Last week I saw a request on facebook for bloggers who would like to review an e-book. I have never done this before but decided to contact them with my blog details. A couple of days later I was asked to choose a book!
I chose :- Modern Smocking
Canadian Smocking
Techniques and Patterns Part 1
By Debbie Shore
from www.vivebooks.com
I chose this because the cushions on the cover reminded me of my mum who was always sewing. In fact she made a smocked, round, turquoise satin cushion for our caravan!!
The method mum used looked complicated, transferring a series of dots onto the fabric then stitching certain dots together.
As I am on a learning curve in everything to do with my laptop and I had a little blip downloading but vivebooks were extremely helpful. I contacted them at 8am by e-mail and I had an answer at 8.15am, very impressive! It appears I had not downloaded to Acrobat (Adobe Reader)-problem solved.
I do love my craft books and now have quite a collection which I often browse through looking for inspiration so I wasn't sure about having a book on the computer.
This is a brilliant book! It is easy to navigate, has eight cushion designs and explicit instructions for making 12 and 16 inch cushion covers. Each design has a grid and instructions that can be printed out and, this is the best, videos to show the methods with suggestions for fabrics.
I thought I would trial the Waves design with some silk fabric from my ever growing fabric stash!!
Drawing out a 1 inch square grid by marking the back of my fabric. This has to be very accurate so I taped my fabric onto my mat to prevent it slipping.
The finished grid ready for stitching.
I had the video in front of me to see the sewing method.
The back of the fabric.
The front with one side pinned in pleats. I have yet to make up the cushion but am pleased with the result.
It took about 2 hours to mark out and stitch but I really enjoyed doing it.
In fact I am going to order Modern Smocking Part 2 as there are some more lovely designs using a variety of fabrics.
I sent off my Unit 3 on Tuesday and am looking forward to Unit 4.
The other news is my friend and companion on my textile journey has started a blog.
I love the name www.thoughtfulthreadsbyjo.blogspot.com and I am sure you will find it interesting.
I agree that the book is fantastic. Everything was clear and really easy to follow. I much prefer to be shown how to do something for the first time so the DVD is excellent. Looking at this book has made me want to download other e books as diagrams don't really do it for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing your wave sample become a cushion. I adore the colour of the fabric.