Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love, by Kerry Goulder, is a new
project book with 18 softie sewing patterns. Kerry lives in Southern Maine and is a mom to two girls. Before
writing this book designed five patterns for Anna Griffin, a well-known brand of stationary, home, and gift products. Kerry also sold her
handmade goods in a shop on Etsy. Her most popular product is a thumbguard used to help kids stop sucking their thumbs, but she’s also sold some of the earlier incarnations of
the toys in this book.
The subtitle, “patterns for the storytelling sewist,” refers
to short stories Kerry has made up and written about each toy. On a side
note, I’m pretty excited to see the word “sewist” on the cover of a book. Let’s
say good-bye to “sewer” for good.
There are some neat new softie ideas presented here,
including a fabric igloo that uses zip ties for inner support, a hot air
balloon with little sandbags, a plush light bulb, and a turtle that can slide
in and out of its shell. There’s a dolphin finger puppet, although it’s not
labeled or shown anywhere as a puppet, and a really cool pattern for a plush
lobster that looks challenging, but not overly so.
Plush buoys? They’re brilliant and would be terrific hanging on a bedroom wall at a beach house. They’re
modern and fun, and very clever.
Each pattern is illustrated with clear step-by-step photos.
These are nicely shot and effective at guiding you through the sewing. The samples are all sewn from quilting
cottons, a really appealing choice for lots of sewists who enjoy making
something clever from a few fat quarters or scraps from their quilting stash.
The supplies list for each project includes the name of the
fabric line and it’s designer. The fabric igloo, for example, say, “Fabrics
shown: from the Field Study collection by Anna Maria Horner, courtesy
FreeSpirit/Westminster Fibers Fabric.” There’s a segment of readers who will want
to use the exact fabrics shown when they make the projects (maybe you’re on of
them?), but for me these read as ads. I’d rather have all fabric credits on a
resource page at the back.
The forward by Heather Bailey has that same ad-like
feel. I understand having a big name designer lend their name to a book, but for
me, it’d be great to reclaim that space for
the back of the book so that we could have full-sized pattern pieces.
As it
stands, all of the pattern pieces need to be enlarged by 200%, even for toys
that are only 6” tall, like the Mouse Pals on the cover. Kerry assures me she
fought tooth and nail for full-sized patterns and lost. I feel like this happens
more often in softie books than in other craft books and I hope it stops.
While I was enlarging the pattern for the Mouse Pals 200% to
make it full-sized, I figured I’d keep going and enlarge it 400%. I
sewed my mouse from super soft velour, and used some pink fleece to line
her ears. I made
her a polka dot bow and I think she came out really cute! The pattern is well-written and the templates all fit together perfectly.
Here’s the first part
of the two-paragraph story that accompanies the Mouse Pals to give you a sense
of the storytelling part of the book:
“When the gnomes are away, the mice will play! This is
Sherbet and Pistachio. Right now they are supposed to be helping the gnomes
gather firewood and berries, but they couldn’t pass up a chance to play awhile
before getting to work. These lifelong friends love to swing, play hopscotch
and jump rope when the sun is rising.”
There aren’t all that many new softie books on the market and
I get excited with every one. For the cover price of $24.99 you get 18
fun patterns, which is a pretty good deal. I enjoyed reading and sewing from Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love and I think you will, too.
You can get a copy now on Amazon where you can see 32 pages in the “Look Inside” feature if you’d like, including nearly all the templates.
Disclaimer: The author sent each of the 20 bloggers on this
blog tour a free copy of the book plus a package containing over $100 worth of
sewing tools and supplies she procured from sponsors. We were encouraged to
highlight these sponsors in our post. I didn’t feel comfortable accepting this
package and asked Kerry to please not send it, but she did anyway. She
assured me that this was a thank you gift and a way to share some of her
favorite things with all of us and be sure we had what we needed to make the projects in the book. That said, I couldn’t get away from feeling that it
was compensation for writing this review. She also asked that if I was going to
say anything negative about the book, I show her the post first. That felt
awkward to me, too. I really strive to be an honest and independent reviewer.
This was a hard one, not because of the book (it’s lovely) but because of these aspects of the blog tour.
Sarah says
Thank you for being so honest, I will probably end up buying this book in the new Year.
I feel like authors are really having to push push push to get craft books to take off at the moment and wonder, maybe naively, why the publishers don’t do more marketing for the books. I also don’t really “get” blog tours for craft books as by the end of a tour you normally have seen every project it has to offer.
mjb says
Thanks for being honest, and for posting about this anyway.
Abby Glassenberg says
Sarah, I just checked out your Etsy shop and my goodness your work is stunning!
