Showing posts with label Quarto Publishing Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quarto Publishing Group. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Book Review - Sewing Knits from Fit to Finish

If you sew at all, you have likely made a garment or two, if not for yourself, perhaps for your children or grandchildren.....and if you have sewn garments of any sort, you realize rather quickly that there is a lot to learn about fabrics, threads, handling, finishing techniques, patterns, fitting and more.

Garments made using knits are especially nice to wear, more and more of them are finding their way into our closets and drawers. Sewing with knits presents it own set of challenges, but being armed with the right information can take the apprehension out of buying and working with them.
That's where this book comes in. I received a copy to review and was immediately impressed with lovely presentation and wide range of topics within.


Sewing Knits from Fit to Finish
Proven Methods for Conventional Machine and Serger
Author. Linda Lee

Anyone wanting to sew garments using knit fabrics will find this book to be an excellent resource.

The subject matter covered in this book is extensive and impressive
In addition to the expected construction techniques, (which are terrific) you are given in depth information about the different types knits available, providing guidance on how to identify which knits work best for the type of garment you intend to sew.  Covering the individual characteristics and properties of each, their fibre makeup and what you might expect when working with them such as ease or difficulty of handling, and what of the “hand”?, is it soft, drapable, fluid or firm and stable, will the knit unravel easily or have edges that curl? and how to determine the amount of stretch your selected knit fabric has.

With so many choices, shopping for knit fabrics can be a bit confusing, this book takes the guesswork out of making a fabric selection that will best suit the garment you wish to make. There is even a chart giving you the estimated yardage required by garment type and fit.

Contents Page
Sections on fit, basic pattern adjustments and understanding ease are all extremely helpful. Provided in the book, is a measurement chart not only telling you what measurements you will need, but also good descriptive and visual information to help ensure these measurements are taken as accurately as possible.
You will be guided through the sewing process with options for using a conventional sewing machine, serger and or cover-stitch. In addition to the topics touched on above, sections covering fabric preparation, interfacing, pressing, marking, needles and thread choice all come together to put you on the path to success in creating your garment.

In addition to clear, detailed instructions accompanied by wonderful photographs, you will find helpful tips scattered throughout the book. So if you are thinking this is the year you plan to make some flowing summer dresses, a few tees, or something a bit more challenging and want to know more about working with knits, I think this is a great reference guide.

Find the book and more reviews here on Amazon and Quarto Knows  or head on over to the author's web site The Sewing Workshop for patterns, tutorials and more.



Saturday, June 25, 2016

Fun find

Recently, I came across these short videos where someone can be seen  demonstrating a couple of  "lessons" from my pages in the book The Art of Fashion Tangling 40 prompts,patterns & projects for fashion forward tangling artists and doodlers. I absolutely LOVE watching her as she creates her own versions.







The whole idea behind creating doodle patterns using the alphabet is to show that if you begin with something you are already familiar and comfortable with, (forming letters) you can quickly see that anyone can enjoy experimenting with line and shape.

My "section" in this book covers pages 82 thru 103 where in addition to easy to follow step by step instructions and tips, you will find finished drawings as inspiration along with templates for use in creating your own versions. There is the Corset and Dress-form you see below as well as a variety of Hats, Shoes, Boots and Handbags to play with.  (and that is just my chapter, remember, there are 6 other artists who have made fabulous and unique contributions to this book)







Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The Art of Fashion Tangling.....now available!!!!!

Yahooooo!  Back in October, I told you about my involvement in this book. You can find that post here. (where you will also find links to the sites of all the authors/artists that are featured in this book.)

The release date was moved up and today is it!!!!!.....as you might imagine.....I am super excited....I hope to get my hands on a copy very soon. The book is available at many fine book retailers as well as many online sources, including Amazon


I have been continuing to play with digital doodling (drawing on my iPad) I guess I was thinking about a "can't do without" tool in fashion creation as inspiration for this one......I still have my giant scissors....although they don't look quite like these.  :-)






Sunday, October 25, 2015

Coming soon!!!!!

In my last post, I wrote about an opportunity that I had recently turned down because it just did not seem to be the right fit for me, today I want to SHOUT about an amazing opportunity that this time, was absolutely right!

Over the summer I was contacted by an acquisitions editor representing  Quarto Publishing, with the Walter Foster  group, I must admit that the email really caught me by surprise and I had to read it more than once.
As it turned out, while doing artist research, some of my doodles had caught this editor's attention and I was being contacted to see if I might have interest in collaborating with them on a book project.

Whoa!......you gotta know I sure was interested and couldn't wait to hear more!

She proceeded to fill me in on the concept of the book as well as what they had envisioned for my contribution.  It did not take long to determine that this project certainly did seem to be a perfect fit, and, as you might imagine, I was quite excited to accept the proposal and eagerly got to work creating projects for my section.......(although I really should not use the word “work” as I have been thoroughly enjoying the process)

The Art of Fashion Tangling: 40 prompts, patterns & projects for fashion-forward tangling artists &doodlers is to be 144 pages featuring several artists/authors, each one bringing to it, their own unique, fabulous style.........and I am completely thrilled to be counted among them.

You can read details about the book and its scheduled release date here
 

I snagged this image from the web site.....I LOVE the cover art they chose to go with!

Below you will find links to the web sites of each of the book's contributing artists, you may already be familiar with many of them, ..... just click their names to explore their work. 

Jill Buckley........... you are here :-)






I can hardly wait to see it all come together......so SO excited!!!!




Copyright Jill Buckley