No comments about Do-It-Yourself Tailored Slipcovers.

4 comments about The New Step-by-Step Home Decorating Projects (Singer Sewing Reference Library).

1. most of the book is helpful and well illustrated.however, i needed information about calculating drapery pleats and the book says to use pleater tape. no help there. Also, i needed information about sewing a swag and jabot and this Singer sewing book tells me a no-sew method on throwing a swag over a curtain rod. no help there. the rest of the book seems to be well thought out. they surely missed badly on the 2 items I needed information about.



2. There are tips on window treatments I didn't find in any other books, that alone was worth the money for me. However a lot of the color choices are a little dated, and the instructions are sparser than in other books. Still there is a lot of inspiration here.



3. I liked the examples and the layout of the products. The easy step by step guide for a novice like me that is understandable



4. This is a very clearly demostrated how-to book. It offers great ideas and the directions to accomplish the projects. I find it invaluable. I have several how-to books and this is the best by far.

2 comments about My Style, My Place.

1. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book and I was blown away at how creative and easy the projects were. This is a must read for anyone that is interested in fashion and creating there own look.



2. I purchased this book after seeing the t-shirt quilt pattern on Sewing With Nancy. I wasn't disappointed. The quilt was a easy and quick. This book would be an excellent gift for the young stylist who wants to expand her sewing experience. It contains many great projects.

No comments about Designer Smocking For Tots To Teens.

5 comments about "I Do" Veils - So Can You!: A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Bridal Headpieces, Hats, and Veils With Professional Results.

1. I was not impressed with the quality of this book. The instructions are informative and easy to follow but the headpiece designes are out of date. The pictures are hand drawn and do not capture the instructions they are depicting. I have learned about the steps and general techniques of veil making after reading this book. However, I think color photos and updated designes would be helpful.



2. I didn't like the book and returned it. There are no color photos in the book all black and white and very wordy. If you are a crafty person who likes lots of text descriptions it is probably a good book but if you like photos to follow it is not for you.



3. I've had this book for quite a while now, and used it to make beautiful veils for two nieces and three of my daughter's friends. Since it first came out when headpieces and veils were more elaborate than they are today, you can find the directions for just about any headpiece and trimming there is. The illustrations and directions are very clear, and you can always simplify the ideas to make the plainer veils that brides like now. By the way, the last one I made cost just $18.00 to make, so the bride saved over $100.00!



4. I was interested in making veils after I made one for my neice's Halloween costume. I really liked this book.
   
   She starts out with your work area, and goes on to cover every type of veil imaginable. Hats, combs, headbands, headpieces, poufs--a sewing extravaganza. She covers materials, embellishments and edgings. She also does bridesmaid's and flower girl headpieces and covers how to attach the veil to your head so it won't slide off, and how to store it afterward.
   
   The only thing that holds this book back from a 5-star rating is her lack of yardages, a rather major flaw. She may occasionally say, "Take an 8-18 inch wide piece of illusion from 54-72 inches long," but this is way too general. She also doesn't say how many yards of material to purchase!



5. Take a good look at the headpiece on the cover, it's typical of the styles you'll find inside. If you'd like to make a hideous 80's style headpiece with fake flowers, pearl sprays, and large poufs, then this is the book for you. Though there's a brief discussion of the different lengths of veils, the author does not explain how to cut the veiling to achieve different shapes, and the poorly drawn illustrations are inadequate to demonstrate actually attaching the veil to the comb or headpiece, which for most styles you have to do in a somewhat counterintuitive way to hide the comb, and which the book does not mention or illustrate. However, there are entire pages dedicated to oudated topics such as decorating a banana clip and covering a pillbox hat. There are NINE pages discussing picture/portrait hats and even a discussion of cowboy hats (I love the suggestion that you add a tiara to your cowboy hat to "formalize it"), but very little that's relevant for the modern bride.
   
   I can't believe this book has copyright dates of 1996 and 2001, as these styles were dated even then. The whole book is in black and white, and there are no photos, just poorly done line drawings. Though you might be able to pull a few basic techniques from this book, your time would be better spent visiting a bridal shop and studying the construction of the veils there, which won't cost you a dime. If you need a book to tell you to keep your veil away from your cat (seriously, there's even a drawing), or to warn you of the slip and fall dangers of a runaway pearl or scraps of tulle, maybe craft projects involving hot glue guns and sharp objects aren't your best choice. For me, this was a total waste of money.

