Posted on by thelongthread

1,2,3 Sew

Turns out that this book actually does exist in real life and not just in my imagination. After working on it for such a long time, I wasn’t so sure, but it came in the mail last week! Although it won’t be available in bookstores for a few months, it’s finally finished.

The idea behind the book is that sewing is a cumulative process, with your skills building as you go. So the projects are organized in groups of three in each chapter, increasing in complexity with each project so that you can build on the new skills you’ve just learned. For instance, in one chapter you’ll make a simple grocery tote, then an art bag with a divider and pencil pouch, then finally an insulated drawstring lunch tote. There are 33 projects in all, with a teaching focus so you’ll learn along the way. And even if you’re an experienced sewer, hopefully you’ll want to try out the projects.

For the cover, I wanted to add texture, so I digitized and machine stitched the title, then on the title page (shown below) and all of the chapter openers, I hand-stitched and photographed designs that Chronicle’s graphic designer created. The layout and design of the book was a collaborative process, with me mostly driving the good folks at Chronicle nuts with my detail-oriented personality. When I first thought of writing a book, I assumed that I’d just sew the projects and write the text, but it’s much more of a DIY project. I created the illustrations and styled the backgrounds, with the photographs taken by my friend Laura Malek. I’ll write a post about the full process when it’s closer to the release date. But as you can see the book has a wire-o binding that allows it to lay flat while you sew, a nice rigid cover with rounded corners, and it also includes a pocket with full pattern pieces.

You can go ahead and pre-order it now! I’ll share projects and photos from the book soon.

36 Replies to “1,2,3 Sew”

  1. Congratulations, I like the cover as well as the idea of building and learning through a series of projects.

  3. Beautiful cover, I bet you are over the moon 🙂
    It’s such a great idea, I think they should have books like these in all venues of crafting! Well done, can’t wait to see the rest of it!

  4. how exciting, looks like a great book ~ looking forward to seeing it in person!
    Congratulations on publishing!

  15. wow. that was fast! My sewing bookshelf is SO overloaded with great books, but they’ll have to suck in and make way for this one. I love your projects and tutorials so much esp your style. This is one I’ll have to work from cover to cover — hope it’s out for the summer! It looks like it will be something my daughter may be able to work on too (bonus).
    congratulations!

  20. How perfect! I have several friends asking me to teach them to sew, this might just be our textbook. 🙂

  25. Hooray!! It looks so good. I can’t wait to see it. I appreciate that you went to all of your detail-ed-ness to get it just the way you want it. I wish you all the best with it.

  27. In another lifetime, I used to sew most of my own clothes. Years passed, I started hand-stitching my own small-project wool felt designs and I do believe my machine-sewing skills have gotten quite rusty! I am now inspired to exercise my machine muscles once again. Yay. Thanks for the inspiration! This book looks perfect.

    Janet, FeltOnTheFly

  31. What a huge thrill! Congratulations. I imagine you might have spent quite a few minutes just staring at the cover in quiet shock when you got your hands on it for the first time. I’d sleep with it if it were me.
    Can’t wait to get a copy. Exactly what a cowboy sewer (as in person who sews, not a drain) like me needs! Will it be distributed in Australia by someone? I do hope so.

  34. I can hardly wait to get my hands on this book. Always a good review and to help my students learn…

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