Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creative projects, a beautiful book, November 9, 2006
I first learned about this book while watching an episode of "Cultivating Life with Sean Conway" last month on my local PBS station. The author, Cynthia Treen, was on the show demonstrating how to felt rocks to use as paperweights and such. Intrigued, I wanted to see the rest of the book. I have not been disappointed.
The book itself is lovely - well designed with heavy, quality paper. It is divided by how long each of the 30 projects will take to make. There are 11 alone that take less than one hour, including a great zippered corduroy change purse and an adorable felted rabbit. The other projects are divided into those that take between an hour and two hours (seven); two to three hours (seven more); and more than three hours (five projects). There are gifts appropriate for children and adults; friends and acquaintances alike. There are also sections in the back that display some beautiful ways to wrap fabric gifts and a guide to tools and techniques. Beyond the projects, the book is a wealth of information about fabric, including a section in the front on fabric basics, including how to choose and care for fabric as well as a discussion of fiber types, and a glossary of fabric terms. The back contains a section with other recommended reading and sources for supplies.
There are projects to appeal to all levels. As the title says, some involve no sewing (such as fabric-covered notebooks, fabric envelopes, felted rocks); others are hand-sewing (those felted rabbits, a patterned belt, etc.); several more are machine-sewn. Some find interesting ways to reuse other textiles (a bag made out of a coat sleeve, hats made out of old sweaters, a pouch made from an old necktie), which appeals to my tree-hugging, reduce-reuse-recycle mentality. I have made a hand-sewn bias blossom and can't wait to carve out more time to try some of the other projects.
I wish you could peer inside this book to see how clean and beautiful it is. The directions are clear and easy to follow. The photography in this book really shines; it's creative and spectacular, making every project the one I want to start next.
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98 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Simplistic, September 17, 2006
Last Minute Knitted Gifts is one of my favorite knitting books, so I bought this book hoping to find lots of inspiration for cute sewing projects. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with it. Many of the patterns (scarves, blankets, dishtowels, a sarong) involve not much more than buying a large piece of fabric and hemming it. Some projects are not sewing projects per se, but rather involve felting (felted rocks? Seriously?), or simply using fusible interfacing to attach fabric to things. While the results of all of these types of projects aren't unattractive, I'd rather use my limited crafting time to create, rather than embellish, and I certainly don't need a book to tell me that if you hem a piece of fabric, you can call it a blanket. As for the actual sewing projects--well, some are cute, but if you can't find versions of them for free on Craftster or the crafty blogs, you're not looking very hard. There are some cute projects here--a darling felt bunny, a patchwork pillow, a hooded towel that would make a great baby gift--but overall, I think anyone who is interested in more than basic beginner-level fabric projects would be better served by Amy Butler's In Stitches or Denyse Schmit Quilts. At the very least, I'd look at this book in a store before you spend the money.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fabric Gifts book contents & my thoughts, August 9, 2007
First of all, this is not a how-to-sew book, or even a sewing book, so I don't think it should be reviewed as one. If you're looking for sewing clothes or home decor projects, there are plenty of others to look into. The title says it all: this is a book about making fabric gifts in a short amount of time using a variety of techniques. It will appeal to beginners who want learn new fabric crafting skills, and people who already have skills but are in a hurry.
--Book Contents--
The projects:
* less than 1 hour: bias blossom, coat sleeve bag, tie pouch, corduroy change purse, fabric belt, fabric envelopes, felt rabbits, fabric covered notebook, quick dish towl, bark cloth baby bib, cat toy.
* 1-2 hours: recycled sweater hats, cotton knit animals, felted rocks, fringed quest towels, patchwork pillow, red cross appliqued pillow, travel pouch.
* 2-3 hours: silk-trimmed wool blanket, hand stitched scarf, reversible hooded towel/blanket, felted silk scarf, silk sarong, tweed scarf, twig-handled tote
* greater than 3 hours: baby quilt, wool knit shibori scarf, garden playmat, inlaid wool knit scarf, tea-dyed shawl
Other:
* Ideas for wrapping fabric gifts, making gift pouches and gift tags.
* Sections on fabrics, tools, techniques, terms.
--My thoughts--
Photography and styling are fresh and crisp, and lovingly lit. The projects are small enough so that you can experiment with a variety of new techniques without investing huge chunks of time.
About the projects:
1. The projects are firstmost decorative and pretty, and only secondarily useful. In other words, something you would give as a gift but perhaps not buy for yourself! They all look very expensive, if you were to buy them, which is a good thing? See item #2.
2. The variety of project types is very limited. Several little pouches and purses, towels, several scarves. One or two toys, hats, blankets. I see them as gifts for women/girls, gifts for babies, and housewarming gifts.
3. There is a nice variety of project methods. For example: wool knit shibori scarf, tea dyed scarf, inlaid wool scarf, felted silk scarf. You'll learn different techniques in the making of just scarves, which you can apply to your own invented future projects.
4. A variety of project materials are used: felt, paper, silk, fleece. Some projects are small enough to make with bits of stash fabric. Although a few projects encourage using "repurposed" fabric, many use materials that seem to me quite posh and pricey. I'm sure you could substitute, but the effect may not be the same.
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