The Refashion Handbook: Refit, Redesign, Remake for Every Body

Product Description Take secondhand finds from frumpy to fabulous with a little help from Beth Huntington, a.k.a. the Renegade Seamstress. The Refashion Handbook contains 19 stylish projects, each showing you how to transform easy-to-find items into a better fit, a new design, or a radical makeover. Learn the basics of refashioning: how to measure, reshape, fit, and finish a garment, so it fits you perfectly. Plus size? Petite? No problem! Beth's designs flatter a wide variety of sizes and body types. Her easy techniques are fun for even beginning sewists. You'll love creating your own secondhand chic! Review Beth Huntington's sunny disposition and normal silhouette (she models all her creations) add to the mix to make this an encouraging and practical handbook for anyone, whether plus size or petite, to create unique and thrifty garments in true Make Do and Mend style. ( Mumtopia, 11/25/14) The Renegade Seamstress shows how to refashion and up cycle your wardrobe piece by piece. ( BurdaStyle, Winter 2015) The author’s blog is devoted to refashioning her lumpy thrift-store finds into more attractive (although by no means trendy) outfits, so it makes sense that her first book showcases 19 of the concepts she’s used in her sewing for herself. A frumpy three-quarter-sleeve T-shirt turns into a cute fitted top, while the Emerald Petals Dress takes a frequently found style (the sleeveless, bulky dress) and reworks it into a stylish cap-sleeve dress. The book uses written instructions and color photographs to show the techniques Huntington uses, which should be helpful for readers who clearly can’t count on finding the exact same clothes that she did. A basic techniques chapter is adequate, covering a few trickier skills such as hemming a pleated skirt,…This book is a great inspiration for those who like to make one-of-a-kind garments for women. ( Publishers Weekly, September 16, 2014) Here's a great follow-up to "Rescuing the Unloved and the Unworn," our Spring 2014 Notions cover story! Step-by-Step photo tutorials will walk you through the phases of the redesign process that will transform garage-sale, thrift-store, or back-of-closet finds into hip modern pieces that look brand new. ( American Sewing Guild Notions Magazine, Fall 2014) About the Author Refashionista Beth Huntington inspires sewists to transform secondhand finds into fashionable clothing that can be worn anywhere. When she's not refashioning, she spends her days in a classroom full of energetic kindergarteners. Beth lives in Oregon. Visit her at her blog, The Renegade Seamstress.