Craft Book Reviews - Felt and Flannel

I LOVE to read craft books, but find them SO expensive to buy. I borrowed this stack of lovelies from my local library. Don't forget what a great free resource they can be for crafty inspiration.

Felt Sew Good by Christine Leech

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lovely book full of fabulous ideas; gifts, decorations and home decor.

Super-Cute Felt: 35 Step-By-Step Projects to Make and Give by Laura Howard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great felt-crafting book. Lots of fun and colourful projects.

Felt with Love: Felt Hearts, Flowers and Much More by Madeleine Millington

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Lots of stitch work, and all beautiful. Step-by-step instructions too.

Fabulous Felt: How to Make Beautiful Accessories and Decorations by Corrine Lapierre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lovely felt projects with lots of top stitching detail. Again, step-by-step instructions on how to do all the stitches.


View all my reviews at Goodreads


Check out my Felt Needle Case project with a Silhouette Curio tutorial (yes, you can cut felt with an electronic cutter - imagine the possibilities)!

Crafters save a fortune at the Library!

How much could you save by using the library? My library recently handed out questionnaires about library use, and the question about how much the library saves me gave me pause to think.

In general terms the answer would be quite a bit as I'm a voracious reader of books, magazines and books on CD (while I'm driving).  But, as a crafter I save too!

Crafting Workshops
In the past year I've attended two FREE crafting workshops at the library; Altered Books and Creative Bookbinding.  How much would they have cost at my local craft store? I'm thinking at least £10 plus materials, so I'll say £30. Here are some photos of my efforts, BTW.

Craft Books
Well I've borrowed at least 3 card making books, and 4 general craft books so far this year. At an average cost of £15, that'd be a whopping £105.

Craft Magazines
My library doesn't subscribe to any printed craft magazines, but through the free e-magazine service I regularly read Papercraft Creations magazine, and occasionally Photoshop, Scrapbooking, and iPad.   In a whole year that'd be a dozen or so magazines a year, and at average cost of £5 each, coming to a whopping £60.

It total then, I reckon that the library saves me at least £195 per year just on crafting.

If you don't use your local library already, why not visit and take a look at the craft section, or even browse their website to see if they offer a free e-magazine service - you don't even need to leave the house to save!