Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials Plus Tips & Resources for Earth-Friendly Stitching

by Betz White

By its nature, do-it-yourself sewing is environmentally friendly. In Sewing Green, Betz White takes stitching to an even higher level of sustainability, presenting 25 projects made from "repurposed" thrift-store and back-of-the-closet finds and organic fabrics. White's whimsical yet practical designs include an apron constructed from men's dress shirts (and a wallet from the shirts' cuffs ), a soft blanket pieced from secondhand cashmere sweaters,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0079FHLUQ
• ISBN13: 9781584797586
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.3" x 9.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

absolutely the best book on my shelves!

This book is just plain beautiful, in every sense of the word. The images are beautiful, the projects are beautiful, and the whole spirit of making new from old, breathing life into the loved and worn, is a beautiful act. Betz is a national treasure. I've been visiting her website and following her betzwhite blog for years and it lifts my spirits every time I take a look-see. Just owning this book makes you feel like you have done a good deed for the day. I am going to buy them for gifts for all my crafty pals!

Different from the rest of your craft books

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a Betz White workshop recently where I picked up a copy of Sewing Green. My craft and sewing bookshelf is quite full, I assure you, but Betz' newest book is unlike any of the titles I already have and is a welcome addition. There are a number of projects I've bookmarked to make--the little girl's pillowcase dress (actually in progress on my sewing table right now!), the felted cashmere throw blanket (I've begun scoring and felting thrift shop cashmere sweaters and don't know why I didn't think to use them before!), and the baby quilt and coordinating "washies" and stuffed dog projects (for a friend's baby due in the fall). I found the project instructions and accompanying photos very clear, and think they would be very easy even for the beginning sewer. I also appreciate the very thorough explanations of how to treat recycled and vintage materials before beginning your projects. But one of my very favorite things about this book is the collection of essays sprinkled throughout the chapters on "eco-innovators." This makes the book perfect for my evening habit of perusing sewing books on the sofa while my husband watches the news. How many craft books out there provide both plenty of inspiration and good reading? Only this one, on my shelf! I recommend Sewing Green highly to anyone interested in finding new sewing inspiration from old materials!

Save the planet, one stitch at a time

I loved this book--the eco-friendly projects are chic and modern (no cereal-box wallets for sure!) and so wonderfully rendered, with gorgeous photographs, a warm instructive voice, and easy-to-follow directions. The whimsical woodland draft dodger is my favorite, and I can't wait till my daughter gets old enough for the vintage pillowcase dress. If you're a crafter who wants to tread lightly on the environment, this is a can't-miss.

Betz White should change her last name to Green.

Betz is an inpiration to me and she kept the bar high on this, her latest book. She continually comes up with cheerful creations that make you want to run to a thrift shop in search of goods to revamp. Like delicious ripe fruit her latest book is fresh without being fake sugar sweet. Items you really want to use or give as gifts rather than something you labor over and then put in the closet. You will be look at old materials in a whole new way.

Another beautiful book from Betz White

This book Feels good in my hands, feeds my hungrylittlecrafty-eyes, and is also nice to READ. Betz dicussses fabrics and thrift stores. The projects are: aprons mades from men's shirts (cute!), coasters from wool, (cute and different than other things I have seen), vintage napkins and rings from ruined old tablecloths,lounge pants from old cute sheets, pillows, an adorable draft-buster that looks like a branch, sweater-slippers, a wallet made from a shirt-cuff,a reversible wrap skirt,lunch tote, reusable sandwich wraps,more bags, a pillowcase skirt and MORE! I haven't sewn anything from this book yet, but have "walked" through a couple of the projects and the instructions seem solid. The patterns need to be enlarged, so I need to go to my copy center to get that done. This is a beautiful book that inspires me each time I look at it--I just like having it near! If you like to sew, you will probably find a few projects, at least, that you will want to make right away!