Make fun and easy projects by coiling rope and joining it together with a simple zigzag stitch!
• Scrap-friendly craft of sewing with rope is easy to learn and exciting to experiment with • 16 projects for durable and decorative bags, bowls, baskets, trivets, and other accessories and home décor items • Step-by-step instructions, coordinating photography, and helpful tips throughout to ensure success • Rope sewing basics, advanced shaping techniques, and lots of finishing ideas for adding unique details • Author Katherine Lile is a fourth-generation quilter and the owner of The Mountain Thread Company, a shop that specializes in coiled rope baskets and high-quality quilting cottons
Rope sewing projects are satisfying and simple to make, and a joy to gift!
Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects is a complete craft guide to making stylish bowls, bags, trivets, baskets, and more by coiling rope and joining it together with a simple zigzag stitch. It's an easy and fun craft to quickly master! This exciting guide features 16 sewing projects with clear, step-by-step instructions, coordinating photography, and expert tips throughout that will ensure success and build your rope sewing skills. Also included are introductory overviews on the basics of rope sewing, instructions for more advanced shaping, and tons of finishing ideas.
Author Katherine Lile is the owner of The Mountain Thread Company, a shop that specializes in coiled rope baskets and high-quality quilting cottons. She is a 4th generation quilter, having started sewing in preschool!
With endless design ideas and several techniques to try — from painting and fabric wrapping to dying, adding handles, and more — you'll fall in love with the exciting craft of sewing with rope inside Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects!
This is a fun craft book with lots of projects for making objects like coasters, baskets and bags by sewing rope. I had hoped that some would be hand stitched but you need a sewing machine that can sew through heavy materials like layered rope for all of the projects. They seem easy to do and there are great tutorials for each. I especially loved the dip dyed and fabric wound projects. A fun and informative book.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
This was a complete guide to beginning a rope project. I bought (the correct) rope a few months ago and have been working up the nerve to start my bag. Which happens to be the last project in this book. The author had many helpful examples and talks about sewing machines, what specific rope to buy and how to successfully do a zig zag stitch and so much more. The best thing about this book is the pictures. I can’t tell you all the times I wish I could see what a pattern meant with a pic and not just words. Very informative and well done. I love to purchase books that I can reach for any time I need to make a project. Thanks Landauer Publishing via NetGalley.
I loved this book! I already do lots of crafts but I’d never tried working with rope as it was rather intimidating. This book was very clear directions and lots of step by step pictures. I could only think of making a bowl but there’s such a variety of projects with detailed instructions that I see there’s so much more I could make. I can’t wait to give this a try! 5 stars!! Thank you NetGalley, Fox Chapel Publishing, and Landauer Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review ZIGZAG ROPE SEWING PROJECTS by Katherine Lile.
For someone like me who's always looking for easy-to-do crafts, simple and minimal creativity this guidebook is the one!
Thank you, Fox Chapel Publishing, for the advance reading copy.
I appreciate the introduction of the basic necessary items that would be required (and I say it's the minimal best!), the easy-to-follow steps and the real pictures in the book.
This book is for everyone who wants to do something productive, something creative and something useful.
What a great book! Lots of pictures, easy explanations, and fun projects! I think even a very beginner sewer could follow the instructions and patterns.
I'm a very, very beginner with the sewing machine, and really felt that I could do these projects. I really enjoyed this, and would recommend it, no matter what your sewing ability!
This is an entertaining book to read, I enjoyed seeing each rope project from start to finish. There’s so much you can do! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a gifted copy.
I fell in love with this book right away. Browsing through the book while deciding where to start, I instantly noticed the gorgeous photographs and detailed instructions. I realised the book was perfect to explore a new craft like rope sewing with the added bonus of utilising any fabric scraps in my stash. All one needs is a sewing machine to do the projects.
The projects are easy enough to follow and Lile has definitely simplified the whole process. As the blurb suggests one can make gorgeous personalised gifts for family and friends with a little bit of practice. Moreover, she has planned each project in this book to lead to the next. Her hope is that as one masters these simplified techniques the crafter will go on to be creative and make them their own. Quite a boast. Um… I could not help wondering if this were true? My mind was made up. I was going to start at the beginning.
