The Art of Fabric Collage: An Easy Introduction to Creative Sewing

This book is Sew, Sew, Inspiring. When you see the pics in this book the ideas will begin to flow and you will hurry through your daily tasks so that you can head to your sewing room. One of the best books out there for both advanced free motion and for the beginner.

This is a really lovely book! Don't let the one negative review scare you off. I originally checked it out from the library for my sister. About 20 pages in, I gave it to her and went right to amazon to order it, it's that well done.Admittedly, everyone has different tastes and this is especially true in clothing choices. I believe Ms. Eichorn chose vests simply as a blank canvas for her art. There are panels, coats, etc., included as well.Some of the garments are really lovely, like the raw silk coat with a japanese influence, and then there are the vests with "themes", like gardens or birds, etc. I personally would never wear anything with a kitten on it, but I have a friend who would commit mayhem for that particular vest. To each their own, I say.Now for the details! It's a nice, large size book (170 pages), with tons of photos and some well done drawings to illustrate some of the techniques. The photos are decently sized, and there are a lot of close up shots showing details of the collages and techniques. There are nine chapters which are well organized and flow nicely from one to next.There are chapters on finding inspirations for the collages, sewing techniques and fabric choices. My favorite chapter shows how to adapt the traditional vest pattern to suit your body, and change it into something that looks more like a folklore/nomadic type style. Actually kind of cool!In addition, the book is full of handy little sewing tips. The trick of using your bobbin winder on your sewing machine to make twisted cording (I know! I can't believe THAT never occured to me either!), that alone is worth the price of the book. I use a lot of twisted cording for necklaces, even for wrapping gifts, and the sheer tedium of twisting cord drove me crazy.This book is really worth your time and money. Even if one or two of the styles aren't to your taste, there are plenty of really lovely things to drool over. Anyways, who copies things exactly as you see them in a book? The whole point of Ms. Eichorn's book seems to be to ground you in technique, and inspire you to choose your own style, vest or not. I love it!

Awesome book! It has everything I was looking for regarding how to get started doing fabric collages. It has some excellent examples of very trendyand artistic clothing that one can make even though the book is over 10yrs. old. The pattern designs included in the book are very helpful when trying to adjust them to fit your body. I have been building my library with books about fabric embellishing, fabric collage and wearable art and can say that this is the best book I have come across so far. I will be looking for something else by the same author!

I like what I read about this book so much that I was inspired to buy it. Fortunately I chose a used copy, because as soon as I opened the package I realized that I had previously purchased the same book! It's a great book, and I passed it along to someone who will enjoy it.

This book is very interesting and she has great ideas on how to do things. Only problem is some of the items in her list of places to find items is no longer valid and some have gone out of business. Worst is that the vest company she used is not available.

Rosemary's designs are stunning in their originality. When I first saw this book, all I could do was study all of the pictures over and over. These garments were just my style, and I almost put the book down, because surely they would be too difficult for a beginning sewer. Then as I started scanning her project guidelines, I was so pleased to see that while her finished garments look quite complex, her techniques are really deceptively uncomplicated and any sewer of any skill level who enjoys art to wear should add this book to their library.You can be as exuberant and over the top as you like using Rosemary's techniques, or you can go for a more monochromatic look with simpler, fewer shapes, and both looks would be stunning and best of all completely unique to you.One of the best things I learned using this book was about choosing colors using her design system. Find a fabulous print that you just love and look at the selvedge edge - the printers' registration marks islolate each individual color used to build the print. Use these marks when looking for supplemental fabrics, and you are on your way!

I was so happy with my purchase of this book. I read it cover to cover immediately and I loved how Rosemary Eichorn held my hand through the process of understanding how she does fabric collage on a vest pattern. I could not wait to get started on my own fabric collage vest. Loved this book and keep it for quick reference.

I purchased this book in hardback a number of years ago, and had the pleasure of taking a class from the author who is even more wonderful in person! I love working with her easy to understand instructions and still learn something new each time I pick up this book. When I'm feeling out of ideas, this is one of three books that I turn to for inspiration - and it never lets me down.An excellent reference book for some specific detail work - and just a great overall idea resource book. A definite "must have".

I was looking forward to this book arriving, but it isn't what I hoped for. It seems all the illustrations/ideas/projects are very similar, and not at all my taste. I would have liked more variety. However, my sister on a visit loved the designs. So, if possible, I recommend you try to see inside first to check if it is to your taste ( a bit hippyish, and dated, imo).

I only got this yesterday,so haven’t had time to really study it! But it looks great.

Very good book full of illustrations and ideas plus the clothing made by the author is quite remarkable. Well worth having for anyone interested in textiles or quilting.

This is a book just for me to look at ! There are some beautiful designs but at the moment I don't have the choices of material I would need to make a waistcoat.Maybe in the future.

Excellent book.very clear and we'll written.