Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) [Spiral-bound]

Stefanie Girard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008 | Series: Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls

Contemporary crafters are thriving on personalizing, modifying, and altering fashion as not only hobbies but as a lifestyle

Why repurpose your sweaters? Because you can't buy sweater fabric by the yard. Sweaters get damaged or go out of style but we still love the prints, colors, and textures. You don't have time to knit it from scratch. It's ecologically correct. And most of all--it's fun!

Sweater Surgery shows you how to upcycle all your slightly worn, slightly damaged, or plain old out-of-style sweaters into fabulous new items for your wardrobe and your home. Readers learn how to choose, cut, restitch, felt, and embellish old sweater fabric, transforming it into beautiful handbags, mittens, scarves, hats, hoodies, skirts, jewelry, soft toys, pillows, and more!

Complete instructions for 27 projects, plus a huge gallery of exciting ideas for further inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stefanie Girard (Burbank, CA) has a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute and worked as a set decorator and prop master for 10 years in the entertainment industry. She has produced, written scripts, and edited Web content for television shows and has been covering these creative topics for HGTV, DIY Network, and Lifetime TV. She is author and host of the Craftside blog (www.craftside.typepad.com) and hosts her own blog at www.sweatersurgery.blogspot.com

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 160 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592534201
• ISBN-13: 978-1592534203
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're a crafter, buy this book now! July 7, 2008

By J. Arena TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Spiral-bound

Oh, how I wish I had that pile of old sweaters I donated to the thrift shop! If I only had them now, I'd soon have a kick-ass collection of sox, leg-warmers, even cooler new sweaters, hats, bags, baby booties, necklaces, purses, skirts, head-bands, pet bed, laptop cozy and mnore, more, more!

File this book under "Why didn't I think of this stuff first?" -- but go buy it now and make up for lost time! Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things With Old Sweaters is a gold mine of crafty ideas!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Scissors, please February 25, 2009

By S. Fishburn VINE™ VOICE

Format:Spiral-bound

Top 10 reasons why I love Sweater Surgery:
10) This is upcycling at its finest.
9) Ms. Girard included a swell Sweater Styles primer.
8) Spiral bound books are perfect when crafting; they lay totally flat...
7) so you can easily see all of the full-page photos...
6) and the 15 reproducible patterns which are included free.
5) There are gift possibilities for all ages. . .
4) and a 50 page gallery de inspiration...
3) clear diagrams, too...
2) so it's a cinch to understand.
And my #1 reason that I totally love this book:
1) The coolest floral jumper EVER, in only 6 easy steps!

With hard times upon us, it's time to dig through our closets (our neighbor's too, if they'll let us!) and pull out the sweaters that haven't been worn for the past season or two. Do mull, as some may be classics, or so stylin' they'll come back eventually, and you may really regret having to shell out $50 to get another...but don't mull for too long. Grab a needle and thread and go for it. This book is simple enough for anyone to understand - even non-English speakers could replicate anything in it as the photographs are gorgeous, and go hand in hand with diagrams. More advanced alterers/seamstresses will take off on their own once they see how it works.
I looked forward to this book for months, and my expectations were realized. I will be trying out as many of these projects as I can sacrifice sweaters!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty good book. January 20, 2009

By MG123

Format:Spiral-bound|Amazon Verified Purchase

On the positive side, this book is well-organized, explains the projects very well, and is thorough in the details of everything from equipment and tools needed (what they are and how to use them) to patterns for the projects. Most of the projects are quite cute, but probably just not for me personally, hence the four stars.

For what I wanted in the book, the content was just OK. I was looking for books specific to felted wool, with more technique than projects, and it didn't give me much new information compared to books that I already own. I think it's probably good for people looking for projects that are slightly trendy and would appeal to skinny girls who could wear a cut up sweater as a short skirt . . . definitely not for women in their 40s or anyone who is the least bit overweight. I don't know that I'll use this book much, but I'm sure there are people for whom it is perfect.

Overall, a very well-put-together book, just not what I was looking for.