Linda Fry Kenzle explains each project in easy-to-follow steps (many projects can be done in one sitting!) and includes such helpful features as a jewelrymaker's glossary and tips on how to sew leather.
There's a nice assortment of jewelry and accessory projects here to try your hand at. The first part of the book has jewelry projects made of plastic and polymer clay, beads, wood, fibers and shells, and these materials are often mixed with one another and with seed beads. There are 2-3 each of necklaces, bracelets, pendants, pins and earrings, and as in most selections, some are more attractive than others. For the most part, traditional beading methods are used, and typical findings, such as clasps, are incorporated. A bit of hand sewing is needed for some of the projects. The resulting jewelry looks stylish, unique, and boutique-ish. My favorite projects here are a lovely pair of geometric earrings made of jewel tone colors of "Friendly Plastic", as they are fairly easy to do and look fantastic, and a unique bracelet made by linking antiqued buttons with jump rings... a great way to use old buttons, and it doesn't have that "homemade look" at all. The second section is devoted to other accessories, including hand-painted silk scarves, (instructions are given for building a simple wood frame for working on them), a baseball cap with a rose-appliqued frontpiece, a red felt "boater" hat (cute if you're into that), a couple of bags and a belt. All of these items involve some machine sewing. Pattern pieces are traced from the pages in the book. I have not tried any of the projects in this section, but they all look fairly simple to do. Investing in this book should be based on how many of these types of projects you're interested in, but if you're like me, you like to have a library of books that include even just a few projects to broaden your skills and inspire your ideas.
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