Beautifully illustrated, Lile liberally uses photographs to demonstrate difficult and complicated tasks, making each one a doable. Thus one learns to make a simple base and progresses to the walls of a basket which can be varied in shape. She takes one through every move both descriptively and with photographs often for each step. Its as good as having her personally present with me on my crafting adventure.
She starts with the basics of different kinds of ropes, comparing their strengths and weaknesses for each project, why one particular rope would be more favourable than the others to, the sewing machine and the zigzag stitch one might use. Lile doesn’t hold back. She goes into considerable depth on each topic to teach one the rudiments of rope sewing. Every project has beginners tips where she pre-empts problems by anticipating them. Moreover, as she asserted in the introduction, each project does indeed lead to the next. Thus by starting at the beginning and progressing to the very end ones’ rope sewing expertise increases with each project. This also serves to encourage the crafter to continue in their new found hobby. I particularly liked how she inspired the crafter to be imaginative suggesting variations for each project.
While still on my journey of rope crafting, I tend to agree that Lile has indeed written a book that even a newbie crafter can if they like the craft continue in their own creative journey. How often has one wanted to delve into a particular craft but can’t find a suitably meticulous book? This book is certainly for the crafter who wants to try a new craft, for those who have never crafted before and this is their first crafting moment, for the failed rope crafter and anyone else in between. Its sure to inspire. Buy it for oneself or as a gift safe in the knowledge that you will not be disappointed.
Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects is a well written and accessible tutorial guide with projects for utilitarian and decorative objects made from rope/twine by Katherine Lile. Released 16th Nov 2022 by Fox Chapel on their Landauer imprint, it's 152 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.
The 16 (by my count) included projects are really attractive and many are useful and will make welcome gifts for others or for readers themselves. There are coasters, bags/totes, and baskets aplenty with varied and creative finishes. The tools and materials couldn't be easier: a sewing machine with zigzag capability and rope in various thicknesses. The rope used in the book's galleries is cotton braided rope (think clothesline cotton rope) in various thicknesses from 1/8th to 3/8ths inch. The included project tutorials are built around 3/16" and 5/16" (5 and 8mm).
The tutorial photos are clear and easy to understand. Each tutorial includes many pics of the project steps and final product. Tools and supplies are given in a bullet list with estimated lengths of rope for different diameter rope included for each piece. Measurements are given in both imperial (American) and metric units (yay!). Tips and tricks are provided in highlighted text boxes throughout the book. The author has also included a lot of creative finishing techniques for dying, fabric wrapping, stitch enhancements, knots, etc which will be useful for other creative projects. Project templates are not provided, but the shapes are simple (circular, oval, coiled tubes, etc) and all the measurements for the finished projects are provided.
Readers with some experience with sewing and crafting could definitely use this book and produce a useful and attractive finished project, armed with supplies and only this book for instruction. Highly recommended for makers' groups, crafting/fibrearts guilds, home studio use, and public library acquisition.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The perfect guide to a gorgeous craft! Katherine gives practical and helpful guidelines before jumping in, and leads you through common issues you may run into so that you can prevent them right out of the gate (though she helpfully reminds you of possible issues throughout project instructions).
Not only are the final products gorgeous and practical, but her instructions are clear and easy to follow. I love the ideas of fabric wrapping; dip dying; speckle painting; using contrasting thread; adding swirls, knots, and tassels. The included projects require progressively more skills and techniques as you go, and learning the possibilities makes it easy to dream up your own projects!
I haven't actually been able to try any of the projects myself, but am an avid crafter (crochet, macrame, clay sculpture) and own and have read quite a few books of this genre. I can't wait to get my grandma's old sewing machine fixed up and try these projects for myself.
Thanks to NetGalley, Fox Chapel Publishing, and Landauer Publishing for the advanced digital copy for review.
I recently had the pleasure of exploring Katherine Lile's "Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects," and I must say, the projects in this book are beautiful and very trendy, unlike many craft books out there.
However, it is important to note that you really should use a heavy-duty sewing machine to complete these projects. I wouldn't risk a regular sewing machine on this, and there's not really an option to do without a machine altogether. Lile does provide some helpful tips and tricks for working with rope, but it is still essential to have the right equipment to achieve the desired results.
