Customer Reviews

Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased this book because I'd seen glowing professional reviews on the Internet - I wish I would have read reviews from the public-at-large.

Ms. Horner and her publisher need to hire an editor who knows how to compose patterns & instructions (or at least an editor who can test the patterns by attempting to sew them).

I spent hours of my time trying to make the pincushion caddy correctly. In my frustration, I Googled the pattern and came up with DOZENS of hits relating to the fact that the pattern does not work as published (both the size of the pattern pieces and the written instructions).

Sloppy work by the author and publishers ... and from what I can discern, her new baby book is rife with the same types of errors.

Even had I received this book for free, I would still be angry for wasting my time. Buyer beware.

Seams to Me is a beautiful book. There are beautiful photographs, illustrations, and detailed instructions. There are projects here for everyone. I would consider myself an intermediate sewer. I've been sewing for over ten years and there are many projects I'm interested in completing. There is a quilt project, a fabric art project, as well as many other projects that would be appropriate (and fun) for varying levels of experience. More experienced sewers can skim the detailed instructions and the intro explaining sewing tools and such. One of the most common complaints concerning sewing books is that the instructions aren't detailed enough. Horner had the foresight to serve her customers and include excellent instructions and illustrations.

I had already bought and returned two other sewing books trying to get a good basic primer with some neat projects and adaptable patterns. I picked up this book and was enchanted! The pictures are really gorgeous and having never heard of Ms. Horner I was intrigued by her beautiful fabrics.
I'm a self-taught sewer (or is it seamstress?) and wanted to get a book to really get the basics for lots of different kinds of sewing (quilting, clothes, home projects, etc). I always thought I was kind of missing out on the real techniques to make my sewing projects look professional and finished. I've finally found a great reference for good "rules" of sewing without being too technical. The pictures and illustrations are very clear and helpful. I plan on making lots of the projects in the book and look forward to tracking down some of her beautiful fabrics.
If I had one negative thing to say, I would have liked a few more clothing projects for adults, although with the information in the book I feel pretty confident I could sew from bought patterns more easily.
All in all, great book for someone that wants a beautiful and inspiring beginning sewing book!

I LOVE this book! It is full of fresh, unique projects that I can't wait to get started on. The photos are beautiful and inspiring and the directions are clear and very detailed (unlike some sewing books). There is a pocket with full-sized patterns in the back of the book which is very useful. I buy a lot of sewing books and this is the best one I've seen in a long while. Beautiful!

This book is cleverly written and beautifully presented--as is Anna Marie's blog. For those two reasons I am giving it three stars. However, I am returning my copy because it is most definitely written for the absolute neophyte sewer. If you already know how your sewing machine works, what basic sewing tools are for, and you've got even simple things such as aprons or simple quilts under your belt, you will be as inspired just reviewing her past blog entries as you will be by the projects in this book. I wish I had waited to look at the book in a quilt store before pre-ordering.

If you're not already a fan of Anna Maria Horner's fabric, you will be after perusing her new sewing book Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing. Her color and design sense really come through every page and project. She not only wrote the book and designed the 24 sewing projects, but took all the stunning photographs herself, so her creative vision really comes through every page.

Though I understand it's the way sewing books need to be for today's market, sometimes I'm annoyed that every sewing book has beginner's instruction section in the front -- can't we just have the patterns and get our instruction from our good old Readers Digest guide? But in this case, you've got Anna Maria's warm, enthusiastic writer's voice sharing her perspective and techniques, and one particular section that makes the book worth purchasing all by itself: "Cooking With Color." I loved the "color recipes" you can use to guide your fabric selections. I have to admit I've never been one to think along the lines of warm vs. cool tones, but I will be now, thanks to Mrs. Horner. It's a valuable education for folks flummoxed by combining different colors and pattern types.

As for the projects themselves: I was impressed with the sheer variety of the offerings. You've got the utilitarian (Cozy Cubes fabric boxes, Doggie Dreams bed) to the fancy (Right off the Cuff, ruffly wrist cuffs). There are scrappy, quick projects (Magnetic Personality fabric yo-yo magnets) and more involved ones (Playing Along Quilt). There are the expected bag and apron patterns (elevated by Anna Maria's unique talents) alongside projects I haven't seen elsewhere: a garment bag (The Great Dress Escape) and a fused fabric wall art piece. You've got your sew and your no-sew projects, and projects that showcase trims and buttons as well as fabric.

I haven't made anything from the book yet, but the instructions seem thorough and easy to follow, as if you've got a friend next to you walking you through each step. There are lots of ruffles, pleats, gathers, and bias trim happening, so it's a great book to take your beginning skills gently into the next level. Tying in with the "Cooking With Color" section, I really appreciated the "Color Notes" that accompanied each pattern -- Anna Maria explains why she chose the fabrics, colors, and patterns she did, and makes suggestions for alternatives.

If you've got a sewist in your life (of any skill level), this book + a set of AMH fabric would make a PERFECT holiday gift.

This book is really beautiful to look at, but at the end of the day, there is nothing new in this book that you can't already find anywhere online for free. The projects are just re-hashed projects that other bloggers have posted on their own website. I'm a huge fan of Anna's blog and her fabric designs. She is one of my favorite designers and comes up with really beautiful projects that she shows on her website; but none of those projects/designs or that level of creativity is in this book. If I'm paying 25 bucks for a book on sewing, I want it to be filled with new projects that aren't already available in an Amy Butler design book or any other book/blog. This was really disappointing.

I really wanted to love this book but seems to be a case of another blogger who has great tutorials online but when it comes to a book just falls short. I had hoped that she would provide projects geared to her very sewing able blog followers, but these are just the same old, same old. I just hated the design of the pages with all the fabric swatches up the sides-just way too busy for me. Generally a disappointment in project, execution, instruction and design but I love Anna Maria so I at least gave it a 2 star--let's hope for more from her next book!

Yes, this book geared toward beginners, and I'll never make 90% of the projects in it, but I'm giving it 4 stars for inspiration. The photos and fabrics are so lovely I enjoy just leafing through it for a few minutes when I'm taking a break from something else but don't have time to get into a sewing project. For me this is more of a "coffee table" book than a sewing primer (don't need, better ones out there). Sure, similar stuff is available on AMH's blog, but when I'm relaxing on the couch I want a book I can flip through, not more time at the computer.

I love her website, I love her fabrics and she always is coming up with unique designs. What a huge disappointment this book was. It is extremely pretty to look at, however there is nothing of substance here. It feels like at the "second-string" ideas were put in this book. Go to the website and you'll see gorgeous, unique dresses, purses and home dec ideas, but sadly, you won't find them in this book.