Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’d love to sew, but I don’t have time”?
Me too. As a business owner and mum to a toddler, I don’t have big chunks of free time to sew. My week is divided between being in the office and being at home playing with my energetic little boy, and, once he’s in bed, quite frankly I’m wiped out! After he was born, I went through a spell of not sewing at all. But I soon missed my hobby and passion, so I decided to question the story I was telling myself about not having time to sew and reframe my thinking to make it achievable.
This was the inspiration behind my new book. I’m excited to be able to share the cover with you today!
Make It Simple will be out in February 2020, published by Quadrille (Hardie Grant). You can order it now from Amazon or pre-order a signed copy from our online shop. As you may know, pre-orders are so important for a book as they show potential stockists that the demand is there – and, in turn, help keep the book in stock so it’s available to more people. If you are able to pre-order my book, I’d be extremely grateful :)
Pitch over, let’s talk about what the book is all about and what you’re going to get out of it…
My goal in writing Make It Simple was to help you fit more creativity into your life, no matter what you’ve got going on.
The book is jam-packed full of my trusted time-saving tactics and secret shortcuts to make it easier for you to get your sewing fix.
Moreover, it features 24 gorgeous garment projects that you can whip up in a few hours, from a classic T shirt to a pretty playsuit, a cosy cardigan to an office-ready shift dress, comfy PJs to a stylish pinafore. They’re all easy to make, simple to fit, with no fiddly bits, and extremely wearable. I am obsessed with these patterns and hope you’ll love them too! I can't wait to share some sneaks of the patterns with you a bit nearer the launch.
The steps are divided up into manageable chunks, with approximate timings for each part as well as the whole project, to help you see what you can achieve in that 15 minutes while dinner is in the oven or your child is distracted by that cardboard box (trademark: me). There’s also a "shortcut steps" section for each main project if you want to try "task batching", which I outline in the book, with tick boxes to give you a sense of achievement as you sew.
The projects and instructions are simple enough for beginners, making this a great place to start your sewing journey. For more experienced stitchers, you get the instant gratification of making a garment in an afternoon – or a few short sittings – as well as tips aplenty to help you simplify and speed up your sewing.
Full size patterns are included in the back, and they’ll also be downloadable if you don’t like tracing. They come in 10 sizes from UK 6-24 / US 2-20 / EUR 34-52.
We are all so busy these days, yet it is precisely when your life is speeding up that what you really need is to slow down and do something slow and mindful just for the sake of it, like making things with your hands. If you need a kick up the bum to get started, want to reignite your sew-jo, or just fancy some simple projects as palate cleansers between your more complicated makes, I really hope you enjoy this book.
You can order Make It Simple now from Amazon or from our online shop
