Sew it Up

About Sew It Up

2009-10-07T17:19:00.000+01:00

Sew It Up, a modern manual of practical and decorative sewing techniques is out now.

The book covers everything you need to start sewing, from threading a needle, setting up a sewing space and choosing fabric to how to use commercial dress patterns. For those with more experience there are over 150 decorative and practical techniques to incorporate into your repertoire, including 20 masterclasses which cover useful and fascinating techniques such as trapunto quilting and couture hemming. It also includes 20 original project designs including handbags, clothes, accessories and soft furnishings.
My aim when writing this book was to create the sewing book I wanted to read; one that is well-illustrated so the techniques are really clear and has inspiring and contemporary projects for things I would want to make.
I had a great time making, writing and researching the material for this book, which I hope will inspire both new and experienced fabric-lovers to make and create and enjoy.

Kits now on sale!

2008-11-30T16:46:00.002Z

Pinstripe Pincushion kit £8 / $11. Wool and vintage ribbon

As promised, I'm delighted to be able to offer kits for making several of the projects in Sew It Up. The kits are now available online here.

Organic hemp-silk trapunto cushion. Kit £15 / $24

Please drop me a line if you have any queries.

Falling Blossom hanging decoration. Available in a range of colours. Kit £8 / £11

Reviews

2008-11-20T21:49:00.001Z

Nice reviews are appearing on Amazon!

Please add one if you already have the book. It all helps!

If you click through on this image and buy this book (and anything else at the same time) from Amazon, I get a smidgen of Amazon's mighty profits! So go ahead - click and buy - even if its just your other Christmas presents.

Kits- advance notice!

2008-11-19T21:08:00.009Z

I'm working on kits for a number of the projects in the book. What I'm doing is preparing packages of the same (or very similar) fabrics to those which I used, along with any other bits and pieces you need to make the item. Some of these are vintage or recycled fabrics, so rather hard to match otherwise. The kits wont contain instructions, as they are all in the book. Some of these will be very limited edition, while some (mainly the small ones) should be available in reasonable quantity.
They will make fantastic gifts along with a copy of the book, or you could buy them yourself to make projects pretty much the same as the ones in the book. Prices will vary and I'll have that sorted out and online by 1st December. I will also offer a discount on the book to anyone buying a kit. If you are itching to make one for a Christmas present and would like it pronto then email me (ruth@ruthsinger.com) and I'll see what I can do.

The kits will be:

Needlebook

Vintage / new fabrics, binding, recycled wool felt pages and organic quilt wadding.

Pinstripe Pincushion

Various striped fabrics (not exactly the same) and the same vintage silk ribbon, plus stuffing.

Mr Mouse

I'll list a selection of striped wools to make mice with,
and the kit will include the threads needed to embroider his face,
including hard to get hessian-type yarn.
There isn't enough of this pink and green left to make another one though.

Silk cuff

Silk and contrast red fabric. The buttons will be different as I don't have any more of these.

Pleated corsage

The one from the cover. I've also got the fabric in a green colourway.
The vintage mother of pearl button will vary.

Trapunto Cushion

Organic hemp-silk fabric, backing and merino roving included.
Cushion pad can be included on request.

Pebble Cushion

Vintage pink velvet and a selection of coloured wool felt scraps to make the design, plus some co-ordinating backing fabric.

Falling Blossom

Enough fabric scraps and the threads and hoop required.
I will also do these in different colours.

Quilted placemats

Enough fabric for 4 placemats, plus quilting thread and organic quilt wadding.

Gingham Purse

Recycled blue gingham, vintage orange trimming, orange zip and ribbon to finish.

Vintage Jacket

Enough of the 1950s vintage fabric to make this jacket along with green organic cotton for the lining. I've probably only got enough for ONE of these kits.

Circular Skirt

Red organic cotton, zip, vintage button and interfacing for the waistband.

Customised t-shirt

This is a very simple one - T-shirt not included!
I'll prepare some small pieces of wool felt in various colours
so you can decorate a T without having to find and felt a whole sweater.

Its out!

2008-10-24T18:01:00.004+01:00

Sew it Up has been spotted in the wild

In all good bookshops now!

Identification and image courtesy of Jean, chief-bookspotter and reviewer. Also spotted and reviewed by Vivienne.

Photoshoot location

2008-10-05T18:08:00.007+01:00

I was pleased to find that the location used to shoot some of the finished projects in the book was recently featured on a couple of design blogs. The picture of the red skirt on the previous post was shot there, as was this stunning picture (another project preview for you!).

Photo by Jan Baldwin

Photo by me

Photo of a detail in the house, by me

The photography locations were all organised by my editor, Kate Haxell. She did an amazing job, as did the photographer Jan Baldwin. I went on one of the shoots in that lovely grey-white house and it was fascinating to see how people really live in a house like that. Though it is used for photoshoots a lot, and I think the owner is a stylist, not surprisingly. Its also just around the corner from where I used to live! Jan's photography is stunning, do have a look at her website.

