Sew La Tea Do: 25 Favourite Things to Sew

Lincolne (Meet Me at Mike’s) presents 25 hipster-friendly sewing projects, some from scratch materials and some recycling used materials, such as a gadget cozy made from a vintage napkin. A fair number are items of clothing, but also included are stuffed animals, pillows, quilts, and other functional items. The twee design, unrelated photographs, and conversational directions are charming, but actually hamper the book’s utility, as text is often hard to read (small type set against color background) or diagrams too small to be clear. All projects, however, are fairly basic and the chatty directions might help the beginning sewer to feel comfortable. The sewing basics described at the end are more clearly presented, which lessens the potential for confusion. Included with the full-color book are full-size patterns on thin paper for those projects requiring patterns. Although not a great first sewing book, this friendly, engaging work might please the sewer seeking projects in the contemporary and adorable vein. (Dec.)