07.06.09
Posted in Book Reviews at 6:26 pm by deRomilly
I ignored this book for many, many months at the bookstore. OK, so I didn’t exactly ignore it – I flipped through it, decided it was pretty both in design and content, but that I’d never do anything in it – and I put it back on the shelf. then, I read a reveiw in another textile blog – one from a woman who had preordered it because it was pretty, assuming she’d never use it — and then had.
She reviewed the corset t-shirt. and the review was so glowing that i bought the book so *I* could make one. Which I’m in the middle of doing now.
Things to remember about this book:
- it encourages slow sewing – everything is done by hand. EVERYTHING. While I like this in theory, stitching through 6-8 layers of cotton jersey at a time is hard on the hands. When I make another corset shirt – and I will — I am using my serger and regular sewing machine for the reasons they were purchased – construction. I’m arthritic!
- she’s fond of putting seams and knots on the outside of garments. i’m not. (Which might actually explain why MY corset appears to be snugger than advertised – seam bulk.)
- It’s GORGEOUS! Directions, however, are scattered throughout. For the reverse appliqué corset she has you flipping to projects later in the book for cutting instructions, and to a separate “techniques” section as well to find all of the directions. This part, isn’t fun, or, in my technical writer opinion, well-designed.
The sewing and creating has been, for the most part, enjoyable. I will probalby make the following changes to how I work with it in the future, however:
- use a slightly larger size. Since I’m large to start with, this may mean grading the corset pattern up. She sells them pre-made in up to a 2XL, but only has the pattern for the XL in the book.
- knots and seams inside (as I am doing now) which is why I will upsize mine.
- when cutting clothing, I’ll use a t-shirt a size larger than the pattern I’m making. Using the same size required some finagling, though it was possible. Barely. There is NO suggestions on how to choose t-shirt size for the patterns in the book. This is a serious shortcoming.
I think it’s a testament to the ideas in htis book that i went out and bought several more used T-shirts for ideas that percolated up as I worked with it. My clothes from them will be obviously influenced by her, but my own artistic style. This is a Good Thing™ in my opinion. 
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06.26.09
Posted in Book Reviews at 2:49 pm by deRomilly
I have to admit I’d been thinking of doing this myself, as I prefer to support smaller independent bookstores. I had put the links in as a service to people who stop here and for some reason or other trust my advice in books on needlework. But the state of North Carolina and Amazon have made the decision for me.
North Carolina instituted a program this week that makes retailers responsible for sales taxes on any purchases made through a “click through” program such as an affiliate program. My understanding is that this means that even if someone in Oklahoma buys a book through my Amazon link, Amazon is required to collect sales taxes on it and pay it to North Carolina. Or maybe it means that they have to keep track of clicks coming to them through my site AND from North Carolina and are only responsible for taxes on those… I honestly don’t understand the ramifications of this yet. It’s something I’m looking into, because it might affect any other small independent business that I choose to support.
Because of this, Amazon has terminated my affiliate status. Just because I happen to live in North Carolina. I feel for the people in the state who are making their living through affiliate programs. (And there are some.)
What it means right now, though, is that the link to the store of books I recommend is no longer available. And the links to books from my past book reviews will not be available until I figure out what to do. Hopefully I’ll figure something out soon. Do go read the reviews and buy the books from your local bookstore, though! The books are just that good. 
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05.15.09
Posted in Book Reviews at 7:00 am by deRomilly
I didn’t think that I’d like this magazine – I glanced through the first issue and thought, “why would I buy a magazine when all it is a compilation of what’s already on the web?” Silly me.
Last month I bought my second issue – vol. 3, issue 1, Feb-Apr. 2009. It’s as beautiful as the last one. With tips on making your blogging better, stories of wonderful bloggers and how blogging has changed both their lives and them, and, of course, urls and photographs from their blogs, it reads much more like Ricë’s Creative Life than a magazine. And it fills my need for reading about people who, like me, are trying to live creatively (in a format that I can take into the bathtub with me). I sometimes feel not misunderstood – but just missed, by my friends and acquaintances. Several of them have said, “you’re so lucky to be so creative!” It’s not luck, it’s just me.
And sometimes it’s lonely. The people profiled in the magazine remind me that I’m not alone. And so do the people I’ve met through this blog and their own blogs and several mailing lists.
So thank you all – and may we all have many more years of Artful Blogging ahead of us!
P.S. Yesterday I bought yet a third issue when I was at the bookstore. Heh. I think I’m hooked.
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03.13.09
Posted in Book Reviews at 7:00 am by deRomilly
The best bit of advice I’ve gotten recently actually came from a business book. I don’t know if you’ve noticed from my posts – I’ve tried to keep it in check, but the last couple of months of 2008 were pretty stressful around here.
During that time of health issues, moving relatives, business development and car trouble, I was reading a book, The Savvy Crafter, by Sandra McCall.
Near the end of it is a chapter on what to do when you get overwhelmed. One of the suggestions was to ignore all of the to do list and just take time to create. It sounds like it should be counter-productive. But it reminded me of the advice I was given in college – stop studying for the test. Go to bed and sleep. So I took both pieces of advice at once. i started playing with art journaling as well as working in my studio journal.
It has been rejuvenating. And I’ve accomplished a lot since I started this experiment in late December. While I still want everythign done at once, forcing myself to take 1/2 hour or so a day to play creatively is amazingly calming for me. I’m finding it puts all the issues back into perspective and lets me focus on what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
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01.09.09
Posted in Book Reviews at 7:00 am by deRomilly
Yes, I know I raved about this book when I first got it — but I didn’t really go into detail about why I like it so much — so I thought a real review is deserved.
I am a sucker for books that not only include the art of a particular artist, but also an insight into why he or she works the way they do — why does she use oils? Why did he choose textiles? What made him think to use that particular subject matter?
Normal “Artist Statements” don’t do this for me – I want real English, not something weirdly pseudo-academic that they were taught to do in art school to sound more “artsy” or “educated.” I’m a technical writer. Give me plain language. Jane Hall doesn’t do this, at least not in this book. Instead she comes across as a lovely lady who sees magic in the natural world around her and translates that vision so the rest of us can enjoy it.
She says at the beginning of the book:
“To Begin With… what is now in my imagination was real to me. Foxgloves were quite simply that, gloves for foxes. Aquilegia flowers (fairies’ bonnets) truly made the prettiest fairy bonnets, and pine needles were obviously meant to sew with.
Every living thing, every scuffling sound, every glinting light meant the world to me. I can remember countless hours exploring my world. People who did not understand, adults mainly, called it ‘playtime’ but it seemed to me far more important than that.”
And, as I said before, enjoy it I do. Bugs embroidered life size (little 1/4 inch beetles!) The care she puts into multiple layers of fabric and stitch, which she describes as lovingly as she does the finished work. This is not a how-to book, but it does provide insight into her working process. And even if you don’t care to read all that in detail, the eye candy was worth the price of the book to me!
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