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The

We’re very excited to beintroducing an incredible talentto the book world withMerchant & Mills. You alreadylove their sewing notions,patterns and products so it willbe no surprise that their SewingBook is going to be a big hit.Merchant & Mills are in themiddle of a massive move to EastSussex where they’ve got somegreat plans, and managed to taketime out to talk to us about thebackground to the book andwhat they’re up to next – you’llread it first here.

The talented team behind BestIn Show are back with a secondlitter of knitted dogs. Jo Osborneand Sally Muir started keeping alist of dogs from the minute thefirst book was on sale and knewexactly which ones they had toinclude in this new volume.They’re just as brilliant as before– and don’t forget that we’vealso got notebooks and cards inthe Best In Show range.

Jane Brocket has turned hertalents to the Gentle Art ofStitching – is there anything shecan’t do? Her designs arebeautiful and we just love theway Jane breaks the rules andpresents things in such a simpleand understandable way.

It is never too early to shoutCHRISTMAS!! so roll up for ourtwo fabulous Christmas titles.Debbie Harrold and the teamfrom Knit & Purl Cards are at itagain with We Knit You A MerryChristmas – packed full of funcreations and characters. Thehotly anticipated Mollie MakesChristmas is finally here (the lastbook to arrive in the office – wewere positively popping by thetime it got here!). Amy gives theinside story on the fun she hashad working with such anamazing selection of crafters tocreate this book, and also themagazine’s editor Jane Toft.

You’ve all loved knitting Londonand so we couldn’t resist sendingEmma King Stateside for KnitNew York which is out just intime for Thanksgiving. Whowould have thought we couldrecreate the Statue of Libertyand the Empire State Building inknit! They look great and aknitted New York Taxi is theperfect present for Christmas.

We have had so much fun makingthis Autumn’s books – we hopeyou have a fabulous time readingthem, and keep crafting!

Crafter’s ChronicleAMAZING BOOKSTO MAKE YOUR AUTUMN

&

Clangers, has already beenselected by Foyles for a

window display on CharingCross Road – Tiny Clanger

can’t believe her luck

Our stars of the Knitlympics

– Knitted Usain and Knitted

Jessica have had the best

time this summer.

Who would have thought it? We’ve had such funduring the Olympics with the Knitlympians, and

just as we were wondering what on earth we were goingto do with ourselves, the advance copies of all our newbooks began to flood into the office. Autumn is the perfecttime for crafting and we’ve got heaps of great titles, so let’sget stuck in.

Amy and Margarita hatchtheir plans for the Autumntitles at LoveCrafts HQ –what are they up to?

The LoveCrafts Team

ISSUE NO.ISSUE NO.1100AUTUMNAUTUMN

22001212

NO

1. IN CRAFT BOOKS

21 YEARS

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Craft News Letter_Layout 1 01/10/2012 09:28 Page 3

MERCHANT & MILLS SEWING BOOKHaving just finished work on their first book, Merchant & Mills announced some rather exciting plansand so we grabbed a quick cup of tea with them and asked them a few questions…

Tell us about Merchant & Mills. Who are youand how did the company start?Merchant & Mills is a creative partnershipbetween fashion designer, Carolyn Denham andwriter/photographer Roderick Field. We sharea belief in strong aesthetics and the investmentof labour, attention and patience to makebeautiful, useful things. We believe that thetalents of a good clothes maker are equal tothose of any great craftsman and should betreated with the same respect.

Why is it important that people learn to sew?The company was born from adesire to elevate the art of sewing toits proper place as an integral part offashion. Our mission is to get peoplemaking clothes and accessories theyreally want to own and wear and sobe rewarded with the quiet glow ofachievement that comes from making.We started with one big idea: to

create patterns and projects that wereas desirable as any designer label. Wehoped to encourage people away from a weekend of frustrated shopping anddirect them towards the satisfaction of a self-made wardrobe. We took the fearout of making your own clothes byhaving a small collection of simple,classic shapes that are easy to make.We took our changing room to thepublic so they could try on dressesbefore buying a pattern –satisfaction guaranteed.We also noticed that haberdashery

had left the Draper’s shop and

FOR MARKETING AND PUBLICITY INFORMATION ON TITLES OR TO ARRANGE AUTHOR WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS CONTACT MARGARITA LYGIZOU ON

MLYGIZOU@ANOVABOOKS.COM OR 020 7605 1421

become pretty, floral and uninspiring. People were being encouraged touse their sewing machines to make draught excluder snakes. Somethinghad to be done. So we scoured the world for the best of sewing toolsand notions to equip our customers with the best tools for the job. Westarted to offer a carefully curated range of fabrics and trimmings weactually liked. And then we wrote a book to make sure everyone knowswhat we are doing and can join the creative movement.

Have you enjoyed the process of writing your first book?The Merchant & Mills Sewing Book lets us share what we know andthink. We put hundreds of hours into making a book that could teach,encourage and inspire the reader whilst truly reflecting our ethos –‘keep it simple and do it well’. We applied the same attention to

content, design and flavour as we do witheverything we make. This book too should be abeautiful, useful thing. We introduce materialsand equipment and explain how we makethings, and even why we make things. Wedescribe in detail every step of fifteen, reallygood projects – including the fabulous tweedand oilskin duffel bag and a hard workingapron for people who need industrial

protection from the messiness of creating. The tasks we offer build fundamental sewingskills as you work through them, until you arethoroughly capable and a confident dressmaker.And we show you lots of lovely pictures so youknow just what you’re aiming for.

