Kirstie Allsopp Craft

by Kirstie Allsopp

To my utter joy, crafts of every kins have made their way back into our lives - big style. They've shaken off their old-fashioned image and a whole new generation of people have embraced them. Join me on my voyage of discovery, meeting passionate crafters, learning the secrets of their amazing artistry and then for my sins, trying to compete with them in craft competitions across the country.
Kirstie Allsopp

Kirstie Allsopp's love affair with British crafts took off when she renovated her house in devon. Now she takes to the road on a tour of the country to discover and celebrate the things that make Great Britain a nation of truly great crafters.

Kirstie Allsopp Craft is an inspiring collection of projects that introduces you to traditional crafting skills in a fresh, modern way. From making your own family scrap book and applique cushions to jam- making and hand bunting, Kirstie Allsopp Craft contains 50practical projects to inspire you to have a go.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirstie Allsopp is mostly known for hosting a property show on Channel 4 with Mr Phil Spencer, but she also had a few crafting-related programmes where she shared a lot of different crafts and creative exploits, whilst simultaneously showing the wonders of Crafting Britain.

This book is the first in a series of crafting books that Kirstie has released in conjunction with her TV series. This one contains 50 handmade projects to try out and is divided in to crafting areas: from Needlecrafts to Flower crafts.

The thing I like most about this is that it contains crafts that can be made for free or for quite an amount of money. It has simple crafts and quite intricate crafts, so any crafter can enjoy it, be you a beginner or a wonderful boss.

It includes colour photographs to accompany the step-by-step instructions, but I think the books that came out after this one are much better and contain better crafts to try out.


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[Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder if The Honourable Kirstie Allsopp knows that her books are, as of August 2019, 89p in ALDI? I'm going to try not to go off on too much of a rant about her privilege. I don't need to. Any of you reading this in the UK will probably have heard about #WashingMachineGate. Perhaps also the time that she suggested that chores are therapeutic for working mums, when she doesn't have to do them herself. Oh, and that time that she said girls should aspire to a flat, a nice boyfriend and a baby, not further education. Ring any bells?

My mum and I watched the first few episodes of Kirstie's Homemade Home but didn't persevere because the crafts felt out of reach. They were beautiful but required specialist equipment and knowledge that we just didn't have.

To quote The Guardian: "So are all the things for which the honourable Allsopp is giving out instructions in her Homemade Christmas series actually achievable? And if not, what is the point? Viewers who watched Kirstie homemake her house the first time round, of course, may already be asking exactly that. While Allsopp's house is now very lovely (so lovely in fact, she rents it out as a holiday house from £2,000 a week, which seems slightly at odds with all the lines about making a home with love) she did appear to rope in other people to do large portions of the hard work for her. For those who can't offer primetime television exposure or have any spare artisans lying about at the end of their road, or have to go to work even, the possibility of having a homemade Christmas a la Kirstie looks rather less promising."

Craft has many of the same downfalls of the TV series. Some of the crafts, the average person could manage to make. Many of them require equipment that, frankly, I can't afford to buy on the off chance I might enjoy a particular craft. There are some lovely things to make here. Perhaps four or five I might actually try. Which is fine, for 89p. It wouldn't be good enough for the £18.99 RRP, so if you can't find a cheap copy, I strongly recommend you take your money elsewhere and spend it on a more accessible craft book.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great crafts for all skill levels. Brilliant to read and give ideas.

[Freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually ended up reading her books before watching the shows and although at some points her excitement over everything became a tad grating, I really liked both her books as they give ideas for future projects and details of addresses and websites. I did not read this one in kindle edition, but there appears to be no other addition on goodreads.

[Irishbookmammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great arts and crafts book :) lots of ides for the coming months :)

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but there wasn't anything in it I actually wanted to make.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's not a bad book but my only problem is that it's not really something that everyday people would attempt