Book Review- Harris Tweed Appliqué

I know that, like me, most of you will be forever getting e-mails trying to get you to 

advertise or give away things on your blog and probably, again like me, you delete the e-mails

with out giving them a second glance.

Having said that just occasionally I do give one of them a second glance and thats

what I did with the one from Vivebooks.

The book they were asking me to review sparked my interest and  so I agreed.

I haven't done a lot of appliqué and, as Harris Tweed is fashionable at the moment

I thought I would give it a go.

The book is an e-book and is available either as a download or CD Rom for £17.00 from Vivebooks.

I will leave you to make your own decision on the price but this company

tends to publish specialised non-fiction titles  

which probably wouldn't get into print with main stream publishers.

E-books are totally new to me as I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to my craft books ( of which I have quite a few) and usually prefer my 

books made of paper so I can browse when I want but I have to say 

I have been pleasantly surprised

at how easy this format has been to use . 

I  sat at my work table with my laptop open to the side and 

could keep checking what I was doing.

On the up side for me

The book takes you from start to finish with information on the fabric 

 and tools needed for the projects.

It also has tutorial videos embedded as well as links to additional videos on You Tube.

The writer is an experienced tutor in textiles  who is passionate about tweed

and this shows in both the videos and 

the instructions in the books. It has plenty of photos with some beautiful ones of the isle of Harris and all the templates are at the back ready to be printed off.

On the down side I found some of the projects and motifs uninspiring.

I also thought there were too many cushions included while a really nice little bag

which is pictured at the rear of the book I would liked to have seen included.

I decided to try a couple of samples with the tweed fabrics I already had in my stash as Harris Tweed can be a little expensive just for trail purposes.

Some of them  worked and look OK while others frayed too much and had to go in the bin.

Harris Tweed apparently doesn't fray so much 

so to do a full sized project I have bought some pieces of Harris Tweed from Etsy

in some fabulous colours. 

Watch this space.

I haven't been paid to write this review, I have done it for a bit of fun

although I did receive a free copy of the book.

Gillxx