Simply Sewing

Kids Can Do It

by Judy Ann Sadler, Jane Kurisu (Illustrator)

This book in the Kids Can Do It series features breezy wraps and terrific tote bags for the beach, neat trims for plain clothes or a skirt made from worn-out jeans --- Simply Sewing has these and many other projects all stitched up! Includes sewing-machine basics, hand-sewing stitches and fabric facts. Step-by-step instructions with full-color illustrations and photos make it "sew" simple!

Genres: Sewing, Crafts

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Belinda Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely not for beginners! I would not recommend gifting this book to any tween who is curious about learning to sew. However it may be suitable for a teenager who has some knowledge of how to sew.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stylish, modern girls on the front will invite tweens to try their own projects. The colors used and postures of the models give this a contemporary feel.
I was a bit disappointed in the illustrations. There were a number of techniques and procedures shown but if I did not already know how to do them, I don’t think I could follow these directions. Smart idea to include photographs of the finished projects, proving indeed that they could be done. Also smart to include lots of extension activities as “And sew on…” articles.
Although I would support the use of the metric system, putting the metric measurements for sizes first with inches and feet in parentheses may be confusing for girls in the U.S. Was that done by author choice or because it was printed in Canada?
seems to be directed at girls; any boys who might be interested probably would not feel comfortable picking up this book). This would be very useful to someone who wanted to try out some sewing projects, If they have a good imagination or creative side, they’ll be off and sewing up a storm! Hopefully this book will encourage sewing as a creative pastime.

[Ahemx · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Kids Can Do It" but with adult assistance is what they forgot to add, better yet an adult with a little bit of sewing experience. The book is actually great for group activities, again, being lead by an adult. In an attempt to make instructions short they sacrificed details of the sewing process which left me a little frustrated sorting things out. If it left me frustrated, imagine a kid on their own. The activities are great and the Tiny T-shirt skirt was fun to make and it came out very well. Funny that there was no discussion in regards to patterns, I found it very odd that the topic did not come up at all. Not even an introduction to how patterns work.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This talked about all of the great projects, but not a single pattern...hmmmyou make pants from pants you already have and simple squares for a wrap-around skirt with not-so-very-clear-directions. I wouldn't suggest it for my teen trying to learn to sew. The "tips" were also very vague and only semi-helpful.

[Erika Mulvenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty basic how-to sewing book. I think a kid would need a bit more instruction and information than this book provides. A kid would definitely need adult help with most of the projects, at least to figure out the details.

[Robbie Bashore]

Lily and I are making some projects from this book!