Kristen Rask

The button jar. Does everyone have a mason full of random, rounded gems? Or is it only me? It's not just me. To my relief (and surprise), Button and Stitch fully addresses makes brilliant use of my decade-long accumulation. Rather than toss them, Kristen Rask suggests low-skill, handmade gifts like a button-laminated picture frame or button-studded photo album.

Heavy duty projects, like Rask's fabric collage jacket, require sewing proficiency but utilize dozens of colorful buttons and scrap show more fabric to create a fanciful, personalized garment. Others, like her camera-shaped camera case or a multi-button ring, offer a clever way to practice burgeoning craft skills. Many projects make good use of other lightly used objects you may already own, a shrunken sweater, glass condiment jars, an ex-boyfriend's tie. Photo-heavy guides let you glide seamlessly from the materials list to project completion with a pictorial reference at every step. With this level of inspiration at hand, I may not have a button jar much longer. show less

This beautifully presented book takes you on an adventure through farms and forests to meet all the cute critters that live there - and then gives you the pattern so you can make one at home.

A comprehensive beginners guide can be found at the beginning of the book, showing how to make each stitch, how to read a pattern and what the abbreviations in the patterns mean. I feel that the only way this section of the book could be improved was if they were to include a link to video show more demonstrations for each stitch.

I loved how each pattern is designed by a different artist, and each pattern includes a small bio of the artist.

If you fall in love with the style of a particular artist a section at the back of the book let’s you know where you can find out more about them and their work.

This book would be a perfect gift for the crafter in your life and is appropriate for a variety of ages. show less

The title is misleading: this is not so much a pattern or how-to book as a gallery of samples.

This is not to say the book doesn't contain a few hints and techniques (and a few outline patterns). If that is what you're after the book is perfect - especially with the links to various creators. For an actual introduction to plushies or toymaking there are a number of much better books.

This book has patterns to crochet 26 cute animals, by different designers. Each pattern has clear instructions, with lots of photographs. I particularly liked the patterns for the monkey, owl, cats, squirrel and the bird with a nest, eggs and a chick!