Fashion

Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt

Make it yours. This inspirational guide with DIY attitude has everything you need to know about the world’s great T-shirt: how to cut it, sew it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, and best of all, transform it. • Features more than 100 projects (plus 200 variations) for customized tees, tank tops, tube tops, T-skirts—even handbags, a patchwork blanket, iPod cozies, leg warmers, and more. • Not a DIY expert? Not to worry. More than one third of the projects are no sew, meaning anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe. But the sewing basics are here too: backstitch and whipstitch, gather and ruche, appliqué and drawstrings. • And the mission statement for Generation T: Ask not what your T-shirt can do for you; ask what you can do for your T-shirt. And then Do-It-Yourself!

The T-shirt is the centerpiece of a girl’s wardrobe. But even better, that same T-shirt is a blank canvas just waiting to express the personality and creativity of its owner. You can cut it, sew it, twist it and turn it. You can deconstruct it, you can reconstruct it. Recycle it, resuscitate it, refashion it, re-invent it. Make it punky, make it funky. In the hands of Megan Nicolay— who knows the DIY pride of accomplishment and the pleasure of making something chic and unique (and cheap)—the T-shirt is like fashion ore, as she shows how to turn any ordinary, preferably well-used T-shirt into a halter, a tank top, a peasant blouse, or, for a total transformation, into a T-skirt. Or a hat. Or leg-warmers, a drawstring purse, an iPod cozy. Even a patchwork T-blanket.

In 108 unexpected, easy-to-follow projects, this pied piper of DIY shows first how to tee off with the basic materials plus add-ons (ribbons, lace, safety pins) and techniques (stitching, hemming, gathering). Then come recipes: 13 projects for customizing a T-shirt (i.e., doing everything to it you possibly can and still be able to call it a T-shirt); 21 projects for tank tops (less shirt, more style); and 14 projects for tube tops and halters (even less shirt and more style).

There’s the Two-Tiered Peasant Skirt, the Bow-Tie Beanie, the Sweet Dreams pillow. Plus gauntlets, pot holders and tablecloths, pillows and braided rugs. Not a DIY expert? No problem. More than one third of the projects are “no sew,” so anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe.

Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics

Sewing is back! Young, crafty women are discovering the fun and creativity of working with fabric, needle, and thread to create simple, colorful skirts, suitable for showing off as wearable art. Sew What! Skirts assumes no prior sewing experience (and no home ec. class or mother with sewing skills!), and doesn’t get bogged down with overly complicated instructions or patterns.

Author Francesca DenHartog, a fabric fanatic and sewing instructor, has stripped skirts down to the basics: 15 styles, ranging from an A-line to a circle, wraparound, gored panel, tiered “hippie,” layered, and more. All it takes to get started is basic body measurements (no need to go out and buy an expensive pattern), a machine, great fabric, fun embellishments, and a few sewing fundamentals.

With a creative can-do attitude, playful photographs, and super-simple step-by-step instructions, Sew What! Skirts will connect a whole new generation with the craft of making clothing that expresses your own unique look and personality. It’s all about the fabric, as DenHartog demonstrates with the colorful array of patterns and motifs featured throughout.

Whimsical, colorful, and easy, the designs in this book are sure to unleash the creative spirit of every budding seamstress.

Fabric Art Workshop: Exploring Techniques & Materials for Fabric Artists and Quilters

2-at-a-Time Socks: Revealed Inside. . . The Secret of Knitting Two at Once on One Circular Needle Works for any Sock Pattern!

Sock knitters everywhere know the frustration of Second Sock Syndrome. It goes something like this: A cute new sock pattern and soft, foot-warming yarn lead to many happy knitting hours, resulting in . . . ONE sock. The first sock is done (and it's adorable!) but pattern distraction sets in. Who wants to knit the same project all over again? There are so many new projects waiting to be discovered.

Melissa Morgan-Oakes ends the drudgery of the second sock by showing knitters how to cast on and knit two socks at one time on one long circular needle! Her method is captured in step-by-step photographs, clearly showing knitters how to turn out two socks at the same time. Goodbye to lonely, abandoned single socks. Hello to unlimited pretty pairs, knit on one needle (often finished on the same day), and worn with pride and that gratifying sense of accomplishment.

