Best applique books according to redditors

I have a book about making quilts with children's art and these would be fantastic. Several years ago I had my young children draw Christmas-themed images and made a tree skirt with appliques of their art work. It turned out great.

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Art-Quilts-Preserving-Childs/dp/1564771326

Thank you! The blue base is upholstery suede and the thread is doubled up gold rayon. I recommend using thinner base and thicker thread, tbh. There’s quite a few patterns available online but I find this book to be most valuable because it shows the underlying grid and recommended stitch order. I then fused a thin interfacing onto the back juuuuust in case there’s a thread break so it wouldn’t unravel.

I actually do most of my sewing without a machine. I have been looking for a sewing book that covers all the techniques, but the closest I've been able to get is Quiltmaking by Hand and Mend It Better. Pinterest has a lot of tutorials for mending too.

I actually learned a lot of my preferred methods from a book called the Medieval Tailor's Assistant (it's good to keep in mind that historical techniques are the most efficient for the task, they wouldn't do things the hard way because they have to do it so much).

Some things worth noting: tools matter. I have over a dozen different thimbles because it took me so long to find a thimble I was comfortable with. Clover makes a lot of crafting tools that are otherwise hard to find. A sewing bird or third hand is something that can help keep your work taut. I prefer sashiko needles for handwork because they're a little thicker and much longer (great for running stitch). Whip stitch is better for seams that take a beating.

If you have trouble making stitches evenly, buy sashiko samplers with the stitches pre-printed in a washout ink to start with. Even though you're following the existing pattern, you're teaching your muscles the basic gestures for running stitch. For whip stitch, I started with English paper piecing for small quilts.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Here are some other free sewing and craft books on Amazon...

11 Sewing Room Ideas: How to Organize Your Room 86 pages

Sewing for Baby: 11 Small Sewing Projects for Your Little One

May Martin's Sewing Bible e-short 1: Everything You Need to Get You Started 40 pages

Quilt pattern - Yo-Yo Flags


Fairytale Pincushion and Thread Catcher Sewing Pattern

Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont
- the hardcover of this book sells for $23

Duct Tape Bags

Practical Duct Tape Projects

Pink Little Lady Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

Easy Quilt Patterns: 11 Applique Quilt Patterns + Quick Quilts

Make a skirt out of stretchy jersey with an elastic waistband: soooo easy! Then work your way up. Best bet would be going to the library and getting out some books on sewing. Be patient and don't spend too much money: a complex pure silk evening dress isn't going to be achievable just yet and will only frustrate you. (I've done this waay too much!!) Once you get tired, down tools, because that's when stupid mistakes happen!

Stretch fabric is the easiest to work with as it is very forgiving with fit, often doesn't fray so no hems etc etc. A good book for starting out is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Improv-Sewing-Freeform-Techniques-Accessories/dp/1603427406

I love The handmade quilt: a complete skill building sampler. By C. Forster. https://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Quilt-Skill-Building-Heirloom-Quality-Stitching/dp/193572696X

If you look through my other posts you’ll see several of the blocks I’m working on.

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Couture Sewing by Claire Shaeffer. She also has more specialized books on the parts of Chanel-style suit, such as The Couture Cardigan Jacket and The Couture Skirt. Here's her Amazon page.

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Thomas Von Nordheim's Vintage Couture Tailoring is excellent. He did the structured costumes for The Phantom Thread.

I've only looked through it, but Zoya Nudelman's The Art of Couture Sewing had beautiful photos.

Roberta Carr's Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing has hideous examples but good information.

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For pattern making, Helen Joseph Armstrong's book is very popular. Books by Ernestine Kopp and Natalie Bray are others.

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Do you ever repair/embellish other clothes you have? I have pieces of fabric from my grandmother's stash that I used to just keep in an old suitcase but now I use them to sew patches onto other things. I really recommend this book, Mend It Better, which has tons of ideas for repurposing fabric you love.

This is an incredibly detailed book with many more patterns than make+mend (which is also great; I own both)

The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook https://www.amazon.com/dp/0715318470/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YAs7CbAX0H8W2

Life is about using the whole box of crayons and I want to use them on this coloring book!

A few days ago, I found this awesome quilting coloring book that I bet /u/sillygirlsarah would love to use. You can create actual quilts from your coloring!

I wondered this. I just bought http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quilting-Step-By-Maggi-Gordon/dp/1405362154/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346263931&sr=8-1 for £3 at work and I get how to make all the individual patterned patches, but not how to turn lots of flat bits of fabric into a quilt... or how some people make their quilts bigger over many years? Surely until its 100% finished it would be leaking stuffing everywhere...

A Penrose tiling coloring book or an illustrated how-to book for some quilts. Someone mentioned a Donut mug.

There are a lot of books for beginners out there and many of them come with some supplies to get started that is how I learned. I think the book I had (does not come with supplies or at least my copy did not) was Embroider Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/076115700X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483646855&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=how+to+embroidery&dpPl=1&dpID=613V2i3A%2BtL&ref=plSrch (though I think my mom bought it from Barnes & Noble so that may be an option as well)

I have sourced thread from [Shibori Dragon] (http://www.shiboridragon.com/). They have a few types of sashiko thread, Olympus, Yokota and Hida. The Olympus and the Yokota have lighter weight thread and the Hida is a little heavier. I use the Hida because I like the colors they have and I like the feel of it.

If you're interested in it, I highly recommend The Ultimate Sashiko Source Book. It's gives really great instructions, talks about all of the technical considerations and has fabulous photographs and diagrams of lots of traditional sashiko patterns.

When I hand sew seams, I do a backstitch approximately every inch or so of seam, plus one before and after every junction. When I'm hand quilting, though, I just bury the knot. I haven't extensively used anything I've hand quilted yet, though, so it might be a better idea to do a backstitch at the start and end of every thread while hand quilting, in addition to burying the knot. I picked up the habit from reading old sewing manuals and ladies handbooks (tons of good free stuff online on Google Books, but I don't have any links to hand just now), because that was how you were supposed to sew clothing seams, with more backstitching for the seams that would get the most stress. I figured that same philosophy applied to hand sewn quilts, especially if they were meant to see a lot of use. When I machine sew, though, I don't bother backstitching at all when I'm piecing. Hope that's helpful!

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ETA: Also, you may want to try to find a copy of this book : https://www.amazon.ca/Handmade-Quilt-Complete-Skill-Building-Sampler/dp/193572696X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539362995&sr=1-2

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It details all the steps involved in hand sewing and quilting your own quilt. She also has some books on quilting as you go, for portable projects!