” which has so many fabulous projects in it made of – obviously – just one yard of fabric. The projects are quite inspiring as to how to use up the odds and ends of fabric that seem to accumulate over time from miscellaneous projects, impulse purchases and what not. So needless to say, I have a lot of projects planned from this book!

Collapsible Shopping Tote
I absolutely love my first project – the Collapsible Shopping Tote. It’s a lot like those overpriced bags that you see at stores for sale; I worked at a store recently that sold flimsy nylon ones for $12 each! It does fold up a little bit bulkier than said overpriced bags due to the fact that it’s made from quilting cotton and is obviously thicker than cheapy nylon.

Collapsible Shopping Tote - Folded Up


The fabric was originally intended for a pair of PJ pants from Heather Ross’s Weekend Sewing, but my fabric wasn’t wide enough for the pattern pieces. And since I bought two yards and needed just a yard for this project, I have enough left to play around with and make something else!

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Great Read: Craft, Inc.


So I picked up this book on Tuesday and I’m over half-way through reading it as we speak. Wow, this is a book I wish I had two years ago when I was first starting up my knit accessories business (which, of course, is no more). From the website:

“Craft, Inc. is the hipster business primer for entrepreneurial crafters to turn what they do for fun into what they do for money. Pro crafter Meg Mateo Ilasco offers a step-by-step guide to everything from developing products and naming the company to writing a business plan, applying for licenses, and paying taxes. Chapters on sales, marketing, trade shows, and publicity round out the mix. Plus, in-depth interviews with such craft luminaries as Jonathan Adler, Lotta Jansdotter, Denyse Schmidt, and Jill Bliss provide inspiration and practical advice. Accessible, informative, and more than a little spunky, Craft, Inc. paves the way for today’s creative minds to become tomorrow’s trendsetters.”

Finally, a book relevant to today’s crafters trying to find their way in the business world! Meg offers great tips on finding your nitch market, ways to become inspired, and she cuts through all of that business lingo so that you can be a legit operation. I’ve only gotten through to the section on creating a consistent brand image, but I’m sure she offers a ton more great tips that I have yet to read.

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Anatomy of a Bookcase

Well it’s been another crazy month. Finished college, picked out a new apartment, moved all my stuff back home, and applied for temping work before the “big move” in July. Most of my time has been spent visiting relatives and shoveling the crap out of my room, determining what will come with me or what will be brought up at a later date. The big challenge was this:

(Click on picture for a larger view)

Now, I haven’t cleaned out this bookcase since, oh, let’s say 6th grade. All my childhood picture books, novels, and Nancy Drew mysteries were in that bookcase, along with college textbooks, costuming paraphernalia, and my DVD collection. Now, I’ve trimmed the six-shelf bookcase down to four shelves of books I’m willing to take with me (don’t worry, the others will be donated or saved for, as my mother puts it, “future grandchildren”). From the top down:

Shelf 1 – Misc Books
I didn’t really know which shelf to put these on. Or really, where they would fit since some of them are honkin’ huge, like The Great Book of French Impressionism that my grandpa gave me. Just random stuff, like Suze Orman, some HTML and design books, my Jane Austen anthologie, and my Chicago Manual of Style.

Shelf 2 – French books, other college texts, and mostly Lord of the Rings
This shelf is double stacked. The first layer is primarily composed of all my college French books that I’ve saved since freshman year. I really can’t bear to part with them, even though there are quite a few I remember not enjoying when I had to read them for class. The second row is mostly of LOTR-related books, such as the trilogy, The Hobbit, The Book of Lost Tales, and the Silmarillion.

Shelf 3 – DVDs and Art History books
I didn’t realized until I finally put all of my DVDs together that my collection is getting a bit large. Six of them are Muppet related, and I really need to catch up and buy the last two Harry Potter DVDs. I also am lugging up my Gardner’s Art of the Ages (which I love so much!) and my other French art books. Oh, and my collection of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales.

Shelf 4 – Knitting and Sewing
These are, without a doubt, non-negotiable books in regards to the space in my car. If there isn’t much room, I will get rid of other books before I part with these! Standard knitting books such as SnB 1 and 2, Vogue Stitchonaries, a sweater designing book, and a book on knitted motifs for color knitting. Other than that, lots of magazines that I’ve saved over the years with sweater I keep forgetting about that I want to make. On the other side of the shelf, after the two books on sock monkeys, come all the sewing/costuming/designing books. Most of these books are on costuming, so I might leave a couple behind to grab later, such as my books on different period garments or books on designing costumes for stage. I went through a year or two where I was convinced that I wanted to be a costume designer, so I gathered a lot of books on costuming during this time.

I have no idea how to fit all of these in the two cars that are moving my stuff in July.

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