After teaching sewing for years Stephnie noticed all her beginning sewing students labored with the same tendencies. She found these tendencies were discouraging the desire to continue sewing. What a sad affair to crush a persons creativity: not to mention denying the pure enjoyment garnered from taking sewing classes. Therefore, she felt compelled to list the tendencies: about 30. Actually this was just the beginning of the list. After identifying the Tendency, Stephnie wrote out a description of what was happening with each tendency calling it: The Problem. The evolution continued with answers and solutions, calling them: To Clarify. Wow! Today the number is more like 90 something. Example: many times her students had trouble taking the fabric (with the finished seam) out from under the foot. Stephnie would causally place her hand in front of the sewing machine needle and ask, "Where is your take-up lever?" When the student realized the take-up lever was hiding, Stephnie's next remark was: "Turn the hand wheel like a Waterfall until the take-up lever is at its highest point. Now you can retrieve your fabric." Stephnie provided photos and drawings on the page facing each tendency. This will help you, the reader, understand the text better. The book is mostly about operating and maintaining the sewing and serging machine. However: reading patterns, a harrowing encounter; sewing over pins, not good, and wash your stash, what ever that means. Plus, a virtual plethora of sewing mysteries are unveiled as the author leads you through her tried and true techniques of sewing, cutting and general handling of fabrics, sewing machines, hand sewing (yes you need to do hand sewing), posture is embraced (it is important), etcetera. Stephnie is trained in tailoring, drapery making, costume creating, stuffed toy making, quilting, and pattern alteration through Nancy Zieman's Fitting Finesse. So much fabric: so little time. Study the book, take it with you to a sewing class and have fun!

Tori Sinclair has found a sense of home with the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle. During their get-togethers, she can relax with her sewing and listen in on Sweet Briar’s latest gossip. But when Sweet Briar is chosen for the setting of a new movie, everyone is hoping to be cast as an extra - and lucky Tori lands the gig. But the town learns that fame has its price when the film's leading actress, Anita Belise, is found murdered. When suspicion falls on a member of the sewing circle, Tori must work to uncover the truth - not only to catch the killer but to keep the tight-knit group from coming apart at the seams.

This is your complete guide to dressmaking, from designing, creating, and customizing your clothes. Master every dressmaking technique in the book! Fully illustrated and easy to use, this dressmaking book covers all the essential skills and techniques you need to make timeless wardrobe staples. It's a must-have for beginners and expert stitchers alike. Fed up with fast fashion and keen to make your own clothes? This is the ultimate dressmaking guide for absolute beginners. Comprehensive, step-by-step guides and dressmaking patterns cover everything from choosing the perfect fabric for any project to trying your hand at a range of machine-sewing techniques. Inside the pages of this sewing book you’ll discover: • Step-by-step instructions and techniques, accompanied by clear, full-color photography • Thorough sections on tools and equipment, to help the reader choose the right items for each project • 13 downloadable patterns for skirts, dresses, trousers, tops, and jackets that can be used to create 31 different garments • Over 80 techniques, including how to cut out a pattern, machine stitch, and hand stitch Accompanied by close-up photographs, clear instructions, and a glossary of dressmaking terminology to demystify even the trickiest technique. This book will help you advance from a sewing learner to a seasoned stitcher in no time. Zoomed-in photographs of hand and machine tools show you the best dressmaking equipment for the job and teach you exactly how to use it. All the techniques and projects are graded by difficulty level, from the simple and straightforward to the more complex and challenging ones. Put your new-found knowledge to the test with 13 downloadable patterns that can be easily adapted to create more than 30 stylish garments. Learn how to make classic dresses, skirts, tops, trousers, and jackets, alongside creative ideas for giving your old clothes new life! The Essential Guide to Dressmaking Sew Your Own Wardrobe guides you through every hand stitch, machine stitch, and sewing technique you'll ever need. We've included the best way to stitch, alter, put in linings, seam and hem, so you can make your favorite bespoke outfits to suit your unique style.

