Deploy that Fabric: 23 Sewing Projects Use Military Uniforms in Everyday Life - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 160705244X ISBN 13: 9781607052449

Publisher: C&T Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Show your pride in our troops every day! All members of the Armed Forces have to buy multiple uniforms, some of which become decommissioned. Learn how to recycle these uniforms and blend in some cheerful, contemporary fabrics to create useful family treasures with one-of-a-kind style. Even if you don't have a service member in your life, you can make these cool projects using camouflage fabrics or uniforms purchased from surplus stores.

About this title

About the Author

Designer Jen Eskridge has been quilting for fifteen years and sewing for a bit longer. She is a military spouse to a fabulous guy currently active duty in the Kansas Air National Guard. While he was active with the U.S. Air Force, Jen had the opportunity to live in five different cities in ten years, including living on an army base in Daegu, South Korea. Jen graduated from Louisiana State University in 1998 with an apparel design degree, which she uses daily while working on quilting and sewing patterns for her company, ReannaLily Designs. The company launched the Seamingly Accurate(R) Seam Guide in October 2008. Since then, ReannaLily Designs has published many patterns, including the release of the first Recycled Uniform Pattern - The Cube Purse - in October 2009.

Review

Who could resist this book title in a week with a patriotic holiday? At some point military uniforms become decommissioned, and quilter and military spouse Jen Eskridge takes the position that we should upcycle them to celebrate service members. Jen starts by showing you how to deconstruct uniforms then offers 23 projects for using your pieces, Projects range from the simple tote to quilts. Jen asks early in the book, 'What matches a uniform?' She answers with, 'Everything.' Yes, uniforms are a neutral and can be your light or dark. It was interesting to see how they just become the background among pinks and blues. The book also includes a techniques section that might be helpful for those who come from a non-sewing background. (Professional Quilters Online, 7/1/2011)

As we sit at our machines and obsess happily through our seams, it’s too easy for many of us American creative types to forget that we are a nation at war and that we have many military men and women serving here and abroad. Jen Eskridge brings that reality to our sewing rooms in a big, but wonderful, way. Deploy that Fabric uses fabric captured from tired military uniforms and reworks it into quilts, bag, home décor and more. Because the projects are so nicely designed, they manage to be casual and classy at the same time.
What’s absolutely brilliant about this book, though, is that Jen provides incredibly useful info on how to take apart the uniforms and discover hidden fabric behind pockets, as well as how to repurpose patches, buttons and zippers. Her deconstructing tips can be used on civilian clothes, too. She writes from the perspective of a military wife, one who totally gets this system filled with rules, tradition and honor, but still offers fun, practical items to make. This one is worth the money. (Generation Q Magazine, 7/13/11)

In a completely new take on keepsake quilts, Jen Eskridge, seasoned quilter and military wife, shows her readers how to be creative with recycled fabrics from service uniforms. The book was intended to honour service members fighting for their country but all the techniques can be adapted and applied to making quilted keepsakes from any old items of clothing. The book is split in three sections: deconstructing a uniform, quilting projects and quilting techniques. Each pattern is coded for its skill level and they range from novice to skilled. This is a unique and creative title which breathes fresh life into traditional concepts via 23 innovative new projects. (Popular Patchwork Magazine, February 2012)

Edition details

• Publisher: C&T Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 160705244X
• ISBN 13: 9781607052449
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 128