Angharad Jefferson – Contemporary Embroidery & Textile Art Inspiration

Carrie Maclennan is co-owner of Made in the Shade, one of Glasgow's grooviest craft shops. The Busy Girl's Guide to Sewing is her new book, and although I am not a Busy Girl, I was keen to review the book. The book is filled with stitch-based craft projects, and is conveniently categorised into time bands - some projects take 30 minutes, some take four hours. It's a clever way of grouping things and means you won't bite off more than you have time to chew. The projects are clearly laid out and peppered with little bits of wisdom from Carrie. There's a nice retro/vintage style to many of the pieces which echoes throughout the book and is a nice reflection of Carrie's own personal style. Carrie has enlisted the help of a range of talented crafters to help create projects, including Claire from Miso Funky and Angharad Jefferson. It adds a nice personal touch to the projects and the mini interviews with the creators help you feel part of a groovy gang of crafty talent. All in all this is a great book for people who want to get into stitching as it covers embroidery, clothes and homewares. It's charming, friendly and well made. Definitely worth a look! The Busy Girl's Guide to Sewing by Carrie Maclennan is published by David & Charles Publishing - if you're in the UK why not buy it via our Amazon store? –— Competition Time! Win a copy of The Busy Girl's Guide to Sewing! Now that I've whetted your appetite, it's your chance to win a copy of this great book! All you have to do is leave a comment below telling us your best tip for coping with a busy life! My top tip is write things down. If your head is spinning with ideas of things to do and it's getting on top of you, put pen to paper and get the ideas out of your head. It'll give you the mental space to tackle them! The closing date for entries is Saturday 7th January, when a winner will be chosen by the random number generator and we will post the result. Good luck!