I hadn’t heard much buzz about this book until it officially launched on March 31st. I received my copy of Martha’s latest in the series of two craft books (she has more than 70 books in total, 2 crafts focused) and positively tore through this easy read to share a detailed review with you!

Martha Stewart's Second Craft Book - The Encyclopedia of Sewing And Fabric Crafts

The Encyclopedia Of Sewing And Fabric Crafts is a wonderful addition to any crafting library. It is useful for the novice or the experienced crafts person and is designed to be read on three different levels. 1. As a reference for techniques, 2. As a book of projects with templates and instructions, and 3. As a comprehensive guide to crafting tools, glues, thread/ribbon/bias tape, and just about anything else one would use to make crafts with fabric.

What is great about this book:
The pictures - (Ok. You are probably saying “Duh” to this one – Martha’s pictures are always amazing.) The quality of the pictures in this book are definitely worth noting! I think fabulous, artfully shot pictures make a book or magazine so much more enjoyable to read. This is a quality book that the Martha Stewart team clearly put several years and lots of thought into making.

Detailed Techniques and Instructions – The embroidery section in particular is quite an amazing reference on the different knots, ties, techniques on all different kinds of embroidery, machine and hand stitching.

It comes with a CD of templates and patterns - The book is really a fantastic piece on its own, but the included CD with PDF file templates and patterns of more than 150 projects adds tons of value.

Easy Read or Well Organized Reference – The Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts has beautiful pictures and diagrams that make it an easy flip through book for new ideas but also has tons of detailed information on applique, embroidery, and other sewing and stitching techniques perfect to use as a reference or for sewing newbies.
Many of the ideas in this book are very easy projects perfect for hostess or baby gifts such as the Rolled Hem Handkerchiefs (p. 246) and the Double Sided Receiving Blanket (p. 163.)

What Left Something to Be Desired:

With all of the thought and care put into sections like the embroidery technique chapter (p.44), the chapter on Clothing projects (p. 172) seemed like it was pulled from the guides my mom had kicking around from the 1970′s. It is almost entirely filled with unflattering styles that to their credit make easy sewing projects for the new learner, but there are plenty of other styles that would be more compelling yet still easy to create. These projects are probably too easy for most and teach little more than a straight machine stitch which can and should be learned making pillows (this book also has a lovely section on pillows!)

My Favorite Projects/Technique Tutorials in Martha Stewart’s Sewing And Fabric Crafts:
Many of the projects in this book are things you have seen if you read the magazines…the felt shoes from this month’s Living magazine, the baby kimono from forever ago. But there are some new stand out projects that I found really inspiring.

“How To Applique And Echo Quilt” (p. 70)

“Oil Cloth Lunch Bag” (p. 124)

The entire project section on “Shades” (p. 298)

“Tips and Extra Techniques” reference section filled with simple ‘how to’s’ (p. 398) – Includes beautifully illustrated instructions on the basics like how to sew a button hole, how to attach a hook and eye, fixing hems, and more.

Learn More About This Book Here >