Customer Reviews

Cheap Frills: Fabulous Facelifts for Your Clothes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jennifer takes her folk-art-meets-kindergarden-class explosion to your closet in this follow-up to Retro Revamp, her home decorating/ crafts book.

The strongest thing about this book is the "no-rules" approach as to choosing materials when approaching a project. PomPom balls from tacky old curtains, ribbons of all kinds, fabric scraps from the church basement rummage sale- any scrap, trim, doodad or doohickey is considered fair game whether sewing, re-vamping, or simply jazzing up some of your clothes. You will NEVER read anything about do's and don'ts, i.e., not mixing polka dots and plaid or mixing neon yellow with green zebra stripes. If anything this is ENCOURAGED by the author, and the result is a very freeing and creative alternative to your schoolmarm sewing books. A woman is encouraged to go as loud or as subdued as she pleases.

Also a plus is the simple techniques illustrated and basic materials used. You can find anything you need at a crafts store, or probably even the crafts section of your local discount superstore chain. Don't know how to sew- no problem- the projects will work for crafters of all skill levels.

My only complaint was that a number of the clothes were too costumey for everyday wear- for example, an over-the-top "gypsy skirt" and a puffy, cropped blouson top. And some of the clothes were also a little too revealing for my tastes- lots of cropped shirts and itty-bitty tank tops here. But, some of the projects are real gems- I like the purse and accessory projects best.

Overall, this is a great book to get if you're looking for inspiration to get funky with your clothes. If you're into unusual, loud get-ups, all the better: you can wear this stuff every day. But for those of us with more reserved tastes, this book makes for some nice projects to wear on a fun evening out.

This book is a look at the lighter side of updating, embellishing and creating new wardrobe pieces. There's a good mix of projects (everything from jazzing up an old pair of pumps to crafting a simple dress from scratch)and the instructions are simple and straight forward.
While the majority of ideas in this book aren't suited for "grown-ups" the creative inspiration and basic techniques make this book an entertainging and worthy resource.
I borrowed this book from the library twice and made several dresses before finally shelling out the bucks to buy and it's earned a promenant place on my craft table.

I absolutely love this book! The day I got it I went straight to work altering one of my white t-shirts into a cute little peasant top. I have also embellished a tank top, and am working on the Bohemian-esque skirt. This book was well worth the money I spent on it. I love how the author lets you be creative with how you make the projects, she provides the standard directions plus variations of the projects. You do not have to be a great seamtress to enjoy this book just a willing one. Also you can use whatever you have at home to bring your old clothes back to life. A snip here, a doodad here and you have a cool piece of clothing!

I just finished looking through this book, and I really loved it. Some of the things, like the shirts, were a little odd looking, but inspiring in a way. I liked the bags alot, also the scarves were very pretty. I can't wait to go make some stuff.

I didn't care for this book at all. I have design and sewing experience and always looking for innovative ways with clothing. This book was totally useless for me. I thought the designs were juvenile and simplistic and aimed at teens or early 20's. The drawing style was cute but used way too much, it would have been much better to see photos of the designs. I gave this book to someone who would appreciate it... a 14 year old.

I was disappointed with this book. A few ideas were great, but most of it would have been more helpful ten years ago.

Ideas in the book are good but they are presented in the most simple of ways, so you really need to use your style skills to ramp them up to a higher level of taste and execution. Fun book if you have decent sewing skills and just need a new POV on remodelling your out of date or boring clothes that are not ready for cleaning rags or the Good Will.
Warning!! The color of the clothing re-cons shown in the book are all in the realm of girls age 8 and under...yes it is that bad!..
Like I said, fun book, if you use your own input to tweak the ideas.