Oakes is a dedicated knitter, knitwear designer, and knitting instructor who has known the frustration of Second Sock Syndrome. Her easy-to-learn technique enables sock stitchers to adapt any pattern to her two-at-a-time method. But before experimenting with other patterns, readers will want to try Morgan-Oakes's 15 original designs. Fun and creative, they include simple to complex choices, a variety of yarn weights, and designs for women, men, and children.

Socks are small, relatively inexpensive, and interesting to knit — a favorite portable choice of busy knitters. Keep the fun in sock-stitching with the innovative new technique that produces two socks — yes, that's one sock for each foot — at the very same time!

Getting Started Knitting Socks (Getting Started series)

Simply Sublime Bags: 30 No-Sew, Low-Sew Projects

You’ll tire of hearing “Where did you get that bag?”

Simply Sublime Bags offers the secrets to creating four-figure-price-tag-worthy bags. And most of them only take an afternoon! Whether it’s a casual carryall or a ritzy, patent leather clutch, the envy of your friends is only a few hours away.

Why break the bank for a designer bag when you can easily make your own unique fashion statement? In Simply Sublime Bags, you’ll find 30 do-it-yourself, clever and affordable handbag projects—all of which require little to no sewing. With inventive methods of construction (like duct-taped reinforced interiors and iron fusing), these hip handbags, totes, and clutches have all the looks that bag-lovers want—the shine of patent leather, Chanel-style chain straps, or even funky logos—and each can be personalized to your own taste. The materials are easy to find in hardware, home, office supply, and fabric stores—sometimes even in your own closet!

Bags include:
• Charmed, I’m Sure—brightly colored vinyl makeup bags with vintage plastic charm zipper pulls
• Keyhole Clutch—pink-and-white houndstooth fabric lined with duct tape, with keyhole cutouts for handles
• Shower Curtain Tote—you guessed it, a funky fabric tote made from a shower curtain
• Nights in Black Satin—an elegant evening clutch made from satin ribbon stapled together and adorned with a rhinestone earring clasp

Day to evening, totes to clutches, and everything in between, Simply Sublime Bags has something for every occasion. The results? Simply sublime!

The Art of Manipulating Fabric

Those who knit, crochet, or embroider have long had sources to which to turn for in-depth instructions on specific stitches and stitch combinations. Now there is such a reference for the sewer--an encyclopedic approach to gathering, shirring, ruffling, tucking, pleating, and quilting and their myriad variations. Filled with hundreds of diagrams and crisp black-and-white photos, this volume explains in detail how to achieve a tremendous range of three-dimensional fabric effects. This is not a book of particular projects; this is a book of instruction and inspiration for anyone who has ever wielded needle and thread. --Amy Handy

High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers: A Step-By-Step Guide to Sewing Stylish Seams, Buttonholes, Pockets, Collars, Hems, And More (Rodale Sewing Book)

If you want your notched collars to lie smoothly like Ellen Tracy's, your pants zippers to be as invisibly fused with the inseam pocket as Giorgio Armani's, and your topstitched facings to have the impeccable look of Chanel, this is the book to have. Home sewers need and want exactly the kind of painstaking construction tips that Claire B. Shaeffer provides. She not only tells you how to add designer details such as those mentioned above, but also how to copy any garment, alter a sleeve, change seams to darts or folds (or vice versa), and make a basic pattern. This is one of the best intermediate sewing guides on the market.

Couture Sewing Techniques

Sewers who have ever longed to create clothing with the distinctive look of haute couture will love this book. They'll learn the finer points of hand sewing, shaping, and finishing for a high-end, professional look. This book is for all sewing enthusiasts who appreciate fine workmanship.

Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe

Like knitting before it, sewing is being reclaimed by a new generation; one that is tired of poor quality and bored by homogenous design. Indie fashion designer Wendy Mullin, of Built by Wendy, teaches the creatively inclined and ultra-stylish how to make the perfect skirt, shirt, and pants. She gives readers everything they need to know to begin sewing and provides step-by-step instructions and patterns directly from her studio. She explains how to customize everything from the fit to the pockets so readers can create a thousand different looks using the same three basic patterns. These ideas will inspire readers to rethink and revamp their old clothes to make unique, custom fashions. For those who find themselves brimming with ideas, but unable to make everything themselves, Wendy also offers guidance on how to work with a tailor. Includes three Simplicity pattterns.