Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts [Hardcover]

Tovah Martin (Author), Richard W. Brown (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 1995

In TASHA TUDOR'S HEIRLOOM CRAFTS, author Tovah Martin and photographer Richard Brown take us back to Corgi Cottage, this time going inside to watch Tasha create the handmade items that are an integral part of her legendary nineteenth-century lifestyle. Here, surrounded by her wonderful collection of American antiques and collectibles, Tasha spins flax, dyes wool, and weaves on one of her seven looms. She dips candles, makes soap, presses cider, and dries herbs. Her Nubian goats supply milk for cheese and butter; her bantam hens offer eggs for cooking and decorating. Using only original tools and almost forgotten techniques, Tasha Tudor never has idle hands. For this book, Tasha also created a series of paintings in the style that has made her one of America"s best-loved children"s book illustrators. "Tudor would probably already be a "national living treasure" if our government bestowed the equivalent of Japan"s accolade for individuals of outstanding artistic achievement" (BOOKLIST).

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

That idle hands make for idle minds is an old-fashioned notion, but such a sentiment is at the root of Tasha Tudor's philosophy and lifestyle. A sequel to Tasha Tudor's Garden and not to be construed as a traditional how-to, her latest book follows the children's book illustrator in and outside her farmhouse, Corgi Cottage, as we follow and watch her daily activities through the text of Tovah Martin and the camera lens of Richard Brown. Her crafts routines are enough to make a lesser human lie down and rest for a year; they include hand-dying wool from a friend's sheep, working on a patchwork quilt that will be many years in the finishing, harvesting eggs from the Rhode Island reds, and whipping up cookies, cakes, and pies. An introduction to the joys of self-sufficiency. Barbara Jacobs

Review

"A beautiful book . . . should be on the Christmas list of everyone who
enjoys Tasha Tudor and the old ways of doing things." -- Delphos (Ohio)
Herald

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (November 16, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395735270
• ISBN-13: 978-0395735275
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book of Dreams, March 25, 2000

By 

Mary E. Wisner (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts (Hardcover)

I spend hours looking through this book and marveling at Tasha Tudor's 1830's lifestyle. This is truly a book of dreams -- well...my dreams anyway. Travel through the seasons with Tasha as she cards linen to be woven, sews, stitches, spins, weaves, knits, and cooks.

The photographs are lovely. You will marvel at Tasha's creations. And you'll end up wanting to see her other books in order to get a further glimpse into her life, her home, and her gardens.

This is not a book of crafting instructions or patterns, but it will still be an inspiration to those, like me, who long for a simpler life and who wax nostalgic for the past.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When I grow up I want to be just like Tasha!!, June 16, 2001

By 

Elayne Hoover "ghiasword" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts (Paperback)

Wow! I have always been fascinated by the processes of making things by hand and really starting from the ground up. Tasha Tudor lives her entire life this way, starting with flax seeds and ending up three years later with a hand woven, hand sewn linen shirt.

Little did I know, at age six, reading The Doll's House, that the illustrator of this lovely children's book was also a kindred spirt. I wish I lived closer to Vermont and could go visit and learn from this amazing wise woman!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, and inspiring, December 5, 2002

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts (Hardcover)

Tasha Tudor is a kindred spirit and this book is a treasure, full of photographs and text on her life and loves, from making baskets, to processing wool from her sheep, milk from her goats, or baking with the eggs her hens provide. Candle making, drying flowers, growing and processing flax into linen, making pottery, raising a vegetable, herbs and flower gardens as well as making hand cream and sewing everything from quilts to clothing.

I guess one reason I wanted and love this book is it shows that one can in 2002 still savor the arts of the past and provide a lot of what one needs to survive day to day. And being small homesteaders in the Sierras I felt as if I were reading the diary or how to journal of one of my older neighbors. The book is one that I can really identify with.

This is a book that anyone who loves making things with their hands will love. And it is a wonderful book for reminding people of what is really important in life.