Customer Reviews

AlterNation: Transform. Embellish. Customize.

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I first stumbled across this book I got really excited. I'm always looking for inspiration and the pictures displayed on Amazon made me believe it'd be a great buy.

I called around and it wasn't available anywhere, so I went a head and ordered it really wanting to get my hands on the book. I never had a chance to good through the book before purchase and was relying on Amazon's pictures alone.

It arrived and I was greatly disappointed, the pictures on Amazon, in my opinion where the only good projects in the book.

It isn't worth the money.

The book gives you only a taste of creativity. Some of the ideas are good, but executed poorly. It was hard to follow and I wouldn't recommend for novice sewer. I'd call myself an intermediate sewer and though the book wasn't too difficult to follow I could see where a beginner might get confused.

I was so dissatisfied with the book that I returned because I'd rather spend my money on some other DIY book I'll actually use.

There are a few good projects in this book - the neck tie skirt and the corset skirt are quite good but most of the projects aren't really that interesting at all - like the tie collar and the Queen Liz collar (nice if you want to look like a frill necked lizard). You need to have an overlocker to finish some of the projects as they are just overlocked on the edge. On the crazy simple shift dress the arm hole and neck are just folded over and sewed - great if you want it fray on your first wash. Some of the clothing construction needs a bit of work or refinement. Like I said - it's okay.

I was able to check this book out through the library which was a relief because there are not enough projects in this book worth doing to justify the price.

First off this is a beginner book and is useful only to those whose sewing skills are rudimentary at best. A great deal of the designs are simplistic and can be done with a glue gun. Also the designs are clearly for adolescents, which may explain their very basic skill level.

As one reviewer quite acurately noted, all of the "good" projects are featured here on the Amazon website. Which means the buyer is in for a very disapointing bait-and-switch when they fan through this book and judge the other projects to unseemly to waste their time on.

Check it out if you must but spend those pennies on a more substantial book.

I was fooled by the pic on the front cover...thought it would be a bit punk. NO. its grandma stuff. Don't bother.

I came across this book at my local fabric store the other day and while flipping through concluded it had some "interesting" designs. Although I feel the author did come up with some very unique ideas... none are what I would put in my "practical" clothing category. Mind you, if you are the kind of gal that would strut about the town in a duct tape dress (yes I do have a friend that has one) this book is for you... however for the rest of us who prefer a more subtle approach to fashion, this book is better left on the shelf.

This book is ok, they do have a lot of unique projects but most of them are so unique I wouldn't want to be seen in them. I do like a few of the concepts but for everyone I like there is one I don't. This book is staying on my shelf for inspiration purposes only, I may utalize one or two of them but I doubt it. Save your money and just look at a few crafting forums instead.

I'm a big fan of DIY books. I ordered this not expecting something super excellent and fantastic with amazing ideas. I was expecting something mediocre with unique ideas. But even so, I was disappointed. While some of the ideas are interesting, they're also impractical. The items featured in it look cheaply made, like they rushed through making the item. Out of all the DIY things featured I found I only really liked one (there's over 10 featured.)

Basically, I wouldn't buy this again, and would not recommend it to anyone unless you're excellent at conjuring up really cool things out of a bad tutorial.

This is a great book! I only wish that it had more ideas and projects! This is a good intermediate book on the subject. I recommend it for people who are comfortable with a sewing machine (or else you'll be fudging up alot of nice materials).

great book!!

Being a wearable art designer, I'm always looking for sources of new inspiration. This book fits the bill for new ways on transforming those tired clothes you no longer feel the desire to wear. Its fun, easy and a real joy to make something that looks like it came from a designers line.

Shannon Okey and Alexandra Underhill, AlterNation: Transform. Embellish. Customize. (North Light Books, 2007)

I've been trying for weeks to figure out how to review this book without everything I say about it coming off like a left-handed compliment to Shannon's other books, all of which have been good stuff. (Full disclosure: I've known Shannon for longer than either of us, I'm sure, would be willing to admit without liberal doses of truth serum.) And I'm still not quite sure I've figured out how to do that yet, but I'll try. You see, the projects in all of Shannon's books up to this one have been... cozy, for lack of a better term. They're the kind of thing you work on with your mom while you're waiting for the pasta water to boil. Stuff you wear around the house, give your grandma at Christmas, keep at work for when those idiots on the maintenance staff confuse 52 with 72 when setting the thermostat. You get the idea. And now here comes AlterNation. And yes, there are a few things in here that you'd give Grandma for Christmas. But there are also a few that are... hot, for lack of a better term. The kind of thing you'd consider wearing to the bar when you want people to hit on you. (Well, okay, if I did that, I'd have to go to a different kind of bar, but you know what I mean.) It's the first time I've looked at the project pictures in one of Shannon's books and said "ooh, yum." (To anything other than the models, natch.)

All of which leads to a recommendation, of course. I haven't read one of Shannon's books yet that hasn't got one, and not just because I know her. But it's a slightly different recommendation than usual. Shannon's books are usually pretty vertical-market affairs for crafty types, and that's all well and good, but I don't see this one fitting into that mold. Yes, crafty types will get all they get out of a typical Shannon Okey book, but it's possible this one could branch out into non-crafty segments of society and draw them into the fold. ****