Handmade Home

I have to admit, these hands have held many a sewing book.  Be it something I have bought, borrowed from the library, or indulged in some corporate hospitality in a prolonged stay at Borders in Glasgow, I have read and used some of the most talked about sewing manuals that are doing the rounds at the minute.  And I have often been disappointed.  In many cases, if you've read one, you've read them all...how many patterns for bags and little girls' dresses does one need?  If the patterns are interesting, then the cost of getting nice fabric to the UK is so cost prohibitive, I am left thinking that the projects are just not do-able with the scraps I have lying about.

Which is why I approached Handmade Home with a bit of trepidation.  I really like Amanda Soule's blog.  Her first book, The Creative Family, was good, but I wasn't really in sync with it when I read it.  Most of all, I was worried that Handmade Home would be just another book I would re-sell on Amazon.

I can't tell you how delighted I am to say that I genuinely love her second book.  The writing and photography are excellent, but most importantly, the projects are useful and definitely things I would make for our family. It is all based around recycled materials, and unlike some other books that have rather specific requirements about what kind of materials are required, Amanda gives a more general specification around the weight of the materials (ie, mid-weight, ie shirts, rags, trousers).  I think this is a key point to the book's success for me, as I am very limited on what I can source from our local charity shops (a rant post for another day, I think) and it opened it up for me to think what we DO have that could work.

I found the book really inspirational.  I have been in a bit of a creative slump recently and the book was a great kick up the bum to get sewing again.  And my first project...a set of wall pockets for Ellis's room.