1 comments about Bedrooms for Cool Kids.

1. This book had some great ideas. We really liked the fantasy garden idea and used it to design my daughter's room.

3 comments about Customizing Cool Clothes: From Dull to Divine in 30 Projects.

1. Just a delightful book and so helpful.
   
   I am glad I ordered it ..Already making nice thinks for me and mine..
   
   
   Fotini Tsementzis
   Athens-Greece



2. This is a great book full of many terrific ideas. Color photos, easy to follow instructions.



3. i am so glad i got this book from the library instead of wasting money. the ideas in this book are all pretty mundane and have been done to death in recent years. projects like adding faux fur to a cardigan are a yawn, and the projects are pretty girly and precious. if you're more of a rocker with tastes that require more of an edge, buy subversive seamster. their ideas are fresh and cool and almost every single one is something i haven't seen or thought of before. this book might be good for a sweet teenager who likes conservative clothes.

5 comments about Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'D.

1. This book is amazing. Huge, and packed full of information. An essential refernce work if you are seriously considering doing anything with elizabethan fashion. The author has poured years of scholarship into this work and it shows. It's not really a coffee table picture book. Instead it is full of carefully culled facts for the serious student or anybody curious about 'real' English Tudor costume.



2. For years I heard how this was _the_ book to buy if you were into Elizabethan costuming and wanted authentic items that could be documented. The book is good for that, and I enjoyed the style that Ms.Arnold wrote it in.

   But I have two major gripes with the book-both regarding the quality of graphics and images in it.

   First off-in the whole book there are only about 5 pages in color. The rest of it-including hundreds of portraits, examples of extant clothing pieces and pieces of embroidery were all in black and white. I complain about that because, with so many of the portraits quoted as examples it would help if they could be seen clearly. (Many of them are too dark to have reproduced well, and a few are quite horrible.) And the photographs....

   If they could reprint this book and possibly include more color plates it would be a much much more valuable resource. As it stands now, it is a good source, but not all that I could have hoped for. Instead I have begun a search for color reproductions of the portraits cited in the book. A long tedious job but one that I think over all will make it a much more solid resource for my needs.




3. For the historical costumer focused on 16th century clothing, this is the "bible" hands down. Big, expensive, and filled with the usual detail that is the hallmark of Janet Arnold, this is one very worthwhile investment for the serious costumer. This book has one tiny drawback, in that it focuses entirely on women's fashion in the 16th century as viewed through the wardrobe accounts of Queen Elizabeth I and some of her contemporaries. Therefore, it has nothing to say on the topic of men's clothing, which is an unfortunately neglected aspect of 16th century research.

   Much of Janet Arnold's most important contributions to the costuming community are addressed in this book, making it extremely valuable. She presents each section with satisfying detail, raising very few questions that remain unanswered. The photographs accompanying the text are also invaluable, as many of them are not available in other books or to the general public for viewing. If only there were more color images...

   If you can afford the book, you won't regret buying it.




4. This is one of the best books ever written on the subject of Elizabethan Costuming. It mainly contains all of the details of Queen Elizabeth I wardrobe but it has unique points in the society that surrounded the dresses. This book helps to explain the Gloriana image that became so popular and it helps us to understand all the little details that went into the dress of the period. Detailing costumes using portraits and explaining how the fashion progressed makes this book a must for anyone interested in Renaissance Faires and the nobility. The only drawback is that very very few of the portraits and pictures are in color. I think a total of about 7 are in color the rest is in black and white. The only way to make this book more appealing and usable would be to put all of the portraits and pictures in color, but that would make the book even more expensive. After this must have book the 2nd on the shelf should be a J. Hunniset book (the lady who did all the costuming for Elizabeth R and The Six Wives of Henry the VIII produced by BBC). Next, any Janet Arnold book. Last, would be the Norris book: Tudor Costuming and Fashion (although most of this book is very outdated it is nice to look at). All of these are must haves and will make a well rounded library. Dispite the high price of the book it is worth posessing. Enjoy.



