Print, pattern, sew : block-printing basics + simple sewing projects for an inspired wardrobe /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Create bold block prints for a completely custom wardrobe--print fabrics, customize patterns, and sew garments that truly express your own style.

This book offers-

.Clear how-to instructions for carving motifs from soft blocks, plus 13 designs to get you started

.A guide to printing on fabric and construct repeating patterns

.13 projects and full-size patterns for garments and accessories for a complete hand-printed wardrobe

Infuse your everyday style with more color, more pattern, and more personality. Printmaker and textile designer Jen Hewett presents her distinctive process for block-printing yards of fabric with garment sewing in mind. Explore the process of designing and printing fabric through step-by-step instruction on carving blocks and printing pattern repeats. Hewett makes creating custom, hand-printed fabric approachable and doable.

Inspired by her California home, Hewett's designs reference the plants and landscape around her through botanical motifs, organic shapes, and a bold graphic quality. Paired with a playful use of color, the pattern designs here offer the perfect place to start with block-printing. Once you've printed your fabric, it's time to sew. With sewing patterns for simple garments and accessories, you'll discover the play between fabric and finished project and work toward building a highly customizable wardrobe. With step-by-step photos, clear instructions, and full-size sewing patterns this is a complete guide to sewing clothes that truly reflect your style and personality.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Cult favorite printmaker and surface designer Hewett teaches her techniques for block-printing on fabric at sold-out online and in-person workshops around the country and is well known for wearing clothing she's made from her own printed fabric. Her first book is a stellar reference for the entire process of designing and printing fabric, then using it in projects. Hewett includes thorough instruction for every step, beginning with sketching a design and moving through carving the stamp, choosing fabric, printing, and cleaning up. The book includes photocopiable templates for primarily botanical designs and traceable sewing patterns for easy-to-sew projects including scarves, bags, tops, and skirts. An enclosed spiral binding ensures that pages will stay open for easy browsing while crafters have their hands full. VERDICT This unique resource is an essential purchase for libraries where craft titles circulate well.-Stephanie Klose, Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

This alluring how-to guide combines block printing with garment sewing to yield dreamy bohemian scarves, preppy printed aprons, elegant summer dresses, and more. Hewett, a designer in San Francisco who teachers screen printing classes online, divides her book into three sections. In "Print," she lays out basics of block-printing, which involve a block, carving tools, ink, and fabric. She then moves to graphic prints, detailing repeat patterns (straight, half-drop, and bricked) and creating multicolor prints. At the end of the "Patterns" section is a gorgeous gallery of her designs-from olive branches and sticky monkey flowers to Turkish tulips. All of Jen Siska's photographs augment Hewett's teaching, but the pictures are most effective in the "Print" and "Sew" sections. Throughout, Hewett offers tips, troubleshooting, and practical guidelines. Her detailed instructions-right down to describing the sound of gloppy ink-suit the needs of the advanced beginner, who wants to customize scarves, dresses, blouses, and even espadrilles. The projects are ambitious, but Hewett's gorgeous book will entice many crafters to give them a try. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Bespoke textiles are currently trendy and can be expensive to purchase. Printmaker Hewett offers instructions for block printing on fabric along with projects for using that fabric to make clothing and bags. Each part of the printing process is illustrated with step-by-step color photos, from preparing the fabric to creating the block to designing repeat patterns. The 13 sewing projects are designed to comprise a capsule wardrobe and range from very simple 2-step scarves to more complicated items like dresses and handmade espadrilles. Hewett's inspiration comes largely from nature, and most of the designs are floral or of foliage. The wide variety of techniques used to create these projects means that this book is packed with information, making it useful to readers looking for a specific part of the process as well as those who want to complete the projects from start to finish. Templates are provided for some of the blocks used to create the garments pictured. Pattern pieces, not available at the time of review, will be included in the back of the book.--Heidemann, Anne Copyright 2018 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Jen Hewett is a printmaker, surface designer, textile artist, and teacher. A lifelong Californian, she combines her love of loud prints and saturated colors with the textures and light of the landscapes she grew up with to create printed textiles that are both highly tactile and visually layered. Her hand-printed textile collages have been exhibited at Rare Device in San Francisco, and Artstream Gallery in New Hampshire, and her work has been featured in print ( Anthology Magazine , Uppercase , and Taproot ) as well as online ( Design*Sponge , Today is Going to Be Awesome ) and in a number of books. When not creating in her tiny (54 square feet!) San Francisco studio or teaching her popular block printing on fabric classes, she can be found cycling around San Francisco on her pink bike, chatting with her neighbors at the local wine bar, walking her tiny rescue dog Gus, gossiping with friends, redecorating her apartment, or noodling on her couch.