is a really fun book for people who love to sew and want some inspiration or fun projects to try, Me and my little cousin loved going through and picking out projects to try, She was even able to make one of the bags on her own, These are fairly simple and it includes patterns for the projects in the front sleeve of the book, Too bad we got this at the library so we had to trace the patterns,
I definitely recommend this especially to a hobby sewist, would be so nice to own a copy as a reference book : Nifty book of quick and simple sewing projects, Sometimes the illustrations aren't as clear as I would like but the written instructions are very thorough I can sew, I just don't have a lot of time to sit in one place long enough, so not having a picture doesn't really bother me.
I really want to make the wrap dress, trapeze dress, and market bag, I love Heather Ross' fabric design and this book has some great pictures, I have made the apron,pajama pants, and baby bloomers, I have a little issue with the sizing and the errata seems to still have some issues, I bought fabric to do the pj pants based on the book and it was not enough, The illustrations are quite lovely, as to be expected, Lots of great ideas. It's a library book so the patterns are not included, I found good info on sewing and sewing machine basics, The reviews I've read on the actual sewing projects are mostly low due to inaccuracies in the patterns and directions, I won't be buying my own copy but I've learned a few things that will help me in choosing fabrics, thread and needles, There are also good ideas for setting up a sewing area, I would recommend this book on those reasons, The pros:
lovely photos sunny, happy kind of photos
cute projects there are some that are just too cute for words like the little baby "kimono" shirt
The cons:
handdrawn diagrams I'm obtuse but I can't decipher them
no stepbystep diagrams again, I'm obtuse This book actually convinced me to make a skirt.
Well, two skirts actually, but of COURSE I haven't finished one of them almost a year later, but one of these days, . .
I love the variety of projects available in the book, and the variety of audiences to sew for, The sizing seems a little wonky, however, My fiveyearold just swims in her size small pajama pants, and her daddy's matching pajama pants are actually super wide on him, too, However, I had to add extra panels to the size large yard sale wrap skirt to make it fit me, and
I despair of even trying the peasant top.
And none of us really seem to be at any sort of extreme sizewise, so, . .
But the baby kimono top Made a BEAUTIFUL baby shower gift, The book doesn't include a pattern for matching baby bottoms, but I made some from the sleeves of the blouse that I cut up to make the kimono top, and everything worked out pretty cute! The photography and book itself are quit lovely.
The definition of "weekend sewing" is rather generous and the book isn't devoted to the kind of simple projects you might expect a collared shirtdress, The pattern paper is, as has been pointed out by others, a hot mess in a notforbeginners kind of way, I did, however, learn from the toddler buttondown shirt pattern that there is a neighborhood in NYC known for it's "stylish toddlers," which is delightfully disturbing, I love these projects and ideas! They were inspiring! This book makes me want to sew things and make things, but there are significant issues in the instructions.
If you Google, you'll discover people's edits and corrections, which make things more plausible, The pictures are lovely, but I'm annoyed by having to doublecheck each project to see if the instructions are viable or not, While many of these projects are not particularly new and fresh, it's nice to have so many gathered in one place, I actually traced the pattern and made the summer blouse, and it turned out pretty nice, I lengthened it to make more of a tunic or dress, with good results, As I read through the comments about this book on GoodReads, I see a lot of criticisms of the book, Personally, I think it's a fine resource, and one that I will probably be buying, Darling ideas, but the instructions weren't as clear as I would have hoped, In some cases, the directions said one thing, and the photos showed another, There's an errata on Ms, Ross's website, but it does not cover everything I might hope for, As many others have indicated, this is a very pretty book by a clearly talented designer that is unfortunately full of baffling errors, I also was surprised by the inclusion of odd content randomly inserted such as "sewing sounds" and very simple recipes, which didn't add to the Weekend Sewing's content at all and felt very out of place.
The projects also range from very simple to fairly skilled,
My full review is here:
sitelinkwww, handmadenews. org/article/index. ph
And includes links to the "errata" section of the author's website where she offers some corrections, as well as to a couple of free patterns available online.
I've heard varying feedback on the smocked dress, but not much on the gardening gloves, A shame, as Heather Ross' fabrics are charming and some of the projects are very cute, Not just about projects that can be completed in a couple days, Weekend sewing is all about a relaxed attitude, as well, Nice variety of projects for home, clothing and kids, Really nice illustrations. I am rating this book with onlybecause of the information in the book, not the ideas, The final products pictured are awesome, However the patterns lack accurate information and details, The actual patterns are missing all the marking the author references in her directions, they are crudely drawn as well, The written directions are not much better with a few patterns calling for the wrong yardage and measurements, Editing and testing before this book was published must have been overlooked, I like the idea of this book, I like the presentation, the projects, the illustrations and photos, and the extras, However, I've dubbed this book "Weekend Tracing", If the idea is that these are quick projects that can be completed in a few weekend hours, then you better be prepared to spend a weeknight tracing the patterns from the master pattern sheet.
If you haven't seen what this looks like, it's a treasure map of several patterns drawn on the same sheet of paper in different colours, and it's double sided.
I've only made one project from the book so far the shirt dress and there are several errors in it, No marking on sleeve piece for the basting line, Neckband bias strip an inch too short this could have been my heavier fabric, but annoying nevertheless, no instructions on how to make double fold bias tape, Waistband pattern much narrower than shown in project photo, Last button placed too low for shortest length the hem comes up to cover the button hole don't add the last button hole until you've hemmed it and are sure that you want it!.
And I had to take the waist in by aboutinches, even though I made the size that corresponded to my waist measurement, That being said, I'm a novice sewer and perhaps these are things that a more experience sewer would take in stride, I consider this a worthwhile, inspiring book, but be prepared to take some things into your own hands, I really really WANTED to like this book, but I didn't care for it, The photographs are beautiful, however I found the patterns to be way to simple like sewing a loop and a button onto a dishtowel to much to complicated like the pattern for the fabric outdoor tent.
At least one third of the book is dedicated to clothing for women, but it has limited sizing, The section for children consists of dresses made from two rectangles, . . one gathered for the skirt and another sewn together to form the top, Now, I understand that this is intended to be quick and easy projects, the difficulty is that any/all of the pattern in this book can be found for free easily on the internet.
Maybe a VERY beginning level seamstress would enjoy this book, however I have read many other reviews online at Amazon, com with other readers complaining about missing instructions, incorrect measurements and confusion, so I would hesitate giving this to a beginner, If you are interested in this book I would try and check it out at a local library first or be sure to thoroughly read online reviews both here and at online booksellers before purchasing.
.