The talented designer often featured in the pages of Marie Claire and an author of Make Your Own Handbags, Madame Celine Dupuy now offers sewers of all skill levels a view into her gracious sense of style and chic French touch to sewing clothing and home accessories in her book Simple Sewing with a French Twist: An Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes and Home Accessories with Style, published by Potter Craft.

Sewers can never have enough full-color illustrated sewing guides with great innovative ideas, clearly presented sewing guidance and up-to-date contemporary fashionable projects to create. There are so many to choose - from the easy-to-sew Monet Flower Broach and Tasseled Shoe Tote to the more complicated Colette Screen and Moulin Rouge Beaded Curtains. In between are dozens of projects from a simple wool beret to make from polar fleece, felt or boiled wool, a wraparound robe to trim as you like, a charming garden-artist's apron, a well-designed and very practical wardrobe concierge (garment cover/bag), several duvet covers, totes and drawstring bags with flair, an oh-so-easy chemise, even projects to liven an old hammock, an umbrella cover to replace a weathered and sun-faded one and pretty prints to sew for your garden chairs.

The book begins with a review of basic sewing lessons for techniques requiring sewing by hand and by machine followed by chapters on The Nesting Instinct and Warm and Cozy - projects for around the home; Kitchen Essentials and Beautiful Bath; Romance and For the Little Lady of the House [gendered language notwithstanding]; Out on the Patio is lovely to look at and the most fun of all to sew.

Patterns to enlarge are included as well as a helpful glossary of terms. Pages containing full-color finished project photographs helpfully indicate on the bottom of the page where the specific step-by-step instructions can be found for that project as the photographs are first grouped together by category at the beginning of the chapters and instructions then follow the photographed projects as grouped. The instruction pages for each project are then helpfully cross-referenced back to the photographed project.

The book contains mostly easy items to sew for the home and all with a refreshing perspective, a few clothing and fashion accessories to make - many that would make delightful gifts, and innovative ideas overall for personalizing home furnishing and patio items. Alas, a useful lay-flat spiral binding would have given the charming 255 page book an easy place to rest on a sewer's workspace. The book is nonetheless a delightful addition to any sewing-resource library.

Sew happy.

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