New Techniques for Wearable Art: Creative Ideas for Transforming Clothes and Accessories [Paperback]

Rice Freeman-Zachery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Crafters are altering everything -- clothing, shoes, handbags, journals and much more. They start with an existing item -- a cotton jumper or a jean jacket -- and embellish or alter it in a variety of ways to make it something new. "Altered Art" is the newest trend in the art and craft world.

The first section of the book features tips and techniques that show how to do various creative alterations on fabric: ripping, tearing, painting and dyeing, beading, adding images and letters, and adding hardware such as grommets, snaps, jewels, and more. The second section of the book includes 30 altered clothing and accessory projects the avid crafter can make at home.

Step-by-step photography details the techniques, and large, vibrant color photos of finished projects show off the fashionable projects.

The book is filled with accessible, idea-inspiring projects for people interested in creating their own look.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ric½ Freeman-Zachery has written for Rubberstampmadness, Belle Armoire, Cat Fancy, Legacy, Personal Journaling, and The Studio and is the author of Stamp Artistry. Her art -- jewelry and dolls, handmade books and bags -- has been featured in galleries and shops around the country. She teaches stamping and art workshops in a variety of media. She lives in Midland, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592530753
• ISBN-13: 978-1592530755
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ricë writes. She has written everything from a collection of poetry for her master's thesis to newspaper articles to grouchy letters to the editor of the local newspaper and everything you can think of in between: the occasional artist bio, blog rants, how-to instructions. The current fabulous gigs include writing artist profiles for "Art Doll Quarterly," "Art Journaling," "Art Quilting Studio," "Belle Armoire," "Belle Armoire Jewelry," and "Somerset Studio"--which allows her to indulge in one of her other passions: asking nosy questions--and five books, including her newest, "Destination: Creativity, The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat" and her other two most recent titles, "Creative Time and Space" and the best-selling "Living the Creative Life," all by North Light Books.

(She also taught college English, so not being able to create italics for those titles makes her a little nuts.)

She blogs at her own blog, "Notes from the Voodoo Cafe," and at "The Creative Life," her blog on her publisher's website, CreateMixedMedia.com, where you can find a new post every MWF. Her own website is voodooandzen.com, and there you can find links to interviews, talks about creativity, and a whole bunch of other amazing and fascinating stuff, including a video answering Frequently Asked Questions.

Ricë interviews artists of all kinds for podcasts at "Notes from the Voodoo Lounge," available on her blog, at CreateMixedMedia.com, and through iTunes.

Whew.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh the things you can make!!, September 24, 2007

By 

Memyself&I (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Techniques for Wearable Art: Creative Ideas for Transforming Clothes and Accessories (Paperback)

I am a craft junkie,yes I admit it! I love sewing books that put a new spin on things and show you how to take something old and make it new again and that is exactly what this book does!

The pictures in this book are beautiful and the author truly dose turn ordinary clothes into wearable art.Now given there are some things in this book that I would not personally wear but for teens and even adults who have funky style,you can't go wrong here!That said, There are several skirts that I would wear and I love all of the bags:)

The projects the author created for this book are all personal,almost like a page from her diary.I can definately see lots of special gift ideas here.Alot of the denim items are similar,several have words applied all over but there are lots of unique ideas here that could be applied to many of your own creations.Lots of her ideas would make fabulous quilts or scrapbooking pages.

This book has a nice range of ideas and many tips for printing,painting and embelishing fabric and transforming some of your favorite used up items into reusable products again.I do reccomend this book to all that craft for the many uses that these tequniques could be applied too.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Problematic Book--Get at Library Before Buying, January 17, 2010

By 

carol irvin "carol irvin" (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Techniques for Wearable Art: Creative Ideas for Transforming Clothes and Accessories (Paperback)

First off, I do not like this author's style sense. This is the only author of this kind of book so far where, after thumbing through all the pictures, I could not find a single item I liked. However, style sense can vary widely from person to person so what I dislike, you may like.

Secondly, there are two different camps in wearable art, the home sewer-crafter group and the artist group. This book definitely covers only the home-sewer crafter group and will not satisfy those who want to become wearable artists, producing works fit for art galleries, art museums and major art to wear fashion shows. Of the various books of this type I've reviewed for Amazon, this book is the LEAST likely to be classed as art to wear by either camp.

Denim is the author's overwhelming fabric choice so beware if that is not your favored fabric.

I am in the artist camp of wearable art so this book really does not fit me very well. If you are also in the artist camp, you are not going to find this book worth the money.

I took it out from the library and I recommend that anyone considering buying this book do the same.