Assuming you have the proper equipment, the projects in this book are absolutely worth the effort. From bags and baskets to coasters and trivets, Lile has created a diverse range of functional and beautiful items. The step-by-step instructions and helpful photographs provided in each project make it easy to follow along, even if you are new to sewing with rope.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
This is a very impressive book in every way: from the completeness of the information (both basic how to get started, and step-by-step project instructions), the easy to understand and follow information, the photography which enhances each section, and the selected projects, this book knocks it out of the park!
Katherine Lile gives you every bit of information you need to be successful at this craft. The projects build on each other in skills, are attractive, and are projects that I'd actually like to do (definitely NOT a given in a lot of craft books). Very well done!! I would be proud to own and gift this book!
My thanks to Landauer Publishing for allowing me to access an ARC of the book via NetGalley. Publication is set for 11/16/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.
Baskets, trays and other projects can be made on a sewing machine using cotton rope and a zigzag stitch. Katherine Lile provides detailed illustrated instructions of the basics and an assortment of projects. Her chapters on beginning both round and oval items are excellent. They include tips on things to watch out for that can cause problems with the finished product. The projects are arranged by difficultly and include clever details (although many use a glue gun which some of us - ahem - can't seem to master.) Each project begins at the very start, not simply with materials and machine settings, but with the beginning coil and stitching so there is no need to backtrack to an earlier chapter. Once the basics are mastered there is plenty here to inspire your own creations.
I received a digital advance copy of this book compliments of Fox Chapel Publishing and NetGalley.
I was tickled to find such a fun DIY book available for me to read courtesy of Netgalley and of course Katherine Lile. I am always looking for crafty projects that are easy to do and yet don't look like it and this book was a perfect fit for me. It has such a well explained process to each project along with tips and tricks and handy hints. It showcased a variety of projects, each with their own individual flair and use. The author takes us right through from the best materials to use, how to set up the equipment and how to get the best from both. The pictures used are clear, informative and plentiful. Certainly a book I'd love to keep in my library to reference again and again and I'm already compiling a shopping list!
I have always wanted to try to sew a rope basket but I haven’t been able to find detailed instructions on how to do it. This book is most definitely the answer! There are detailed written instructions coupled with wonderful close up photos showing each step of the process. (I really appreciate having both options as I am very visual but also like to have written directions.) I also appreciated the variety of ways shown to embellish your projects with dye, fabric scraps and threads. The projects featured create a fun modern vibe that would look great in any space. I highly recommend this book if you want to give rope sewing a go. You won’t be disappointed!
Thanks to Net Galley and Fox Chapel Publishing for the advanced copy..
A thorough and extensive look at the craft of zigzag rope projects. The author describes the type of rope to use, the thread,the fabric or dyes and the necessary sewing machine and sewing skills needed to create rope projects. She includes 10 projects with exacting instructions and step-by-step photographs to illustrate each process. The book will definitely provide you with the information needed to accomplish this craft. It is perfect for the beginner and a great reference for those continuing to create their own projects. The author has her own shop where she teaches the craft and sells rope and other supplies.
A clear, easy-to-follow guide to creating rope baskets, coasters, placemats, and more with a sewing machine. The author spends a lot of time upfront on the details (stitch widths, tension, angles, etc.) so readers have a good grasp of the techniques (and what could go wrong) before starting. The projects start out easy (round coasters) and each builds on the previous as we progress from flat to round to ovals. She mixes in ways to customize projects to our own style or decor with fabric wrapping, dyeing, and the addition of braid trim and handles. The photos are excellent, and the projects cover all the basics and more.
This book is a great introductions to making projects with rope. I have bought coasters, bowls, etc made out of rope for our house and for gifts. So I thought this book would be interesting. The first 50 pages of the book are about getting started in making rope projects. There is a lot of information in this part of the book including types of rope and her recommendation of what ropes to use. She also describes the best sewing machines to use to make these projects and how to use your sewing machine to make them. The table of contents with page numbers has a list of the projects you can make. There are great pictures in the book that show finished projects.
Thank you #NetGalley and Landauer Publishing for allowing me review this copy of Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects.
This is a fantastic how-to and DIY book using different types of rope and styles. The detailed instructions, along with the photos, helps you to learn the "ropes" on this craft. If you have ever wanted to try a new hobby, then this is a good place to start. Not only can these crafts be gifts, but they have a practical use around the house. Definitely a good reference book to have on the shelf!
