There’s a fairly good chance that if you sew, you’ve heard of Susan Beal. She is the author of many craft books, and her latest publication is just as lovely as the author herself. Susan is one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. I met her when she emailed about including a project in a future book of hers, which will be out in 2014. We met for coffee, talked a lot and I was so honored that she asked me not only to contribute to her next book, but to review her latest publication, Sewing For All Seasons.
The book is bright, colorful and full of fun and useful projects. I love the pages at the beginning of each seasonal change. They are great for getting you in the mood to make something!
I had my eye on two projects in particular. The first one is a coffee cup cozy. I’ve been telling myself that I was going to make one for a long time, because I don’t like the little cardboard sleeves at a coffee shop. I knew it would be a quick and easy project, but I could never remember to save my coffee sleeve to make a pattern from it.
Susan was very kind and gave me the exact fabrics that I would need to make the cozy. If only she’d given me all of the Pendleton wool I would need to make this amazing blanket as well!
I decided to save the coffee cup cozy kit and use a few of my favorite fabrics instead. I have lots of little scraps that I save for small projects, and this was a perfect use for them.
I used a slightly smaller scrap with two bicycles on it for the back of my cozy. Now it’s reversible!
I’ve used this many times throughout the past few weeks. I like getting a coffee to go and pulling out my own cup cozy. No more ugly brown cardboard for me!
So many of the projects in this book would make great gifts. If you’re like me, you’ll probably be trying to find the perfect handmade gift for someone that doesn’t take a lot of time. What about a pair of slippers? A great beach bag, or stackable fabric buckets? All of these projects (and many, many more) are included in Susan’s book.
Would you like to win a copy? All that you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Friday, December 6th at midnight PST. Tell me what you’re currently making (or what you’d like to make) to enter. Be sure to include your correct email address when you comment, so that I can let you know when you win, and get your address quickly so you can have the book in time for holiday making. This giveaway is for US residents only. Good luck!
Update: The winner of this giveaway has been chosen using a random number generator and contacted. Congratulations, Susan!
