Since giving you the *grand* tour of my sewing cabinets here and here, many of you have inquired as to which sewing/craft books I had tucked away on the tippy-top shelves. Isn’t it fun to see what other’s have in their personal stash of craft-y geekiness? I think so! I really enjoy these kind of posts on other blogs so I figured why not. You know I’m the kinda girl who loves to share 🙂
So without further ado, here are a few of my favorite books right now. Not only do they have great content but they also give me great inspiration…oh, and patterns…ya gotta love lots of patterns!
{These are a few of my favorite things…}
First up, for the knitters, is the super awesome book Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren.
It’s chock full of vintage-y sweet baby goodness. I just adore this book and every single pattern in here…so pretty and so classic!!
There is a great pattern in the book for a pair of soakers…if you cloth diaper you will like these. If you don’t cloth diaper you will still like these, they are just too cute on sweet baby hineys, for reals.
When I first thumbed through this book I fell in love with this picture above. Why, you might ask? When I first had Noah my momma sent me box of knit sweaters, booties and blankets that my grandma from Peru made us kids when we were itty bitty. This sweater is almost an exact match to a few that she made for us!! How awesome that I was able to find a pattern for them!!
In the book, this sweater is called the ‘Violet Sacque‘. They even mention how you can make it with a fingering-weight alpaca…so totally Peruvian!
Another book I just love is Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu.
This is a great book if you are at all interested in making your own little girl’s clothing. She gives you a four basic patterns and shows you how you can mix and match them to customize them to your own style.
She even has a version of the ever-popular Knot dress…now you can make your own!
I received Craft Hope by Jade Sims this past Christmas.
I absolutely love this book! It is full of simple yet inspiring projects that you can make alone or with a group of friends for many wonderful charities that she shares with you in the book. What an awesome idea to harness all your crafting energy to make things for others in need.
Isn’t this baby kimono great?
As a side note for each project she shares an organization with you that you may send your finished items too. And a major bonus is that there is a Craft Hope blog found here, where you can get involved and take part in the latest Craft Hope project. I would so love to start a sewing group in the Chicago suburbs this spring. If you are interested at all, let me know!!
The next book that I really like is Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan.
This book has tons, and I mean tons of cute sewing projects that you can get done in just a few hours time. Perfect for birthday or Christmas gifts…or dare I say Valentine’s Day gifts, muahahaha!
I really liked the patchwork sewing pillow and adjusted it to fit a boppy for Miss Eloise.
And lastly, how could I have a whole post devoted to my favorite sewing books if I didn’t share one written by one of my favorite fabric designers, Heather Ross. Her book, Weekend Sewing, is just so wonderful!! I have done sooooo many projects in this book and they really do only take a few hours to a weekend of time at the most.
Here is Lucy’s Kimono which I made for Eloise in this post here.
Well, that’s it folks! I hope you enjoyed a little peek at some of my favorite sewing/craft books.
Do you have any favorites? I’d love to hear them as I’m always on the look-out for a new, fun book to read…it’s really a sick addiction but you can enable me, I’m cool with that!
Leave a comment below and share your favorites please!!
**Also, if you are a fan of Smashed Peas and Carrots on Facebook you might want to hop on over later today and enter a special Facebook Fans Snowstorm Giveaway! These fun giveaways happen every so often over on the fan page so *ahem* become a fan and ‘like’ Smashed Peas and Carrots so you can get updates on the latest and greatest giveaways!! Later dudes!
Thanks so much for sharing! I love little craft book and I might have to get a couple of those!
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Thanks for sharing your favorite sewing books! I can’t wait to find out what the giveaway is later on today!
Whoa. I missed your sewing cabinet post! Holy smokes…seriously envious over here! 🙂
I’m loving Sew U. I just got it because I was filling a cart and it had been recommended, I was like “I have read so much stuff, what else can I really learn from this book. Maybe a few things. I’ll get it to see what the fuss is about.” And then I skimmed it. And then I went back and read it cover to cover. And I understood it all despite the fact that I was reading it while nursing my week old baby at the time and we all know how AWESOME your brain works with a new baby.
This is your brain: ( )
This is your brain on new baby:
oh, there’s nothing there. Well, yes. Exactly.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that boppy pillow cover idea! Is it on your etsy shop?
I love the Weekend Sewing book. I checked it out from the library and am going to make the yard-sale wrap skirt. Looks like I will have to actually purchase this one as well. I also love Sew Chic and Handmade Beginnings, they are in my shopping cart at Amazon already. But the book I am absolutely loving right now is Sewing Serendipity! Kay Whitt covers skirts, tops, dresses and coats! Love them all!
Oh Those look GREAT! I am going to have to go find them!
absolutely DARLING books! thanks so much for pointing them out. 🙂
I just got Sew Darn Cute about 3 weeks ago from Amazon. I am excited to try some of the projects in there! I will have to check out the other ones too!
Thank you so much for the kind words about my book! I am just tickled to be included on your list.