Now Read This: Weekend Sewing

Another book borrowed from the local library...  Weekend Sewing , More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching, by Heather Ross.

I have to say that I somewhat am on the fence about this one. This is actually a very nice little book.  The projects are quite lovely and can satisfy the novice as well as an advanced sewer. It offers a little bit of everything from sewing for the home, accessories, as well as apparel.  The projects range from very simple (drawstring travel bags, aprons and dish towels), to slightly more complex projects (pajama pants, shirt dress...).  The book offers inspiration on setting up a sewing space in your home, which I enjoyed thoroughly.  You will find basic sewing terminology and techniques as well as some recipes. It's a neat little mixed bag of everything. If you wish to live creatively and aspire to make something, this book would definitely appeal to you.  The projects are nicely photographed, have clear illustrations and instructions and are very pleasant to look at.

So, why am I on the fence about this one? The sizing of the patterns are quite limited. Yes, you are offered a generic S/M/L range, but even for the large sizes, they seem a tad small, so you have to be adept in re-sizing to fit correctly . I was also able to catch several errors with regards to required yardage. This I realized when attempting to lay out pattern pieces on my fabric for more than one project. Thankfully, Heather has posted some errata pages on her blog.  I highly recommend that you print out and refer to this information before attempting some of the projects. But, like any sewing book I suppose this is par for the course.

My final caveat, the pattern pieces themselves...they come on 2 large sheets of paper, tucked into the dust jacket of the book. The thing is, they are printed on both sides of these sheets and they all overlap. That said, if you want to attempt more than one project you cannot simply cut away. I feel that you really only have 2 options... Get your hands on a tracing wheel and transfer these pattern pieces onto some manila paper, or go to your local print shop and ask them to make several copies of the pattern sheets.

All in all, I do feel that this book is a great first attempt and at the very least is certainly inspiring.

I give this book 3 1/2 pink buttons out of 5.