Magazine Bliss

A couple of years ago if you perused the shelves for craft magazines, all you could find were magazines on knitting, crochet, cross stitch, card making or beading. They all seemed to stick rigidly to their particular corner of the craft market and every other area was ignored. It was to be honest quite frustrating.

I was quite surprised recently to find a whole of craft magazines brimming from the shelves in the newsagent. Before you could blink, I have bought three I had never heard of before.

The first, Craftseller was only on issue 7, so is obviously a relative newcomer. The tag line is "Make and sell your handmade crafts". Perfect for the likes of me then. As well as being packet with four pages of readers letters it has sewing, knitting, chocolate making, crochet, cross stitch, beading and much more. There really is just about something for everyone in it for the beginner to the more experienced crafter. It is also a good source of information for suppliers.

Mollie Makes was also only on issue 10, so must be another recent comer to the magazine market. The overall vibe of this one is definitely more vintage, shabby chic. The matt cover rather than glossy and softly coloured photos inside give it a more upmarket feel and vintage feel.

The final choice was Making - beautiful crafts for you home. The cover offered 25 original projects for stylish living and included paper roses, a crochet throw, classic bean bag, pillow mat for sleepovers and doll's house bookcase. What more could you honestly ask for in a magazine? The whole of the content is well laid out and easy to follow with good illustrations.

Needless to say, since buying them all I really haven't had much time to read them but they are magazines you can just dip in and out of. They are all definitely worth keeping for future reference. I will also buy them all again in the future, though probably not at the same time. At about £5 each, to buy all three every month would soon stack up. I guess you have to skim them and make a choice every month. I'm not sure I could choose between them though as they all have so much to offer. Maybe I will have to take out some subscriptions offers instead.

A Gift From A Gift

My 11 year old niece was given a sewing kit for Christmas, consisting of threads, precut fabric squares, buttons, needles and other bits and bobs. Apparently she was absolutely thrilled with it all and quite excited about sewing some bits together.

When I saw her at New Year, she very proudly gave me two squares sewn together with a button in the middle. The items had come from her kit and she told me that it was the first piece of sewing by hand she had ever done. I was quite touched that she wanted to give it to me - well, I hope she meant me to keep it, as I didn't give it back! The sewing now sits in my study on a shelf with photos of her and her siblings.

I was slightly surprised that she had not been taught to sew before. I remember learning decorative stitches at school when I was about six and sewed a cushion, soft toys and a sun dress by hand at school when I was nine and ten. I guess it is a sign of the times, school curriculums have changed and old fashioned home making skills have taken a back seat.

I hope my niece continues to sew, being able to sew to such a useful life skill. I heard at the weekend that she hasn't done any more since but hopefully, with some encouragement she will soon.