Book Report + Giveaway: Love at First Stitch!
Hi, guys! Hope all of you are well and that you had a great Thanksgiving weekend, if you celebrate!
Roost Books contacted me a while back to see if I would be interested in doing a review and giveaway to celebrate the U.S. launch of Tilly Walnes’ book, Love at First Stitch. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it, since the book was so widely-reviewed in the sewing blog community around the U.K. launch. I wasn’t sure I had anything new to say about the book, or if there’s even a single person who reads my blog who hasn’t heard of the book before! But I decided to host a giveaway for one simple reason: it’s a great book and I’d love for one of you to get a free copy!
You see, I’d already ordered two copies of the book, before it was released in the States (I don’t even know if I should tell you this, but Book Depository ships books INTERNATIONALLY FOR FREE… how is this even possible?!?! Hide your wallets!!!). I ordered them for a couple of friends who are beginning sewers, so I flipped through the book before handing it off to them and was thoroughly impressed. There’s a wealth of information about dressmaking in there- far more info than I had at hand when I began sewing- and it’s organized in a way that makes it easy to build on your skills as you progress through the book.
I appreciate that Tilly takes the time to explain not just the what’s (use interfacing), but the how’s (apply it with your iron) and the why’s (it stiffens your fabric and is used to help things keep their shape, etc.). And there’s quite a bit of info that I would’ve really benefited from as a newbie, such as this section on understanding ease. I would’ve had much better results in my early sewing projects if I’d had this book!
Here are the patterns included in the book:
Obviously, everyone’s taste is different, and these styles aren’t for everyone, but I find them much more appealing than the patterns you usually see in books aimed at beginners (like the book I used as a beginner, Sew Everything Workshop… it was a good resource for a newbie, but I didn’t make a single pattern from the book because I didn’t like any of them).
While the reasons I’ve listed above why I like this book are all good, here’s why I REALLY like this book. I gave a copy to my friend Christine to help her learn more about sewing. We’d done one lesson together at my apartment and made a little tote bag in an afternoon, but she didn’t have any other experience sewing. So I was really excited when she texted me a photo of her modeling her own pair of freshly-made Margot pajamas pyjamas! She was so happy and proud that she immediately sewed up a shorts version with her leftover fabric! I was so glad that she was able to work through the pattern using Tilly’s instructions without difficulties or frustration! From here on out I’ll be keeping a copy handy for friends that want to learn how to sew. :)
I was also tickled to see a shout-out to my blog in the book… thanks, Tilly! I didn’t know that she’d done that, so I was really shocked when I flipped through the book and saw it! I do appreciate that she includes information on blogs, though- I know I’m not the only one who learned almost everything they know about sewing from blogs!
