Books

So Simple Window Style
by Gail Abbott and Cate Burren

If you have always wanted to make your own curtains and blinds, or if you are a keen sewer and are looking for new ideas, 'So Simple Window Style' is just what you have been waiting for. Thirty beautiful window projects range from the simplest unlined curtains to a shaped and padded pelmet, from a simple roll-up ribbon blind to a traditional gathered valance, all with full-colour step-by-step photography to help you every step of the way.

There are plenty of variations, tips and ideas on how to choose fabrics and styles for any type of window too, as well as five instant makeover projects that require little or no sewing at all. In the Basic Techniques section, find out how to make the perfect mitred corner, how to measure for curtains, or how to hang a blind, as well as much, much more. Whatever type of window treatment you want to make, 'So Simple Window Style' has the answer.

Click here to purchase this book from Amazon.co.uk - put
So Simple Windows into the search box

So Simple Slipcovers
by Gail Abbott and Cate Burren

Breathe new life into tired furniture and give your home a stylish new look with the help of 'So simple Slipcovers'. Thirty five practical projects will show you how to whip up the easiest cushion cover ever, how to make a slipcover for an armchair or sofa, and even help you make your own pretty bed linen and tablecloths.

The Inspirations chapter outlines different design styles and looks, helping you choose fabrics and patterns to suit your lifestyle, and there's plenty of help from the detailed step-by-step photography, too. In the basic techniques section, you will find out all you need to know about stitches, seams and pipings, so if you've never tackled a slipcover before, you will soon be making your home into a stylish and beautiful place.

Click here to purchase this book from Amazon.co.uk - put
So Simple Slipcovers into the search box

Shoestring Chic
by Gail Abbott

Some of the most inspirational homes we know have been put together by people with more taste than money. They may have spent very little, but they have often invested time and energy hunting for bargains in junk shops and sale rooms, or using creative ideas to paint, renovate and sew.

Gail has spent years writing about people’s homes, and for Shoestring Chic she re-visited many of the houses she has used for locations and magazine features. Be inspired by the ideas in a rustic farmhouse, deep in the French countryside, where the owner found all her furniture in the local markets and thrift shops. Take ideas from a stylish Cambridgeshire home that incorporates many traditional Swedish ideas, including lime-washed floorboards and simple curtains. Some of the ideas cost nothing at all, like the skeleton fish, made from stone-washed glass picked up on a Norfolk beach.

If you love stylish ideas but don’t always have the cash, Shoestring Chic will inspire and enthuse you to get the look yourself. Shoestring Chic is not available in UK bookshops but you can buy it from Amazon. Click here and enter 'Shoestring Chic' into the search box.