Double Pointed Knitting Needle Becomes Murder Weapon in the Cozy Mystery, A DOUBLE POINTED MURDER by Ann Yost --Red Jacket, Michigan, On the Keweenaw Peninsula-- When Cricket Koski, a barmaid from the Black Fly, is stabbed to death with a double-pointed knitting needle on New Year’s Eve and deposited in the bed of Lars Teljo, it's up to Hatti Lehtinen to exonerate her ex-brother-in-law. It’s not that Hatti, who runs a fishing-slash-knitting supply shop, is a trained detective. It’s just that Sheriff Clump considers his collar a slam dunk because an affair between Lars and Cricket three years earlier has made him vulnerable to blackmail. But there's a problem... Everyone in the tiny, Finnish-American town on the Keweenaw Peninsula has to wear more than one hat and, as acting president of the chamber of commerce, Hatti has to host a quintet of television personalities who arrive unexpectedly to film an Antiques Roadshow knockoff called What’s in Your Attic? What’s in the local attics are pieces of Nazi memorabilia from Finland’s World War II partnership with Hitler and when a letter disclosing the existence of a piece of Nazi artwork is discovered, all attention turns to trying to find the masterpiece. Hatti begins to suspect there’s a connection between the arrival of the newcomers and the death of Cricket Koski and after a second shocking murder, she is sure of it. The only question is, which one of them did it? And, since double-pointed needles are packaged in sets of four, does that mean there are two murders still to come? Publisher's Note: While you don’t need to be a knitter to enjoy this series, you just might pick up a fun and rewarding hobby in addition to enjoying a thoroughly delightful, clean and wholesome, mystery with a good dose of humor. Fans of Maggie Sefton, Ann Canadeo, Sally Goldenbaum and Mary Kruger will enjoy this fun mystery series set in the Finnish community of upper peninsula Michigan. The BAIT & STITCH SERIES: A Pattern for Murder A Double-Pointed Murder A Fair Isle Murder

Returning to the quaint coastal town of Harbor Haven, Maine--a place she once called home--Angie Curtis finds her memories aren't all quite pleasant ones. . . After leaving a decade ago, Angie has been called back to Harbor Haven by her grandmother, Charlotte, who raised her following her mother's disappearance when she was a child. Her mother has been found, and now the question of her whereabouts has sadly become the mystery of her murder. The bright spot in Angie's homecoming is reuniting with Charlotte, who has started her own needlepointing business with a group called Mainely Needlepointers. But when a shady business associate of the stitchers dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, Charlotte and Angie become suspects. As Angie starts to weave together clues, she discovers that this new murder may have ties to her own mother's cold case. . .

". . . a murder mystery that is well written, well paved, and has characters just quirky enough to be believable. ~J. Lee, eBook Discovery When the rock concert Christy and Quinn are enjoying ends in a murder, the sleuthing couple are pulled into the case. Hot on the trail of a primary suspect, they discover the band's manager has also been found dead. Are the two murders connected, or are there two killers? Unfortunately, the only eye-witness--Stormy the Cat--is holding his tongue. Publisher Note: The 9 Lives Cozy Mysteries, while containing some mild profanity, will be enjoyed by mature readers of cozy mysteries. Cat lovers and those fond of all things feline, as well as readers of Amanda Lee, Denise Grover Swank, Rita Mae Brown's Sneaky Pie Brown Mysteries and Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey Mysteries, will not want to miss this series. The 9 Lives Cozy Mysteries The Cat Came Back The Cat’s Paw Cat Got Your Tongue Let Sleeping Cats Lie Cat Among the Fishes Cat in the Limelight Fleece the Cat Listen to the Cat When the Cat's Away About The Author: Louise Clark has been the adopted mom of a number of cats with big personalities. The feline who inspired Stormy, the cat in the 9 Lives books, dominated her household for twenty loving years. During that time, he created a family pecking order that left Louise on top and her youngest child on the bottom (just below the guinea pig), regularly tried to eat all his sister’s food (he was a very large cat), and learned the joys of travel through a cross-continent road trip. The 9 Lives Cozy Mystery Series—as well as the single title mystery, A Recipe For Trouble, are all set in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Librarian Tori Sinclair would do anything for her new circle of friends-including throw a birthday bash for a fellow sewer's daughter. While the party is a hit, self-important pageant mom Ashley Lawson leaves the ladies wanting to permanently shut her high maintenance mouth. But when Ashley turns up dead, Tori and the girls need to figure out who really murdered the monster mom, before the finger-pointing causes their friendship to unravel. Read Elizabeth Lynn Casey's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.