Book Review: Love at First Stitch
When my recent trip to London was being planned, I knew that the one souvenir I wanted to come home with was Tilly's new book, Love at First Stitch! Not available in the US until October, (though you can get it from her directly) I knew this was a great opportunity to grab it early as well as get it signed by the lady herself. Not only did I get it signed (and signed a copy of my new book for her) but she kindly brought me her cute buttons and one of her adorable tote bags, which is a nice heavy weight canvas and served as my book and magazine carry on for my return flight home.
If you haven't seen Love at First Stitch in person yet, it's simply stunning and keeps with Tilly's existing branding so so well. I always feel so scattered in my style (don't we all feel that way?) but when I look at everything she does, it's so classically Tilly every single time. This book is no exception and is full of all those things that she's so great at. Let's dig into the book a bit...
Instead of having a section on techniques followed by the projects and patterns, Tilly organized the skill building throughout the book, project by project. This reminded me somewhat of Sarai's fantastic book The Colette Sewing Handbook, where the projects are organized from easier to more difficult, teaching you new techniques along the way to build confidence and ensure success.
Each project opens with all the details you want to know, including sizing, illustration, fabric layout, and all the techniques that you'll need to have mastered to complete the garment.
The projects themselves are adorable and even the easy things in the front of the book will appeal to a more experienced seamstress. I mean really, I still like to make pajama pants and who doesn't love a cute head kerchief or neck scarf? I know I do!
The steps are all shown in photographs that are clear and easy to understand. And of course, Tilly has perfect manicures in each and every shot, and the occasional pretty kitty cat too! Also included in the book are the full-sized patterns for almost every project in the book and if they are anything like her other patterns, I'm sure they will go together beautifully.
I love the opening photos of each project and Tilly does an amazing job of choosing the right fabrics and styling for each garment. It feels polished and clean without being overdone. And unlike some pattern and book photos, you can still understand the seams and details of the garments in the photos thanks to her fabric selections and clear photos.
I also love the opening pages of the book that shows all the projects as a collection. It illustrates so clearly that this book can be used to create an entire closet full of items. And thanks to Tilly's variation suggestions throughout the book, each garment can look different based on the fabric, pocket, button, and other minor changes that will customize each project to your own style.
Even shots of tools and chalk are made fun with Tilly's layouts. Honestly, it was a pleasure to read through the book and look at all the eye candy. Did I need another book? No, but that's not the point. To me sewing books are to keep you inspired, engaged, and excited for the next project, and this book is a complete success on all of those levels.
I'm super excited to make some new goodies from the book and hope you are too! It's easy to sound biased since Tilly is a friend, but honestly, I wouldn't take the time to photograph, write, and post this if I didn't 100% believe that this book is worth your attention. It's beautiful, inspiring, and a really fun approach to learning. Find it and pick it up! And huge congrats to Tilly on this accomplishment! It's a job well done indeed!