You are totally correct that authors are, for the most part, responsible for selling their own books and it becomes like a full-time job once your book is released. It helps to know this going into the process so that you’re ready for it when it comes.
Blog tours are perhaps going to become a thing of the past. It’s easy to feel sorta hit over the head by hearing about the same book on nearly two dozen blogs in the same week. It’s a fine line between promoting a book enough, while still getting authentic reviews from people who truly love it.
Abby Glassenberg says
You’re welcome.
Miranda says
So cute! I feel a little like making everything 400%, too, because sewing such tiny pieces is tricky! I love how your mouse turned out!
farmquilter says
Thank you for the honest review! I agree with you that the patterns really need to be full-size because many people do not have access to a printer that can increase the size of the patterns – I live in the back of beyond and I don’t have a copier/scanner, so increasing the pattern sizes would be problematic. Your mouse is adorable 🙂 I too do not like it when books I buy feel like nothing be an on-going ad for different products. I understand that the folks who give of their product to aid in the production of the book want credit and want the consumers to purchase their product in return for the freebies, but for me, small print under the picture or in the back of the book works just fine. I paid for the book for the projects, not for continual ads.
Abby Glassenberg says
I love big, huggable toys. The mushrooms in this book would also be awesome huge. I’m tempted to take the book to the copy shop and have all of the patterns enlarged to 400%!
Abby Glassenberg says
I hear you. I don’t think the fabric credits on each project make this book feel like it’s full of ads. There’s just one set of credits for each project. But I would prefer to enjoy these lovely projects without the intrusion of a brand name right there.
As an author it is wise to get fabrics and other supplies for your book projects donated by companies. Otherwise you spend a significant portion of a usually pretty small advance sourcing all the materials. And it’s important to credit and thank those companies in the book, and refer readers directly to them. But it can all be done in a single resource page.
Jane says
Hi Abby. helpful review, thank you. As you point out the main thing that would put me off this book would be the lack of 100% patterns, and I will probably not buy it as a result, even though the patterns looks pleasantly different.
I was interested by your enthusiasm for sewist over sewer. Sewist is not a popular term in the UK, but does seem to be growing in American books and blogs. What is your interpretation of the two terms?
Abby Glassenberg says
My first book has quite a few templates that are not full-sized so I totally understand Kerry’s frustration. I truly hope publishers begin to listen, especially now that full-sized PDF patterns are so readily available for any kind of project.
I like sewist over sewer because sewer is also the word for waste pipes! It’s too easy to read that word wrong. Also, for me sewist has a bit of artist in it, and I find that appealing.
tracy_a says
Thanks, Abby. I like the story idea and some of the projects are so fresh (I love the buoy idea – why did I not think of that?). I don’t mind the fabric credits – maybe because coming from knitting perspective, where yarn brand names (and gauge and contents) are generally given in the pattern requirements.
But I do agree that it is inconvenient when the templates are not full-sized. I had trouble getting patterns enlarged at both Kinkos/Fed Ex Office and at Office Max without explicit instructions and ended up getting a letter on letterhead from the publisher to get things enlarged. It just really makes the whole process unfriendly – and it means it can’t be done on a whim when you realize a baby shower is tomorrow! Maybe the book could come with downloadable full size template files? I don’t know – the reason I’d buy a book is to have the media endure over time.
Abby Glassenberg says
You bring up an important issue, Tracy. If you don’t have a home copier and try to take a book to a copy shop, they often tell you that it violates the book’s copyright to photocopy pages. They are right to say so, but in this case the publisher intends you to do so.
I asked Kerry if the publisher might put the full-sized templates online, but no dice. This book is published by KP Craft which is owned by F+W. In my experience that company doesn’t publish templates online (Interweave published my first book and they are now also owned by F+W and don’t have full-sized templates for my book online either). Kudos to Lark, the publisher of my second book, for not fearing that publishing full-sized templates online will slow book sales. In my mind it does just the opposite.
Also, I’m hoping more US publishers will begin overlapping templates to save space like Japanese publishers do. That’s a great way to save space without sacrificing quality.
Amanda says
the overlapping templates is how they did sewing patterns over a 100 years ago. (Like modern Burda) and they could be a pane to untangle (I have done this, when there are over a dozen full size ladies blouses on a 36 X 24 page, it is busy.) Of course using color cuts down on that (assuming you are not color blind!)
Caroline B says
I’m jumping on the bandwagon here to agree that having to enlarge a pattern puts me right off making a project on the spur of the moment. It would even put me off buying the book. I would really have to want to make the item before going through the palavar of scanning and printing off the pattern, if only for the fact that I find it difficult to get my head round the enlargement process. I find the Japanese system of overlapping patterns on one huge sheet far preferable, even when the instructions are in Japanese.
