Colour proof

I've had the colour proof to check in the last week or so. Its fabulous to see the pages in colour, properly printed and full-size. It really brings out how fantastic the photography is. Its a bit strange for me in that the colour proofs have old text in them - the images and the text are printed at different stages, so the colour has to go first, and the text goes later. So I've been getting queries from the editor and indexer while the proof reading is going on, and I don't actually have a copy of the text they are working from. That's been a bit confusing!
But still, they are all a great team and have worked wonders with the bits of ragged text needing a trim. Stuff is still going on with the editor and publisher ready for it all to go to print sometime this week, but luckily for me, it doesn't seem to need me to do anything!







I've also had a look at the new jacket - it looks like it is going to be a textured cover without a dust jacket, which will make it a lot more practical for everyday sewing, while still looking fabulous on the bookshelves. The spine is really nice. Its funny, these little things really make a difference. And its a thick old spine, with all those 304 pages and hardback covers. It is a HUGE book. And a fabulous, fabulous looking one. I think I might be getting excited about it at last!

Sew it Up

Sew it Up will be published by Kyle Cathie in October 2008.

By Ruth Singer

These are two details of projects from the book; an apron made from recycled shirts and a cushion made from recycled wool felt. There isn't such a strong pink theme in the rest of the book, by the way!





There are 18 other projects including a skirt, a pincushion, a needle case, a blouse, placemats, curtains, a cuff, a blanket, a hand puppet, a scarf, a customised t-shirt, a pillowcase, another cushion, a hanging garland, a corsage and two bags! Now all the photography has been done, I'm very happily making use of several of the finished projects and particularly enjoying the finished handbag I waited very impatiently to be returned from the photographer!

There are loads and loads of techniques in the book, over 100 I think, from putting in zips (7 different ways!) to American smocking. The stuff I've enjoyed writing most are sections about designing your own sewing projects (building up your confidence and pushing boundaries), about buying fabric (how to get a feel for cloth and learn to understand it) and about getting into dressmaking - choosing patterns that suit you, making facings that don't annoy you - all the stuff I didn't know when I started sewing.

I've just completed the proof read and almost all the last little bits of writing, and its going off to print in a couple of weeks. I've just seen a proof of the jacket and the colour proof should be in next week sometime. So its really really nearly there!