I’ve made a few rope baskets but mainly via instructions on Pinterest or just by experimenting - not really any well laid out instructions that I could find. This book has absolutely great suggestions and instructions that I will be getting a copy for myself ASAP! The projects included I. This book are ones I can see me making again and again. Very practical and thorough. Once I get these basics down, I’ll be making a lot for family and friends for Christmas. I received an advanced reader copy for free from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
As a fellow sewist and crafter I should have STEERED CLEAR of this book because now I have the itch to make some rope projects! Like I needed more hobbies! Katherine makes it seem so simple and doable even if I’ve never done anything like this before! The precise machine settings for each pattern, including stitch length, and stitch width along with the fantastic clear pictures and written instructions make simple to follow. Great use of both imperial and metric sizes!!
I also really enjoyed the styling pictures throughout! Always nice to see how you can utilize the crafts you make!
Carantine time is perfect to hone our new skill. When I pick this book I am so excite to learn rope art to make useful things we can actually use daily. And this book is deliver well, all materials and technics all clear. And the author so generous provide this one with many projects with each got step by step to make it. Can't wait to try make some from it.
Thanks Netgalley to providing me with this copy. I learning something new today.
Thanks to NetGalley and Fox Chapel Publishing for an readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
5 stars
I am so happy I got this book. 40 years ago I made yarn wrapped baskets and I hand stitched them. I also recently made rainbows and also stitched by hand. This is a game changer and I can't wait to try out many of Katherine Lile's projects.
The book has so many pictures giving step by step instructions. I can't wait dig out my supplies and sewing machine and get crafting.
I really like the projects in this book. The only problem is you need a sewing machine that can do some pretty heavy-duty stitching. Since I gave away my bigger sewing machine, heavy-duty stitching proves difficult for me. I wish there was a way to hand stitch or stitch less. This will be a great book for crafty people who also have a sewing machine and actually want to sew.
I received a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is one of the best books I have seen regarding instructions to learning a craft skill. In this case using rope to create bags, containers, vessels and much more. The instructions are very comprehensive and they are illustrated with lots of photos. The projects are ones that are modern, and ones that one would like to use in the house or for shopping. The projects are not hard and within easy grasp to anyone who can follow instructions. Fabulous book.
This book is absolutely fantastic! The pictures and instructions are stunning. I will be honest I had hoped for both hand sewn and sewing machine instructions. But I can hardly be disappointed with such beautiful style and techniques. Absolutely highly recommend this book it’s art in its truest firm and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone wanting to learn to sew baskets. This would make a stunning gift as well as a perfect table decor to display in any room.
Create some truly amazing items just by following the patterns and guidance given in ZigZag Rope Sewing Projects. These unique but useful projects will be loved and admired by everyone. Katherine Lile has provided clear, easy to follow patterns giving tips to make your project truly different while still being able to start and finish each item quickly. You could have your gift lists fulfilled long before everyone else starts shopping. A great gift to a young hobbyist or even yourself.
This book was interesting. There are many tips and tricks to rope sewing. I feel that this would take a lot of practice and a sewing machine with the right clearance as your items gets taller. For me, this is a one and done. The photos are beautiful and the explanations are clear. If you want to sew bowls etc., this book is worth a look.
Thank to the author, Fox Chapel Publishers, Landauer Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love craft books that have lots of cute and appealing projects and this is one of them! What’s more - they all result in useful end products. I especially love those items that have colorful interwoven fabric.
The step-by-step instructions are well-written and are accompanied by clear photographs.
Really a good skill to have in order to make lovely gifts for others or for yourself! Once you’ve learned the techniques, you can design and make your own creations.
This was a fun and informative read. I have always been interested in working with rope and this book is a great starting place. There is great explanation of what you will need and why. Each set of instructions includes photos and detailed instruction. The projects also build one on another so you learn new skills gradually as you continue through the book. This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested learning to work with rope.
I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher. This covers how to create various containers, bags, and flat pieces using a sewing machine and rope. There are many pictures to go along with the instructions. While this was an interesting book and craft, it was solely focused on machine sewing. There were no alternatives or advice about if a person was hand-sewing which is my preferred method.