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!