5. I bought this as a gift for a friend who helped a great deal with my wedding, advising me of dress styles, hair styles, fashion from this era, dances, music, food, and everything in between, as well as arranging all the flowers for the wedding! She was a godsend! When I gave her the book, her jaw dropped and she was so excited to get it... she said she had been wanting it forever. As I consider her quite knowledgeable about the subject matter of this book, and as it came highly recommended by her, I would say that it's a great book to have if this is something you are interested in as a serious hobby or more.

2 comments about Fitting Solutions: Pattern-Altering Tips for Garments that Fit (Threads On).

1. Fitting Solutions has in one book all of the pattern alteration solutions covered in Threads Magazine from 1991--1995. Excellent, easy to read and to follow, sensible dialogue with outstanding illustrations. Saves hours of looking through Threads Magazine for articles. Concentrates on problems above the waist and below the waist. Often, more than one solution included with comments by professionals



2. This book is a good general purpose reference book for pattern alterations, but I was interested in pants the most. I purchased The Easy Guide to Sewing Pants by Lynn MacIntyre and found that to be more helpful.

4 comments about Easy Guide to Sewing Blouses (Easy Guide).

1. This book is very good but in my opinion it is not a reference book on blouses. I would recommend that someone read first a good book on shirts such as "Shirtmaking" by D.P. Coffin and then use this book to add details found usually in women's shirts and blouses.

   The first three chapters are about choosing the right pattern and style, selecting fabrics and notions and fitting the pattern. Chapter 4 is focusing, among others, on: * Neckline Finishes (shaped facings, faced facings, bias facings and knit ribbing) * Sewing Collars (collars without a back facing, knitted collar, collars with a stand) * Sewing a Yoked Blouse (standard shirt yoke, blouse-type yoke which is worn mostly by women) * Sewing the Sleeves (flat-sleeve construction, round-sleeve construction) * Plackets (Continuous-lap sleeve placket, simplified sleeve opening) * Cuffs (standard cuff, no-cuff cuff) * Machine-Stitched Hems (turned and stitched hems, rolled hems) * Closures (hidden closure, buttonhole placement and size, sewing the buttons, gooks and eyes)

   The instructions are clear and detailed, accompanied by many photographs and really helpful tips that I believe make this a very good book on blouses even for a beginner sewer. I sewed myself a blouse with a blouse-type yoke and used the technique for faced facings (the latter technique eliminates the need to finish the facings edge with a serger) and the bias-tricot bound seam to bind and finish the armhole. The results were very professional and my blouse looks as beautiful on the outside as on the inside! I highly recommend this book to any sewer!




2. In 15 years of amateur home sewing, I've always avoided blouses because I could never make them look good. I'm looking forward to trying the techniques in this book. They seem to address exactly the problems I've always had.



3. Currently my favorite sewing book. Make that my favorite book. It's very useful for sewing shirts as well as blouses. The most useful chapter is no.4, The Best Sewing Techniques. As opposed to Mr. Coffin's illustrations, (another excellent book) this one has very clear color photographs of each technique and it's various steps. Her techniques appear to come from the within the industry and should be part of any serious sewer's arsenal. The instructions are some of the clearest I've come across. Don't sew another yoked shirt/blouse until you've looked at the technique shown here. Ms. Long's work, shown as examples, is absolutely flawless. The beauty is in the crisp execution of details such as welt pockets and plackets. This book inspires me to improve and perfect my sewing skills towards that of Connie Long's.



4. I can't say enough about Chapter 4 in this book, entitled, "The Best Sewing Techniques." I have already used this chapter to make a blouse. The author's instructions are SUPERIOR to those of pattern manufacturers. I've never taken a class on shirts/blouses and have always relied on the instructions included in a pattern. Not this time around! I used the author's detailed and very easy to understand instructions along with the beautifully detailed colored photos to construct a blouse just this week. The biggest difference in this shirt and others I've made is definitely the collar and facing. Makes you wonder why pattern companys don't let you in on these VERY EASY changes we can all make to make our blouses look tailored instead of homemade.