Stitch by Stitch

Stitch by Stitch
Written by Jane Bull
Published at DK Canada

About the book

A handy illustrated guide to techniques for all aspiring needle crafters by craft guru Jane Bull style, this all-new collection of projects and provides a great introduction to the traditional needlecrafts and useful sewing skills of yesteryear. From threading a needle through to measuring fabric and sewing a seam., this book covers all the basics as well as embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, crochet, appliqué, patchwork, and dressmaking.. The essential stitches are clearly illustrated and all of the techniques are clearly and properly explained.

• Includes 50 projects and features over 500 full colour photographs.

Who is Jane Bull?

Jane Bull has been coming up with fresh, original, and energetic ideas to inspire children to get crafty since she joined DK in 1982. Her books for DK include Make It, The Rainy Day Book and The Best Craft Book Ever among many others. Jane lives in London and has three children of her own to practice her crafty ideas on.

My Thoughts

I will admit that I was first drawn to this book because of it’s cover.    It stirred something in me that just wanted to make something like this.    When I was a teenager, I took some sewing lessons but it has been years since I touched the sewing machine.    Now that my girl is 4 years old, I would love to do fun little things for her.   Could I do it with this book?    It’s a challenge I am willing to take.

This book will introduce and present projects in embroidery, needlepoint, patchwork, appliqué, knitting and crochet.   Jane Bull is giving you step-by-steps instructions for anyone who wants to learn these skills.   I had learned a bit of sewing when I was younger but I will admit that beside putting buttons back and fixing some tears, my sewing skills are almost non-existent at this point in my life.    Having a girl stirred the desire to know more in this area and the Stitch by Stitch book has encouraged me to try out some projects.

So as a first project I picked the Pretty Puffs idea and decided to transform some plain shorts that the boys had worn but would fit my sweet daughter.   I wanted to make them a little bit more girly for her.    She calls these pretty puffs flowers and that’s okay with me.

So here’s the shorts before I make and install the “flowers”.

I made three pretty puffs – two of the same size and one bigger.     I also installed little buttons to complete the flower look and make cute stitches to sew them on the shorts.

The new to Jasmine shorts for the summer.   When I finished sewing them on the shorts last night, Jasmine was jumping up and down because she was so happy.

This morning I asked her to wear the shorts and pose for me so I can take a picture of her wearing them.   She is very happy with the flowers as you can see.

The project was easy to do but took a little bit of time as you have to stitch 1/4” around the circle and then pull to make the puff.   Then I sewed the buttons in place.    Finally I sewed some more to install the “flowers” on her shorts.      My daughter is pleased and I am happy that I was able to do this without problem.    This book contains plenty of fun projects to adorn plain pants, jackets, purses and so on.  You can also learn to knit or crochet.    I will definitively look into the step-by-step process on how to crochet since I would love to develop this skill.    There is a little project to make a purse in crochet and I just know that Jasmine would love to have one.   I also want to find a knitting spool to do another little project for her.   Finally, I am in the lookout to find some special paper to iron on material and transfer on clothing.     I am excited about this book and would recommend it to anyone whether you are a mom who doesn’t sew much or a young woman who want to learn these things.  I am definitively not done with this book and plan to do more projects as the summer goes by.

The Stitch by Stich book is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.