We hear you’re on the move. What can weexpect from Merchant & Mills in the comingmonths?The next stage of our evolution is to set upshop and workshop in Rye, East Sussex. Wehave taken on a warehouse in the centre ofthe estuary town and will present anirresistible space for lovers of good design ina very English setting. In the spirit of propertradesmen, we will have production out theback with a (glorious) ‘trade counter’ at thefront. We will have cloth and stationery thatcannot be bought anywhere else and will tryout newproducts as we think ofthem. Come and see us.

Merchant & MillsSewing Book

October £20.00

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HAVE YOURSELF A MOLLIEMAKES CHRISTMAS!Our very own Amy Christian, CommissioningEditor here at CraftyHQ, has been workingclosely with Jane Toft and her team at MollieMakes on our new exciting range of bookswith the magazine. We asked Amy to tell us exactly what this involved...Everyone at LoveCrafts was very excited when we foundout we would be producing a new series of books withMollie Makes. We have been regular readers of themagazine since its first issue last year, and we havebeen really pleased to see how successful it hasbecome in such a short space of time. It’sheartening to think that there are so many othercrafty people like us out there!

I got together with the team at Mollie Makesearlier this year and we decided thatChristmas was the perfect time to launch thebooks, so I got straight on the phone to themost talented designer-makers I could find. Weended up with a fantastic group of contributors,who have come up with an exclusive range ofChristmas-themed projects using papercraft, knitting,sewing and more.

The LoveCrafts team will be holding a Christmas craftingget-together in November, where we will make projects

from the book. We aredefinitely taking ourinspiration from MollieMakes and living and loving a handmadeChristmas this year!

One of the most fun parts of putting the book togetherwas the photography!Needless to say, I enjoyedlooking through copies ofMollie Makes to find lots ofcrafty inspiration! We founda beautiful old house withlots of colour and quirkyfurniture to give us a realhandmade feel.

To have copiesready forChristmas weneeded to work on the book duringthe summer. It wasquite a challengeto recreate a cosyChristmas settingin the middle of a

heatwave! But we did what we do best,armed with our copies of Mollie Makes, andsourced lots of festive props from charityshops, car boot fairs and vintage stores.

October£9.99

The book has a great rangeof projects, but the PolarPals finger puppets have tobe my favourite!

Best in Show is one of our best-sellingbooks at LoveCrafts, and has been a bighit with dog-lovers everywhere. AuthorsJo Osborne and Sally Muir get a lot ofreader letters and everyone loves thebook, but people often ask why we don’thave a pattern for their own favouritedog breed – so it didn’t take us all longto work out that we needed to addanother litter of dogs!

Laura and Sally Muir grabbed theopportunity of a rare sunny day to bookin the photoshoot for the new dogs –thankfully knitted dogs are well-behaved and make very good models.

And it doesn’t stopwith books… we haveBest in Show notebooksand notecards too.

Best in Show: 25 More Dogsto Knit September£12.99

Once we had ourlocation and ourprops ready, wegot down to thefun part of takingpictures!

Best in Show THE SECOND LITTER

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The Gentlest Art

This book has been a pleasure to write. It isinspired by the generations of ordinarywomen (like my Nana) who brought beautyinto everyday life with their stitching. I meansimple stitching, not ‘art’ embroidery orimmensely intricate and skilful work.

It’s an exploration of simple, enjoyable, easy-going stitching in various different forms. Instead of focussing onone branch of stitching, it covers many (eg sashiko, kantha, quilting,vintage-style embroidery, classic stitches, cross stitch) and offerslots of ideas for different projects that can be done by anyone who

can thread a needle and stitch abasic stitch. It’s all about the joy ofsitting happily and stitching withlovely colours on interestingtextures and fabrics. It’s mostlysimple stuff to do while talking,sitting in the sunshine, or onholiday, and doesn’t require greatamounts of planning and nerves. Itencourages readers to thread aneedle and start, and to focus onthe very essence of stitching

(without special equipment andcomplex patterns). Nothing in thebook takes forever, and all theprojects are easy to finish.

The Gentle Art of Stitching gives the opportunity to experiencethe process while giving you room to experiment. Experience tellsme it’s not necessary to follow rules slavishly. Sometimes you realisethat there are there are many ways to do something. I feel it’s betterto get started and then see where your stitching takes you, than tofeel anxious about getting started and not actually making anythingat all. I enjoy feeling my way through something, and find thebiggest hurdle is developing the confidence to say I’ll do it the way

that works for and pleases me. Imake things that I know I’ll enjoymaking, that are easy to fit in withfamily life, that can be put down andpicked up and don’t requireseclusion and, very importantly, canbe completed in a reasonable time-scale. This is what The Gentle Art ofStitching is all about. Lovely projectsto guide or inspire you in the gentleart of stitching.

September 2012£20.00

The arrival of projects for a new book is always a highlight of the LoveCraft’scalendar and Jane Brocket’s stitched projects more than lived up to ourexpectations. LoveCrafts spoke with Jane about her inspiration for this title…

TO BE SHOP OF THE MONTH CONTACT MARGARITA!

We’ve got a great selection of smallergift books that make perfectpresents and stocking fillers.You’ve already met our Clangersstars and they’re joined in Octoberby a new cast of colourfulcharacters from Debbie Harrold andthe team at Knit & Purl Cards in WeKnit You A Merry Christmas.Knitters will be able to go crackers

with Chris Moose, the sledging knittedsnowballs and a skiing pea! Knit New York

brings together a top selection of knitted projectsfrom the Big Apple – starting, of course, with a Knitted Big Appleand including a Yellow Taxi, The Statue of Liberty and, if you’refeeling a bit peckish – a knitted Hot Dog.

Great Gifts from

LoveCrafts

ClangersAugust/£9.99

Knit NYSeptember/£7.99

We Knit You A MerryChristmasOctober/£5.99

Whatever the craft, we have the book for you – just head straight to Collins & Brown

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