Hey all! It’s finally my day in the blog hop for the Zakka Style Sew Along. I hope you have been playing along or at least admiring the projects of those who are. It’s been a lot of fun to see what people are making.
I’m going to share with you the next project in the book, the Elephant Bookmark, aptly titled “An Elephant Never Forgets”. I was feeling particularly whimsical on the day when I picked this out as my project. I think it was around the time I was working on that owl backpack 😉
The original design was made in a floral printed Linen. But I wanted to see what the bookmark looked like with a simpler fabric. So I used Robert Kaufman’s Essex Linen in Dusty Blue (a fabulous fabric by the way!). It’s a lovely blue grey color that just reminded me a bit of elephants. I’m literal that way. 😉
I also had the pleasure of using Cosmo Embroidery Floss for the first time on this project. I’m pretty new to the world of embroidery floss and I’ll admit that I was not expecting anything too different when I got the floss. But I’m not kidding when I say that I LOVE it. It gives such a beautiful finish. I weirdly just wanted to cover the elephants in a bunch of floss! lol Aren’t you glad I resisted the urge? Actually I did try, but it looked pretty bad so I pulled it out right away. It kind of looked like the elephants had the chickenpox. Not pretty.
I made this sweet gal first. I think my favorite part is her pretty bow. You can’t add too much to these guys to decorate them because they are bookmarks aka they need to stay pretty flat. So you only decorate one side and that cute head.
I got all fancy on the next one 😉 and decided to add some extra fabric and ribbon to dress him up. I like how this guy turned out. The orange is a nice contrast to the linen and scale of the print works well. I just added the fabric before I sewed the pieces together. Worked like a charm.
Tips and Tricks:
Well one of the things I loved about the design of this pattern is that you trace the image onto the fabric but you don’t cut it out until after you have sewn the two pieces together. That seemed genius to me. I fully expected to trace the elephant template onto two pieces of fabric, cut them out and then try to carefully piece them together. Her method is sooo much more forgiving. Just sew on the traced lines on one piece of fabric and then trim the fabric away afterwards!
Also, you have noticed that this bookmark is fairly tiny and has some fiddly bits like the feet and the trunk. They are as annoying to turn right side out as you might imagine. Oh and that tiny ear. I had all of pieces lined with interfacing and that was just NOT helping me turn the pieces right side out. My point turning tool kept getting caught in the interfacing and had fusible adhesive on it. I ended up using some small scissors to push my points out and that seemed to work better for whatever reason.
All in all, it’s a cute little design that would be a sweet gift for a younger person in your life. Who doesn’t need a bookmark?!
And I'm an old follower, at least in blog years. 🙂
I like lots of pictures in books! I never buy a book without them!
I'm a happy follower!
I really love it when a book happens to have made the projects in fabric that I like-of course this is very subjective! Beautiful photos are a must and if I am drawn to several of the projects I want to own it. Thanks so much!
I've been a follower!
First thing I look for in a sewing book is the list of projects, then beautiful pictures then ease of instructions. I figure even if the instructions are not perfect, I'll have a beautiful book for inspiration.
I'm a new follower via email
any craft/sewing book that i purchase is totally based on good pictures and clear and easy to follow instructions!
i am a follower
Thank you for all the tips! I can't wait to get started on this today.
When looking at craft/sewing books, I really only buy them if there are a bunch of projects that I really love. If there are only a few, I just check it out from the library!
samkaydesigns (at) gmail (dot) com
Thank you for a great giveaway. The elephants are adorable, I can see that I will need one of them myself. When I look at craft books I like to check that they have clear instructions, and patterns already at the correct size as it drives me nuts having to enlarge patterns. I like lots os pictures too. I appreciate it when they show a project done in different colourways to get more inspiration.
ks(dot)eyles(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
I follow you via email.
ks(dot)eyles(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
Your elephants are so cute! What I look in a book: originality, clear explanations, suggestions and nice pictures! Thanks for this giveaway!
I look for unique styles, easy to read instructions and patterns. If the book seems to have the same style about 10 times, I put it back or if the instructions are not clear. I am also a visual girl so I like clear, precise pictures to go along with the instructions.
I like to buy books that are original in their project ideas. I don't want something I can find in a million books, just in a different fabric. Something that teaches me something completely new.
I am a non-stalkerish follower 🙂
For me it's all about the photos. I think great photos with great lighting make the book. If the project examples look great then I'm going to want to make it. Also they should be in color, at least the example photo.
I've been a follower for a while and love it!
I like patterns in a book that are complicated enough that I probably wouldn't come up with them on my own, and inspire me to try something new.
And your blog is in my Google Reader.
Oh. these are the cutest little elephants! I was able to score a copy of Zakka Style from Rashida herself, and I love it! I already finished one project, and I know there will be more in my future.
As for what I look for in a craft book, I certainly am drawn in by pleasing photography and fabric selections, and I'm more likely to purchase books with a variety of projects that are actually functional, as well as cute.
I like books that have a story too, even if just a few pages about the author. I found a great book about bee quilting at the thrift stare recently.
I follow you too!
I like to read craft books with clear photos, illustrations, and instructions. It also helps if most of the projects offer new techniques or an interesting spin on something. I like the patterns to be a little more complicated than what I could figure out on my own with a sheet of graph paper. 🙂 Thanks for the chance!
I follow you. 🙂
I love books and I look for clear instructions and lots of pictures! I'm a visual person so all those pictures/drawings make all the difference in the world to me. Thanks for the giveaway!
I'm a follower!
1.) I am a follower, I was drawn in by your tutorials!
2.) Any sort of craft book has to have either a.) a pattern that I find so enticing I can't live without it, or b.) a new technique that I can't live without learning. I find that most of my craft books are actually gifts from people–the ones I actually purchase (and use) are few and far between. I guess I am stubbornly Trial and Error!
Oh my, such cute bookmarks. The reason I buy a book is for inspiration. I might not want to make everything in the book but if it gets my creative juices flowing i'm in! That and beautiful pictures. I'm a sucker for eye candy.
margie
margiedicroce(at)roger(dot)com
I'm a bit of a craft book junky, I have loads of them, well over a hundred! I tend to look for pretty pictures, not the best indication of whether a book will be good or not! From now on, I'll steer clear of anything by the Zakka Style publisher as the numerous mistakes have just frustrated me.
I love easy gift ideas..especially for boys!
i am a follower of your blog!
when i look at quilting/sewing books I look for the patterns/ideas. I tend to buy the books i think have a lot of ideas or projects that i would actually make. some of that depends on style or design of the pattern. I don't make a lot of things for the home like clothes or bags at this point so if there's a lot of that, it doesn't make we want to purchase the book.