Stitch magazine

Ever since I read about this upcoming mag on Staceysew's blog, I've been stalking the magazine racks to check out the new Stitch magazine, part of the Interweave family though it is a spin off of Quilting Arts. Finally saw it yesterday and I picked it up. Felt the sting of the 10$ (before taxes) price tag, I hadn't bought IK in a while so I had no reference, but still I went for it because it seemed different then other sewing mags. Normally I don't buy them because usually they are of the how-to variety and I do consider myself an expert sewist (hated that term before, now it's growing on me) so I've only purchased the ones that have a skill or trick that I didn't know about and that happens very rarely.

So for this reason I was sure that I'd be putting the mag back on the shelf but then I realized that it was not a sewing technique mag but one about projects, just like IK. In the premiere edition the focus is on skirts but there are a whole bunch of projects that unfortunately are not all featured on the website like you would be able the check out the projects for IK. I flipped through the mag a few times and I have to say now that I love it. Maybe it's the premiere edition's focus but it does feature a lot of projects that use fabrics that are either recycled or of sustainable and or eco friendly sources but otherwise, the projects are cute and fun and I feel that I could make a quite a few of them. About the skirts, some patterns you have to download but there are a couple that are included in the magazine, but for the most part I feel that if I wanted to make them I'd have to make some modifications so that it would fit my curves, a reason I make my own pattern for them. The sizes go from XS to XL, which, for the skirt seen on the cover means from 26 3/4" to 38 3/4 at the waist and 36" to 47 1/2" at the hips. Personally I'd be a medium at the waist and the large at the hips

There are a few quilt making projects and their patterns are printed on the pages and have to be blow up in a copy machine whereas others give you the dimensions of the pieces you cut. The other proejest include gift tags, a beaded cuff, a woven scarf, a messenger bag etc. I haven't gone through the instructions to see how easier they are to read but then again because of my sewing experience, it's hard for me to judge.

Of all the projects that are in the mag, this quilt is the one project that has really caught my eye, the Chakla quilt, didn't know there was an African-American school of thought when it comes to quilting and . For some reason I've been itching to make one for a long time, I'd been eyeing some of the free Amy Butler downloads. Since I'll be repainting my condo white next summer, I will be using colourful accessories to punch things up and a quilt like this one would be a nice jumping off point to get the rest of the accessories. I've never done a quilt before so I wonder if this one be like a newbie knitster attemping a fair-isle sweater with a cable inlay after doing a ribbed scarf...