The more colourful backdrop rooms you will see in the book are Kate's own house, which is equally amazing but totally different.

There's a lot of stunning photography in this book, I'm delighted with how well its been produced.

Project preview: Autumn Wardrobe.

2008-10-04T10:57:00.005+01:00

Apologies for this having taken so long. Here's two project previews from the book, to make up for the long absence...

Circle Skirt

The instructions are for drafting your own personalised pattern for a circular skirt.

Handbag

Large wool handbag with outside and inside pockets. I've used the sample bag so much. I love it!

Note on fabrics:
I'll be stocking some of the fabrics used in the book projects and some kits for the smaller pieces. I'll post more about that when the book is published, but drop me a line at info@ruthsinger.com and I'll put you on the mailing list to let you know when that happens.

How to buy a signed copy

2008-09-24T10:08:00.004+01:00

Sew It Up is £19.99

For UK buyers its best to send me a cheque for £24.99 (including £5 postage) to Ruth Singer, Fosse Centre, Mantle Rd, Leicester, LE3 5HG
To pay via Paypal either send £24.99 to ruth(at)ruthsinger(dot)com or just email me first and I'll send you a Paypal invoice.

Overseas buyers can buy from Etsy or ideally Paypal me direct, in which case you need to email me first to get a postage quote. It will be about £6.50 to most of Europe and £15 to everywhere else.

thanks!

Overseas publication

2008-09-22T22:21:00.003+01:00

Breaking news: Sew It Up will be published in the US with a co-publisher. This has only just been agreed, so I'll add more as soon as I know when it will be out. I had thought it would be out at the same time as here, but things have changed. However, US people can still buy the book from me and I'll send it over, if you just can't wait for the US edition!
We've also got a distributor in Australia, so that shouldn't be too long as well. Hang in their, my overseas friends, and we should be able to supply you with a sparkling, shiny copy before too long. The copies are now in the warehouse, so get your advance orders in now and you should get a copy in a couple of weeks.

I know I'm overdue with another preview. I'll try my best to do that this week.

Project Preview: Box Pleating

2008-09-12T12:40:00.004+01:00

I love box pleating and use it a lot in my own work, on panels, cushions and other stuff.
In a fit of excessive generosity, I decided to include not only the basic technique but also lots of variations!

This is one of 20 masterclasses in the book which cover practical and decorative techniques in greater depth. As with all the techniques, they are illustrated with colour photographs throughout, to make sure its easy to follow.

This technique is always one of my most popular at workshops and classes. I love seeing the variations students come up with, and will enjoy seeing what you book readers come up with!

Photographs by Dominic Harris.

Pre-order signed copies!

2008-09-12T11:32:00.000+01:00

I've set up a pre-order system for the book so you can order a signed copy direct from me as soon as they arrive. They are due in the warehouse at the end of September and I hope I will have copies to sign and post out by mid-October, so you should get an advance copy! (but I can't guarantee that just yet...)

Pre-order now so I can order in the right number!
They are listed on Etsy which is just a shopfront, so although the prices are listed in US dollars, the books (and anything else) come from me in the UK. If you want to pay direct via paypal or a UK cheque, just email me and we can do it that way.

Project Preview: Blanket

2008-09-02T21:42:00.004+01:00

Sew it Up, a modern manual of practical and decorative sewing will be published in 8 weeks time on 30th October and I am going to share something from the book each week until then.

First preview is one of the projects. This is a detail shot of a re-furbished old wool blanket. Start looking for nice old wool blankets now, ready to make this for snuggling under in the winter.

There are stories behind each project in the book. This one had a tussle with a cup of tea during the first lot of photography so it ended up spending the afternoon in the bath. It survived unscathed and is now on the back of my sofa.

Once the book is published, I'll be sharing more information on the project materials, techniques and ideas of how to use the hundreds of practical and decorative techniques in the book. I'll also throw in some stories about the development of the book and the designs I have created for it.

There are some other project sneak peaks here.

Photography by Jan Baldwin.

Buying the Book

2008-09-02T21:30:00.003+01:00

As you will see, the book is now available for pre-order on Amazon UK (link over there on the right). In a few weeks I will be selling signed copies online and in person at various events. UK customers who don't like online shopping can send me an old fashioned cheque!

There are plans for a workshop / booksigning event in London in mid-November and hopefully more things like that thereafter, around the country.

Step-by-step photography from the techniques section of the book. Photographs by Dominic Harris.

Project preview coming tomorrow!

And here it is!

2008-08-28T12:27:00.005+01:00

My advance copy has arrived. If you click on the images you can have a closer look.
The book is due out in just 9 weeks, so I'll be showing a project a week from the book and sharing news and information as soon as it comes through.

Colour proof

2008-06-15T23:14:00.002+01:00

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

2008-06-04T23:53:00.001+01:00

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!