Lotta Jansdotter: Simple Sewing

Ok, you've convinced me. I'm going to finish the sweater, block it, and see what happens. Thanks for the tips!


I can't believe how long it's taken me to tell you about this book. It arrived weeks ago, and I just haven't sat still long enough to give it a good looking over until yesterday. Me, a notebook and pencil, a cup of peppermint tea, and one new sewing book. Oh, and a quiet table near the window at a local coffee joint. Thank goodness that shopping tour is all planned and I can rest my feet for a day or two.


I'm not feeling terribly eloquent or energetic today (long week), so I think I'll resort to my trusty bullet points again.

What I love:

*Great book design. Clean and simple with little Lotta sketches and handwritten project names and page numbers. Very classy.

*Clever, simple projects that are great for beginning sewers. For example, the placemat with a little pocket for your chopsticks, and the picnic placemat with cutlery pockets and attached ties to keep it all wrapped up in a sweet little bundle.

*Excellent photos and styling; I really like how they express Lotta's "look."

*The simplicity of the projects leaves lots of room for unique embellishment and creative expression on the part of the sewer.

These words always makes me happy.

*Patterns for the more involved projects are included in the book. All other projects involve simple shapes for which measurements are given.

*Four adorable applique designs are provided for very Lotta-like embellishment.

*All projects are "rated" according to three levels of difficulty.

*Even the more advanced projects are very manageable and quite clever.

*The book appears, from the front and spine, to be a classic hard cover but actually includes a spiral binding so it will stay open to the page you need.


What I wasn't so keen on:

*Instructions are a bit vague at times. A few sketches are given for each project, but directions for some of the more advanced projects may prove to be somewhat tricky for a beginner to follow.

*If you have a moderate knowledge of sewing you may find that many of the projects are self explanatory and don't need instructions. In which case this book becomes more of an inspirational guide, since many of the projects really are quite clever. (So I guess that's not really a negative, but more of an observation.)


In any case, it's a lovely book, and I understand that Lotta has also produced a fabric line with Kokka. I haven't seen it being sold anywhere, but her website leads me to believe that it may be available soon? I hope so.