Book Review: Weekend Sewing

Weekend Sewing: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching by Heather Ross

A few weeks ago I received this book in the mail from STC to review. I get a few books from them from time to time to review, and I don't always have a chance to even crack the cover sometimes (which makes me so sad since I LOVE new books). This time the fates must have aligned because not only was I free to open and check out the book, but I was also able to stitch up one of the projects (and to really test drive the book).

The book contains 40 quick sewing projects for an advanced beginner (meaning you know how to sew a straight line on your sewing machine, but may have no idea how to do anything fancy.- aka ME). The projects are divided into 3 groups: Projects for the home, Projects for Women, and Projects for Kids. The home section has projects from pillowcases (which are more handy to have then you might think) to tote bags. The women's projects are anything from dresses to skirts to shirts to PJ pants (which is my next project to try). The kids section has dresses and play clothes. You can see a gallery of some of the projects here.

The project that caught my eye was the Lucy Kimono, the very last project in the book. It looked like a simple straightforward project, that would be unbelievably cute and a smash at a baby shower I am going to next weekend. So I ran upstairs to my fabric stash, pulled out some choices and got to work.

First thing that you'll notice when creating most the projects in the book, is that the blueprints cover one of 2 sheets. Yes, that's 40 some projects over 2 sheets. So right away, you know you will not be cutting them out of those sheets, but copying them on to trace paper first. No problem. After cutting out my first set, I went and read the directions (I know- bad, but hey I am still a newbie). After figuring out that the wrong side of my fabric might show through while wearing, I decided that I needed some lining fabric too. Now that I was all cut out, I set to work. The directions are written out, but also illustrated (which you know I found infinitely helpful). Besides the illustrations, Heather gives you a number a tips from substituting other fabrics to how to deal with bias tape. In the Lucy Pattern, I noticed a few typos which did no more then cause me a moment of pause before figuring it out and moving on. (One that you might want to write down: Under Materials: they call for a 1/2 yard of 1/4" bias tape. To make the project as shown you need 1.5 yards of 1/2" bias tape. I used 1/4" which you can see to the right. Or here too. It turned out fine, but the 1/2" would be much easier for a novice like me). All in all, I found the pattern easy to follow and fun to sew. And making me want to dive into another in the book, which is a sign of a fun book in my opinion.

Now that I got to test drive this one so fully, it really makes me wish I could do that with all the books I get to review and otherwise. So I can say with confidence, that if you are looking for a fun sewing book with quick projects, this one is great.