Customer Reviews

Kanzashi in Bloom: 20 Simple Fold-and-Sew Projects to Wear and Give

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kanzashi- beautiful flowers made from relatively small pieces of folded fabric and a few stitches. Meditative, a bite size craft- uses up the boxes full of fabric labelled "scraps too small to keep" (you have one too, admit it)- instant gifts or embellishments, instant creative satisfaction.

In this beautifully produced book, Diane Gilleland takes the reader step by step through the process of creating lovely kanzashi. If you are familiar with Gilleland's instructional style from her blog and podcast ([...]), you will be as happy as I was to find the same kind of clear, unambiguous written instructions, and accompanying images.

One of the biggest attributes that sets this author's instruction apart from many others is her ability to explain things in a way that can't be misinterpreted, and to choose photographs or diagrams that show exactly what they need to show. This is actually harder than it sounds, and so many publications fall short.


Too many craft books are really about the author. They showcase the work of the author and their friends, and the teaching aspect seems really secondary- even unto leaving key points out of the instructions, like a cook who gives you her special family recipe, but you KNOW she left something out because you can never get it to taste quite the same. That is NOT the case here- you will be whipping up your own beautiful flowers in no time, and there is no reason why they won't be as perfect as the ones in the book.

The other big unique strength of this book, as in all Gilleland's work, is her casual, sisterly way of empowering the reader to take the skills she shares, and then go and make them their own. For many of us, the first step in creativity is a 'baby step' of trying the same thing in a slightly different colour or material, and Gilleland always leaves me feeling like it was my own idea. Her almost offhand suggestions like 'these would also look great as a..." really are the first push many of us got in the direction of daring to think creatively ourselves.

I absolutely loved this book. The history behind the flowers is very interesting. The instructions and diagrams for making the flowers are inspiring and easy to follow with good detsil to possible problems that many be encountered. My Mom (90) and I have just spent the weekend making the Kanzashi flowers. Mom really made beautiful flowers and we have more projects planned. It is one of the nicest craft books I have ever purchased and I'll found lots of ideas and techniques in it. Highly recommended to the crafty who likes something simple but beautiful to add to their collection. Only criticism is I don't know how to pronouce Kanzashi!

Diane Gilleland is known in the 'craftiverse' as Sister Diane, the mastermind behind the wildly popular blog and podcast CraftyPod. Diane has an innate gift for taking a simple and striking idea and making it fabulous. I had never seen Japanese fabric kanzashi blooms prior to getting this book and I was immediately excited to try making some of my own. Diane offers 20 gorgeous ideas here that are beautifully photographed and meticulously stepped out so you can see step by step, petal by petal, how to recreate them.

I was utterly impressed with her considerable writing skills and the painstaking research she did to give this lovely art form a context and meaning for the Western crafter. Many craft books are pretty to view, but lack depth of information and high quality writing. Diane gives you both along with cleverly fashioned projects that leave you completely inspired. Every design has a brilliant variation concept. Not only are the projects well crafted, the book itself is a beautifully crafted work of art.

I can't wait to try the techniques out for some jewelry and mixed media designs. The best kind of craft book leaves you inspired to create. Diane has achieved that with a brilliant book that I think every crafter should add to their collection.

Margot Potter
The Impatient Crafter
Author The Impatient Beader series
Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed
Beyond the Bead

I bought this book because I was interested in kanzashi after seeing so many beautiful flowers a a website called kanzahi core. Don't get me wrong, the book is a good step by step guide for 2 or 3 basic petals and flowers. I was looking for instruction on creating different flower types like the chrysanthemum, wisteria, iris,kusudama etc.

The main flower creating parts of the book is very small (only about 20 or so pages of actual flower creation). From page 39 to the end of the book (141) is all about applying the kanzashi to belts or bags,brooches, and other items.

I can think of a million ways to put a kanzashi somewhere without a book! Gimme some more flower varieties!

This book offers clear, concise and easy to follow instructions for making wearable fabric art.
Each piece can be made from leftover fabric, buttons and other odds and ends leftover from
other projects. I highly recommend this book.

Showcasing step-by-step instructions for twenty simple and easy to make 'fold-and-sew' needlework projects producing lovely items to wear as accessories or to gift to a friend, "Kanzashi In Bloom" by Diane Gilleland is beautifully illustrated throughout with full-color photography of finished projects and/or construction instructions. After an informed introduction to the origins of this unique needlecraft art form, "Kanzashi In Bloom" goes one to cover materials and techniques, followed separate sections distinguished by projects to wear and projects to give as gifts. Enhanced with a Resource list, an afterword, and an index, "Kanzashi In Bloom" is a thoroughly 'user friendly' and highly recommended addition to personal and community library needlecraft project collections.

I really enjoyed this book and found that it was very easy to follow the instructions! However, I found all the information online as well. If I had taken the time to look this technique up online before I purchased the book I probably would not have ordered this item. It IS a very well written and easy to understand book that would be great for people who don't have access to the internet

The book delivers on it's promise: there are step-by-step photographic instructions to make three different kanzashi petals (which you can combine in many different ways) and 20 projects you can make that incorporate your kanzashi that are also painstakingly documented with full instructions. It's rare to find an American craft book with this level of technical explanation *and* such a wide range of projects (tote bag, wallet, tea cozy, etc).

Diane demystifies the process of creating these beautiful flowers. My first project from the book was a beautiful hair pin and it took me only 15 minutes. I was amazed at how easy they are to make and how professional looking they are. Great book!

I'm a big crafter and love collecting books on all sorts of crafts. This is a real gem, with crystal-clear photographs and well-written step-by-step instructions. The projects are tasteful (unlike in some books where you wonder what the author was thinking). Written in a friendly tone, it's a real stand-out. Diane also has a fun website at [...] Fun!

I was reallllly looking forward to this book, but was so disappointed by it. I was expecting it to show us how to make kanzashi flowers like the Japanese do. These have the basic folds I guess, but the outcome is more country style. Use of buttons in the center, looks to folksy and not elegant as the Japanese make them. Also, when making a stringer of flowers, she uses ribbon, not the thin string that the Japanese do. It looks so poorly done. I am definately not impressed at all with this book.