by Eithne Farry

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson distributed in Australia through Allen & Unwin (Australian rrp $29.95) also available on Amazon UK

What a romp of a book. An irreverent madcap sewing adventure for those who hate following patterns and who love experimentation and fabric. This is the sort of book I would want to write, a stream of consciousness, thoughts about easier ways of doing things, variations and shortcut tips. This book has a sense of humour. “Make your own felt (first, steal your brother’s jumper…)” and advice on using glue for seams instead of sewing “if you go dancing in this dress, there is a very real danger of it disintegrating”.

The book is, as most books are, divided into chapters, the first bit covers the basics like hems and stitches. But once past this it goes on to cover bags, skirts, frocks, fripperies, how to forage in charity shops and lastly some basic knitted items. Each chapter starts off with an easy peasy pattern, then slowly graduates through the ranks getting slightly more difficult with each one, but never really getting too hard. Throughout the bits about sewing there is lots of chatter and amusing stories, advice and further ideas on the subject at hand. The tips that are scattered here and there range from the amusingly simple to the quite practical and tricky.

One of my favourite bits in the book is the dreamy skirt wish list. I think we all have a wish list like this, things we wish we could make or hope one day to have the skills and patience to make, or the excuse. For example: “1. A silver skirt perfect for a girl astronaut.”. .. “4. A very plain skirt with a belt inspired by those chains of hand-holding paper dolls. Each doll would be wearing a different outfit.”

I think my favourite projects in the book (the ones that I might actually make) (and excluding those things that I make all the time like A-line skirts and drawstring bags) include the obi style belt - a wide fabric belt made from exotic fabric which can be worn on the hips or high on the waist with jeans, a dress or a kimono top and the doodling dress - a simple white cotton dress which has been drawn on with fabric pens.

This is not a book for the experienced precise sewer who takes pleasure in neat seams and perfectly cut patterns. But is perfect for the risk taker, for young sewers, or those interested in deconstruction and refashioning or designing their own crazy outfits and those with more enthusiasm than sewing skills.

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