Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects (Spiral-bound)

~ (Author), (Photographer) "These placemats will make your next dinner party unique and stylish..." (more)
Key Phrases: lining panels, narrow panels, fadeout fabric marker, Scissors Straight, Yardstick Fabric, Repeat Steps (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Internationally celebrated designer Lotta Jansdotter collects 24 of her most popular sewing patterns into one irresistible collection. Our innovative packaging makes for easy use reusable pattern sheets are neatly tucked into a folder inside this full-color, lay-flat spiral bound book. Lotta has included patterns for handy tote bags, smart aprons, chic bed linens, and much more. Each project is paired with step-by-step instructions, charming photographs, inspiring design ideas, and helpful, hand-drawn how-to illustrations everything you need to make whimsical pieces for the home and beyond. Best of all, there's nothing complicated about the projects. Never has simplicity looked so sophisticated.

About the Author

Scandinavian-born Lotta Jansdotter is a self-taught designer. She works from her studio in Brooklyn, New York, where she sells her products and designs online and to hundreds of stores worldwide.

Meiko Arquillos is a photographer based in San Francisco who grew up in Tokyo.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811852571
• ISBN-13: 978-0811852579
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,897 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Serious pattern flaw, August 29, 2007

By	Cikk "cikk" (Malta) - See all my reviews

I would have given it three or even four as it's very cute, but the instructions are a bit too BRIEF..... I can't see how it's marketed as simple, when I was baffled - and I am in no means a beginning sewer. I've been sewing for 30 years, made my own wedding dress, coats, jackets etc.-.... I love these project books though - when they're good! I bought this book mainly for the inspiration and partly for the hat pattern - I love hats. The brim doesn't fit the crown, and the crown doesn't fit the top. It is impossible to fit them together. Whether the crown is turned with the slightly wider circumference towards the brim or the other way. Furthermore, the whole thing is enormous. Something is very wrong with this pattern, and it ruins the whole book for me. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Edited to add - there are huge amounts of people out there who have had problems with this hat, as I found out after doing a search on the net. And I am REALLY unimpressed with the author - I wrote to her website early August and a very sweet assistant told me she couldn't help but perhaps I would find a flickr group that could - they couldn't - and that Lotta would issue corrections or contact me after she came back from her holidays - she hasn't!

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the spatially challenged., May 11, 2007

By	S. E. Patterson - See all my reviews

I like many of the items in this book. Lotta has a wonderful eye for design in fabrics and the projects chosen. The problem I have with it is that there are few instructional diagrams. It seems a mistake for a book designed for a beginner to rely on the reader to figure out where everything is going. If you're the type of person that can visualize 3D from written instructions, you'll do fine. However, if you're the type who needs someone to show you how to do something, I'd skip this book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacks Important Details, September 14, 2007

By	K. Lloyd - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a relative beginner sewer and started with Simple Sewing with a French Twist: An Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes and Home Accessories with Style - made the shoe bags and found the instructions concise. I bought the Lotta book because of the doorstop pattern but found the end product was HUGE and required alot more than 5# of beans! Naturally, I thought I'd made a mistake but this project had paper patterns so I did not mis-calculate the size.

Another project was a, at first glance, very simple bag - it did work out in the end but after realizing that many details were missing in the directions.

Overall, not enough great projects to warrant the struggle involved in figuring out how to put them together!