OMG! We are in an Actual Book

So, spoiler alert in the title there. This month the newest addition to the Mollie Makes book library is published and we were invited to create two exclusive projects to be featured. Alongside, some of our industry buddies we have two projects featured in Mollie Makes - How to Sew.  Goals right there people, goals!

Review: Makery Sewing

It has been a little while since we have talked about our friends at The Makery, but our love for Kate Smith's company is still going strong #WorkGoals. We are heading up to John Lewis in London soon to attend a Makery Espadrille workshop and it reminded me that I had yet to tell you how much we have been enjoying Kate's newest book Makery: Sewing. 

This book features over 30 sewing projects, in three sections. One on homewares, one on fashion and another on gifts. It includes projects that are suitable for complete beginners right up to more advanced sewers which means you can work your way through the book, improving your skills as you go.

As with the first book from Kate, the photography is gorgeous and so inspiring. I always love the way The Makery get a lovely mix of on-trend styling using beautiful vintage elements.

My favourite project has to be the flying ducks. I am on the hunt for the perfect fabric now to make these cute critters for my kitchen! It is such a fun twist on the faux taxidermy trend that is so big at the moment. They remind me of my Nana, who used to have a ceramic set on her living room wall when I used to visit as a kid.

In the clothing section I adore this simple but oh so effective t-shirt patch pocket project. It just proves that simple ideas produced to a high standard can be so inspiring. I will definitely be rummaging through my fabric scraps this weekend to update some of my jersey basics.

The tips and 'glossary' section at the back is really useful in its own right and the little sketches are cute and informative.

I love that there are full size patterns in the back which means no annoying visits to the printers to get them enlarged before you can get stuck into your project of choice. 

At first I was surprised at the lack of step-by-step photographs in the projects, but as I settled into reading through the way that the instructions are written, I found that I really didn't miss those photos. It feels like a friend is talking you through the how to and there are little illustrations for the more unsure. Being an accomplished sewer I didn't feel that the book spoke down to me, like some project books that cater to beginners sometimes do. I feel confident though that beginners would also find Kate's easy way with words engaging and easy to follow. The best thing about not having lengthy tutorials is that there is more room for great, useful projects. This book will have me turning it's pages again and again for inspiration for gifts and projects for myself. 

We love this book so much we bought an extra copy which we are giving away as part of our Blog's 4th Birthday celebration. Follow > this link< to tell us your favourite craft book for a chance to win a copy of this book and the rest of our top ten craft books. The giveaway closes on Friday 3rd of July so get over there before it's too late.

If you miss out on the win, Kate's book is available through The Makery shop as well as Amazon and other great book retailers.

Sammy xxx


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Our top ten Craft books + blog birthday giveaway (CLOSED)

A double whammy of awesome for you today, We have curated our Top 10 Craft Books and because we are lovely and it is our blogs 4th birthday (where has the time gone) we are giving you the chance to win the lot! Stick around until the end for your chance to win and in the meantime, lets get into the Top 10.

We have a mix of slightly older titles and new ones too, one of which has only been out for a week! But it is that good we couldn't not include it in our ten.

We have two books in the top ten from the Queen of crafting magazines Mollie Makes (you know how much we love the team at Mollie) the first is Making it! The book you need if you are embarking on a career in the craft industry. Packed with great tips and seriously useful information for anyone looking to make it big in the world of crafts.

This is the super newbie we were talking about and it is also the second from the Mollie Makes team. We knew as soon as we saw it, it was going to be a winner for us.so much so that Sammy pre-ordered two copies knowing that it would be featuring in this top ten. Sammy love's the Paper book-zine that the Mollie team had published a few times in the past and she had a feeling that this was going to be all that and more. It did not disappoint. It is packed full of awesome projects using paper of all kinds. Sammy is going to love working her way through the projects in this one. 

We reviewed Craft, Show and Sell on the blog last year and it has been a go to tea-break read ever since. With it's beautiful images and useful storage and selling tips it is a great read for all kinds of crafters. 

The second book from the lovely Kate (the Makery) We have a full review of this coming soon, but spoiler, We love it. We loved the first offering from the Makery which we reviewed back in 2013 but we think we might love this one even more. We suppose because we are sewest at heart, the projects in this book are some of our favourite's.

The beautiful Makers Spaces by Emily Quinton is a must for any Top 10, crafty or otherwise. If you love interiors this book is an equally joyous read. Pages filled with gorgeous photography of makers homes from all over the world, 'Home Goals' on every page! 

