Women who sew and have a yen for domestic elegance, a la Francais, will find much to delight them in the book, “French General Home Sewn: 30 Projects for Every Room in the House” by Kaari Meng. Meng is the owner of the California store French General, a specialty shop that sells vintage and new textiles, notions and other products. She has a fascination for French living that inspires the designs and fabric choices in her book.
The book is so eye-appealing in its design that it’s more likely to find a home on the coffee table than on the bookshelf when it’s not in use.
Although the projects in the book are inspired by vintage French fabrics, Meng notes that the projects can easily be made with new fabrics that have been made to look and feel old by tea dyeing and repeated washings before cutting the pieces for the project.
She offers suggestions for reproducing the look of French chateaux and farmhouses in one’s own home, noting that “unusual color combinations, hand-covered or vintage buttons, embroidery and vintage trims all add to the look and feel of vintage sewing.”
Her favorite fabrics for achieving the French look are Indian prints, ticking with red stripes, and textiles woven of hemp, linen or nettle.
Projects in the book are rated according to difficulty, from beginner to advanced. One of the easiest is a lavender-filled heart and one of the more advanced is a bedcover.
As a seamstress, I was attracted to the farmers market tote project, a hanging notions organizer, and napkins embroidered with a dandelion blowing in the wind. The tote bag is oversized and the bottom is reinforced with ticking stripes, creating a jaunty design element. The bag straps and a center pocket also are of ticking stripes. The notions organizer is designed to hang by buttoned tabs from a towel bar or dowel attached to the back of a door. The embroidered napkins are as simple as hemming the four sides and using stem stitches, French knots and straight stitches to create the dandelions.
Other projects in the book are a seat cushion, throw pillows, linen curtains and tiebacks, a travel bag, a scalloped tablecloth and many others.
Another delightful thing about the book is that project patterns and embroidery transfers are included in a pretty envelope affixed to the inside of the front cover, which makes for easy access. The patterns require no enlarging by photocopier or other means.
“French General Home Sewn” is an easy book to use. It has a spiral binding, allowing it to open flat, a feature any seamstress will welcome.
Meng offers advice for assembling a sewing basket and how to find and organize fabrics once the goal of a “stash” has been achieved.
The Resources section of the book gives a list of some of Meng’s favorite suppliers, designers, fabric fairs and collections.
The one drawback to the book, in my opinion, is the size of the typeface. I found it too small to read comfortably, but that is a minor flaw.
To learn more about “French General Home Sewn,” visit www.chroniclebooks.com, or call local bookstores.
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