Stitched Sewing Organizers is the book I have been waiting years for! With so many projects on the go, sewing supplies to store etc I'm always looking for clever patterns to make to get myself organised. I have in fact made a couple of the author, Aneela Hoey's, patterns before so when she bought out a whole book of them I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The book is published by Stash Books in America and imported into the UK by Search Press which does make it a little more expensive than the books from British publishers. However, when you realise that Aneela's patterns cost GBP7 each to buy, and you get 15 in the book it makes great value for money. Below are the projects you will find in the book. The 15 patterns are split into the following categories in the book: Small Things, Cases and Folios, Pouches and Boxes and Totes. They range from projects you can make in an hour or so to those that take most the day. I suspect most stitchers will find several they want to make. There's also a tools and basic techniques section at the start of the book to give you the knowledge you need to make the projects. Although there's a few generic projects like a tomato pincushion, large zippy pouch and drawstring bag most have Aneela's unique stamp on them. I particularly like the Fold Up Sewing Folio, a great travel sewing kit, The Book and Tool Folio for keeping book, patterns and the tools you need to make the projects together in one place and The See It All Pouch, a transparent project bag. Most the projects are also fat quarter friendly so will make great stash busters. Several use clear vinyl which you can also buy from Search Press here. I've made four of the See All Pouches already and plan to make several more, they make ideal extras for Instagram swaps or gifts for stitchy friends. They are quick and easy to make and fat quarter friendly. The only change I'd suggest to the pattern in the book is to use a 12 inch zip, which you could cut down if needed. I found 10 inch zips a little too small and ended up cutting the pouch down on my first one, and then adding zip tabs to extend the zip on my second pouch (the purple one above). The third and fourth pouches I used 12 inch zips and it worked out great. I'm looking forward to making some of the other projects in the book, next on my list are the fabric boxes. Full review and images: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/stitched-sewing-organizers-review/
The Sewing Directory