We were lucky enough to be chosen to be Cut Out and Keep Superstars earlier in the year and you may have seen our review of the book that takes you on a tour around the USA with different crafty projects along the way.  We love the quirky projects in this book and Cut Out and Keep in general really, they rock!

Hoarders like us will LOVE Pretty Organised. You can tell, we hope, that we really only end up recommending books we love, because we reviewed Jane's book back in March. We loved it then and we still love it now, with loads of creative tips and again, beautiful photography, this book is a must for crafters and hoarders alike. 

1980's Bumper activity book was a book Sammy received as a birthday gift a while ago and enjoyed it so much she has since re-purchased it as gifts for so many of her friends! It's jammed with fun projects and activities that will have you reminiscing about your mis-spent youth for weeks! (even if you were born in the 90's)

One of our favourite people on the internet is the lovely Katie Allen and her book Just Sew Stories was always going to be in our top 10. Packed with achievable, cool, trendy projects. All of which you would actually want in your home/wardrobe and that you would be proud to give as a gift. 

Another of our fave people is Tilly (and the Buttons) Walnes. We kind of knew, didn't we, if you had been reading her blog for a while (like we had) when we saw her on the first season of the Sewing Bee that a book was on the cards. Her sweet personality and enviable style shines from the pages. Each project is wearable, would fit in anyone's wardrobe and as it is with her blog, her tips and techniques are great for beginners and more experienced sewers.

Now for the fun part! For your chance to win all ten of these amazing crafty books, all you have to do is comment on this post below telling us your favourite craft book that is NOT on our list. Don't forget to include an email address, twitter or Instagram account so we can contact you if you win.  

(CLOSED)

The Giveaway is open until Midnight (UK BST) on Friday the 3rd of July and the winners will be announced and contacted shortly after this.

H & Sammy

T&C's:

Your name will only be counted once, but please do feel free to comment as much as you like.

You don't need a gmail account to comment. Just go to the drop down box below the comment section and you can post as your name or anonymous (just remember to put your contact details in the comment box).

Only replies on the blog to this post will count.

The winners name will be chosen at random.

All ten books will be posted to the recipient after the closing date.

The competition is open to everyone, in the UK and Worldwide! yey. 

Disclaimer: These books have all been purchased by ourselves, with the exclusion of the Cut Out and Keep book, which was sent to us for consideration. We fell in love with it and had a spare copy which we have chosen to give away as part of this competition.


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Book Review: Makery

You may have well caught The Makery on Dragon's Den a while ago and seen that amongst their shop and kits, they have a book out called 'Makery - Over 30 projects for the home, to wear and to give' by Kate Smith (the founder of The Makery).

So, we thought it would be a good idea to do a little review for you.

The book doesn't have the same branding as the venue, which is a little confusing (this also came up in Dragon's Den), so that is a shame, but it still looks great.

The front cover obviously suits me as it's plenty of blue items, just up my street.

A great contents page is always a good winner with me as it's nice to flick through the book, but it's also good to be able to look up a specific project you have seen.  The pictures throughout the book are clear and very pretty, with a mix of general shots and pictures of the projects you will be doing.

I like the fact that there is no 'Craft tool' or 'get you started' pages in this book, as sooo many books do that to fill up the pages I feel.  I like that they are targeting the book towards people who already craft and so they don't need that kind of thing taking up pages.

Some of the projects I have seen before in other books, but that is inevitable I guess these days, but there are some great new projects to do aswell.  The Cuckoo Clock and Toy truck pincushion are particular favourites, along with some shrink plastic jewellery and the Stag Head.  I think I will definitely have to give the Cuckoo clock a go when I get my own place - got a while I would think!

When you find a project you like, there are plenty of steps and diagrams (along with pictures of all the tools you will need) to follow.  The steps are easy to read and give you great advice along the way, which is always nice.

The paper weight of the pages in the book are lovely and it has that really nice matt texture to it, which makes it lovely to flick through and feel very much like a craft book.  The book is Paperback though and I must admit I prefer a hardback craft book, but again that is just preference.

Another of the great things about this book is that all the pull out patterns (at the back) are full sized.  So no having to scale up on a photocopier for this book.  Let's face it no one has a photocopier at home and so how are people meant to scale patterns up!  It is definitely a plus for the book.

All in all, the book is easy to read and has some great projects and so I would give it a definite thumbs up.  Hopefully we can have a go at the projects soon and see what we can create!

Have you read this book?  Or do you have another book we should check out?  Lets us know in the comments below.

Off to dream of a Cuckoo clock!

H