I opened the front door and saw two boxes, one addressed to me from Amazon. Hubby snagged the other box and happily headed to the mailbox to see what else might be waiting for us. Indeed there was another little package addressed to me from Amazon! Here's what arrived:
[amazon_image id="0978866568" link="true" target="_blank" size="medium" ]Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills[/amazon_image]
and
[amazon_image id="1440215456" link="true" target="_blank" size="medium" ]The Colette Sewing Handbook: Inspired Styles and Classic Techniques for the New Seamstress[/amazon_image]
I've read wonderful things about Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills, and I can't wait to dive in! As I mentioned in my last post, we have a small backyard garden and compost bin, but I want to do even more around the house to live a more sustainable lifestyle. This book has topics in it from canning to making your own detergent. With some of the lifestyle changes I'm planning to make in 2012 I really need to beef up my sustainability skills so I can save money and time. I think this book is going to be an invaluable resource to help me do just that!
The Colette Sewing Handbook is also an exciting addition to my resource library. I've been following Sarai Mitnick of Coletterie.com aka Colette Patterns for a couple of years, watching her design and seamstress skills from a distance. I've always admired her style and how she makes sewing seem simple and doable for me. But, this is another area that I've been a big chicken about! I've talked myself out of investing in fabrics outside of quilting cotton out of fear of messing up the fabric, not measuring correctly or following a pattern well enough. Following Sarai and how she's grown her business by inspiring other people like me, along with hearing Isabelle of Fluffy Fibers customize her own wardrobe, has inspired me to have more faith in my abilities. I've wanted to make tailored garments for myself for decades (and that's no exaggeration)! But, I have yet to take steps to really make that fantasy a reality. That's about to change, and I'm confident this book will help me achieve another stitchy goal.
What stitchy goals do you have? Are you content with one craft, or do you have aspirations to tackle crochet, knitting, embroidery, spinning, weaving and everything else crafty related?
Keep those hands stitchin'!
