Customer Reviews

The Art of Fabric Books: Innovative Ways to Use Fabric in Scrapbooks, Altered Books & More

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have several books on making books and altered books, and I was excited to see one devoted to fabric books. I subscribe to Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and was looking for some construction ideas on putting the books together. This book has 5 techiques: a tag book, a book put together with twill tape and buckles, folded fabric book, altering a board book and a book constructed using the cover of a another book. The latter 3 use the same construction methods used in paper books; I can't quite envision using buckles on the back cover of a book and there were no surprises in the tag book (covering a paper tag with fabric.)

There are pages upon pages of photos of finished works. The pictures often are taken in such close detail that it is hard to see the overall construction of the page or the book as a whole. Some of the work is truly beautiful but other pages are primitive, awkward and simply not of the caliber that is found in my "book" books.

There are some interesting pocket patterns and ways of using pockets. None of the fabric techniques are original, i.e., binding the edges with bias tape or stitching/zigzagging around the edges. Unless you are a sewing novice looking for ways to incorporate fabric into altered books, I would recommend that you go with some of the other books out there, Making and Keeping Creative Journals, Creating Handmade Books or my favorite, Making Journals by Hand, and adapt the techniques to fabric on your own. I would not have bought this book had I seen it before I purchased it.

This book was worth waiting for! It is beautiful. The photos are clear with so many examples of each technique. It has inspired me. I love the textures of fabric and include them in most of my art. This book has such diversity, combining fabric, paper, sewing notions, and other materials to create amazing books. The "tips" tags are good for quick information. Book artists everyone should have this book!

I wish that I had received this book before I started my latest project - a fabric altered book round robin. It covers techniques, projects and an inspiring gallery section. Some of the books illustrated are completely made from fabric, while others use ordinary books that have been decorated with fabric and sewing supplies and techniques.
The photos are clear and well labelled. Instructions are set out clearly and easy to follow. After reading this book I have a list of techniques and designs to try out. This is a worthwhile addition to your altered book library.

This is a great book for altered book artists who don't usually work with fabric and want to add fabric to their work. It is a beginner's book... if you have done a lot of quilting, you probably want to move on to something like Quilted Memories or that other one Stampington sells. I used several of the techniques when making a "pocket of dreams" gardening journal for my sister (based on Nina Bagley's Pocket of Dreams- published in Cloth, Paper, Scissors). But it really is just a resource for folks who want to add fabric to their books; it is not a book on how to make fabric books. ;)

I expected much more from this book, but found it to be too basic. The techniques featured were very simple. Calling them innovative is quite a stretch. I also felt that too many pages were devoted to non-fabric techniques and ideas. Too much of the book was devoted to the basics of creating altered books and things like using gesso on board books, setting eyelets, etc.. Also there was a section on using tissue paper, which isn't fabric...it's paper. I found most of the ideas for fabric to be very simple and basic. I've hardly worked with fabric but found most of what was in the book to be a "no brainer". The title of this book is very misleading. It's a great book for someone who is just getting into altered books and collage. But if you already know how to alter books and aren't a beginner, you may find that several parts of this book are useless to you.

I have done all sorts of crafts over many years, I mainly work in textiles, quilts, knitting, etc. I am very interested in making some altered books since it combines various media, and it seems like a natural for me. I wanted this book because it uses fabric for the books, and overall, it is lovely, great pictures, very complete list of materials and lots of photos of examples. My only problem with it (and why I only gave it 4 stars) is that I expected to have some basic information on the different ways to construct books from fabric. The first entry past materials is for inserting eyelets, which is right out of her other book, and it is not explained how this is relevant to making a fabric altered book. The only instructions for constructing books is toward the back, a tag book which is just ok, and one using twill tape and buckles, which is confusing at best! I am not a scrapbooker, so the whole section on her aunt is lost on me! Again, this book is good eye candy for inspiration, but I think this will be another craft at which I am self-taught!!

Although the book is a photographic delight, if I wanted to see other people's work, I would have bought a copy of Somerset Magazine.
I was hoping to learn the mechanics of how to construct a fabric book. There wasn't a word about that subject.
Anyone who is already into Altered Art would not learn much from this book. She does cover some techniques and shows a lot of other people's art work, but this book was not what I had hoped for.

For anyone wanting to create fabric books this book is the place to start. Multitudes of ideas and how-tos are included. Great instructions on how to print onto twill tape with a computer were put to use in my very first project. There is enough information here to keep me going for quite some time. Helpful text book and a feast for the eyes.

I like the techniques and ideas given in this book. Instructions are good and I use the methods as a starting point for my work.

I bought this book and enjoyed it so much, I bought a copy for my friend. She liked it too and we both got alot of ideas out of the book.