Book Giveaway #8 – Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts

martha stewart's encyclopedia of sewing and fabric craftsTHE PRIZE

One reader will win Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts AND an assortment of Nancy Zieman marking tools from Clover.

MY REVIEW

Basic techniques for sewing, applique, embroidery, quilting, dyeing, and printing, pluse 150 inspired projects from A to Z. That’s what this book is full of, and again, Martha Stewart has created a volume of timeless fabric and sewing skills and projects.

I’m really in a sewing groove right now and I want to start on the first page and tackle the whole book! The book comes with a CD of patterns and templates which is SO FABULOUS and means I can get started on a whim any time I want!

I settled on these few projects just to get started:

hooded bath towels

Hooded Towel: I appliqued these towels for my boys and just added the hoods after finding the simple instructions in the encyclopedia. I’ve seen tutorials online, but having the instructions in front of me in a physical book made it easier for me to jump in and get it done.

My boys love their towels with hood and I love that they stay on almost all by themselves!

embellished bath towels

Embellished Towels: This is another project that was inspired by this encyclopedia. I can almost always see something simple I like and reproduce it with my own skills and knowledge, but having the instructions already thought out is a nice change.

I love how this one easy little project changes the whole look of my towels and my bathroom!

pillowcase bag

Pillowcase Bag: This pillowcase bag was a quick project and so cute! I love projects like this that reuse something…

collage of projects from martha stewarts encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts

More projects from the book include tomato pincushions, washcloth puppets, heart-shaped pot holders, hooded towel, and drawstring pouches.

This book contains a lot more reference material than the Encyclopedia of Crafts – the first 90 pages include

  • a fabric glossary (if you like fabric, you’ll love this – a visual dictionary of all the different kinds!)
  • a thread glossary
  • tips for setting up a sewing area
  • good things for sewing
  • basic techniques (sewing, preparing fabric for sewing, essential hand stitches, anatomy of a sewing machine, machine stitches, sewing a basic seam, sewing curves and corners, seam-finishing, hemming, and sooo much more!)

nancy zieman marking tools from clover

After the projects, a handful of appendixes finish off the book including tools and materials, tips and extra techniques, patterns and templates. Martha’s apparent brand of choice as far as tools go is Clover, and they have provided several of her favorites in this giveaway.

Thanks so much to Martha Stewart and her team of artists for creating this book and to Clover and Randomhouse for sponsoring the giveaway.

GIVEAWAY RULES

  • Make a comment on this post telling me your favorite Martha Stewart product or project or your favorite new Clover sewing product before midnight Sunday, October 3.
  • A winner will be selected and announced at the top of this post on Monday.
  • Only one comment per person unless you earn extra entries.
  • Giveaway open only to residents of the continental United States…sorry.
  • Winners must email me to claim their prize within 5 days.

EARN EXTRA ENTRIES

You may earn 1 extra entry each for doing the following (make a separate comment for each thing you do):

GOOD LUCK and THANKS!