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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June's Instagram round-up

The end of the month is nearly here and so I thought it was about time for a little Instagram round-up.  If you have been watching our Instagram recently you will know that we took a little break to Barcelona and so that features quite a bit, but who doesn't love holiday pictures!  Also as usual food is a big feature, its a big feature in my life and so it would only be right to show it off.

June Favourites

Now I know I say this every month but seriously, time flying when your having fun doesn't even cover it! So here are the things that have been floating my boat this month.

Sewing Tips: Zips

Right it is that time that I am sure some of you have been waiting for, today we are going to be revealing our top tips about those pesky fasteners that lots of people are a little scared of... Zips. Warning its going to be a long post so go and get a cuppa and we will get stuck in.

Make it: Wedding mini bunting

I thought it about time I did something a little Wedding related for those Summer brides out there.  I only have one wedding to go to this year, which is a bit of a departure for me and so why not share a little DIY for those brides trying to keep it simple with this mini bunting for a cake or just a little decoration.

You will need: Scissors, paper, bakers twine, paper straws, glue stick, craft knife, pencil, sharpie or other pen in whatever colour of your choice.

Step 1:  Make a template of your bunting if you prefer, or just draw on the back of your paper, two triangles connected to each other by the top/bottom.  You will need as many as you have letters and for the & symbol.

Step 2:  Cut out all of your bunting and start to write your letters on the bottom triangle, I am trying to get better at nice handwriting and so this was a nice practice for me.  There were many test pages before I decided on the final font style!  I used a sharpie as the paper had a slight sheen to it, so I wanted it to stay in place.

Step 3:  Layout the name and see what kind of spacing you will want on the twine to make it nice and even.

Step 4:  Then glue each bunting piece over the twine in place.

Step 5:  Then when each line of your bunting is done, layout the name and so you can see where you will want it to attach to your straws.

Step 6:  Make knots in each end of the twine as then this will help them stay in place for the next step.

Step 7:  Using the craft knife, cut into the straws where you would like your bunting to sit, you could mark with a pencil.

Step 8:  Push the end of the bunting line into the straw using the craft knife, the knot will help ensure it stays inside the straw without popping back out.

Your done, this is such a simple little DIY and one you could do for parties, weddings or just for fun.  It's so cute and you can change the colours and font style to suit the type of event it is for.

Are you going to any weddings this year?  See if you can spot any crafty makes?  I always love seeing what people come up with and whether they have been glued to Pinterest since they got engaged!

Now, those sweets are making me peckish!

H

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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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