Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Author Amy Karol, whose Angry Chicken is one of the best-loved craft blogs on the Web, brings stitchers everywhere a down-to-earth introduction to sewing, including thirty projects so adorable and cool they’ll inspire anyone to pick up a needle and thread.

Written with Amy’s characteristic warmth and flair, you’ll find information on basic equipment and supplies, advice on choosing and using fabrics, and a fantastic section on techniques. In addition, Amy walks readers through easy, inspiring patterns designed for the fashion-savvy crafter. Playful, modern projects, which include pillows, aprons, and purses, help novices master sewing skills while providing immediate sewing gratification—and confidence. Best of all, Amy explains what’s easy, what’s hard, and when not to sweat the small stuff.

With its best-friend tone, solid reference section, and supercute projects, this is the introduction to sewing that you won’t want to be without.

Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

Great Projects, Terrible Directions August 29, 2007
158 out of 163 found this review helpful

This book has some great and really accessible projects in it for a beginner and intermediate sewer. I've done three of the projects so far- the bib, scalloped blanket and charming handbag. All great things. However, I really struggled following the directions, and the sewing process was much more frustrating than it had to be. Vital measurements and directions were inexplicable left out at steps in each project. For instance, indications about whether to sew right sides together were often left out. The handbag directions never provided the measurements for the length of the handbag handles. The scalloped blanket directions did not provide any guidance on how to apply the template to the fabric (my scallops ended up not matching in the corners the first (and second) time I tried). It was really very, very frustrating to have to stop a project mid-way through to figure these things out. Another peeve was that, unlike other similar books, Bend the Rules provides the size of fabric you need to do the project (i.e. 13" x 13"), but not the size of fabric you'd need to buy (i.e. half a yard). This can be figured out of course, but I'm terrible at it. This just added another layer of annoyance to the project.

I think a true beginner would have a lot of difficuly completing these projects successfully. I'd recommend starting with Amy Butler's In Stitches: More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects. The directions there are very detailed and very good. Once you've got a few projects under your belt, you'll be able to figure out what's missing in Bend the Rules. I think Bend the Rules is a worthwhile book because the projects are great, but I do wish it had been better edited.

4 out of 5 stars

good book for beginners but title doesn't tell you that June 22, 2007
66 out of 71 found this review helpful

This isn't a bad book, and I think its a great book for beginner sewers. However, I think the title isn't clear about it being a beginner book and nor do the reviews really stress that. As an experienced seamstress, I'm disappointed because I thought it might have more "unusual" bend the rules like short cuts or quick tips for more substantial projects. I do think there's some cute projects in here, and I do think they're great ideas for those quick gifts/projects you might need and might not come to mind.

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Ideas but Needs Better Editing. July 2, 2007
51 out of 52 found this review helpful

I absolutely love this woman's blog. Her sewing ideas are wonderful and leave so much room for personal creative expression.

Overall, this book is good for beginners, BUT I had a hard time with some of the patterns, as they were missing some vital measurements. Thus, I had to guess and I was often wrong. Perhaps I am way more novice than I thought, but I have been a quilter for over 10 years ... so I think it might have been the book, not necessarily me. I also thought that some of the step-by-step instructions needed to be written out more clearly. I had both my best friend and my husband re-read some of the pattern instructions with me, because I thought maybe I was missing something, but it turns out that they couldn't understand it either.

Yet, I am still in love with this book. The ideas alone were worth the cost of the book ... and the photos are amazing! Amy is also a fun writer - often talking to the reader as though they are old friends.

Thanks, Jodi

2 out of 5 stars

Ambiguous July 7, 2007
30 out of 34 found this review helpful

OK, I am a true beginner and not a good one at that. But this book is not for beginners. This book is for people who are not concerned with little things like measuring. I totally get how most thought this is a beginner's book because the book devotes a lot of time to supplies. And even I had the cut-to-the-chase moment with it. However, if you are new enough like me and would like usable patterns and dimensions, this may not be for you. The patterns in the back of the book need to be enlarged and my Canon simply was not up to task. I hated having to tape together two sheets of paper. I guess you could go to a printer as she suggests in the book, but I am not willing to do that. I found the hand drawn patterns shoddy and made for a consistently lopsided bib. The written instructions are very poor and assume you know some steps she has let out. Like hand stitching the opening left to turn a blanket right side out. Part of the instructions for a scalloped baby blanket read: "Trim and notch around the scallops, leaving about 1/8" edge and snip at scallop inside points really close to the stitching. Turn inside out and iron all the scallops out. Use your finger to help ease these out. Press." Huh? Am I reading that I should trim the right side of the blanket? I doubt that is right, but she then is telling me to turn the blanket inside out. My point is, perhaps a true newbie would assume to notch the right side of the blanket. All that said, the book is lovely and I do wish I was a better sewer and did not need precision and hand holding. I would make almost all the projects in her book, but not yet. The frustration may turn me off from sewing ever again. If you are the type of sewer that can wing it, you will love this book. I just wanted to dispute that this is a true beginner's book. Not in my case, which is a pity because the learn to sew books have the worst 1982 projects in them. She is brilliant and I think poor editing and proof reading is to blame for what is lacking in content.

3 out of 5 stars

disappointed... August 6, 2007
28 out of 30 found this review helpful

The pictures are beautiful, but the substance is lacking in some important (and frustrating) ways. I'm not a complete beginner, have used my machine quite a bit before, to hem and take in clothes, and successfully make a square-bottomed purse from a tutorial online, but I wanted to refresh my basics- and her "bend the rules" approach seemed attractive. However, she really doesn't bend any rules, except one- she's completely against fusible interfacing, and recommends using instead a layer of cotton flannel. So I made the "charming purse" project in the book (couldn't have been less aptly named), substituted cotton flannel for the interfacing, and as one would logically expect, I ended up with a very floppy, amorphous looking purse- very disappointing. Cotton flannel is like the softest fabric in the world, I'm not sure what she's thinking. And the handles have a very unfinished, unprofessional, and just not aesthetically pleasing look. In other words, I was just really not impressed with the pattern. And the instructions- even though I've made a purse before- were confusing (especially if one considers that this book is geared toward people even less experienced than me)- it says "sew the two notches together on all pieces"- but it doesn't tell you how to do this- handstitch?- just baste the two corners together?- machine sew?- with what seam allowance?? And then it tells you to "Iron flat"- which throws the reader off again-- how do you iron something flat that you just sewed a curve into?--isn't that SUPPOSED to be a curve?? As you can see, I was frustrated, and the results were not worth the effort. If I had to do this all over again, I would go for Lotta Jansdotter's sewing instruction book (can't remember the name), or just follow the tutorials on [...].

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