The Liberty Book of Simple Sewing

Beautiful book with unusual projects. Clear instructions and beautiful photos make this book a pleasure to read and use.

Exactly what I was looking for, explains things very well for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience.

Right off the bat, before I get to the substance of my review, I want everyone to know that this is NOT a hardcover book, despite the way Amazon has described it. The covers are heavy cardstock with french flaps, so, even though the card stock covers are heavier than most paperbacks, this is still very much a paperback book. That said, the content of the book is very appealing. There are 25 projects including fashion accessories, home decor, toys, an organizer for your sewing tools, and more. At least one of the included projects does not require sewing, although for the most part this is a sewing book. Some of the projects are simple enough for a beginner with minimal sewing experience, others are at intermediate level; however, the projects are not organized in order of difficulty. For example, the first project in this book is for cloud-shaped pillows. I'd call that one advanced beginner level due to the curves. Shown much later on, the sewing organizer is easier because it is all straight stitching. There are many parts to assemble for the sewing organizer so that will not necessarily be a fast project, but, in my opinion, is simple enough for a patient beginner to accomplish. I recommend this book to sewists with interest in the projects included and those with interest in increasing their sewing skills, which completing the projects in this book can help accomplish.

A joy to read even if you don’t sew.

The book is in great condition!

I thought the last Liberty sewing book was much better. I'll just write a simple pro and con review to keep things simple. Everyone has their own tastes so you may not agree with what my thoughts are so just keep that in mind: Pros: I love the fact that there are swatch samples of vintage Liberty prints with a little bit of history behind them, which made me want to buy a whole book on the historical context of their huge archive of print designs. But this was only a tiny part of the book. I loved the way the Chevron quilt was presented (and coordinated with similar prints for the cafe curtains). The way it was photographed and the white and blue fabrics made it look like ripples of water, but the gauzian filter or bokeh shot blurred the print colors and design....when I got to the next page, I didn't like the fabric so much with those special effects removed from the photo. I had also read by one reviewer here that there is a pattern error for this quilt. I also loved the cafe curtains which are made with see through white linen fabric and a few bits of Liberty fabric for accents of color. (Liberty prints are very expensive, especially in the US where they are all imported from the UK, so I have never seen these prints sold in the stores here by the yard, only as fat quarters so a project like that is quite affordable). If they had kept with this overall strategy and paired their prints with neutral solids in more of the projects, I would have loved this book rather than found it just ok, because this would have been a "new take" on "old" ideas. There are really good instructions with step by step illustrations on how to cover paper mache letters with fabric to personalize a room with someone's name or initials which I thought was also very good. Somewhat less impressive but still something I liked was a pattern for a placemat with pockets for the silverware (nothing new but pretty seeing it in their fabric) and a fabric covered frame. I also thought the fabric doll, and her darling outfit was super cute (maybe a little room for improvement with the "yarn" hair though?) . Cons: There is a pattern for a bicycle basket liner (and matching bike seat) but there is no mention of what size basket you need. There is a sewing supply caddy that requires a "wooden hanger" but again, no mention on the dimensions of the size of the hanger. (Based on the photo, it looked "over sized" compared to what I've ever seen before.) There is a pattern for a fitted sewing machine cover, but no mention for the dimensions of the sewing machine it was designed to fit, they just mention the "standard household sewing machine" and to adjust the pattern as necessary to fit your own machine (sorry, I just don't have time for going to the copy store and through trial and error enlarge or decrease in increments then drafting sample covers until I get the right size!) It would have been better if they had just given instructions for how to draft your own pattern to make the sewing machine cover like they did for the "foot stool" project. For the Chevron quilt, they don't mention how many "yards" you need, they only mention "inches" which was kind of annoying. I also didn't think "ripping" fabric strips then ironing their edges down and sewing them together was a very good method for strip quilting. Another odd thing about the instructions which I don't understand is that the quilt patterns all call for a 3/8" seam, when the standard seam allowance for quilting is 1/4". There is no mention on why so its a mystery to me. There are several projects in the book that have been done in too many other books and its just wasteful to see another pattern for these kinds of items like the French Coffee Press, chair pads, stuffed birds, covered buttons, pillow cases, fabric belt, pet leash, draw string bag, kiddie pj bottoms, etc. There are two projects in there that are downright ugly, the "graffiti table runner" and the "floral garland" (I've seen much better elsewhere). Finally, my last complaint about the book is that all of the photo styling is heavily influenced by mid-century modern design, which I do like, but the god awful avocado green, orange and yellow fabric prints for the projects make me want to puke. I think I've mentioned all the projects in the book except two. One is a drum style lampshade, and the other is a strip quilt. The strip quilt was made with fabrics that I would call a "Kaffe Fasset" color palette. It looks like it came right out of the pages of one of his books and could probably just as easily have looked very organic in a Victoria and Albert museum setting. If you like that kind of color drama, you might love the quilt but I hated looking at it (red, purple, gold, fuschia and lilac). Oh, I can't forget the cloud pillows and the cloud wall hanging. (There is also a leafy applique pillow...I think that covers all the projects). I don't know about you but I don't really feel inspired to make a little wall hanging out of rain clouds with little crystal rain drops. At first I thought it was a mobile for a baby nursery which would have looked cute, if the clouds looked cute and cheerful. The cloud pillows are oversized, for a sofa, but from experience, they will look wrinkly and saggy very quickly if you actually use them, unless you quilt the top cover, and be prepared to re-stuff the pillow once the stuffing pancakes out if you are going to spend a ton of money on their fabric to make these. You'll also need to be really good at sewing "curved seams" to make it look well. I guess overall, there were more negatives than positives for me from this book. I have so many craft books, I don't have room for one more, when more than half the projects were disappointing. What I'll probably do in a couple of months is rip out the few projects I did like and put them in sleeve protectors and store them in a ring binder and send the rest of the book to a recycling center (so sad). The first book was a keeper, the kind of book you want to look at again and again and keep on your coffee table to just enjoy. This sequel was just not the same and I was dearly wishing it would have been. Recommendations: I don't know if there was an "art director" that Lucinda had to follow directions from, or if she was restricted in only using prints sent to her by Liberty. Whomever collaborated on this book to determine the overall look and feel of the book, I think you could have benefited from knowing your audience better. Quilting and sewing projects like these in the book have been around for at least ten years either in magazines or other books. All these projects have been "done before" ad infinitum, with the exception of the cloud pillows (which is probably why it is one of the few images they let you see before buying the book). What a terrible waste. Also, out of all the gorgeous fabrics I've seen on your blog with some seriously cute and innovative projects like your citrus pouch purse, why didn't any of these fabulous projects make it into the book? There was so much missed potential in this book. I probably wouldn't buy a third of you ever decided to produce another one. If after you have read my review and decided it might not be worth it to invest in this book, I highly recommend you take a trip on over to the liberty blog where you will find some seriously inspiring projects with directions and gorgeous fabrics and you can download them as PDF files for free.

Very plain, easily followed.

Projects were very simplistic, suitable for a beginner sewer. The book is nicely made and pictures are lovely. I could not see myself making anything in this book.