Abby Glassenberg says
I didn’t know that was an old practice, Amanda! That’s so interesting. I’ll have to try to find some images of antique patterns that use overlapping pattern pieces. I agree with you that it could be a huge tangle for a garment pattern, for example, but when we’re talking about dolls and softies, it really isn’t hard to decipher overlapping pattern pieces.
Abby Glassenberg says
I like the Japanese system, too, Caroline. Just to be clear, though, a book like my first book and like Kerry’s book wouldn’t have the budget to include a large pullout pattern sheet. The pattern pieces would still be on the last few pages of the book, but they would just overlap at full-size so as to take up only 3 pages, or 4, instead of 8 or 10.
Amy says
I just want to say thank you for the way you write your blog. I haven’t been doing a lot of sewing lately (I’m on an art journal kick at the moment), but I always come read your posts. I always feel like you write what you truly think, and to me, your full disclosure style comes across as integrity, which is so rarely seen. I just wanted to say I admire that very much about you and your writing. Kudos!
Abby Glassenberg says
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, Amy. I really appreciate it and it means a lot to me to know that you’re out there, reading.
Ellen Mickelson says
Hi Abby-
The little animals are just darling! Always so much fun to see what you are blogging about.
Best,
Ellen
Rebecca says
Thank you for this review. I think you’re right to feel uneasy about the strings attached to the blog tour – they make it sound like the ideas of “review” and “advertisement” have been mixed up a little. It didn’t seem like you’d let them bias you in either direction, though.
I have an irrational dislike of the word sewist, I have to admit, although I don’t have a good alternate suggestion. 🙂
Abby Glassenberg says
I was the only one of the 20 people on the blog tour who had any sort of qualms about accepting a gift. I’m clearly in the minority here.
I like sewist! Takes some getting used to, though 🙂
Indianna says
Thanks for the honest review. I hadn’t seen the igloo anywhere else and think its really cool. It might tempt me to buy the book and I guess that is the point of the blog hops.
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Hi tracy_a,
I wanted to let you know that I have gotten a PDF of the full size pattern pieces from F+W Media and can email it out to anyone that requests it. If you decide to purchase the book, please feel free to email me at kidgiddy at maine dot rr dot com. Thanks so much – and the buoys rank among my favorite patterns in this book. Best Regards, Kerry
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Hi Caroline,
I wanted to let you know that I have gotten a PDF of the full size pattern pieces from F+W Media and can email it out to anyone that requests it. If you decide to purchase the book, please feel free to email me at kidgiddy at maine dot rr dot com, so I can get that to you asap. Thanks so much for your feedback. Best Regards, Kerry
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Hi Farmquilter,
Thanks so much for your feedback. With respect to the “ads” Abby mentioned, many people do prefer to know what fabric was used and how to find it. It is the same as listing the type of yarn used in any crochet or knitting book. I just simply offered as much info as possible. It was up to the publisher to make note of all the info in each pattern section versus in the back.
And as for the pattern pieces – I have gotten a PDF of the full size pattern pieces from F+W Media and can email it out to anyone that requests it. If you decide to purchase the book, please feel free to email me at kidgiddy at maine dot rr dot com. Thanks again for your feedback. Best Regards, Kerry
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Hi Jane,
I wanted to let you know that I have gotten a PDF of the full size pattern pieces from F+W Media and can email it out to anyone that requests it. If you decide to purchase the book, please feel free to email me at kidgiddy at maine dot rr dot com so I can email them to you asap.
It’s a fun book and hopefully now you won’t let the pattern sizing deter you from buying the book.
Best Regards, Kerry
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Indianna,
Thanks so much for your comment. Letting people simply know about my book – was indeed the whole point of the blog hop.
If you purchase the book, please send me an email so I can send you a PDF of the full size pattern pieces. kidgiddy at maine dot rr dot com.
Best Regards, Kerry
Kerry - Kid Giddy says
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for your feedback. I simply sent the tools I thought they would need – NOT as a bribe – but as a means to help make their project. Others in the hop had similar feelings as Abby (she was not the only one) – but were clearly less offended by it. It certainly was not meant to be seen or felt of, as a bribe.
Had I even thought for a brief moment it would have been seen as that – I wouldn’t have had product involved. On that note, I can guarantee that many would not have agreed to participate in the hop – if that meant they had to go out and buy specific tools they didn’t have.
Abby and anyone else – was more than welcome to mail back any or all of the product they felt was a bribe, or give it away. Interestingly enough I’ve gotten nothing back.
Best Regards, Kerry