Lena Corwin's Made by Hand: A Collection of projects to print, sew, weave, dye, knit and otherwise create - Tapa dura

Gone are the days of a crafter only having a single interest. Between Design*Sponge, Apartment Therapy, Pinterest, and thousands of gorgeous blogs, today's makers are constantly inspired to make things by hand. All a crafter really needs are inspirational examples and excellent step-by-step instructions and By Hand provides plenty of both. The concept for By Hand came about in 2009 when Lena turned the top floor of her Brooklyn brownstone into a studio and began to host an eclectic course of classes, such as machine-sewing, hand-embroidering, pickle-making and perfume-making. By Hand will include core techniques and projects for a wide array of crafts, from advanced screen-printing and dyeing techniques (which she teaches), to beginner's embroidery, braided rag rugs, knitted socks, simple sewn dresses, beaded and braided jewelry, toy-making, candle-making and soap-making (to name a few). Lena is highly regarded in the craft and design community as a tastemaker and for this book, Lena has acted as a "curator," providing crafters with projects that she herself has found personally fascinating and has sought to learn over the years. For most of the projects, she turns to teachers, experts in their field, to walk crafters through the step-by-steps of each technique. Gorgeous photographs of the crafters in action will accompany lovely photos of finished projects.

Lena Corwin is a textile designer, illustrator, author, publisher, and teacher. She is the author of Printing By Hand and the illustrator for Kids Crochet and Kids Weaving (both STC Craft). Her blog, http://blog.lenacorwin.com, receives 77,000 page views per month. She has worked as a graphic and textile designer for Marithe + Francoise Girbaud, Calvin Klein and Jill Stuart, has designed textiles for Anna Sui, Trina Turk, Rebecca Taylor and Target and is designing a home goods line for Urban Outfitters which will be available April 2013.