Fiona Bell- Sewn With Love

When I first saw this book on Amazon, I knew right away that I had to get it. Fiona is located in England and her beautiful designs captured my interest due to her grasp of of the vintage look that I so desired.  There had been no customer comments or reviews left on Amazon as yet....something that I make a point of always reading...but I forged ahead hoping this would be the book I had been longing for.  When the book arrived I was on pins and needles to make my first project...the dress that adorned the cover of the book.  After looking at all of the pictures, I ran off that first project.  Can I just say that I was disappointed beyond words!  None of the lines on the pattern seemed to match up...and the directions?  Unbelievable...actually nonsensical.  The book is gorgeous, the ideas are inspiring but ladies, that's as far as it goes.  I did end up making the dress that I started with on the book's cover and a shirt for my grandson as well, but Oh My..I struggled making both. I give Fiona an A for her wonderful inspiration, but a D for the patterns and directions themselves.  Definitely not for a beginner or the intermediate sewer out there.  Let's just say, you must WANT to get your project done or you may just give up and quit!  I am so sorry for this rough review.

Here's the book:

And here are the two projects that I did make from this book:

This actually ended up being one of my grandsons favorite shirts..pretty funny.  I loved the fabric and the little tucks in the back.  (Notice how I tried hard to match up my pocket? Is that what you call OCD?)

The dress that started it all..and I must say that my granddaughter loved this dress and wore it to death...it needed a nice burial, but was sweetly passed on for more to enjoy. ;-)  (Ties added to the back of course.)

Ladies, I'm sure you already know this, but if you ever see anything highlighted on my blogs it is for your benefit to click on and take you to those I am writing about.  ALSO, if you want a closer view of any of the projects, simply click on the picture with your cursor and there they are!  Now go out there and become 'one' with that machine of yours and get busy on those projects!  Happy sewing!  Until next time. ;-)