Sewing for All Seasons

October 21, 2013
Beal's second book is a pleasant collection of sewing projects; none of the patterns are ground-breaking, but all are appealing versions of classic, relatively simple sewing ideas. The organizing idea of the book is to split the projects into four sections by seasons. Thus, spring offers a nicely proportioned Vintage Scarf Headband, while summer offers a brightly colored, string-pieced Picnic Quilt, and fall brings a warming Coffee Cup Cozy before winter finishes up with the holiday-party-ready Cute-as-a-Button Handbag. With the exception of the holiday patterns, few of these projects are so seasonally specific that they couldn't be adapted. Beal provides thorough instructions throughout, along with helpful initial guidelines for the techniques she employs. There are schematics, but this is a text-heavy sewing book, probably best suited for sewists with some experience who aren't visual learners. All together, it's short on pizzazz perhaps, but long on practical, livable designs. Full-color photos.