View source for Sew Quick, Sew Cute: 30 Simple, Speedy Projects by Fiona Goble

{{infobox1
|title=Sew Quick, Sew Cute: 30 Simple, Speedy Projects
|author=Fiona Goble
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Projects which you can complete in a short time but which still have the WOW! factor.  The book gives you a real feeling of 'I CAN do this!'
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=144
|publisher=Ivy Press
|date=February 2014
|isbn=978-1782400882
|website=http://fionagoble.wordpress.com/
|cover=1782400885
|aznuk=1782400885
|aznus=1782400885
}}

I have a patchwork quilt on the go at the moment and it will take me months to complete.  But sometimes you want to have the satisfaction of making something which might take hours or a weekend and which is more relaxing and ''fun''.  Sometimes you want a project which you can do with the kids which will encourage them to feel that they can be creative - and which produces something which is relaevant to their lives.  I was 'encouraged' to knit tea cosies as a child.  It didn't cut the mustard even then...  I think I might have found the answer.

Ignore the rather twee title.  Think instead of the pleasure of making something which will give you a quick result and ''still'' look good.  There are projects here for the home, for children and for yourself.  Nothing should take more than a weekend and some as little as an hour.  Even if you don't usually sew for fun you'll be surprised at just what you can achieve.  You might be worried about the equipment which you'll need and for most, if not all of the projects you have to have a sewing machine, but apart from that it's likely that you have - or can acquire cheaply - everything which you'll use.

If you do sew you're likely to find that your fabric stash can supply a lot of the material which you'll need.  The projects are not of the precious type which need a specific fabric or thread.  Fiona Groble begins by giving an explanation of the more unusual haberdashery items which you'll require along with the techniques which you'll use, complete with diagrams for clarity.

The first of the thirty projects is a tomato pincushion.  It's a useful one to start with as you'll be making use of it in other creations and it will probably only take an  hour or two to make.  I loved the tip of adding some rice or lentils to the base to give it more stability.  Even if you're a complete beginner the pincushion shouldn't prove difficult and it looks good.  It's one of the projects which I'd be giving to a child to start them off.  Other projects might seem more immediately relevant.  There's an apple bag - so called because the fabric has apples on it - and it's a substantial tote bag for books or even a laptop.  There is a tablet case illustrated a little later in the book and it can be made in one to four hours.  The phone cosy takes a little longer - six to eight hours - and has a fleece lining which protects the phone and has a slight grip effect to stop the phone falling out of the case accidentally.

I laughed at the doll-face pillows.  Minus the button the Skinny-eared rabbit which you can see on the cover of the book would make a lovely cuddly toy for a young child.  Perhaps my favourite project was the Christmas stockings which have a more modern twist - they have shoes on!  There's an advent calendar which uses fabric with a tape-measure print for the dates - it could be used year after year but made in an afternoon.  If you want to make presents there are bird coasters made out of felt, or a take-away cup cosy with both of these projects falling into the one to four hour range.  There's a strapped sundress which would fit a five-year-old girl which could be made in five to eight hours.

All instructions are clear and well illustrated and as you read you have a real sense that you could do this.  I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals then you might also enjoy [[Stitch It Simple: 25 Hand Sewn Projects to Make and Share by Beth Sheard]] although we do think that Fiona Goble's book is the better of the two.

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