84 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This book is not worth purchasing., May 17, 2003
By A Customer
A few pretty pictures and little substance. I purchased this book and her "Decorating Vintage Style". Very few ideas in either book - pretty cover, a few pictures, very little text. Neither are worth the purchase price. If you are looking for a vintage decorating or craft book, any other than these would be a better investment. For example, in the craft book, she shows, with very limited instructions and a picture or two, how to make a duvet cover. Then you use the exact same technique to make a pillow cover. For your next craft, you use the exact same technique to make an herbal slumber pillow. At 92 pages and just a few "crafts", you really are loosing when she spends a quarter of the book "teaching" (very loose definition here) you to use the same technique over and over. I think she was just using filler to get a book out. I was extremely disappointed in both of her books.
You are also given "instructions" on how to make a celebration skirt. Later in the book you find the exact same instructions on how to make a summer skirt. She did the same thing with a few blankets, too. You will not glean any new ideas from this book, I'm quite sure. And if you are a complete beginner at sewing, her instructions are not sufficient. If you are an experienced sewist or crafts person, you've probably already made everything in the book.
The book contains "30 stunning projects that will make a room loving and warm". They are:
Scalloped shelf edging, simple slipcovers, summer curtain, basin skirt (using velcro hang gathered fabric from sink), heart shape cushion (cut a heart shape - stuff), beaded pot cover (trim a piece of fabric with lace and beads - hang over a pot), storage boxes (purchased boxes covered with your fabric), fabric covered basket, greeting cards (fold a piece of cardstock - decorate - my children do this all the time), cozy cushions (instructions repeated throughout book on different projects), clothespin board (nail clothespins to a board), dog blanket, dog bowl mat (cover board with some oilcloth), herbal slumber pillow (same techniques as cushions), duvet cover (basically same technique as cushions), summer skirt, scented sachets - sew a tube, tie with a ribbon, laundry bags (sew a sack - insert a cord)), plaid teddy bear (cut out teddy bear shape - stuff - my children thought it was kind of ugly), celebration skirt (same as summer skirt but embroider with running stitches Merry Christmas (or something else) along hem), tab headed curtains (same as summer curtains basically), fabric roses (strips of unhemmed fabrics gathered into a "rose", gardener's apron (you make your own pattern from looking at her picture), linen-covered journal, frayed napkins (edge stitch pieces of linen and fray. She does not tell you to pull a thread to get these on grain as it will not turn out if you don't), lined picnic basket (using your own pattern cut fabric to line your wire or wicker basket), child's play tent (edge finish some fabric and hang over a clothesline), beach rug (edge finish some fabric). That's it. The same techniques repeated.
Any of my children's crafts books are cheaper and contain much more in the way of ideas and instructions.
Good points:
The photos are nice, as the author used to be a stylist for magazines. Her fabrics are pretty too. She owns Cabbages and Roses and uses her products throughout the book.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming!, November 21, 2006
I do a lot of crafting so don't need a lot of directions, just incredible thought provoking, inspiring, make you feel like you are there breathing the country air, romantic. So... this is one of those books I sift through over and over again, love the book covers with the ties, love the fabrics and the country prints and the sigh...pillows! Absolutely adore this book, so glad I purchased in spite of the reviews. It is trully one of my very favorites what to sew, make with fabric books. Don't be fooled by the 'crafting vintage style, charming projects for home and garden' title, this is all fabric projects, not beeswax candles or other neat ones, but all dreamy blue flowers on white linen, pin stripe, country fabrics that dreams are made of.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice, could be better, August 20, 2005
This book has some really nice pictures, and I do love the fabrics she uses throughout.(Cabbages & Roses, out of England.)The book could have been more creative with it's project ideas, and DEFINATELY could have used better "instructions". All that said, I LOVED the ideas for covering sturdy boxes with pretty fabric and for covering books with pretty fabric.
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