Customer Reviews

Liberty Book of Home Sewing

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

 

 

There are some good ideas in this `Liberty Book of Home Sewing', but the title might be a bit misleading. It will not really teach you how to sew; but there are 25 ideas for projects to sew. You would not have to use the Liberty fabrics, but they of course would lend beauty to the finished item. What the book fails to warn a user is that the directions are almost, in many instances cursory. An inexperienced sewer would probably need more specific and detailed instructions, but they are adequate for someone who has successfully made such handicrafts before.

There is a history of the Liberty Company given and the projects to make include; pillows, drapes, shopping bags, doorstops, jewelry rolls, aprons, quilts and lampshades among others. There are some sewing basics in the back of the book, a glossary and 4 pages of pictures of small samples of the fabrics and information about them. There is no index.

There is a very nice jewelry roll for travel that we have made and a round pillow that is not as hard as it looks and would make a welcome gift for many. We have also started on the brick quilt; but again I feel that I would not have been as successful at these if I had not already had experience sewing some craft and quilting projects.

There are beautiful designs, as one would expect from Liberty and there are a few project items in here that are not commonly recorded in other books. If you are an experienced handicrafter and especially a lover of Liberty designs you might find this a good book to look at.

This book is a visual treat, lots of color and pattern, and fairly accessible projects. That being said, this is NOT a book for the sewing beginner, or probably not even an intermediate! Lots of assumptions are made....like it never says how to attach the rings assembly for the roman shade, etc. So you have to be a fair hand at sewing to actually make the projects. Also, the diagrams for such things as the kimono are about 4 inches high in the book and have to be enlarged, on grid paper they suggest, to adult size! Like you're going to take the time to do that....when you could just buy a pattern for a kimono already made. So a good book if you just need some ideas, or only want to do a basic project like a small make-up bag or something. But you'd better have some sewing chops before handling the more involved stuff!

I'd highly recommend looking at the sample pages in Amazon before buying this book, to see if you like the fabric aesthetic. I received this as a gift, and I have to say that I find the fabrics to be, on the whole, yukky. Fussy, outdated, clashing. Maybe it's a British thing? There are so many appealing sewing books out there, and I have a bad habit of buying most of them, but this is one that will only gather dust. I gave 4 stars since I haven't tried the patterns, and others might like the fabrics. But I for one cannot see the appeal of dusty old florals, prissy paisley and modern random shapes.

I love the idea of the book! I have not seen this book but Amazon says in "What makes a good review": "What would you have wanted to know before you purchased the product?" I have been trying to buy Liberty of London fabric and I can't seem to find a retailer for it. Although no one says you must use Liberty of London fabric, I would probably want to at least know it is available before purchasing the book. would love to know if anyone has a source for it in the USA before buying the book.